In 1941, Leonard Lionel Cornelius Canegata, known professionally as Canada Lee, debuted as the lead in Orson Welles’s Broadway adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son. There was significant fanfare surrounding the show and Lee’s performance was described as “thrilling” with “authenticity” and “power.” Some even compared him to Spencer Tracy.
His path to Broadway likely surprised even him. While growing up in New York City, he initially studied music and performed as a concert violinist. But in 1921, at age 14, he abruptly quit. He left home and worked for two years in Saratoga Springs as a jockey. There are a few origin stories to how he ended up in boxing rings. In one version, it began in these stables when an adult ex-boxer made a racist comment. The 110-pound teenage Lee allegedly knocked the 150-pound grown man to the ground with such force that another former-boxer stableman decided to take him under his wing and show him the ropes. Whether true or embellished, after returning to Harlem, Lee soon entered the amateur boxing circuits, winning around 90 of his first 100 fights.
This was a time when spectator sports were surging in popularity across the United States. Boxing was second only to baseball with world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey being as much a household name as Babe Ruth. The entry barrier to learning boxing was less significant than other sports and neighborhoods often had their own boxing clubs. A neighborhood fighter winning a match was a deep source of community pride…