Westerners, 1800s. 100 - 199 credits.
Born 1860 - 1899 with 100 - 199 western movie credits.
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- Director
- Actor
- Writer
J.P. McGowan was born on 24 February 1880 in Terowie, South Australia, Australia. He was a director and actor, known for The Lost Express (1917), Hills of Missing Men (1922) and Do or Die (1921). He was married to Mrs. Kaye Swart Northrop, Leona (Lorna) Haviland and Helen Holmes. He died on 26 March 1952 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Al St. John was born on 10 September 1893 in Santa Ana, California, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Billy the Kid in Texas (1940), Prairie Badmen (1946) and Billy the Kid Trapped (1942). He was married to Yvonne June Villon Price Pearce (actress), Lillian Marion Ball and Flo-Bell Moore. He died on 21 January 1963 in Lyons, Georgia, USA.125 westerns, 18-52.
122 feature westerns.
The Oklahoma Cyclone (1930), 1930.
5 soundtrack credits, 30-37.
1893-1963, 69.- Boston-born Franklyn Farnum was on the vaudeville stage at the age of 12 and was featured in a number of theatre and musical productions by the time he entered silent films near the age of 40. He appeared to be at his most comfortable in the saddle, his career dominated mostly by westerns. Some of his more famous films include the serial Vanishing Trails (1920) and features The Clock (1917), The Firebrand (1922), The Drug Store Cowboy (1925) and The Gambling Fool (1925). In 1925 he left films, but returned five years later at the advent of sound, only to find himself billed much further down the credits, if at all. He continued on, however, in these obscure roles well into the 1950s. Largely forgotten today, he is not related to silent actors and brothers Dustin Farnum and William Farnum. One of his three wives was the ill-fated Alma Rubens, to whom he was briefly married in 1918. Farnum passed away from cancer in 1961.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
A pioneering cowboy star of silent and early talking Westerns, Hoot Gibson was one of the 1920s' most popular children's matinée heroes. In his real life, however, he had a rather painful rags-to-riches-and-back-to-rags career, a problem that seemed to plague a number of big stars who fell victim to their high profile and wound up living too high on the hog.
An unfortunate byproduct of stardom is, of course, the misinformation that is often fed to the public over the years by either overzealous publicity agents or the actor himself. The many variations of just how Gibson earned the name tag "Hoot" is one of them: (1) As a youth, he loved to hunt owls; (2) while a teenager working on a rodeo ranch, other ranch hands called him "Hoot Owl" and that the name was shortened to just "Hoot"; (3) he picked up the nickname while a messenger with the Owl Drug Company; and (4) while touring briefly in vaudeville, he would hoot when the audience cheered and, thus, the nickname.
What facts are known about Hoot is that he was born Edmund Richard Gibson on August 6, 1892, in Tekamah, Nebraska. As a child he grew up among horses and received his first pony at the age of 2-1/2. His family moved to California when he was 7. At age 13 the adventurous youth ran away from home and joined a circus for a time. Later work included punching cows in both Wyoming and Colorado (at the time, a territory and not a state). While working on the Miller 101 Ranch at Fort Bliss, Oklahoma, as a horse wrangler, Hoot developed a strong, active interest in the rodeo scene--in particular, bronco busting. In 1907 he signed a four-year contract with the Dick Stanley-Bud Atkinson Wild West Show, which toured throughout the US and (later) Australia.
By 1910 Hoot had found an "in" to the movie business as one of the industry's first stuntmen (for which he was paid $2.50 for performing stunts or training horses). Director Francis Boggs was looking for experienced cowboys and stunt doubles to appear in his western short Pride of the Range (1910) starring Tom Mix; both Hoot and another future cowboy star, Art Acord, were hired. Hoot lost a solid Hollywood contact in Boggs, however, when the director and his working partner, producer William Nicholas Selig, were both shot in October, 1911, by a mentally disturbed employee (Selig was injured, but Boggs was killed). Gibson managed to find other stunt work in director D.W. Griffith's western short The Two Brothers (1910) and several others for the next few years.
