Westerners, 300 - 1000 + western credits.
Born 1871 - 1935.
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- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Wally West was born on 11 October 1903 in Gough, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Sagebrush Family Trails West (1940), Desert Mesa (1935) and Ambush Valley (1936). He was married to Jean H. Pray and Mary E.. He died on 16 May 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA.(418) - westerns, 31-76.
328 feature westerns.
1903 - 1984, 80.- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Charles Marquis Warren was born on 16 December 1912 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Charles Marquis was a writer and producer, known for Rawhide (1959), Gunsmoke (1955) and Little Big Horn (1951). Charles Marquis was married to MIldred Lindeberg. Charles Marquis died on 11 August 1990 in West Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.1,167 westerns, 49-78.
21 feature westerns.
Streets of Laredo (1949), 1949. Screenplay.
1912-1990, 77.- Herman Hack was born on 15 June 1899 in Panola, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Arizona Trails (1935), The Tia Juana Kid (1935) and Range Riders (1934). He was married to Signe Hack. He died on 19 October 1967 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.(1,049) - westerns, 31-66.
627 feature westerns.
Border Law (1931). 1931.
The Rare Breed (1966). 1966.
1899-1967, 68 - Actor
- Stunts
Jack Tornek was born on 2 January 1887 in Minsk, Russian Empire [now Belarus]. He was an actor, known for A Five Foot Ruler (1917), Bombs and Banknotes (1917) and David Hartman: Counterspy (1955). He died on 18 February 1974 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.(901) - westerns, 20-69.
342 feature westerns.
The Mark of Zorro (1920). 1920.
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969). 1969.
1887-1974, 87. Russian Empire. USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
American leading man famed as the star of one of the longest-running shows in U.S. television history, Gunsmoke (1955). Born of Norwegian heritage (the family name, Aurness, had formerly been Aursness) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Rolf and Ruth Duesler Aurness. His father was a traveling salesman of medical supplies and his mother later became a newspaper columnist. James attended West High School in Minneapolis. Although he appeared in school plays, he had no interest in performing, and dreamed instead of going to sea. After high school, he attended one semester at Beloit College before receiving his draft notice in 1943. He entered the army and trained at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, before shipping out for North Africa. At Casablanca, Arness joined the 3rd Infantry Division in time for the invasion of Anzio. Ten days after the invasion, Arness was severely wounded in the leg and foot by German machine-gun fire. His wounds, which plagued him the rest of his life, resulted in his medical discharge from the army.
While recuperating in a hospital in Clinton, Iowa, Arness was visited by his younger brother Peter (later to gain fame as actor Peter Graves), who suggested he take a radio course at the University of Minnesota. James did so, and a teacher recommended him for a job as an announcer at a Minneapolis radio station. Though seemingly headed for success in radio, he followed a boyhood friend's suggestion and went with the friend to Hollywood to find work as a film extra. Arness studied at the Bliss-Hayden Theatre School under actor Harry Hayden, and while appearing in a play there was spotted by agent Leon Lance. Lance got the actor a role as Loretta Young's brother in The Farmer's Daughter (1947). The director of that film, H.C. Potter, recommended that he drop the "u" from his last name and soon thereafter the actor was officially known as James Arness.
Little work followed this break, and Arness became sort of beach bum, living on the shore at San Onofre and spending his days surfing. He began taking his acting career more seriously when he began to receive fan mail following the release of the Young picture. He appeared in a production of "Candida" at the Pasadena Community Playhouse, and married his leading lady, Virginia Chapman. She pressed him to study acting and to work harder in pursuit of a career, but Arness has been consistent in ascribing his success to luck. He began to act small roles with frequency, often due to his size, and mostly villainous characters. Most notable among these was that of the space alien in The Thing from Another World (1951).
While playing a Greek warrior in a play, Arness was spotted by agent Charles K. Feldman, who represented John Wayne. Feldman introduced Arness to Wayne, who put the self-described 6', 6" actor under personal contract. Arness played several roles over the next few years for and with Wayne, whom he considered a mentor. In 1955, Wayne recommended Arness for the lead role of Matt Dillon in the TV series Gunsmoke (1955). (Contrary to urban legend, Wayne himself was never offered the role.) Arness at first declined, thinking a TV series could derail his growing film career, but Wayne argued for the show, and Arness accepted. His portrayal of stalwart Marshal Dillon became an iconic figure in American television and the series, aired for 20 seasons, is, as of 2008, the longest-running dramatic series in U.S. television history. Arness became world-famous and years later reprized the character in a series of TV movies.
After the surprising cancellation of "Gunsmoke" in 1975, Arness jumped immediately into another successful (though much shorter-lived) Western project, a TV-movie-miniseries-series combination known as "How The West Was Won." A brief modern police drama, McClain's Law (1981), followed, and Arness played his mentor John Wayne's role in Red River (1988), a remake of the Wayne classic.
Following the aforementioned "Gunsmoke" TV movies (the last in 1994, when Arness was 71), Arness basically retired. His marriage to Virginia Chapman ended in divorce in 1960. They had three children, one of whom, Jenny Lee, committed suicide in 1975. Arness subsequently married Janet Surtrees in 1978.(687) - westerns, 48-94.
15 feature westerns.
The Man from Texas (1948). 1948.
Wagon Master (1950). 1950.
Gunsmoke: One Man's Justice (1994). 1994.
1923-2011, 88.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Chick Hannan was born on 24 May 1901 in Iron River, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for Stars Over Arizona (1937), Westbound Stage (1939) and Sing, Cowboy, Sing (1937). He was married to Delia L. Larson, Thecla Hansley and Peggy Taylor. He died on 14 August 1980 in Los Angeles, California, USA.(659) - westerns, 35-70.
302 feature westerns.
Melody Trail (1935). 1935.
The Wild Country (1970). 1970.
1901-1980, 79.- Actor
- Producer
One of the finest teamsters in Hollywood screen history, Osborne handled the reins for horse-drawn coaches and wagons in countless westerns and historical photoplays from the early 20's through late 50's. And with his weathered, rumpled look, his Texas drawl and his nasal twang, he was often called upon to portray a seedy outlaw in any of those same westerns.(643) - westerns, 14-63.
484 feature westerns.
The Sheep Herder (1914). 1914.
Tobe (1963). 1963.
1884-1964, 79.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Character actor Milburn Stone, the beloved "Doc Adams" on TV's long-running western classic Gunsmoke (1955), was born in Kansas on July 5, 1904. Acting must have been in his blood as the nephew of Broadway comedian Fred Stone for Milburn left home as a teenager to find work with touring repertory troupes. Emulating his famous uncle Fred, he appeared in vaudeville as part of a song-and-dance team called "Stone and Strain."
Following a minor appearance on Broadway in "The Jayhawkers," Milburn moved to Los Angeles in 1935 to try his luck in films. He toiled for years in mostly unbilled parts for 'poverty row' Monogram Pictures and a few major studios, apprenticing in a number of background roles as both benign fellows (clerks, reporters, sailors, detectives) and bad guys (convicts, robbers, henchmen) in such films as Ladies Crave Excitement (1935), The Fighting Marines (1935), The Princess Comes Across (1936), Banjo on My Knee (1936) and They Gave Him a Gun (1937)
Out of the blue he would occasionally nab a heroic film lead in films as the crime drama Federal Bullets (1937) and The Judge (1949) or serial thrillers as The Great Alaskan Mystery (1944) and The Master Key (1945), then would invariably go right back to unbilled status in his very next role. One memorable featured part (which was also unbilled) was as debater Stephen A. Douglass in John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln (1939). In addition he played a regular support role as pal/co-pilot "Skeeter Milligan" in the "Tommy Tailspin" airborne film quickies Mystery Plane (1939), Sky Patrol (1939) and Danger Flight (1939).
Other higher visible support roles occurred in such films as the Roy Rogers western Colorado (1940), as well as Captive Wild Woman (1943), The Frozen Ghost (1945), Roadblock (1951), Black Tuesday (1954), Smoke Signal (1955). He also went on to appear in a couple of John Ford's later features such as Simone Bär and The Long Gray Line (1955).
When the crusty but lovable role of "Doc Adams" finally landed at his feet in 1955, Milburn was only too appreciative to experience a steady paycheck. He became an "overnight" star and, along with Matt Dillon's James Arness, earned an Emmy Award for "supporting actor" and stayed a citizen of Dodge City throughout its entire 20-year run (500 episodes). In 1971, Stone was temporarily sidelined by a heart attack and briefly replaced by another "doc" played by Pat Hingle. The ever-durable Stone missed only seven episodes, however, and did return on a more limited basis.
Fully retired to his ranch in 1975 after the show's cancellation, he was eventually awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Mary of the Plains College in (of course) Dodge City, Kansas. Married to Jane Garrison, the 75-year-old veteran died of a heart attack on June 12, 1980 in La Jolla, California. His wife passed away much later in 2002.(630) - westerns, 36-87.
20 feature westerns.
1904-1980, 75.
The Three Mesquiteers (1936). 1936.
When the West Was Fun: A Western Reunion (1979). 1979.- Actor
- Stunts
Frank Ellis was born on 26 February 1897 in Newkirk, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Roll Wagons Roll (1940), Treason (1933) and Elmo the Fearless (1920). He was married to Madonna L. Shelburg, Jessie and Nellie. He died on 23 February 1969 in Saugus, California, USA.(610) -westerns, 21-69.
495 feature westerns.
The Show Down (1921). 1921.
Death of a Gunfighter (1969). 1969.
Stagecoach driver, overland stage driver, ore wagon shotgun rider, buffalo hunter, dairyman, blacksmith, rodeo official, square dancer.
1897-1969, 71- Actress
- Soundtrack
Amanda Blake was born in Buffalo, NY, of English and Scottish descent. She and her parents moved to Claremont, California, while Amanda was still in high school, and she graduated from Claremont High. She enrolled at Pomona College but, due to her avid participation in community and theater productions, she was devoting much more time to acting than her schoolwork. Amanda started on a full acting schedule, doing summer stock in New England. She followed that up with theater and radio acting in Buffalo and then movies in Hollywood. While acting in small theater and stock companies she also painted backdrops and scenery. She was still in her teens when she debuted in MGM"s Stars in My Crown (1950), and her first television role was in Double Exposure (1952). Her most famous role, however, came in 1955, when she starred in the classic western series Gunsmoke (1955) as "Miss Kitty" Russell, the feisty madame and proprietor of Dodge City's Long Branch Saloon opposite James Arness' Marshal Matt Dillon.(576) westerns, 50-90.
