of the day, Wilson received his contract salary, $350 per week, and Paramount kept the balance. Wilson was cast in the role of Sam, a singer and pianist employed by nightclub owner Rick (Humphrey Bogart). Wilson performs the Herman Hupfeld song "As Time Goes By", a continuing musical and emotional motif throughout the film. According to Aljean Harmetz, Variety singled out Wilson for the effectiveness of the song, and The Hollywood Reporter said he created "something joyous". The phrase "Play it again, Sam", commonly believed to be a quote from the film, is never heard in Casablanca. The line was, "Play it, once, Sam." In the film, Wilson as Sam performs several other songs for the cafe audience: "It Had To Be You", "Shine", "Knock on Wood", "Avalon" and "Parlez-moi d'amour". Wilson was a singer and drummer, but not a pianist. The piano music for the film was played off-screen, either by Elliot Carpenter or Jean Plummer, and dubbed. Later life and career Wilson was cast in the film version of Stormy Weather (1943), as Gabe Tucker, the best friend of Bill Williamson (Bill "Bojangles" Robinson). It was the second all-black cast motion picture made by a major studio in the 1940s, after Cabin in the Sky. Back on Broadway, Wilson played Pompey, an escaped slave, in the musical Bloomer Girl (1944–46). 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. Later, Wilson played the role of Bill Jackson on the television situation comedy Beulah during its 1951–52 season. Wilson was on the executive board of the Negro Actors Guild of America. Death and legacy Wilson died May 30, 1953 of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. He had become ill two years earlier while performing in a New York stage production of Harvey. He is buried at the Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles. He was survived by his wife, Estelle (née Williams). In January 2017, Wilson's hometown of Tyler, Texas dedicated a memorial marker to him on its Half Mile of History. Filmography References External links African-American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors African-American drummers Paramount Pictures contract players 1886 births 1953 deaths Male actors from Texas Musicians from Texas Burials at Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery People from Tyler, Texas 20th-century American male actors Federal Theatre