Acting, at this point, was not his bread-and-butter income. Hoot still continued to forge a name for himself on the rodeo circuit with his pal Acord. In 1912, at age 20, he won the title "All-Around Champion Cowboy" at the famed annual Pendleton (Oregon) Round-Up. He also won the steer-roping World Championship at the Calgary Stampede. While on the circuit, he met fellow rodeo rider Rose August ("Helen") Wenger. They eventually married (there is still some question about whether they legally exchanged vows) and she took on the marquee name of Helen Gibson. She even found film stunt work herself and eventually was chosen to replace Helen Holmes as star of the popular movie serial The Hazards of Helen (1914) during mid-filming. Hoot himself had a minor role in the Universal cliffhanger.
Hoot picked up a couple of more strong connections in the film industry with western star Harry Carey and director John Ford. Gibson gained some momentum as a secondary player in a few of their films, including Cheyenne's Pal (1917), Straight Shooting (1917), The Secret Man (1917) and A Marked Man (1917). With the outbreak of World War I, however, Gibson's film career was put on hold. He joined the US Army, eventually attaining the the rank of sergeant while serving with the Tank Corps, and was honorably discharged in 1919. He returned immediately to Universal and was able to restart his career, quickly working his way up to co-star status in a series of short westerns, most of which were directed by his now close friend Ford. The two-reelers usually co-starred either Pete Morrison or Hoor's wife Helen, or sometimes both. Films such as The Fighting Brothers (1919), The Black Horse Bandit (1919), Rustlers (1919), Gun Law (1919), The Gun Packer (1919) and By Indian Post (1919) eventually led to his solo starring success.
During this prolific period, he was frequently directed by George Holt (The Trail of the Holdup Man (1919)), Phil Rosen (The Sheriff's Oath (1920)) and Lee Kohlmar (The Wild Wild West (1921)). It was at this time that he and wife Helen separated and divorced. In the early 1920s, Hoot went on to marry another Helen--Helen Johnson. They had one child, Lois Charlotte Gibson, born in 1923. The couple divorced in 1927.
Superstardom came with the John Ford (I)full-length feature western Action (1921), which was taken from "The Three Godfathers" story. It starred Hoot, Francis Ford and J. Farrell MacDonald as a trio of outlaws on the lam who find a baby. From that point on, both Hoot and Tom Mix began to "rule the west". Gibson's light, comedic, tongue-in-cheek manner only added to his sagebrush appeal, especially to children and women. His vehicles were non-violent for the most part, and he rarely was spotted carrying a gun while riding his palomino horse Goldie. Not a particularly handsome man, his boyish appeal and non-threatening demeanor were his aces in the hole--a major distinction that separated him from the more ascetic cowboy stars of the past.
By 1925 Hoot was making approximately $14,500 a week and spending it about as fast as he was making it. He successfully made the transition to talkies and, in 1930, married popular Jazz-era actress Sally Eilers, a third party to his previous divorce. The couple made three features together: The Long, Long Trail (1929), Trigger Tricks (1930) and Clearing the Range (1931). When she found celluloid success on her own with Bad Girl (1931), Sally decided to split from Hoot professionally and personally. They divorced in 1933.
Hoot lost his Universal contract in 1930, which signified the start of his decline. While he secured contracts with lesser studios during the early 1930s, such as Allied Pictures and First Division Pictures, the quality of his films suffered. By this time Hoot had already begun to feature race cars and airplanes in his pictures. such as The Flyin' Cowboy (1928) and The Winged Horseman (1929). Airplanes in particular became a large, expensive passion of his. In 1933 he crashed his biplane during a National Air Race in Los Angeles, which had pitted him against another cowboy star, Ken Maynard. Fortunately, he survived his injuries.
With the advent of talking films, singing cowboys such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers were becoming the new rage, and both Hoot and Tom Mix felt the kick. Yet he managed a couple of "comebacks" by pairing up with others stars. He joined old silent film teammate Harry Carey and 'Guinn Big Boy Williams' in the "Three Mesquiteers" western Powdersmoke Range (1935), and was billed second to Ray Corrigan in the Republic serial The Painted Stallion (1937).