3 feature westerns.
Stars in My Crown (1950). 1950.
The Quest (1976). 1976.
Gunsmoke: The Last Apache (1990). 1990.
The Jailer (1966). 1966.
1929-1989, 60.
Actress to 1989,
Nouveau Gypsies (1989). 1989.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
At various times in his life a rancher, deputy sheriff and rodeo performer, this huge, towering (6' 5") beast of a man was born George Glenn Strange in Weed, New Mexico, on August 16, 1899, but grew up a real-life cowboy in Cross Cut, Texas. He taught himself (by ear) the fiddle and guitar at a young age and started performing at local functions as a teen. In the late 1920s, Glenn and his cousin, Taylor McPeters, better known later as the western character actor Cactus Mack, joined a radio singing group known as the "The Arizona Wranglers" that toured throughout the country.
They both started providing singing fillers in film westerns in the early 1930s. Glenn would play extra or bit roles for a number of years B Western and serials. One of his first roles was uncredited as a soldier, in tin armor, as part of "Ming's Army", in the science fiction classic serial "Flash Gordon"(1936/I). He would perform as a cowhand, rustler, accomplice, sidekick, or plain old warbling, harmonica-blowing cowboy. Eventually in the late 30s, his billing improved and he evolved into a full-time bad guy in hundreds of "B" westerns. He was seen (or glimpsed) in many of the popular serials of the day, including The Hurricane Express (1932), Law of the Wild (1934),
The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939), and Riders of Death Valley (1941). It was his massive build that helped him break into the Universal horror picture genre of the 1940s. Horror star Boris Karloff had grown weary and fearful of his Frankenstein Creature typecast and abandoned the role. Glenn was the perfect replacement for the job and made his monstrous debut with House of Frankenstein (1944), quickly followed by House of Dracula (1945). It was he who played the Creature in the cult horror/comedy classic Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) as part of the monstrous trio of Bela Lugosi's Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolf Man.
As the "B" western started faded off into the sunset in the 1950s, Strange moseyed on over to TV work. He played the nemesis "Butch Cavendish" and later reprised the role, after a prison escape, on "The Lone Ranger" (1949). Among other TV roles, he capped off his career with a steady (12 years) role as Sam the bartender on the classic Gunsmoke (1955) series from 1962 until shortly before his death from lung cancer in 1973.(563) westerns, 30-87.
215 feature westerns.
The Mounted Stranger (1930). 1930. Cowhand playing harmonica.
A Game of Death... An Act of Love: Part 1 (1973). 1973.
1899-1973, 74.- Actor
- Stunts
- Soundtrack
Kermit Maynard was born on 20 September 1897 in Vevay, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for The Fighting Texan (1937), Valley of Terror (1937) and Phantom Patrol (1936). He was married to Edith Jessen. He died on 16 January 1971 in North Hollywood, California, USA.(553) - westerns, 27-63.
Wild Horse Rodeo (1937), 1937. Rodeo performer.
277 feature westerns.
1897-1971, 73.- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Herbert James "Jimmy" Noel was born May 15, 1903 in Haverhill Massachusetts, the youngest of four children, and son of Walter and Annie Noel.
After graduating from high school, Noel worked in entertainment as a theater actor, musician, and singer. Proficient on piano, guitar, drums, banjo, and as a singer, he worked briefly for Paul Whitemanin the early 1930's, leaving in 1935. He eventually started his own band, "The Rhythm Boys," (no relation to the group with Bing Crosby), specializing in blues music.
Noel was married at least twice. The first marriage was to to Delories Ziegfield (distantly related to Florenz Ziegfield) in 1933. It ended in divorce after about a year. The second marriage was to Dawn Hope, a theater actress who was the daughter of the well-known and eccentric actress Adele Blood Hope. The marriage ended after 18 months under unusual circumstances, when Dawn Hope took her life following the couple's unexpected visit to a nudist camp (neither of them was a naturalist). Neither marriage produced children.
Around 1936, Noel took a job as a policeman in Chicago, moonlighting as a musician. In 1943, he moved to Los Angeles. His day job is unknown, but he worked in a handful of movies and as a musician until 1952.
The rapid growth of television required many more actors and extras, and the Western genre gained popularity in the early 1950's. The reliable Noel had the natural look of a cowboy, and he found work in such as "Range Rider," "The Gene Autry Show," " Annie Oakley," and "Death Valley Days." When the public's love of Westerns caused a wide proliferation of the genre in the late 1950's, Noel was kept busy as a background player and occasional bit roles. His 140+ appearances on "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" was second only to the show's star Hugh O'Brian, and he worked on most other Westerns of the era, prolifically with those on CBS.
But it was "Gunsmoke" where Noel found steady work. He had 227 appearances on the show. More importantly, his close similarity, from a distance, to costar Milburn Stone (Doc) landed him weekly work on the series as Stone's stand-in and stunt double.
When Gunsmoke went off the air in 1974, and with TV gravitating from the rural/western genres to more reality-based shows, Noel found work much scarcer. His health declined in later years, and he spent the last four years of his life at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, dying on January 31, 1985.(534) -westerns, 44-76.
31 feature westerns.
Stunts, 49-74.
The Big Bonanza (1944). 1944.
Mary Had More Than a Little (1976). 1976.
1903-1985, 81.- A character actor and veteran of hundreds of Hollywood westerns, Tom London seemed to be born in the saddle. As a trick rider he performed riding specialties in a number of films. His career started in the teens and through the 1920s he alternated between good guy and bad. He made appearances in non-westerns such as All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and Platinum Blonde (1931), but westerns were his mainstay. When the "B" western disappeared in the mid-'50s, so did his career. He appeared in only a handful of film for the rest of the decade.(526) - westerns, 15-63.
1915, Lone Larry (1915).
1963, One Day in Vermillion (1963).
371 feature westerns.
1889-1963, 74. - Born in Butte Montana just before the turn of the century, Ethan Laidlaw worked as a steam fitter, bus driver, mechanic, salesman, and policeman, before moving to the Los Angeles in the early 1920's. Laidlaw's tall, lean frame and chiseled features made him a natural for gangster pictures, Westerns, and for any role that required a villain, heavy, or tough guy. While he seldom had a substantial speaking park, he found steady work for almost four decades.
Between the movies and the proliferation of TV Westerns in the 1950's, Laidlaw kept busy from 1925 until his death from a heart attack in 1963. All told, he had almost 450 known appearances in movies, and about 400 on TV. He was one of Hugh O'Brian's regulars on "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp," (which included Jimmy Noel, Buddy Roosevelt, Bill Coontz, and Phil Schumacher), with over 130 appearances on that series alone.
An avid biker, Laidlaw could be seen traveling the countryside on his motorcycle during the few times he wasn't working. Laidlaw lived in the Whitley Hills area of Hollywood, not far from the studios, from the early 1940's until his death.(519) - westerns, 25-63.
204 feature westerns.
1925, No Man's Law (1925).
1963, Bob Wire (1963).
1899-1963, 63. - Stanley Andrews was born on 28 August 1891 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Road to Rio (1947), Superman and the Mole-Men (1951) and Johnny Apollo (1940). He died on 23 June 1969 in Los Angeles, California, USA.(511) - westerns, 35-64.
1935 -A Book of Spanish Grammar (1964).
1964 -Graydon's Charge (1964).
109 feature westerns.
1891-1969, 77. - Actor
- Art Department
Ray Jones was born on 11 November 1898 in Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Flashing Guns (1947), The Vanishing Outpost (1951) and Schlitz Playhouse (1951). He was married to Irene Cole. He died on 27 October 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA.(502) - westerns, 32-62.
1932, The Cowboy Counsellor (1932).
1962, Quint Asper Comes Home (1962).
295 feature westerns.
1900-1975, 75.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Dan Blocker is one of the true television immortals, having played Hoss Cartwright -- the heart and soul of Bonanza (1959) -- for 13 seasons, before his untimely death in 1972 at the age of 43. "Bonanza" was the most popular TV series of the 1960s, ranked #1 for three straight seasons (1964-65 through 1966-67) and spending a then-unprecedented nine seasons in the Top 5. After Blocker's death, "Bonanza" -- still in the Top 20 with Hoss after being #8 the previous year -- didn't last another entire season.
The character of Hoss was conceived as a stereotype: The Gentle Giant. The 6'4", 300 lbs. Blocker filled Hoss's cowboy boots and ten-gallon hat admirably but brought something extra to the role, a warmth and empathy that helped ground the show. Personal accounts of Blocker testify to the fact that the man was gregarious and friendly to everyone. He brought that upbeat personality to the character of Hoss.
Hoss originally had been conceived as dull-witted, but ironically, Blocker's professional acting career was assured after he moved his family to California so he could pursue a PhD at U.C.L.A. A native of West Texas, he reportedly was discovered while making a call in a phone booth while outfitted in Western garb, including a straw cowboy hat, his standard dress being a native son of Texas, soon after arriving in California. Even after being cast in "Bonanza", he intended to complete his PhD, but the great success of the series made that impossible, due to the workload of 30+ episodes per year necessitating a 7AM-9PM work schedule five days a week.
Donny Dany Blocker made his debut on December 10, 1928 in De Kalb, Texas, weighing in at 14 lbs. He reportedly was the biggest baby ever born in Bowie County. By the age of 12, he already was 6' tall and weighed 200 lbs. (Towards the end of "Bonanza", he reportedly had ballooned past his stated weight of 300 to as much as 365 lbs.) A "TV Guide" story after his death reported that back in Texas, the young Dan once lifted a car off of a man after it slid off a jack and pinned him under the auto. "My daddy used to say that I was too big to ride and too little to hitch a wagon to," Blocker said, "no good for a damn thing".
His father, Ora Blocker, a poor Texas farmer, was hurt by the Great Depression that began the year after Dan's birth. Ora Blocker lost the farm and later went into the grocery business. He moved his family to O'Donnell, which is just south of Lubbock, where he ran a grocery store. His "no good" son went to the Texas Military Institute, and in 1946 started his undergraduate work at Hardin-Simmons University (Abilene, Texas), where he played football. It was there he fell in love with acting when he was recruited by a girlfriend to play a role in campus production of Arsenic and Old Lace as they needed a strong man to lift the bodies that the spinster aunts had dispatched up from the cellar.
