CANADA LEE

Leonard Lionel Cornelius Canegata (March 3, 1907 – May 9, 1952), known professionally as Canada Lee, was an American professional boxer and actor who pioneered roles for African Americans. After careers as a jockey, boxer and musician, he became an actor in the Federal Theatre Project, including the 1936 production of Macbeth adapted and directed by Orson Welles. Lee later starred in Welles's original Broadway production of Native Son (1941). A champion of civil rights in the 1930s and 1940s, Lee was blacklisted and died shortly before he was scheduled to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He advanced the African-American tradition in theatre pioneered by such actors as Paul Robeson. Lee is the father of actor Carl Lee.

Lee was born Leonard Lionel Cornelius Canegata on March 3, 1907, in the San Juan Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. His father, James Cornelius Lionel Canegata, was born on the Caribbean island of St. Croix, and as a youth had migrated to New York, where he married Lydia Whaley Gadsen. Raised by his parents in Harlem,  Lee had an aptitude for music, and at age seven he began studying violin and piano with J. Rosamond Johnson at the Music School Settlement for Colored People. He made his concert debut at age 11, performing a student recital at Aeolian Hall. But after seven years of music studies, without explanation, he put away his violin and ran away from home.  In 1921, aged 14, Lee went to Saratoga Springs, New York, and began a two-year career as a jockey.

Lee returned to his parents' home in Harlem in 1923 with no idea what he was going to do next. He considered returning to music, but an old school friend suggested that he try boxing. After 100 odd amateur bouts he turned pro at 19. (Some say he had 60 bouts between 1927-31, and the New York Times reported that he had 200 professional bouts losing about 25.

A detached retina which wasn't treated ended up Lee losing sight in his right eye, so he quit boxing in 1933 having made a estimated $90,000 (Around $2.1 million today), but he ended up broke. Lee eventually lobbied for insurance, health care, financial consultation and retirement homes for fighters. "The average boxer possesses little education," he said in 1946. "If he winds up broke, he has no trade, no education and nobody to turn to."

Transitioning to acting via the Federal Theatre Project, he earned acclaim in Orson Welles' all-Black Macbeth and as Bigger Thomas in Native Son. His film highlights include Lifeboat, Body and Soul, and Cry, the Beloved Country. Refusing demeaning roles, he broke racial stereotypes, became the first African American to direct a Broadway play, and spoke out against segregation.

In December 1925, Lee married Juanita Eugenia Waller.  On November 22, 1926, they had a son, Carl Vincent Canegata,  who became actor Carl Lee. The couple separated while their son was young, and they were amicably divorced in 1942.

In March 1951, Lee married Frances Pollack. They remained together until he died just over a year later.

Lee died of a reported heart attack at the age of 45 on May 9, 1952, in Manhattan.[2][36] It was later revealed by his widow, Frances Pollack, that he had been diagnosed with uremia and died of kidney disease, slipping into a coma and dying 10 days after his diagnosis.