Hoot left films and toured with the Robbins Brothers and Russell Brothers circuses during 1938 and 1939 before retiring from show business altogether. His multiple divorces and reckless spending habits had taken their toll on his finances. For a time he found work in real estate before Monogram Pictures offered the stocky-framed actor a chance to return in 1943. Hoot teamed up with cowboy star Ken Maynard in the popular "Trail Blazers" series, and the duo were later joined by Bob Steele. Chief Thundercloud replaced a difficult Maynard on a couple of the films, but by the end of the series Gibson and Steele were riding alone together. The nearly dozen films in the series began with Wild Horse Stampede (1943) and ended with Trigger Law (1944), the latter being his last hurrah in films.
Hoot then returned to real estate. By the time he appeared as a surprise guest on the popular sitcom I Married Joan (1952) starring Joan Davis, his Western features of the 1930s and 1940s, as well as those of Maynard, Steele and others were a large staple of films seen by a TV audience that couldn't get enough Western fare. He did a favor for old friend John Ford by appearing in a cameo role in the director's 1959 film The Horse Soldiers (1959). His last movie spotting was a guest cameo in the "Rat Pack" film Ocean's Eleven (1960).
Hoot married a fourth and final time on July 3, 1942, to one-time radio singer and actress Dorothea Dunstan. This marriage took hold and lasted for 20 years until his death. By the 1960s Gibson was on the verge of financial collapse after a series of bad investments. Diagnosed with cancer in 1960, rising medical costs forced him to find any and all work available. He was relegated at one point to becoming a greeter at a Las Vegas casino and, for a period, worked at carnivals.
It was an unhappy end for a cowboy who brought so much excitement and entertainment to children and adults alike. Gibson died of cancer at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, California, just a couple of weeks after his 70th birthday. He was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. In remembrance, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and, in 1979, was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.- Actor
- Director
- Make-Up Department
Milburn Morante (often alternatively credited as 'Moranti') began as a turn-of-the-century vaudevillian, part of a family trio calling themselves 'The Three Morantes'. After moving from San Francisco to L.A., he gravitated towards the film industry by 1913, initially with Keystone-Triangle, and, later, becoming regular support for eccentric knockabout comedienne Gale Henry in Universal's 'Joker' and 'Model' series of comedy shorts. Two years later, he formed his own production company, Mercury, which effectively provided steady employment to his old vaudeville partners, father Joe and brother Al. He released through the independent Bull's Eye Film Corporation, but his comic characterisations never caught on with the public. By the time Bull's Eye became incorporated into Reelcraft in 1920, the Morante company had gone bust and Milburn moved into directing small-scale westerns (usually starring Pete Morrison) and comedy shorts for Morris R. Schlank's independent Premier Pictures Corporation, inevitably destined for rural release only.
Milburn also continued as a prolific character actor, both in slapstick farce (eg in The Detectress (1919), opposite Henry), and as comic relief in westerns, notably as sidekick to Buzz Barton in a series of oaters made between 1926 and 1929. As visual madcap comedy waned with the advent of sound, Milburn confined himself almost exclusively to playing grizzled prospectors, tramps, bartenders and more town drunks than one can throw a whiskey glass at. On occasion, he essayed the odd seedy second string villain and was last gainfully employed in several episodes of The Cisco Kid (1950).- American actor who starred in silent Westerns under one name, then moved into character roles and bit parts under another. Born Floyd Taliaferro Alderson in Sheridan, Wyoming, and raised on a ranch in Rosebud County, Montana, he became an expert horseman. He served in World War I, then traveled to California. After getting work as a wrangler for Universal Pictures, he entered films as an extra in 1915. By the 1920s he was starring in silent Westerns under the stage name Wally Wales. His career declined, and in the mid-1930s, he changed to a new stage name, Hal Taliaferro, and worked in supporting roles and even bit parts for the rest of his career, primarily in Westerns. In the 1950s, he retired to his family's property in Montana (then and now known as the Bones Brothers Ranch). He devoted himself to landscape painting until a series of strokes debilitated him. He died in a nursing home in his birthplace, Sheridan, Wyoming, in 1980. His papers are archived at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
- Alva Lee Taylor was born December 16, 1898 in Sparks, Lincoln County, Oklahoma to William and Luda Taylor. He grew up in North Powder Oregon and was the second child of six. He went to California in the early 1920s and while there, he married Rose Wurth. He played in movies for about 22 years. After his movie days, Al and Rose moved back to North Powder, Oregon, and then to Baker City, Oregon. Al died on July 31, 1958 in Ontario, Malheur County, Oregon.