After graduating in 1950 with a degree in English, Blocker went east where he did repertory work in Boston. A 1960 "TV Guide" article says that he appeared on Broadway in the 1950-51 production of King Lear, which starred Louis Calhern. The draft soon ended his apprenticeship, and he served in the Army in the Korean War, making sergeant. After being demobilized in 1952, he attended attended Sul Ross State Teacher's College (Alpine, Texas), earning a master's degree in dramatic arts. He taught English and drama at a Sonora, Texas high school before moving to Carlsbad, New Mexico, where he taught sixth grade. He then moved his family to California, where he again taught school while preparing for his PhD studies.
Blocker picked up bit parts in television, making his debut as a bartender in The Sheriff of Cochise (1956). His career rise was steady and rapid, and he appeared on many Westerns, including Gunsmoke (1955), Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), The Rifleman (1958), and Maverick (1957). He claimed his turn as Hognose Hughes on "Maverick", the comic Western starring James Garner, was the seminal role of his career. As Hoss, Blocker would often star in light-hearted episodes on "Bonanza". He was cast in the recurring role of "Tiny" Carl Budinger in the short lived Western series, Cimarron City (1958). Its cancellation after one season made him available for "Bonanza", which was "Cimarron City" creator David Dortort's next project. He had previously appeared on Dortort's Western series, The Restless Gun (1957).
"Bonanza" debuted in September 1959, shot in color, and R.C.A. made color TV sets and saw the program as a good advertisement for its wares. The company sponsored the first two seasons of the show, and the sponsorship and R.C.A.'s ownership of N.B.C. was likely why it wasn't cancelled after its shaky first season, when it placed #45 in the ratings for the 1959-60 season. The following year, it cracked the top 20 at #17, but it wasn't until it was shifted to Sundays at 9PM in the 1961-62 season that it became a ratings phenomenon, coming in at #2. It was the first of nine straight seasons in the top 5. Once "Bonanza" was ensconced as America's favorite Western, Blocker and his three co-stars, Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts and Michael Landon were paid an extremely handsome salary that eventually rose to approximately $10,000 per episode each by the time Roberts quit after the sixth season, its first at #1.
Commenting on Roberts' departure, Landon said, "After he left we took one leaf out of the dining room table and we all made more money because we split the take three ways instead of four." Salary, royalties from Bonanza-related merchandise, and business ventures (Blocker started the Bonanza Steak House chain in 1963), and an eventual $1-million payout from NBC to buy out the residual rights of each of the three remaining stars made them all rich. "Bonanza" made Blocker a very wealthy man, but more importantly, it made him a television immortal. The series continues to be re-run in syndication 40 years after Hoss exited the stage.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Edmund Fessenden Cobb, son of William Henry Cobb (1860-1909) and Eddie Ross (1862-1945), was the grandson of Edmund Gibson Ross (1826-1907, Governor of the Territory of New Mexico and the Senator from Kansas credited by many as having cast the deciding vote in the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson).
Edmund F. Cobb's parents ran a photography studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and some photographs of Edmund F. Cobb dressed as a cowboy (one dated December 1911), attired in a Civil War-era soldier's uniform, and standing next to a 1920s/1930s-style automobile are in the photo archive collection at the Museum of New Mexico, Palace of the Governors. Edmund Fessenden Cobb had two sisters, Susan Ross Cobb (1894-1987) and Daphne M. Cobb (1898-1928), and a brother, Wilfred B. Cobb (1901-1982).
A book by Kalton C. Lahue, Winners of the West: Sagebrush Heroes of the Silent Screen (1970), pages 53-58, includes a very brief overview of some of the companies, directors, movies/serials, and types of roles that shaped Edmund's career from 1910 to 1965.
Edmund F. Cobb married first wife, Helen Hayes, daughter of Charles Thomas Hayes and Martha Belle Marshall, on October 26, 1914, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and their daughter, Eddie Marie Cobb (1915-1969), was born in Illinois.
In 1920, Edmund and Helen were living in Denver, Colorado, and listed their occupations as "Actor" and "Actress," in "Motion Pictures." Edmund Cobb and Helen Hayes appeared together in A Rodeo Mixup (1924) and Riders of the Range (1923). Edmund and Helen divorced when their daughter was about 10 or 12 years old, and both remarried.
Helen Marie Hayes married her second husband, Edwin Jackson (1898-1972), on June 14, 1930, in Los Angeles County, California, as his second wife. Helen died about 1932.
Edmund Fessenden Cobb married his second wife, Vivian Marie Winter, daughter of Marshall Banker Winter and Henrietta K. Hollenbeck, on July 24, 1934, in Los Angeles County, California. Vivian Marie Winter was born January 16, 1894, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and died in Woodland Hills, California, at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital, on July 26, 1974.
Edmund Fessenden Cobb died at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital, as well, just twenty days after Vivian, on August 15, 1974.
Note: Edmund Cobb's sister, Susan Ross (Cobb) Beyer, stated that "Eddie" was the correct spelling of their mother's name even though some had suggested "a more feminine version" (Source: The Albuquerque Tribune, issue of March 20, 1974, page B-1, columns 1-4, Accent on Lively Living: Past Comes Alive: Clarence Beyers reminisce--wonder where time went). Several years ago, a curator familiar with the family had indicated that Eddie Ross's name was actually "Edwinna," but the article referencing Eddie's daughter, Susan, seems to argue against that being the case.(450) - westerns, 14-66.
The Bold Frontiersman (1948). 1948. Deputy Pete. Credited.
319 feature westerns.
1892-1974, 82.- Additional Crew
- Actress
Martha Manor was born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She is known for Falcon Crest (1981), Bonanza (1959) and Blondie (1957).(448) westerns, 59-76.
2 feature westerns.
A Rose for Lotta (1959). 1959, stand-in.
The Shootist (1976). 1976, stand-in.
Total credits, 36-98.- "Doc T". as he was known, was a Ph.D., and Professor of Theatre at Michigan State University in the early 1940s, just before World War II. He often spoke about leaving academia and actually trying his hand at the craft he taught. After the war, he got his chance and never looked back.(439) - westerns, 46-70.
64 feature westerns.
1894 - 1974, 79. - Bob Woodward was born on 5 March 1909 in Kiowa, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for The Adventures of Kit Carson (1951), The Range Rider (1951) and The Fighting Texan (1937). He was married to Diana Mack. He died on 7 February 1972 in Granada Hills, California, USA.(422) - westerns, 31-62.
185 feature westerns.
1909 - 1972, 62. - Set Decorator
- Actor
- Writer
Perry Murdock was born on 18 September 1901 in Oklahoma, USA. He was a set decorator and actor, known for A Texas Cowboy (1929), Tombstone Terror (1935) and Captain Careless (1928). He was married to Erma Purviance. He died on 19 April 1988 in Van Nuys, California, USA.(421) - westerns, 29-71.
55 feature westerns.
1901-1988, 86.- Lane Bradford was born on 29 August 1922 in Yonkers, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952), The Invisible Monster (1950) and The Toughest Gun in Tombstone (1958). He was married to Joan Irene Velin and Mary Schrock. He died on 7 June 1973 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.(411) - westerns, 40-72.
115 feature westerns.
1922 - 1973, 50. - After serving in World War I, Roy Barcroft spent most of the 1920s and early 1930s moving from job to job. It was in the 1930s, after he moved to California with his wife, that he found his calling while acting in amateur theatrical productions. In 1937 he was appearing in bit parts in various genres, but by 1938 he was in westerns, where he became a well-known (and memorable) "heavy". Roy would alternate among Monogram, Universal, Columbia and other studios. In 1943, however, he signed an exclusive ten-year contract with Republic Pictures and became the convincing, and tireless, menace to all the good people in the West. He also did more than sneer at the likes of Don 'Red' Barry, Bill Elliot, Sunset Carson and Allan Lane. Roy acted in The Fighting Seabees (1944), which starred John Wayne. He was the Purple Martian in The Purple Monster Strikes (1945) and Capt. Mephisto in Manhunt of Mystery Island (1945), and who can forget his Retik, The Moon Menace. from the classic Radar Men from the Moon (1952)? Roy even played the good-natured marshal in Oklahoma! (1955). It was westerns, though, that were his bread and butter, and he knocked out a lot of them over the years. Outlaws of Cherokee Trail (1941), Riders of the Rio Grande (1943) and Sun Valley Cyclone (1946) were but a few of the "B" westerns Roy turned out. Off-screen, he was known as one of the nicest, kindest and most helpful people anyone would want to meet, with a terrific sense of humor. More than once, many a leading hero type such as Barry or Elliot would find that their hairpieces would mysteriously disappear before they were to put them on prior to shooting. When the era of the "B" westerns started to fade out, Roy's volume of work also slowed. He appeared in a handful of films, but his movie career had stalled by the end of 1957. He moved into the small screen with roles in TV westerns and also a recurring role in the Walt Disney production of The Adventures of Spin and Marty (1955). In the early 1960s he worked in a couple of movies, but his resurgence began in the mid-'60s when he appeared in low-budget films like Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966). Roy would make some better films, such as Texas Across the River (1966) and The Reivers (1969).(409) - westerns, 38-57.
207 feature westerns.
1902-1969, 67. - Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Cowboy actor Buddy Roosevelt was born Kenneth Stanhope Sanderson in Meeker, Colorado, in 1898. His parents were emigrants from England, and at age 16 Kenneth got a job with the C.B. Irwin WIld West Show. When the show traveled to Southern California in 1914, the young Sanderson learned that stunt work in the burgeoning film industry paid much better, and was quite a bit safer, than busting broncs and the kind of roping, trick riding and other hard and dangerous tasks required of a Wild West show performer, and he soon got a job doing stunts in westerns for pioneering producer Thomas H. Ince at his Inceville studio, and often performed as a stunt double for William S. Hart. When the US entered World War I in 1917 Roosevelt enlisted in the Navy and was aboard the USS Norfolk when it was sunk. As if that wasn't enough, he contracted the Spanish flu during the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed millions worldwide, but he managed to survive both the sinking and the flu and returned to Hollywood at war's end.
