Fred "Snowflake" Toones
Fred "Snowflake" Toones
During Hollywood's pre-"politically correct" era, it was not uncommon for African-American performers to be saddled with such demeaning professional monikers as "G. Howe Black," "Stepin Fetchit," and "Sleep 'n' Eat." One of the more egregious racially oriented nicknames was bestowed upon a talented black character actor named Fred Toones. From 1931 until his retirement in 1948, Toones was usually billed as "Snowflake," often playing a character of the same name. His standard characterization, that of a middle-aged "colored" man with high-pitched voice and childlike demeanor, was nearly as offensive as his character name. True to the Hollywood typecasting system of the 1930s and 1940s, "Snowflake" was generally cast as redcaps, bootblacks, and janitors. He appeared in dozens of two-reelers (including the Three Stooges' first Columbia effort, 1934's Woman Haters) and scores of B-Westerns. During the early '40s, Fred Toones was a semi-regular in the zany comedies of producer/director/writer Preston Sturges. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmography of Fred "Snowflake" Toones:
- Born to Fight with Frankie Darro , Kane Richmond , Hal Price , Bob Perry
- A Star Is Born with Janet Gaynor , Fredric March , Adolphe Menjou , May Robson , Andy Devine , Lionel Stander , Edgar Kennedy , Owen Moore , Clara Blandick , Peggy Wood , Carole Landis , Ferdinand Munier , David Newell , Franklin Pangborn , Lana Turner , Guinn "Big Boy" Williams , Clarence H. Wilson , Marshall Sr. Neilan , Dennis O'Keefe
- The Palm Beach Story with Claudette Colbert , Joel D. McCrea , Mary Astor , Rudy Vallee , William Demarest , Robert Warwick , Franklin Pangborn , Monte Blue , Dewey Robinson , Roscoe Ates , Frank Faylen , John Holland , John Farrell MacDonald , Howard M. Mitchell , Charles Moore , Mantan Moreland , Max Wagner
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington with James Stewart , Jean Arthur , Claude Rains , Edward Arnold , Thomas Mitchell , Guy Kibbee , Beulah Bondi , Eugene Pallette , H.B. Warner , Harry Sr. Carey , Ruth Donnelly , Grant Mitchell , Porter Hall , William Demarest , Dick Elliott , Stanley Andrews , Jack Carson , Vernon Dent , Ann Doran , Helen Jerome Eddy , Frances Gifford , Mary Gordon , John Ince , Frank Jaquet , Robert Middlemass , Charles Moore , Gene Morgan , Jack Richardson , Larry Simms , Walter Soderling , Wyndham Standing , Craig Stevens , Carl Stockdale , Dub Taylor , Dave Willock , Frank O'Connor , John Russell