- Augie Gomez was born on 10 August 1889 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for The Sagebrush Family Trails West (1940), Blue Montana Skies (1939) and Old Los Angeles (1948). He was married to Marjorie (Flory) Gomez. He died on 1 January 1966 in Los Angeles, California, USA.189 westerns, 32-65.
The Fourth Horseman (1932), 1932. Horseman.
A Time for Waiting (1965), 1965. Indian.
1889-1966, 76. - Actor
- Director
- Writer
American actor of silent films who focused primarily on Westerns. A native of Ontario, Iowa, Church attended school in his father's home state of Michigan and later lived in Denver, Colorado. He became a vaudeville performer and stage actor and spent several years traveling the country in various stock productions. The Essanay studio hired him and he appeared with Essanay's star and co-founder Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson in numerous films. Starring roles in films for other studios made him popular, especially in action films, particularly Westerns. With the arrival of sound, he began to withdraw from pictures, ultimately retiring completely by the mid-Thirties. Church lived nearly another half century in retirement in Quartzite, Arizona. He died at 93 a few miles from Quartzite, in a Blythe, California nursing home, of heart failure.- Sam Flint was born on 19 October 1882 in Gwinnett County, Georgia, USA. He was an actor, known for My Pal Trigger (1946), A Face in the Fog (1936) and Junior Prom (1946). He was married to Ella Ethridge. He died on 17 October 1980 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Stunts
Jack Montgomery was born on 14 November 1891 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He was an actor, known for The New Frontier (1935), Pursued (1947) and The Outlaw Deputy (1935). He was married to Marian Baxter. He died on 21 January 1962 in Hollywood, California, USA.184 westerns, 26-59.
The Man from Sundown (1939), 1939. Posse rider.
South of Santa Fe (1942), 1942. Posse rider.
Rustlers of Devil's Canyon (1947), 1947. Posse rider.
Gunfire (1950), 1950. Posse member.
Shadows of Tombstone (1953), 1953. Posse rider.
Johnny Guitar (1954), 1954. Posseman.
1891-1962, 70.- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Frank Hagney was born on 20 April 1884 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He was an actor, known for It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Ride Him, Cowboy (1932) and The Sea Beast (1926). He was married to Edna M. Keating Shephard and Ethel Scott. He died on 25 June 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA.180 westerns, 24-67.
I Shot Jesse James (1949), 1949. Livery stableman.
1884-1973, 89. Australia. USA.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Legendary "B" picture director Sam Newfield was born Samuel Neufeld in New York City. His brother was Sigmund Neufeld, later the head of PRC Pictures, where Sam made so many of his films (so many, in fact, that he had to use the pseudonyms "Peter Stewart" and "Sherman Scott" so audiences wouldn't notice that only one man directed so much of the studio's output). He entered the film business in 1919 and began his career as a director in 1926, shooting two-reel comedy shorts for virtually every production company in town, from fly-by-night independent producers to major studios like Universal Pictures. He made his first full-length feature in 1933, for independent "B"-picture production company Tower Pictures. He worked for many of the independent studios, making films for such prestigious-sounding but low-rent companies as Ambassador Pictures, Victory Pictures and Puritan Pictures. While much of his output seemed to be, shall we say, "rushed", he did in fact manage to turn out several interesting, compact and well-made little westerns with Tim McCoy for Victory and Puritan (two companies headed by another "B" picture icon, producer Sam Katzman).