Going back to stunt work, he was the stunt double for matinee idol Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik (1921), the picture that made Valentino a star. After more stunt work and small parts in a few films, Sanderson was hired by shoestring producer Lester F. Scott Jr. to star in a series of low-budget westerns. Scott didn't think that "Kenneth Sanderson" was enough of a cowboy name so he changed it to Buddy Roosevelt. The newly renamed cowboy actor made Rough Ridin' (1924) for Scott, the first of 25 that Roosevelt would make for him. Budgets for these pictures were usually less than $25,000--a paltry sum even for the early 1920s--but Scott had the sense to hire veteran supporting characters and efficient directors like a young Richard Thorpe (later to become a mainstay at prestigious MGM) and the pictures proved popular and made money. Unfortunately for Roosevelt, however, Scott signed two more cowboy actors, Jay Wilsey and Hal Taliaferro, which meant that the low budgets on Roosevelt's films got even lower.
In 1928 Roosevelt left Scott for another "B" outfit, Rayart Pictures, but the films he made for that company weren't much of an improvement over his Scott opuses (and in many cases were even worse). After a half-dozen of Rayart's "extravaganzas", Roosevelt managed to get a good role in a big picture for a major studio--The Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona (1928) for Fox. As luck would have it, though, Roosevelt broke his leg shortly before filming was to start. He was replaced by Warner Baxter, who went on to win an Academy Award for the part, which started him on a long and distinguished career. Buddy, on the other hand, went back to making "B" (and even lower-grade) horse operas. He signed with cheapjack producer/director Jack Irwin for a trio of oaters that were barely released. Irwin ran out of money on the third of this trio, "Valley of Bad Men"--which was apparently NEVER released--and Roosevelt was once again out of a job. He did some stunt work and got some small parts in small films, and eventually signed with low-rent specialist Victor Adamson (aka Denver Dixon) for a series of extremely low-budget westerns for Adamson's Superior Talking Pictures outfit. Supposedly shot in only a few days on budgets that were so low that Superior could only afford to pay Roosevelt $250 for each one, these films have gained a reputation for incoherence, ineptness and cheapness that few others have achieved, even to this day.
These pictures finished Buddy Roosevelt's career as a "star", but he still remained active in the business, doing stunt work and appearing in small parts and bit roles until he retired after making his last film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), in 1962. He died in his home town of Meeker, Colorado, on October 6, 1973.(399) - westerns, 16-63.
141 feature westerns.
1898 - 1973, 75.- Tex Palmer was born on 31 July 1904 in Xenia, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for The Adventures of Champion (1955), Romance of the Rockies (1937) and The Phantom Stage (1939). He died on 22 March 1982 in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.(389) - westerns, 29-62.
280 feature westerns.
1904 - 1982, 77. - Actor
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
A rather wanderlust fellow before he latched onto acting, Denver Pyle--who made a career of playing drawling, somewhat slow Southern types--was actually born in Colorado in 1920, to a farming family. He attended a university for a time but dropped out to become a drummer. When that didn't pan out he drifted from job to job, doing everything from working the oil fields in Oklahoma to the shrimp boats in Texas. In 1940 he moseyed off to Los Angeles and briefly found employment as a (somewhat unlikely) NBC page. That particular career was interrupted by World War II, and Pyle enlisted in the navy. Wounded in the battle of Guadalcanal, he received a medical discharge in 1943. Working for an aircraft plant in Los Angeles as a riveter, the rangy actor was introduced to the entertainment field after receiving a role in an amateur theater production and getting spotted by a talent scout. Training with such renowned teachers as Maria Ouspenskaya and Michael Chekhov, he made his film debut in The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947). Pyle went on to roles in hundreds of film and TV parts, bringing a touch of Western authenticity to many of his roles. A minor villain or sidekick in the early 1950s, he often received no billing. Prematurely white-haired (a family trait), he became a familiar face on episodes of Gunsmoke (1955) and Bonanza (1959) and also developed a close association with actor John Wayne, appearing in many of Wayne's later films, including The Horse Soldiers (1959), The Alamo (1960), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973). Pyle's more important movie roles came late in his career. One of his most memorable was in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) as Texas Ranger Frank Hamer, the handcuffed hostage of the duo, who spits in Bonnie's (Faye Dunaway) face after she coyly poses with him for a camera shot. He settled easily into hillbilly/mountain men types in his later years and became a household face for his crotchety presence in The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1977) and, especially, The Dukes of Hazzard (1979). He died of lung cancer at age 77.(388) - westerns, 47-94.
72 feature westerns.
1920 - 1997, 77.- Actor
- Stunts
Bob Burns was born on 21 November 1884 in Glendive, Montana, USA. He was an actor, known for Jus' Travlin' (1925), Melting Millions (1927) and Blazing Sixes (1937). He was married to Julia Bearcroft. He died on 14 March 1957 in Burbank, California, USA.(381) westerns, 11-57.
341 feature westerns.
Hoppy's Holiday (1947), 1947.
Square dancer.
Settler dancer, square dancer, dancer at carnival, dancer at party, piano player, rodeo judge, gold guard, rancher, banker. Professor, coroner.
1884-1957, 72.- Actor
- Stunts
Roy Bucko was born on 22 August 1893 in Colusa, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Young Blood (1932). He was married to Rheba. He died on 6 August 1954 in North Hollywood, California, USA.(381) - westerns, 25-54.
364 feature westerns.
1893 - 1954, 60.- John Cason was born on 30 July 1918 in Valley View, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Sunset Carson Rides Again (1948), Cowboy G-Men (1952) and Jungle Drums of Africa (1953). He died on 7 July 1961 in Santa Barbara, California, USA.(378) - westerns, 41-61.
130 feature westerns.
1918 - 1961, 42. - Hank Bell was born on 21 January 1892 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The White Horseman (1921), The Last Straw (1920) and The Scrappin' Kid (1926). He died on 4 February 1950 in Hollywood, California, USA.(377) - westerns. 20-52.
370 feature westerns, 7 shorts.
Red Desert (1949). 1949.
Stagecoach driver, Wagon driver, backboard driver, sleigh driver, band drummer, logger, cowboy.
1892 - 1950, 58. - Actor
- Additional Crew
Perennial film western heavy I. Stanford Jolley could be spotted anywhere and everywhere in dusty "B" fare from 1935 on. Often mustachioed, this freelancing, wideset-eyed, black-hatted villain, who showed up in Hollywood following vaudeville and Broadway experience, could be counted on to give the sagebrush hero a devil of a time before the film's end.
Born on October 24, 1900, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and raised in nearby Morristown, Jolley was nicknamed "Ike" (short for his given name "Isaac") by his parents but "Stan" by his friends. Of French and English descent, his entertainment-minded father, Robert B. Jolley, at one time owned and operated a traveling circus and carnival before becoming a successful restaurateur and opening an electrical contracting service. Jolley worked at his father's electrical store following high school for a time but then drifted around for a few years while searching for a passionate direction in life.
Around the time he married Emily Hacker in 1921, he took an interest in performing and started in vaudeville for both the B.F. Keith and Marcus Loew circuits. He also performed on stage and in stock shows, which led to a role as a blind man on Broadway in "Humoresque" in 1926. His father's death interrupted his acting pursuits, and he returned home to New Jersey in 1929 in order to handle the family's business affairs when the Great Depression brought his father's company to virtual bankruptcy.
In 1935, Jolley took a chance and moved his family (which now included two children) out west in order to reignite his acting career. His raw, sunken-cheeked, cold-eyed features seemed ideal for westerns and he found initial work in the genre in extra parts, wherein he learned how to ride horses on the spot. Although one of his first bits was in the Bette Davis drama Front Page Woman (1935), it wasn't long before he was firmly entrenched in oaters, playing uncredited bits throughout the rest of the 1930s. Slowly but surely he transitioned to featured roles in the WWII era, playing a reliable adversary to such cowboy heroes as Ray Corrigan in Trail of the Silver Spurs (1941) and Boot Hill Bandits (1942); Tom Keene in Arizona Roundup (1942); George Houston in Border Roundup (1942) and Outlaws of Boulder Pass (1942); Robert Livingston in Death Rides the Plains (1943) and Wolves of the Range (1943); Russell Hayden in Frontier Law (1943); Buster Crabbe in the western serial Blazing Frontier (1943), The Kid Rides Again (1943), and Lightning Raiders (1945)_; Dave O'Brien in Return of the Rangers (1943) and Outlaw Roundup (1944); and Tex Ritter in Oklahoma Raiders (1944), Gangsters of the Frontier (1944), and The Whispering Skull (1944).
Jolley's array of gunslingers, henchmen, and outlaws continued into the postwar years, but he wasn't completely confined to westerns. He also made appearances in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) starring Errol Flynn and Bette Davis, The Ape (1940) with Boris Karloff (in which Jolley's little boy Stan Jolley appeared as an extra in a soda shop), Corregidor (1943) with Otto Kruger, the serial Batman (1943), Charlie Chan in the Chinese Cat (1944) with Sidney Toler, The Desert Hawk (1944) with Gilbert Roland, The Crimson Ghost (1946), the serials King of the Rocket Men (1949) and Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951), Joan of Arc (1948) with Ingrid Bergman, and Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) with John Wayne.
Come the 1950s, however, Jolley was almost completely confined in films and on TV to the western genre. On the small screen he became a familiar nemesis to "The Lone Ranger" and also played guest villain to "Annie Oakley," "Hopalong Cassidy, "The Cisco Kid," "Kit Carson," "Cheyenne" and "Daniel Boone". Jolley's baritone voice was also used on radio for such shows as The Lux Radio Theatre. He continued to act past age 70, including in his last film, Night of the Lepus (1972), directed partly by his son Stan Jolley, who also became an Oscar-nominated art director.
The heavy-smoking character actor was diagnosed with emphysema in his final years and died of the respiratory illness on December 6, 1978, at the Motion Picture and TV Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.(377) - westerns, 36-76.
166 feature westerns.
1900 - 1978, 78.- Actor
- Stunts
Art Dillard was born on 20 February 1907 in Fort Bend County, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Leadville Gunslinger (1952), Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951) and Wild Horse Rodeo (1937). He was married to Ann. He died on 30 March 1960 in Van Nuys, California, USA.(372) - westerns, 32-66.
296 feature westerns.
