Blue Washington

Edgar 'Blue' Washington was also a ballplayer in the Negro League for the Los Angeles White Sox and (briefly) the Kansas City Monarchs.

He was a childhood friend of Frank Capra and appeared as John Wayne’s sidekick in Haunted Gold (1932), but it wasn’t always clear he was headed for Hollywood.  He played professional baseball in the 1910s and 1920s for two of the most glamorous African American teams in existence, and for a time it must have seemed obvious that this was his vocation.  In the end he chose a different path.  It certainly wasn’t easier — Hollywood at that time was only marginally more accepting of black contributions than the white major leagues.  The nickname 'Blue' came from Frank Capra, one of his best pals in the ethnically diverse surroundings of Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles.