Race film actors were sometimes marketed as black counterparts to mainstream actors either for their similar physical appearance or similar roles. Oscar Micheaux did this often, even encouraging Carman Newsome, who at the time was working for Micheaux handling the sales and distribution of his films, to start acting based on his resemblance to Clark Gable.
Interestingly enough Lorenzo Tucker, who was dubbed the Dark Valentino by Micheaux, claimed Valentino was actually darker than him.
Mooncustafer 