1907 - 1960, 53.- American character actor specializing in villainous roles. Born in White Plains, New York to Herman E. and Franceska Lauter, he was raised in Denver, Colorado. Although it has been suggested that he appeared briefly in a couple of films during the Thirties, his real movie career began in 1946. He came to be a familiar presence in low-budget films, serials, and television programs in the 1950s, though he only once really came close to stardom, as one of the leads in the television series Tales of the Texas Rangers (1955). Most of his career was spent as a serviceable second lead or heavy, though he continued to play bit parts in larger pictures. The son of an artist, he devoted much of his energy late in life to his own painting and running an art gallery. He died in 1990.(372) - westerns, 49-79.
51 feature westerns.
1914 - 1990, 76. - Actor
- Stunts
George Sowards was born on 27 November 1888 in Denver, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Outlawed (1921), Back Fire (1922) and Borrowed Trouble (1948). He was married to Edna E. Zilke. He died on 20 December 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA.(368) - westerns, 21-66.
197 feature westerns.
1888-1975, 87.- Actor
- Music Department
- Stunts
A cousin of cowboy actors Rex Allen and Glenn Strange, Taylor Curtis McPeters was the oldest son born to John and Leona Byrd McPeters in Weed (Otero County), New Mexico, USA on August 8, 1899. He was the second of eleven children. Glenn Strange's mother was Leona's sister. Rex Allen was 21 years McPeters junior on his father's side. McPeters and Strange learned ranching in Coke,Texas, USA before their families moved to Willcox (Cochise County), Arizona, USA. McPeters married Etta Sarah Jessee on July 4, 1922 in Tombstone, Arizona, USA. Cactus Mack was a talented musician. He played violin with Ray Whitley's "Six Bar Cowboys" and guitar with Fred Scott's "The Cimarron Cowboys". He later played villain roles in many westerns, along with other character parts. Injured during his final appearance on Gunsmoke, he required abdominal surgery in late 1961. As he was filming his closeups on location for The Ugly American with Marlon Brando, he died of a heart attack on April 17, 1962 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Actor
- Stunts
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Veteran stuntman and stunt coordinator Henry Wills was born on a cattle ranch in Arizona in 1921. After graduating high school he headed to Hollywood, and was soon working as an extra, mainly in westerns. He picked up some extra money doing stunt work, and soon began to concentrate on that field. He gained a reputation as one of the best horsemen in the business, specializing in horse falls--he's estimated to have done over 1400 of them in his career--transfers from horses to wagons and stagecoaches, and bulldogging (jumping off his horse to take down a rider on another horse), etc. His first job as a full-fledged Stunt Coordinator was on The Magnificent Seven (1960), and he became a Second-Unit Director on Major Dundee (1965). He worked on many of the top TV westerns, and was stunt coordinator and Second Unit Director on the hit series The High Chaparral (1967). He died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, CA, in 1994.(366) - westerns, 37-83.
191 feature westerns.
1914 - 1990, 76.- George Morrell was born on 10 April 1871 in California, USA. He was an actor, known for Custer's Last Stand (1936), Gold Fever (1952) and The Utah Kid (1944). He was married to Rosalie. He died on 28 April 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA.(365) - westerns, 29-52.
358 feature westerns.
1871-1955, 84. - Stunts
- Actor
- Producer
Stuntman and actor Whitey Hughes was born on November 9, 1920 in Arkoma, Oklahoma. Whitey was raised on a farm where he learned how to plow and drive teams as well as ride and break horses with his father. Hughes moved with his family to California at age sixteen in 1936 and graduated from Fremont High School in Los Angeles. An accomplished livestock teamster due to his farm upbringing, Whitey found his way into the film business as a full-fledged Screen Actors Guild member in 1947. Hughes worked profusely as an actor, stuntman, and stunt coordinator on an enormous volume of movies and television programs in a career that spanned six decades altogether. Whitey died in his sleep at age 88 on July 7, 2009 in Somerton, Arizona.(365) - westerns, 46-90.
76 feature westerns.
1920-2009, 88.- Actor
- Stunts
Phil Schumacher was born on 7 November 1909 in St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for Coroner Creek (1948), The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1956) and Death Valley Days (1952). He died on 19 January 1975 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.(355) - westerns, 41-70.
72 feature westerns.
1909 - 1975, 65.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Considering the kind of scruffy, backwoods, uneducated, Deep-South hillbilly types he played, many people would be surprised to hear that Ken Curtis wasn't actually born in the south but in the small town of Las Animas, Colorado, the son of the town sheriff. They would probably be even more surprised to learn that he began his show business career as a singer in the big-band era, and was a vocalist in the legendary Tommy Dorsey orchestra. He entered films in the late 1940s at the tail-end of the singing-cowboy period in a series of low-budget Westerns for Columbia Pictures. When that genre died out, Curtis turned to straight dramatic and comedy parts and became a regular in the films of director John Ford (who was his father-in-law). Curtis branched out into film production in the 1950s with two extremely low-budget monster films, The Killer Shrews (1959) and The Giant Gila Monster (1959), but he is best known for his long-running role as Festus Hagen, the scruffy, cantankerous deputy in the long-running TV series Gunsmoke (1955).* 51 years of westerns.
(355) - westerns, 40-91.
25 feature westerns.
1916-1991, 74.
From,
Santa Fe Trail (1940). 1940, uncredited. Officer singing at celebration.
#1. Rhythm Round-Up (1945). 1945, credited.
To,
#5. Conagher (1991). 1991. Cattle rancher.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Paul Brinegar was born on 19 December 1917 in Tucumcari, New Mexico, USA. He was an actor, known for High Plains Drifter (1973), Rawhide (1959) and Maverick (1994). He was married to Shirley Talbott. He died on 27 March 1995 in Los Angeles, California, USA.(354) - westerns, 46-94.
13 feature westerns.
Abilene Town (1946). 1946.
Maverick (1994). 1994.
1917-1995, 77.- Actor
- Writer
American actor and occasional screenwriter. One of the most frequently seen heavies in films and television programs of the 1950s, his name is nevertheless well known only to buffs. Occasionally he played minor leads and sympathetic characters, but his stern good looks and rich deep voice made him a memorable villain, particularly in Westerns.(353) - westerns, 48-75.
81 feature westerns.
1923 - 2005, 82.- Harvey had a musical background and began his entertainment career in 1918 with "Gus Hill's Honey Boy Minstrels." From there he went on to appear in various minstrel and burlesque shows. This led to many roles in Broadway shows. He went to Hollywood in 1934 and had a career spanning almost fifty years, mostly in small character parts. He was a regular on The Roy Rogers Show (1951) on television, appearing as Sheriff Blodgett.(352) - westerns, 32-74.
92 feature westerns.
1901 - 1985, 84. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Al Haskell was born on 4 December 1886 in Watsonville, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Terror of the Plains (1934), The Fiddlin' Buckaroo (1933) and The Voice from the Sky (1929). He died on 6 January 1969 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Stunts
- Producer
Jack Perrin was born in Three Rivers, MI, on July 25, 1896. His father, a real estate investor, had an eye on the burgeoning prospects in Los Angeles and moved his family there when Perrin was about four. Jack literally grew up witnessing the birth of the film industry, which exploded there in 1913, after Universal and Famous Players (later known as Paramount) moved out in an attempt to escape Thomas Edison's patent war. Perrin entered films in 1915, reportedly with Mack Sennett (these details are in dispute), before enlisting in the Navy in World War I. Discharged in 1919, he returned to Hollywood and landed a contract with Universal, which lasted until 1921. He was cut loose from what was then the largest studio in the world and made the rapid descent into the world of low-budget westerns by outfits like Rayart (later to become Monogram), Aywon and Arrow Pictures. During this period he would work for companies at the very bottom of the Hollywood food chain, headed by ultra-low-budget specialists like Harry S. Webb and the legendary cheapskate Robert J. Horner.
By the latter part of the 1920s Perrin's fortunes rose to the point where he returned to Universal for a series of Canadian Mountie adventure pictures (on a personal level, he met and married Universal star Josephine Hill in 1920 and the marriage would last until 1937). Although he seemed to possess all the assets necessary for cowboy stardom, fate would not be particularly kind to Jack Perrin. At the beginning of the "talkie" period he left Universal and went back to working for the likes of Webb and Horner again. Things got so bad that in the mid-'30s he wound up having to sue Horner in order to get paid for appearing in several of Horner's films (he won). The quality of these productions was, to be charitable, dismal and Jack's popularity correspondingly suffered. He bowed out as a leading man under an ostensible partnership with veteran low-budget producer William Berke in 1936.(346) - westerns, 19-62.
157 feature westerns.
1896-1967, 71.- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Cap Somers was a bit actor and stuntman. He came to be known as Cap after returning from France during WWI as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. As a child who grew up around the New Jersey fisheries, he was nicknamed "Fimp" for his lispy pronunciation of shrimp. Fredrick was a descendant of the Somers Family of Somers Point, New Jersey, near Atlantic City. He was a hometown hero athlete and lifeguard who excelled in baseball, football, and basketball. He played professional baseball with the New York Giants in 1914. He was a scout for Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics. He did sports reporting for the New York Times in 1926. His prosperity earned in the real estate and insurance business crashed in 1929. In 1930 a late night brawl with a friend result in his friend's death. Somers was cleared of charges. Somers headed to the west coast in 1931. In addition to his many small roles in film, Somers was declared the "Bravest Man in Hollywood" in 1940 as the result of his work, "Follow the Arrow." In this MGM short, archer Pete Smith attempted to hit an apple on Somers' head at a distance of fifty feet. Somers died on September 18, 1970 in Los Angeles from a heart attack and stroke, leaving a daughter from his first marriage, Evelyn S. Offutt.(345) - westerns, 37-71.
113 feature westerns.
1893-1970, 77.- Stunts
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cliff Lyons was an American actor, stuntman and second-unit director, primarily of Westerns, particularly the films of John Ford and John Wayne.
Lyons, the son of Garrett Thomas Lyons and Wilhamena Johnson Lyons, was raised on a South Dakota farm, though his family lived for a time in Memphis, TN, where he attended business school. An expert horseman, he gave up the notion of a business career and opted for the rodeo arena instead, touring the country and eventually reaching Los Angeles at the age of 21. With accomplished cowboys in great demand, Lyons quickly became involved in movies, working both as a stuntman and actor. After only a couple of bit parts, he was signed by low-budget producer Bud Barsky to do seven inexpensive Westerns directed by Paul Hurst, with Lyons and Al Hoxie alternating as the hero and the heavy. Lyons and Hoxie alternated in another Western series produced by Morris R. Schlank, and, as Cliff "Tex" Lyons, he seemed headed for minor stardom as a B-Western lead.