In 1939 he went to work for PRC, where he would make his "name". Sam shot films in two styles: fast and faster. With rock-bottom budgets (at PRC, for instance, budgets were so low that he got paid only $500 a picture; he had to grind them out like sausages in order to make any kind of money), super-tight shooting schedules (often a week, sometimes less) and not necessarily the best talent in front of and behind the cameras, glitches were bound to happen. However, since Sam didn't believe in retakes (and couldn't afford them, anyway), whatever went wrong in the picture (crew members wandering into shots, actors flubbing lines, props malfunctioning, etc.) pretty much stayed in the picture. Sam made films in just about every conceivable genre (science-fiction, westerns, crime thrillers, horror, comedy), and while most were routine at best (and embarrassingly inept and/or incoherent at worst), there were a few bright spots among the dross: Lost Continent (1951), a sci-fi epic he made for low-budget specialist Lippert Pictures in 1951, showed more care than you normally found in a Newfield film, with a better cast and a more coherent script than he was usually given, and is now considered to be one of his best films, if not his best. He also turned out Western Pacific Agent (1950) for Lippert, a fast-paced, neat little crime thriller about railroad detectives investigating a string of murders.
Newfield is considered to be among the most prolific directors in the history of American films (not counting cartoon directors, whose product rarely ran longer than 8-10 minutes or so), with an output estimated at approximately 300 films--everything from one-reel black-and-white training films to full-length color features--over a 30-year-plus career. He spent the last few years of that career shooting films and TV series outside the US (he shot the Buster Crabbe action series Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion (1955) in Morocco and the Lon Chaney Jr. western series Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans (1957) in Canada) because of cheaper production costs.
Sam Newfield finally retired from the film industry in 1958 and died in Los Angeles in 1964.- Actor
- Stunts
Frank McCarroll was born on 5 September 1892 in Morris, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for The Devil Diamond (1937), Gunman's Code (1946) and Valley of Terror (1937). He was married to Mary Ellen Treadwell and Lorrie. He died on 8 March 1954 in Burbank, California, USA.- Tex Cooper was born as Judge Thomas Cooper in Denton, Texas, the son of Wilford Cooper and Lemon Pair. Tex had siblings Walter and George Cooper. His parents were farmers and hailed from Bradley County, Tennessee. Tex's trademark in the movies was his Buffalo Bill lookalike appearance. His grandfather was Thomas Cooper who married Martha Rucker and his great grandparents were Bennett and Lydia Cooper from North Carolina.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Leo Carrillo was born on 6 August 1881 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Guilty Generation (1931), The Cisco Kid (1950) and Crime, Inc. (1945). He was married to Edith Shakespear Haeselbarth. He died on 10 September 1961 in Santa Monica, California, USA.179 westerns, 31-56.
21 feature westerns.
3 soundtrack credits.
Bullets and the Booby Trap (1953), 1953.
1881-1961, 80.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Russell Custer was born on 2 July 1899 in Bethany City, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Adventures of Superman (1952). He died on 23 May 1985 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Victor Potel was born in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1889. His first film was in 1910, for Essanay Film Manufacturing Company in Chicago. Potel worked for Essanay in most of the Broncho Billy series, as well as playing a character called "Slippery Slim" in almost 80 movies as well as Universal Pictures' "Snakeville" series. He moved to Universal in 1928 to make Melody of Love (1928) and worked steadily, playing small and sometimes uncredited bit parts, primarily comic roles due to his height and awkward look. Potel also wrote and directed. In 1935 he provided continuity and dialogue for several films. He became part of Preston Sturges' stock of character actors, appearing in nine films written and directed by Sturges. Potel work until his death on 8 March 1947, just after finishing playing "Barfly" in Relentless (1948).- Producer
- Additional Crew
David Horsley was born on March 11, 1873, in a small coal mine village called West Stanley, County of Durham, England. This village was owned and operated by the West Stanley Coal Co., which operated three coal mines with an average output of 1,500 tons of coal per day. The miners' houses comprising the village were all owned by the coal company. David's paternal grandfather William Horsley was general manager of the company while his father, Robert, was a master mechanic and chief blacksmith for the mines, which used ponies to bring the coal to the surface. His maternal grandfather, John Chaytor, was the company's saddler and harness maker. On January 18, 1884, while on an errand for his mother, young David was struck down by a coal train locomotive as he crossed the tracks and lost three fingers, severed by the train wheels. Ultimately, his arm was amputated two inches below the elbow so as to forestall the onset of gangrene.
