Where was "Abe" in new West Side Story? [View all]
I finally saw Spielberg's West Side Story, and in the end credits there's a character named Abe, played by Curtiss Cook. I couldn't place who Abe was, so I looked up the actor to see if I recognized him from the movie. Nope... But I did find a lot of press on how Abe was a new Black character created for this movie; apparently (and I didn't realize this) there were no Black characters -- or even extras? -- in the 1961 film, and Spielberg and Co. noted that that was not representative of 1950s New York City. Anyhow, the articles all mention that the role of Abe is not a re-casting of a Puerto Rican part and it is also apparently not a "small part" like Officer Krupke (which is not an insignificant part). Yet I do not recall any Black characters in the movie, except for background extras, since the story focuses on the whites and the Puerto Ricans. What am I missing? Who/where was "Abe" in this movie?
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