Unfortunately, Lyons' voice was not well-suited for sound and the talkie revolution confined him to small roles. As his small shot at stardom faded, however, his career as a stunt double for stars big and small was on the rise. He doubled such cowboy stars as Tom Mix, Ken Maynard, Buck Jones and Johnny Mack Brown. In 1936 he worked with John Wayne for the first and struck up a personal and business relationship that would remain strong for three decades. Wayne was influential in getting Lyons his first work as a second-unit director and in introducing Lyons to John Ford, for whom Lyons would do some of his finest work. Lyons' reputation as a stunt coordinator is comparable to that of acknowledged master Yakima Canutt, with whom Lyons partnered on numerous occasions. Perhaps Lyons' most impressive work was the massive and dynamic battle sequences of Wayne's The Alamo (1960).
He was married from 1938-55 to actress Beth Marion, with whom he had two sons. Cliff Lyons died in 1974 at 72, not long after coordinating stunts for Wayne's The Train Robbers (1973).(342) - westerns, 24-73.
339 feature westerns.
312 stunts.
1901 - 1974, 72.- Production Manager
- Producer
- Director
Armand Schaefer was born on 5 August 1898 in Tavistock, Ontario, Canada. He was a production manager and producer, known for Burn 'Em Up Barnes (1934), The Three Musketeers (1933) and The Hurricane Express (1932). He was married to Audrey. He died on 26 September 1967 in Mono County, California, USA.(338) westerns, 31-57.
73 feature westerns.
tt0022078/combined, 1931.
Credits: Production manager, producer, director, writer.
1898-1967, 69, Canada. USA.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Someday a clever producer will tell the story of Hollywood's "Poverty Row" of the 1920s-'40s (although Hearts of the West (1975) was a valiant effort, it left a lot to be desired), which was centered on Gower Street. So many fly-by-night production companies--which cranked out mostly westerns, because they were so cheap to shoot--were headquartered there that the area became known as "Gower Gulch." Such a story would have to include Victor Adamson, a man whose unique, if inept, cinematic vision rivaled that of schlockmeister icons Dwain Esper, Robert J. Horner and later, the King of the Hollywood hacks himself, Edward D. Wood Jr..
Although he was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1890, Adamson's family moved to New Zealand when he was very young, and he was raised there. He returned to the USA around 1916 or 1917, and attempted to break into the burgeoning film business in Hollywood, California. He had been a champion horse rider and roper while living on a ranch in New Zealand and thought he was ripe for stardom in westerns. He brought with him a small film he had made in New Zealand and, astonishingly enough, actually managed to find a company willing to release it. After landing a few uncredited small parts in a few small silent movies in 1920s, Adamson decided that the best road to stardom was one he would make himself, so he began to produce, direct, and star in his own films, using the name "Art Mix." (and later under the name "Denver Dixon"). Here's where it gets really confusing: for reasons known only to himself he decided to have an actor named George Kesterson also play the Art Mix character and, in an even more confusing turn of events, once hired a rodeo champion named Bob Roberts to also play "Art Mix." Cowboy superstar Tom Mix eventually filed a copyright infringement suit against Adamson because of his use of the Mix name. In a move that could only happen in Hollywood, Adamson got around that by finding a man whose real name actually was Art Mix and hiring him to play the character--so at one point there were four different men playing a cowboy named Art Mix! Kesterson and Adamson eventually parted ways, but Kesterson used the Art Mix name, despite Adamson's efforts to stop him, for the remainder of his career.
It didn't really matter that much who played "Art Mix," though, as Adamson's films, all low-budget in the extreme with a reputation for laugh-inducing incompetence, were released via the states rights system--in which regional distributors bought the prints outright and kept them in circulation for as long as they could remain spliced together--which meant that not a whole lot of people wound up seeing them anyway. Even the most die-hard western fan had trouble sitting through an Art Mix feature on the bottom half of a Saturday-afternoon matinee. Most of his sound movie productions in the 1930s were filmed in only two or three days with low budgets of $2,000 or so, featuring actors who had trouble remembering their lines, misspelled title cards, headache-inducing editing, a near total lack of understanding of sound, and very often the use of an impaired (visually or otherwise) cinematographer (i.e., his $2,500 out-of-focus extravaganza, Range Riders (1934), in which the cameraman's competence apparently wasn't as important as his willingness to work for next to nothing).
Adamson (working under his pseudonym 'Denver Dixon') continued to produce, direct, and star in his own bottom-of-the-barrel westerns and appeared in small roles in oaters made by others until the late 1930s, when he decided to concentrate his career mainly on writing and acting, confining his roles to small parts in the innumerable B westerns being churned out in Hollywood at the time. He continued acting in small roles in various films and television shows until his death in 1972 from a heart attack at age 82.
His son, director/producer Al Adamson, kept his legacy as well as the family name and reputation alive in the low-budget film market by grinding out micro-budgeted westerns, hilariously inept horror films and vapid softcore sex comedies for decades--he even managed to cash in on the blaxploitation craze of the '70s with a couple of clunkers--until his murder, by a building contractor with whom he was having a legal dispute, in 1995.(337) - westerns, 22-69.
239 feature westerns.
1890-1972, 82. New Zealand. California.- If there was a stage that needed to be driven, a wagon that needed to be rolled, or a posse scene that needed riders Jimmie Booth got a call.
Born on a farm Jimmie learned how to ride a horse at a young age and after serving two years in the Army Air Corp he traveled with a Wild West Circus Show for two years. Meanwhile Jimmie became acquainted with many of the cowboys and horsemen in the Newhall area who worked in the motion picture industry. Through these connections he was able to become a member of the Screen Extras Guild.
By the late 1950s the television western flourished and he found lots of work in posse scenes, bar scenes, and driving stages all the way through the 1980s working in pretty much any television western and most western movies you can think of.
But like most actors, these jobs only paid part of the bills but there were other jobs that required his skill set. In the 1950's, when the Santa Anita and Hollywood Park horse-racing tracks used draft horses to pull the starting gate, Jimmie drove that team of four Belgians. He also drove the fancy carriage pulled by the team of four high stepping Hackney's which transported the judges to and from their posts.
In 1955 Jimmie was hired at Disneyland to drive the horse-drawn vehicles on Main Street. On Disneyland's opening day he drove the first horse-drawn street car down Main Street to "open the show."
When he retired from the movies he wasn't done yet, because of his unique skill set he was able to drive stagecoaches in parades for Wells Fargo for the next 13 years.(331) - westerns, 52-90.
36 feature westerns.
The Burning Sky (1958). 1958. Stage driver. Uncredited.
1925 - - Actor
- Stunts
Artie Ortego was born on 9 February 1890 in San Jose, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Valley of Bravery (1926), The Great Secret (1917) and American Aristocracy (1916). He was married to Billie Mack and Marie Manley. He died on 24 July 1960 in Burbank, California, USA.(330) - westerns, 12-60.
259 feature westerns.
1890 - 1960. 70.- Actor
- Stunts
- Production Manager
Actor and stuntman Terry Wilson was born on September 3, 1923 in Huntington Park, California. A football star during his high school days, Wilson originally planned on becoming a veterinarian and attended California Polytechnic School on a football scholarship. Terry enlisted and served in the Marine Corps from 1943 to 1946. Following his tour of duty, Wilson was chosen by Warner Brothers from amongst a group of athletes to be trained for the stunt profession with his initial specialties being fistfights and work with horses. Among the notable actors that Terry doubled are John Wayne, Ward Bond, and Forrest Tucker. Terry's career as both an actor and stuntman in Westerns spanned several decades. Outside of his work in film and television, Wilson and his fellow stuntman friend Frank McGrath were big hits together on the rodeo circuit (they also appeared at many prison rodeos). Moreover, Terry in the wake of retiring from the film business went on to run a location ranch in Simi Valley, California and was the vice president of a construction firm in Southern California. Wilson died at age 75 on March 30, 1999. He was survived by his wife Mary Ann Wilson and three children.(327) - westerns, 47-79.
32 feature westerns.
1923 - 1999, 75.- Director
- Actor
- Producer
American actor-director-writer-producer Gilbert M. Anderson, father of the movie cowboy and the first Western star, was born Maxwell Henry Aronson in Little Rock, Arkansas. His parents, Esther (Ash) and Henry Aronson, were from New York. His father was from a German Jewish family, and his mother was the daughter of Russian Jewish parents. He had worked as a photographer's model and newspaper vendor before drifting into acting. He performed in vaudeville before joining forces with Edwin S. Porter as an actor and occasional script collaborator. In Porter's startling early film The Great Train Robbery (1903), Anderson played several roles (among them, the train passenger shot by bandits as he tries to escape). The success of that film prompted Anderson to begin writing, directing and starring in his own series of Westerns. In 1907 he and George K. Spoor founded Essanay Film Manufacturing Co., destined to be one of the predominant early film studios. Anderson gained enormous popularity in hundreds of Western shorts, playing the first real cowboy hero, "Broncho Billy." Writing and directing most of the films, Anderson also found time to direct a series of "Alkali Ike" comedy Westerns starring Augustus Carney. In 1916 Anderson sold his ownership in Essanay and retired from acting. He returned to New York and bought the Longacre Theatre and produced plays there, though not achieving the same kind of success he enjoyed in films. He made a brief comeback as a producer with a series of shorts starring Stan Laurel for Metro Pictures. However, a series of conflicts with the studio led him retire again after 1920. He continued to produce films as owner of Progressive Pictures into the 1950s. In his 70s, he came out of retirement for a cameo role in The Bounty Killer (1965). He had been presented with an honorary Oscar in 1957 as a "motion picture pioneer, for his contributions to the development of motion pictures as entertainment." Anderson died in 1971 at the age of 90.(326) westerns, 1903-1965.
Broncho Billy's Protégé (1915). 1915.
1880-1971, 90.
