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Arthur "Dooley" Wilson (April 3 1886 - May 30
1953) was an African American actor and singer. He
was born in Tyler, Texas, and is most famous for
playing Sam in the 1942 film Casablanca
(movie)|Casablanca.

Wilson worked in black theatre in Chicago and New
York from 1908 to the 1930s, in motion pictures
and Broadway musicals from the 1930s to the 1950s,
and played Bill Jackson on the television sitcom
Beulah (show)|Beulah during its final 1952 - 1953
season.

He received the nickname "Dooley" while working in
the Pekin Theatre in Chicago, circa 1908, because
of his then-signature Irish song "Mr. Dooley,"
which he performed in whiteface. 

His breakthrough Broadway appearance came in the
role of Little Joe, a stereotypic lazy rascal in
the musical Cabin in the Sky (1940-1941). He
played Pompey, an escaped slave, in the musical
Bloomer Girl (1946-1948). His performance of the
song "The Eagle and Me" in this show was selected
by Dwight Blocker Bowers for inclusion in a
Smithsonian recordings compilation, American
Musical Theatre. 

Wilson appeared in over twenty motion pictures,
but won immortality for his role as Sam in the
1942 film Casablanca (movie)|Casablanca. For his
role, he was paid $350 a week for seven weeks.
Sydney Greenstreet, in comparison, was paid $3750
a week.

Sam is a singer and pianist employed by nightclub
owner Rick (Humphrey Bogart). The Herman Hupfield
song "As Time Goes By" appears as a continuing
musical and emotional motif throughout the film.
Rick and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) regard it as "their
song" and associate it with the days of their love
affair in Paris. Because of their breakup and
Ilsa's marriage to another, Rick has forbidden the
song to be played in his club. When Ilsa appears
in his nightclub she requests it and Sam
acquiesces. Dooley Wilson gives a genial and warm
rendition of the song. The performance is
remembered for itself, as well as for its
cinematic associations. The song makes Rick aware
of Ilsa's presence and her continuing feelings for
him. According to Aljean Harmetz, Variety singled
him out for the effectiveness of the song, and the
Hollywood Reporter said he created "something
joyous." 

In a later scene, Rick sits in a darkened
nightclub, alone except for Sam, drinking heavily
and torturing himself by insisting that Sam
repeatedly play the song, saying "You played it
for her, you can play it for me... If she can
stand it, I can! Play it!" This is the line often
misquoted as "Play it again, Sam!"

In the film, Wilson as Sam performs several other
songs for the cafe audience: "It Had To Be You",
"Shine", and "Knock On Wood".

Wilson was a singer and drummer, but not a
pianist. Sam's piano playing in the film was
actually performed by Elliot Carpenter, who was
placed where Wilson could see and imitate his hand
movements. The only black people on the Casablanca
set, Wilson and Carpenter became and remained
friends. 

In Casablanca, Wilson's acting performance in the
role of Sam was dignified, genuine and convincing,
and is an important emotional element in the film.


==See also==
*Casablanca (movie)
*List of musicals

==References==
*American Musical Theatre: Shows, Songs, and
Stars; (1989) Dwight Blocker Bowers. Smithsonian
Collection of Recordings, Washington, D. C.
*Round Up the Usual Suspects: The Making of
Casablanca—Bogart, Bergman, and World War
II; (1992) Aljean Harmetz, Hyperion, New York

==External Links==
*imdb name|id=0933330|name=Dooley Wilson