50 Facts About Oscar Micheaux

Oscar Micheaux was born on a farm in Metropolis, Illinois, on January 2,1884.

Oscar Micheaux was the fifth child born to Calvin S and Belle Michaux, who had a total of 13 children.

Oscar Micheaux's parents moved to the city so that the children could receive a better education.

Oscar Micheaux attended a well-established school for several years before the family eventually ran into money troubles and were forced to return to the farm.

Oscar Micheaux's father was not happy with him and sent him away to do marketing in the city.

Oscar Micheaux found pleasure in this job because he was able to speak to many new people and learned social skills that he would later reflect in his films.

When Oscar Micheaux was 17 years old, he moved to Chicago to live with his older brother, then working as a waiter.

Oscar Micheaux became dissatisfied with what he viewed as his brother's way of living "the good life".

Oscar Micheaux rented his own place and found work in the stockyards, which he found difficult.

Oscar Micheaux moved from the stockyards to the steel mills, holding down many different jobs.

Oscar Micheaux's first business was a shoeshine stand, which he set up at a wealthy African American barbershop, away from Chicago competition.

Oscar Micheaux learned the basic strategies of business and started to save money.

Oscar Micheaux became a Pullman porter on the major railroads, at that time considered prestigious employment for African Americans because it was relatively stable, well paid, and secure, and it enabled travel and interaction with new people.

Oscar Micheaux profited financially, and gained contacts and knowledge about the world through traveling as well as a greater understanding for business.

Oscar Micheaux moved to Gregory County, South Dakota, where he bought land and worked as a homesteader.

Oscar Micheaux's homestead failed and he was forced to sell it in 1911.

Oscar Micheaux began work on a second book, The Forged Note, and from 1914 to 1918 traveled among Lincoln, Gregory County, and Sioux City, Iowa marketing his work.

Oscar Micheaux decided to concentrate on writing and, eventually, filmmaking, a new industry.

Oscar Micheaux based it on his experiences as a homesteader and the failure of his first marriage and it was largely autobiographical.

Oscar Micheaux's theme was about African Americans realizing their potential and succeeding in areas where they had not felt they could.

Oscar Micheaux discusses the culture of doers who want to accomplish and those who see themselves as victims of injustice and hopelessness and who do not want to try to succeed, but instead like to pretend to be successful while living the city lifestyle in poverty.

Oscar Micheaux had become frustrated with getting some members of his race to populate the frontier and make something of themselves, with real work and property investment.

Oscar Micheaux wrote more than 100 letters to fellow Negroes in the East beckoning them to come West, but only his older brother eventually took his advice.

Oscar Micheaux wanted to be directly involved in the adaptation of his book as a movie, but Johnson resisted and never produced the film.

Oscar Micheaux had a major career as a film producer and director: He produced more than 40 films, which drew audiences throughout the US as well as internationally.

Oscar Micheaux contacted wealthy academic connections from his earlier career as a porter, and sold stock for his company at $75 to $100 a share.

Oscar Micheaux hired actors and actresses and decided to have the premiere in Chicago.

The film and Oscar Micheaux received high praise from film critics.

Oscar Micheaux looks for love among his own people and marries an African-American woman.

Oscar Micheaux kills her father for keeping them apart and commits suicide.

Oscar Micheaux always depicts African Americans as being serious and reaching for higher education.

Oscar Micheaux explored the suffering of African Americans in the present day, without explaining how the situation arose in history.

The latter, which dealt with issues of mixed race and passing, created so much controversy when reviewed by the Film Board of Virginia that Oscar Micheaux was forced to make cuts to have it shown.

Oscar Micheaux remade this story as a sound film in 1932, releasing it with the title Veiled Aristocrats.

Oscar Micheaux's films were made during a time of great change in the African-American community.

Oscar Micheaux dealt with racial relationships between blacks and whites, and the challenges for blacks when trying to achieve success in the larger society.

Oscar Micheaux's films were used to oppose and discuss the racial injustice that African Americans received.

Oscar Micheaux sought to create films that would counter negative portrayals of African Americans in films by white producers, which trafficked in degrading stereotypes.

Oscar Micheaux's films questioned the value system of both African-American and Euro-American societies, which stirred controversy with the press and state censors.

Critic Barbara Lupack described Oscar Micheaux as pursuing moderation with his films and creating a "middle-class cinema".

Oscar Micheaux's works were designed to appeal to both middle- and lower-class audiences.

Oscar Micheaux died on March 25,1951, in Charlotte, North Carolina, of heart failure, aged 67.

Oscar Micheaux is buried in Great Bend Cemetery in Great Bend, Kansas, the home of his youth.

Oscar Micheaux's gravestone reads: "A man ahead of his time".

Oscar Micheaux's family proved to be complex and burdensome for Micheaux.

Unhappy with their living arrangements, Orlean felt that Oscar Micheaux did not pay enough attention to her.

Oscar Micheaux gave birth while he was away on business, and was reported to have emptied their bank accounts and fled.

In 2014, Block Starz Music Television released The Czar of Black Hollywood, a documentary film chronicling the early life and career of Oscar Micheaux using Library of Congress archived footage, photos, illustrations and vintage music.

The film's executive producer, Frances Presley Rice, told the Sun Sentinel that Oscar Micheaux was the first "indie movie producer".

Oscar Micheaux said Micheaux embodied "the best of what we all are as Americans" and that the filmmaker was "an inspiration".