Alexander was born in 1916 in
Denver,
Colorado, or in
Missouri. He grew up in Colorado and was educated at Colorado State College of Education, now the
University of Northern Colorado, and
Chicago State University. In 1941, Alexander relocated to Washington, D.C., where he was employed by the
National Youth Administration. He worked for a
radio program, where his responsibilities involved interviewing African Americans who worked for the
federal government and producing stories about Washington's Black middle class. In 1945, Alexander relocated to New York City, where he established his own production company, Alexander Productions, and founded the Associated Film Producers of Negro Motion Pictures. Alexander produced
musical shorts, such as ''
Jivin' in Bebop (featuring Dizzy Gillespie), Burlesque in Harlem, and Open the Door, Richard (whose theme later became a hit record). He also produced features, including The Fight Never Ends (in which boxer Joe Louis, starring as himself, fought juvenile delinquency), The Highest Tradition, and Rhythm in a Riff'' (which featured
Billy Eckstine). Alexander's
Souls of Sin has been described as the last
race movie made by a Black producer. Alexander moved to London in 1950. Over the next 18 years, he produced a series of highly-praised documentaries concerning the new states
emerging from colonialism in Africa. Many of these films were produced at the request of the African states, and were used to promote the new states abroad. At different times, Alexander served as the official film-maker for
Liberia and
Ethiopia. In 1960, the American
ABC television network broadcast a twelve-part documentary by Alexander concerning the new African states. The 22 African states where Alexander worked during the 1950s and 1960s awarded him various awards. One of Alexander's documentaries,
The Village of Hope, was about a Liberian
leper colony. It was recognized at the 1964
Cannes Film Festival with a
Short Film Palme d'Or. Alexander's
Portrait of Ethiopia was honored with a prize at the 1965
Venice Film Festival.
Wealth in Wood, another of Alexander's documentaries, was given the United Nations Award at the Madrid International Film Festival in 1967. In 1974, Alexander produced
The Klansman, based on the novel by
William Bradford Huie. With a budget of US$4.5 million,
The Klansman was the biggest production of Alexander's career. It starred
O. J. Simpson in his acting debut. Despite its big budget and all-star cast, which included
Richard Burton,
Lola Falana, and
Lee Marvin,
The Klansman was Alexander's least successful film. ==Death==