1219 credits, 1903-1965,
469 director,
349 actor,
245 producer,
235 writer,
21 additional credits.- American cowboy and actor Slim Whitaker was working the rodeo circuit at age 17, eventually becoming a cowhand on the Chowchilla Ranch in central California. In 1912 he was hired as a riding extra and stunt man by Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson for westerns being filmed in Niles Canyon, CA. During the silent era his peers were Hal Taliaferro, Al Bridge, Charles King, Ken Maynard, Yakima Canutt, Walter Brennan, Hoot Gibson, a very young John Wayne and many others. He was one of the most prolific of the B-western bad guys and supporting actors. His movie career spanned 36 years, from the silents through the post-World War II period, and he appeared in over 300 films.(325) - westerns, 14-49.
321 feature westerns.
1893 - 1960, 66. - Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Jack Kirk was born on 19 February 1895 in Nickerson, Kansas, USA. He was an actor, known for Zorro's Black Whip (1944), Stormy (1935) and The Topeka Terror (1945). He was married to Ethel Mason. He died on 13 September 1948 in Ketchikan, Alaska, USA.(324) - westerns, 26-54.
319 feature westerns.
1885 - 1948, 63.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Ben Corbett was born on 6 February 1892 in Hudson, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Code of the Cactus (1939), 45 Calibre Echo (1932) and Six-Gun Trail (1938). He was married to Edna May Haynes and Helen. He died on 19 May 1961 in Woodland Hills, California, USA.(323) - westerns, 15-56.
272 feature westerns.
1892 - 1961, 69.- Minor American character actor Forrest Taylor was a veteran of the stage by the time he started appearing as a silent lead in both short and feature-length films. He went on to appear in hundreds of secondary "B" movies, although his name does not appear in a large percentage of them. Taylor was born Edwin Forrest Taylor in Bloomington, Illinois, in 1883. Little is known about his early days on stage but he assayed prime roles in such films as In the Sunset Country (1915), April (1916), True Nobility (1916) and The Abandonment (1916) before World War I service intervened. With his leading-man career fatally interrupted, he would not return to films until a decade later in 1926. Playing a few strong supports, he regressed quickly to atmospheric bits primarily in westerns and cliffhangers. With a no-nonsense attitude and imposingly thick mustache, his attorneys, judges, scientists, executives and professors were for the most part scarcely acknowledged, so when he did receive a bit more screen time than usual he pounced on the opportunity, such as he got in John Wayne's programmer Riders of Destiny (1933) where he played a sagebrush villain; the serial Shadow of Chinatown (1936) as a Chief of Police; and The Oregon Trail (1939) as a nemesis to hero Johnny Mack Brown. Taylor also managed some deliciously hammy roles in a few popular serials including The Green Archer (1940), The Spider Returns (1941) and The Iron Claw (1941). On-camera for nearly five decades, he extended himself into TV programming in the 1950s, taking part in various TV westerns including episodes of Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951), Annie Oakley (1954), The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955), Maverick (1957) and My Friend Flicka (1955), not to mention both Gene Autry's and Roy Rogers' weekly shows. He was an occasional player on the series The Cisco Kid (1950) from 1950 on, and from 1952-1954 had one of his more visible roles as Grandpa Fisher on the religious TV series This Is the Life (1952). Broaching the age of 80, Taylor finally retired in 1962 after filming an episode of Bonanza (1959) and died three years later of natural causes in Garden Grove, California.(322) - westerns, 15-62.
221 feature westerns. - Actor
- Writer
Paul Fix, the well-known movie and TV character actor who played "Marshal Micah Torrance" on the TV series The Rifleman (1958), was born Peter Paul Fix on March 13, 1901 in Dobbs Ferry, New York to brew-master Wilhelm Fix and his wife, the former Louise C. Walz. His mother and father were German immigrants who had left their Black Forest home and arrived in New York City in the 1870s. (The name "Fix" is of Latin/Germanic origin, and is derived from St. Vitus and means "animated" or "vital").
Besides Peter Paul, the Fix family consisted of two girls and three boys, the youngest of whom was six years older than the future actor. Peter Paul's childhood was a happy one. He and his family lived on the 200-acre property on which the Manilla Anchor Brewery, where his father was brew-master, was situated. Such was the importance of the senior Fix to the brewery that when he died at the age of 62 on the eve of America's entry into the First World War (two years after his 54-year old wife had died), the brewery closed.
The orphaned Peter Paul, who kept to himself a lot and had a vivid imagination, was sent to live with his married sisters, first one who lived nearby in Yonkers, and then to another in Zanesville, Ohio. The just-turned-17-year-old Peter Paul Fix joined the U.S. Navy on March 12, 1918, and spent his state-side service time during World War I in Newport, Rhode Island and Charleston, South Carolina. He first tread the boards as an actor while a sailor stationed in Newport, when the baby-faced salt (who looked much younger than his age) was one of six gobs chosen to play female roles in the Navy Relief Show "HMS Pinafore". The Navy staging of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta was a big hit and chalked up a run of several weeks in Providence and Boston.
Fix was assigned as an able-bodied seaman to the troopship U.S.S. Mount Vernon, which was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of France but did not sink as it was run aground. The rest of Fix's naval career was less exciting, and he was demobilized on September 5, 1919. After his discharge, Fix went back to his girlfriend Frances (Taddy) Harvey, whom he had left behind in Zanesville. He and Taddy were married in 1922 and they moved to California as Fix had always wanted to live in a warm climate.
Fix and his bride settled in Hollywood, not so much because he had set ideas about becoming an actor but because he didn't know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He liked writing and acting in local plays, and soon became friends with the fellow tyro actor Clark Gable, who was his own age. Fix and Gable were discovered by the stage actress Pauline Frederick, who hired them to be members of her touring troupe that traveled by train the length of the West Coast putting on plays. In all, Fix - who had informally renamed himself Paul Peter - appeared in 20 plays with Gable.
Paul Fix had one of his earliest acting roles on celluloid in the mid-1920s, appearing in a silent Western starring William S. Hart. The Western genre eventually would become the one he was most identified with. He played uncredited bit parts and small roles in silents before getting his first credited role in an early talkie (which was part-silent and part-talking), The First Kiss (1928), which starred future Hollywood superstar Gary Cooper and the dame that drove King Kong ape, Fay Wray. In all, Fix appeared in 300-400 films. The Western programmers of the silent and early talkie days could be shot in less than a week.
In 1925, Taddy gave birth to their daughter Marilyn Carey, who eventually would marry Harry Carey Jr., the son of one of the first great Western superstars. They would have three more children and become part of the extended family gathered around the director John Ford. In his career, Paul Fix would appear with another Western legend, John Wayne, in 26 films, starting in 1931 with Three Girls Lost (1931). Urged on by Loretta Young, Fix became an acting coach for the young actor, and Wayne later paid him back when he became a star by having Fix appear in his movies. (The Duke also was a part of the close-knit group that collected around John Ford). With the Duke's patronage, the kinds of roles that Fix played changed. He had been typed as villains in the 1930s but, in the 40s, he began assaying a better class of character.
Paul Fix was also a screenwriter, and is credited as the writer on three films: Tall in the Saddle (1944), Ring of Fear (1954) and The Notorious Mr. Monks (1958). His favorites parts included playing the stricken passenger in the John Wayne picture The High and the Mighty (1954), Elizabeth Taylor's father in George Stevens' classic Giant (1956), the grandfather of the eponymous The Bad Seed (1956) and the judge in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). His last screen appearance was in the Brooke Shields movie Wanda Nevada (1979), but he is most famous for appearing in the recurring role of "Marshal Micah Torrance" in the popular Western TV series The Rifleman (1958). As of 1981, the 80-year old Fix was still getting mail from all over the world from "Rifleman" fans.
Paul Fix died October 14, 1983 of kidney failure. He was survived by his daughter Marilyn Carey and son-in-law Harry "Dobe" Carey, three grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.* 53 years of westerns.
(320) - westerns, 26-79.
76 feature westerns.
1901-1983, 82.
#4. Hoodoo Ranch (1926). 1926.
To,
#7. Wanda Nevada (1979). 1979, 78 years old.- Producer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Jules V. Levy, Arthur Gardner and Arnold Laven met in 1943 in the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Force; they were stationed at the Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, CA (with other notables such as Capt. Ronald Reagan, Capt. Clark Gable and Lt. William Holden, etc.), making training films. Levy, Gardner and Laven resolved that they would start their own independent motion picture company after they got out of the Air Force; all were discharged in 1945, but their company wasn't formed until 1951 (in the interim, Levy and Laven worked as script supervisors and Gardner as an assistant director and production manager). The first Levy-Gardner-Laven film was 1952's Without Warning! (1952); in the decades since, they have produced dozens of additional features and several TV series (including The Rifleman (1958), Law of the Plainsman (1959), The Detectives (1959) and The Big Valley (1965).- Jim Corey was born on 22 March 1889 in Buffalo, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The Border Legion (1924), Gold Mine in the Sky (1938) and The Lost Jungle (1934). He was married to Sylvia Frey. He died on 26 March 1950 in Burbank, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
George Chesebro was an American character actor who, after a few leading roles in silent films, became an omnipresent bit player in "B" westerns. A native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Chesebro became involved in traveling stock theater productions before the age of 20, and by 1911 was a seasoned performer. He played in a musical spectacular that toured Asia for two years, then returned to America and played in stock and vaudeville. Moving to Los Angeles in 1915, Chesebro began to supplement his vaudeville career with movie work and quickly began moving up the ladder of film success. World War I interrupted his work (sources differ as to whether he served in the US Navy or US Army). Following the war he resumed his movie career, starring in several popular serials. His popularity and the size of his roles waned during the 1920s, and with the arrival of talkies he was most often seen as heavies, henchmen and cops in a huge number of westerns and crime dramas, most of them low-budget. He became a fixture in "B" westerns, rarely billed but always familiar, and finished out his career in the 1950s with the demise of the B-Western. Occasional TV appearances marked his retirement, and he died in 1959, two months prior to his 71st birthday.(318) - westerns, 16-54.
298 feature westerns.- Director
- Additional Crew
- Actor
A former railroad worker, Frank McDonald came to Hollywood after a career on the stage as an actor/producer/director. At first hired as a dialogue director, McDonald turned out some scripts and in the mid-'30s began directing. Working for almost every studio in Hollywood at one time or another, he did a lot of work for Republic, grinding out Gene Autry and Roy Rogers westerns, and at the Pine/Thomas "B" unit at Paramount, churning out westerns, action dramas and war pictures. Not entirely comfortable as a director--Evelyn Keyes once said, "I've never seen anyone as terrified of directing as Frank McDonald"--he nevertheless turned out more than 100 pictures in his career.- Michael Jeffers may be relatively unknown although he will forever go down as a small note in Hollywood history as the president of the Screen Extras Guild who halted production of movies for a 24 hour period in 1945 in protest because stuntmen and bit part actors were getting extra work however extras were not obtaining bit part or stunt work. He also led a further protest in 1946.
