Lew Payton

Lew Payton (June 27, 1874 – May 27, 1945) was an African American stage performer, film actor, and writer whose Broadway career spanned from 1924 to 1933. Born in Huntington, West Virginia, Payton built a body of work across both stage and screen that placed him among the recognizable character actors of his era.

Payton's most significant Broadway credit was The Chocolate Dandies, which opened on September 1, 1924, in which he played the role of Mose Washington. He co-wrote the production alongside Noble Sissle, with music and lyrics contributed by Sissle and Eubie Blake. The show, which also featured Eubie Blake, Amanda Randolph, and Josephine Baker, was produced at the Colonial Theatre in Boston before its Broadway run. Payton's other Broadway appearances included the play Harlem (1929), in which he portrayed Pa Williams; The Boundary Line (1930) as Elbert; Solid South (1930) as Jasper; Never No More (1932) as Deacon; Bridal Wise (1932) as Tom; Smash Your Baggage (1932); Phoebe of Quality Street; and Jezebel (1933), in which he played Uncle Billy.

Payton's film career ran parallel to his stage work and extended well into the 1940s. He reprised the role of Uncle Billy in the 1938 film adaptation of Jezebel, starring Bette Davis and Henry Fonda. His other film appearances included Valiant Is the Word for Carrie (1936) starring Gladys George, in which he played Lons John; Racing Lady (1937) as Joe alongside Ann Dvorak; Wells Fargo (1937) as Sam, Pryor's Butler; On Such a Night (1937) starring Grant Richards and Karen Morley; The Lady's from Kentucky (1939) as Sixty with George Raft; The Sun Never Sets (1939) as the Village Chief opposite Douglas Fairbanks Jr.; and Presenting Lily Mars (1943), directed by Norman Taurog and featuring Judy Garland, in which he played Thornway's Butler. In Lady for a Night (1942), Payton portrayed Napoleon, the Alderson family's manservant, in a cast that included John Wayne, Joan Blondell, Philip Merivale as Stephen Alderson, and Edith Barrett as Katherine Alderson.

Beyond performing, Payton contributed to African American cultural life as a writer. In 1937 he authored Did Adam Sin? and Other Stories of Negro Life in Comedy-Drama and Sketches, a work he intended as a guide to help other African Americans learn the craft of screenwriting. A stage adaptation of Did Adam Sin? was performed by the Chicago Negro Unit of the Federal Theatre Project from 1936 to 1939. Payton died on May 27, 1945, in Los Angeles, California.