His mother, realizing that there was no future in the town for her disabled son, decided the family should emigrate to America. On October 17, 1884, the Horsley family arrived in New York and moved to New Jersey, eventually settling in Bayonne. The young Horsely helped support the family by selling newspapers, later working as a Western Union messenger boy. When he was approximately 16 years old, J.T.R. Proctor, the owner of the Bayonne Times, became his benefactor, paying for David to attend night school, where he studied bookkeeping and shorthand. His education enabled him to be hired by the Tidewater Oil Works as a timekeeper.
When he was 19 Horsley opened up a bicycle shop, hand-making bicycles despite his handicap. In 1903 he bought a piece of land and built a pool hall in Bayonne. Unfortunately, his business was wiped out by the Panic (or recession) of 1907. He and one of his regular customers, Charles Gorman, decided to try their hand in the movie business. Gorman had been a scenic artist at the Biograph Motion Picture Co. in New York, but had lost his job during the recession. Gorman had the know-how about the movie industry, and Horsely had the land for a primitive studio and possessed the mechanical skills to build a movie camera from the parts of an old projector. The rear yard of the pool hall was covered with a wooden platform and muslin was hung overhead to diffuse the light. They decided to call their enterprise the Centaur Film Co., as it was a name that was half "horse" (from Horsely) and half "man" (from Gorman).
The Centaur Film Co. struggled during the first three years of its existence, subsisting on money borrowed from relatives. It faced a monumental crisis at the end of its first year of operation when the Patents Company was created in 1908 to pool motion picture equipment patents, including the Lanham loop that was necessary for film to be fed correctly into a movie camera. The Patents Co. refused to give Centaur a license to operate; it considered Centaur a fly-by-night operation and turned down Horsley's application for a license three times, figuring that denying the company a license would drive it out of business. The Patents Co., which became known as "The Trust," intended to completely control the manufacture, distribution and exhibition of films.
The Trust created the General Film Co. to deal with film exchanges and to rent films to the exhibitors. General collected a weekly licensing fee of $2 on every projector in the US for the use of the Lanham loop, a situation that was deeply resented by exhibitors. Exhibitors who refused to pay the $2 license fee were denied films, and thus were deprived of their livelihood. General Film opened its own film exchanges to rent films, and it cut off the supply of films to other film exchanges. Eastman Kodak Co. refused to sell Horsely raw film stock to make his one-reel pictures, as its contract with the Patents Co. and General Film had them boycott non-Trust filmmakers. Horsley thus had to import his raw film stock from the Austin Edwards Co. in England.
When film exchange executives converged on New York to challenge the monopoly implemented by the Trust, they were directed to meet David Horsley, whose Centaur Film was holding up under the challenge. In order to improve his ability to compete successfully against the Patents Co. and General Film, Horsely decided to help the film exchange people become producers of movies, as he knew he wouldn't be able to survive for long against The Trust without some help.