While acting as the bargaining agent for the SEG he was a thorn in the side of the Screen Actors Guild. After being informed that people affiliated with the Screen Extras Guild had restricted voting rights Jeffers sued in a attempt to be able to vote on such matters.
As a result of this action, he received little work because a letter was sent around hinting he had communist ties and that he was trying to drive a wedge in the Screen Extras Guild. He fought in court from 1950 to 1958 trying to restore his name so he could receive more work and recover damages for wages he lost as result of the letter.
He later went on to appear in scores of westerns in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, eventually accumulating over 600 credits. - Jack Evans was born on 5 March 1893 in Neills Creek, North Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for The Hidden Woman (1922), Lightning Range (1933) and The Fighting Deputy (1937). He was married to Fannie. He died on 14 March 1950 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
Laconic, dark and handsome were the essential attributes for Hollywood western leading men in the 50s and 60s. James Drury fit the bill, keeping in mind that his most famous screen persona - that of the stalwart Shiloh estate ranch foreman known only as 'the Virginian' - took a while to properly develop. In the original 30-minute pilot way back in 1958, the Virginian appeared rather more like a genteel dandy than a tough cowboy. Four years later, the NBC network approved a revamped version of the series and Drury, now looking the part, was on his way to popular success. Though his career may have fallen short of outright stardom, he endeared himself with TV audiences for almost a decade and went on to enjoy a fair cult status beyond the final episode of The Virginian (1962) in March 1971.
James Child Drury was born not in the American West, but in New York, the son of Beatrice (Crawford) and James Child Drury. His father, from an Irish family, was a professor who lectured in marketing and advertising at New York University. Young James spent some of his formative years on a family ranch in Salem, Oregon, where he learned to become an expert rider. His maternal grandfather, John Hezekiah Crawford, of Kentucky, educated him in the ways of the woodsman and taught him marksmanship. James began to act in school plays, toured with a theatrical company by the age of twelve and then studied drama at his father's university. Curiously, he completed his senior year at UCLA studying not acting but horticulture and animal husbandry. Upon graduation, he was signed to a contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and made his first screen appearance a year later in 1955. Aside from playing junior army officers and assorted teenagers in films for 20th Century Fox and Disney, Drury quickly found a comfortable niche in TV westerns (which, no doubt, had much to do with his expertise in horsemanship). He had guest appearances in just about all the famous ones: The Texan (1958), Bronco (1958), Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Lawman (1958), Cheyenne (1955), Gunsmoke (1955), Rawhide (1959) and Wagon Train (1957). He also made the little seen, yet unsold pilot for The Virginian. A strong performance as one of a quartet of villainous brothers in Sam Peckinpah's seminal western Ride the High Country (1962) led to a seven-year contract with Universal. He (along with Doug McClure) auditioned for their respective roles in The Virginian soon after, finding out that the parts were indeed theirs just two days prior to shooting. In 1966, Drury fronted a band, the Wilshire Buffalo Hunters, touring Vietnam for three weeks as part of the USO.
Despondent after The Virginian ended its run, Drury played a sheriff in the pilot for the comedy western series Alias Smith and Jones (1971) and then starred in Firehouse (1974), a short-lived ABC adventure drama set at a Los Angeles fire station. After the cancellation of Firehouse, Drury seemed to become even more disheartened and made only a few more sporadic TV appearances thereafter. However, he managed to reinvent himself as a successful businessman, first as co-owner of a ranch raising Appaloosa horses (his steed in The Virginian had been a white Appaloosa named Joe D), then as proprietor of a company recycling asphalt, and latterly, having moved to Texas, in the oil and natural gas business. He was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers in 1991.
James Drury died from natural causes on April 6, 2020, in Houston, Texas. He was 85.50 + years of westerns.
(315) - westerns. 55-05 +.
7 feature westerns.
1934 -.
#7. Reed Survives (1955). 1955.
#3. Hell to Pay (2005). 2005.- Steve Clark was born on 26 February 1891 in Davis County, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Durango Valley Raiders (1938), Haunted Ranch (1943) and Saddle Mountain Roundup (1941). He was married to Emily Margaret Clark and Ruth. He died on 29 June 1954 in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA.(314) - westerns, 33-54.
270 feature westerns.
1891-1954, 63.
Ridin' the Lone Trail (1937). 1937.
Drover, trail drive outrider, mine owner, Doc, bar owner, foreman, prosecutor, masked henchman, sheep herder, croupier, rustler, rancher. - Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Frank McGrath was born on 2 February 1903 in Mound City, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for The Reluctant Astronaut (1967), Wagon Train (1957) and Tammy and the Millionaire (1967). He was married to Libby Quay Buschlen. He died on 13 May 1967 in Hollywood, California, USA.(312) - westerns, 32-68.
31 feature westerns.- Actor
- Writer
Steve Raines was born on 17 June 1916 in Grants Pass, Oregon, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Rawhide (1959), The High Chaparral (1967) and Sheriff of Wichita (1949). He was married to Sally Jean Durkus. He died on 4 January 1996 in Grants Pass, Oregon, USA.(310) westerns, 47-74.
1947, Under Colorado Skies (1947).
1974, The Tarnished Badge (1974).
1916-1996, 79.- John Pickard was born on 25 June 1913 in Lascassas, Tennessee, USA. He was an actor, known for True Grit (1969), The Twilight Zone (1959) and The Time Tunnel (1966). He was married to Anne Bernard McLaurine. He died on 4 August 1993 in Rutherford County, Tennessee, USA.(310) - westerns, 49-82.
46 feature westerns. - Special Effects
Michael Jeffries is known for The Dark Crystal (1982).(309) - westerns, 45-76.
66 feature westerns.
1898-1990, 92. UK. USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
American Western star and character actor whose career spanned six decades. The son of director Robert N. Bradbury, he appeared in vaudeville with his parents and with his twin brother Bill Bradbury appeared as a child in a series of 16 semi- documentary short films directed by their father, The Adventures of Bob and Bill. As Bob Bradbury Jr., he played juvenile roles in silent films, then took the stage name Bob Steele in 1927. He appeared in scores of films during the Thirties, rising to B-Western stardom and an apparently solid position as one of Republic Studios' top draws. Occasionally he made an appearance in more prominent films, as in his role as Curly in Of Mice and Men (1939). But he remained primarily a figure in Westerns. His stardom diminished by the mid-40s, and he spent the next quarter-century in character roles, some highly visible, such as his part in The Big Sleep (1946). But he also eventually turned up as a virtual extra in pictures like Shenandoah (1965). He appeared often on television and regained some fame in his role as Trooper Duffy in F Troop (1965). He died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, California, following a long illness.* 50 years of westerns.
(308) - westerns, 21-71.
171 feature westerns.
1907-1988, 81.
A Day in the Wilds (1921). 1921.
Skin Game (1971). 1971.- Actor
- Producer
Prolific American character actor of primarily villainous roles. The son of German parents, Cincinnati feed-store manager August Wilke and his wife Rose, Robert Joseph Wilke grew up in Cincinnati. He worked as a lifeguard at a Miami, Florida, hotel, where he made contacts in the film business. He was able to obtain work as a stuntman and continued as such until the mid-'40s, when he began getting actual roles in low-budget westerns and serials. A prominent appearance as one of the heavies in High Noon (1952) led to work in higher-quality films. He worked extensively in television as well as movies, and became an enormously familiar face, though a fairly anonymous one to the general public. His weathered visage made him a perfect western bad guy, but he occasionally played sympathetic parts as well, as in Days of Heaven (1978). An expert golfer, he was said by his friend Claude Akins to have earned more money on the golf course than he ever did in movies. He died in 1989.(308) - westerns, 38-79.
116 feature westerns.- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Stunts
Chet Brandenburg was born on 15 October 1897 in Peoria, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Under Two Jags (1923), Hats Off (1927) and Powder and Smoke (1924). He died on 17 July 1974 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.(306) - westerns, 24-64.
115 feature westerns.
1897-1974, 76.- Rudolph Bucko (real name Rudolph Bouckou) was a working cowhand from Yakima, Washington, who, with his brother Roy Bucko, drifted south and found themselves riding Hollywood's western ranges. Neither brother was often billed but Rudolph was billed by his nickname, "Buck' Bucko, and he actually had a credit or so when he was billed as Rudolph "Buck" Bucko. Because of the two different billing names in his few credited roles, trade journals of the time, especially the annual "Film Daily Year Book", carried a listing for both Rudolph Bucko and Buck Bucko, even though both names were for the same actor. Some sources don't know that so, based on their skimpy and incorrect research, three Bucko brothers have been "created." Buck worked in well over 200 sound-era westerns and serials, and both Bucko brothers appeared in most of the Ken Maynard westerns of the era. Both were primarily mainstays at Columbia and Universal during that period, and both worked in many Republic films from 1935-1952 or so. Both Bucko brothers were present in most of the films either worked in, but not always - Roy appeared in at least 55 more films than Rudolph Ralph was the smaller of the two brothers(303) - westerns, 24-62.
276 feature westerns. - Jay Silverheels was born on Canada's Six Nation's Reserve and was one of 10 children. He was a star lacrosse player and a boxer before he entered films as a stuntman in 1938. He worked in a number of films through the 1940s before gaining notice as the Osceola brother in a Humphrey Bogart film Key Largo (1948). Most of Silverheels' roles consisted of bit parts as an Indian character. In 1949, he worked in the movie The Cowboy and the Indians (1949) with another "B movie" actor Clayton Moore. Later that year, Silverheels was hired to play the faithful Indian companion, Tonto, in the TV series The Lone Ranger (1949) series, which brought him the fame that his motion picture career never did.
Silverheels recreated the role of Tonto in two big-screen color movies with Moore,The Lone Ranger (1956) and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958). After the TV series ended in 1957, Silverheels could not escape the typecasting of Tonto. He would continue to appear in an occasional film and television show but became a spokesperson to improve the portrayal of Indians in the media.