Carl Laemmle and R.H. Cochrane formed the Independent Motion Picture Co. and opened a studio in New York producing one-reel movies called IMPS, while Edwin S. Porter started up Rex Pictures and Edwin Thanhouser opened a studio at New Rochelle, New York, while Pat Powers created Powers Pictures. Other companies formed by film exchange personnel to ensure that they received product were Bison, Champion and Reliance. By 1910 there were as many independent film companies making pictures as there were companies that were part of The Trust. It was difficult for indies to obtain cameras and film, as domestically-made cameras and film stock were covered by the Patent Co.'s patents and thus would not be sold to filmmakers outside The Trust. Producers were forced to go abroad to get the English Prestwich or Williamson camera, or to France to get a camera from DeBrie, Gaumont, Pathe or Prevost. They could also follow the example of Horsely in the US or Léo-Ernest Ouimet in Canada and create their own equipment.
To fight The Trust legally, the indies banded together as the Sales Co., headquartered at 14th Street in New York City. The Sales Co. operated as a central exchange, with producers delivering their one-reel films to 14th St., from whence its product was shipped C.O.D. to buyers at the cost of $100 per reel. The Sales Co. remitted $95 per reel to the filmmaker and kept a $5-per-reel fee in order to finance the fight against The Trust. Horsely's Centaur Co. was making one western, one drama and one Mutt & Jeff comedy per week, all one-reelers, for an output of 120 prints per week. This meant it was remitting $600 per week to the Sales Co., which had an income of about $5,000 to $7,500 per week from all the independent production companies. With these funds the Sales Co. retained first-rate patent attorneys to sue the Patents Co. and put an end to its attempt at monopolizing the motion picture business. The indies eventually won, and even the $2-per-week royalty on each projector was terminated by the courts.
The Trust, which had concentrated on technology rather than on the quality of films, had failed to keep up with the development of the crowd-pleasing narrative film, continuing to churn out simple-minded pictorial essays that found little favor with the maturing movie-going audience. Eventually all the production companies that had dominated the industry before the rise of the indies went out of business, including Edison, Biograph and Essanay. The last remaining Trust member, Vitagraph, was acquired by Warner Bros.
Due to bad weather conditions in the summer and early fall of 1911, making motion pictures in the New York City area became difficult. In response, Horsely moved Centaur to California, opening the first motion picture studio in Hollywood at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street on October 27, 1911. The film was developed after dark and shipped to Centaur's Bayonne office to the laboratory for printing. Al Christie--a Canadian who went on to found his own film company, the Nestor Motion Picture Co.--managed the comedy operation of the studio in both Bayonne and Los Angeles. Westerns were produced by Milton J. Fahrney and dramas were produced by Tom Ricketts. All three producers were responsible for one one-reel picture per week.
On May 20, 1912, the Universal Film Manufacturing Co. was formed and absorbed many independent film companies in exchange for stock, including Horsely's Centaur. For the Hollywood studio, New Jersey laboratory and other assets, Horsely received $175,000 in preferred stock and $204,000 in common stock in Universal shares. He was such a respected member of the film community by that point that he was appointed Universal treasurer at the salary of $200 per week. Soon after the formation of the company, a battle for control of Universal started as Carl Laemmle and his faction took on Pat Powers of Powers Pictures for control. Horsely held the balance of power due to his stake, and in the summer of 1913 he sold his stock to Laemmle for a substantial sum, including a first payment of $197,000 and the balance paid off at a monthly rate of $5,000 in notes. Now rich beyond his dreams, Horsely took his family on a trip back to the United Kingdom, then toured Europe, eventually resigning as treasurer of Universal.
Horsely was in Europe when war broke out in August 1914. The Bostock Animal and Jungle Show was evicted from its London exhibition rooms due to military necessity. The manager of the Jungle Show sold it to Horsely for $40,000, approximately a tenth of his fortune from the sale of his Universal stock. Horsely transported the show's assets to the US by ship. From the docks of Brooklyn, Horsely shipped the menagerie, which included 58 lions and two elephants, to Los Angeles. Altogether it cost him a total of $15,000 to freight the animals from England to L.A. He spent a further $47,500 to create a new park for his show, including grandstands, arenas, cages, and a concrete fence on a property at Washington and Main that rented for $600 per month.
After he opened the show in 1915 he was facing a daily overhead of $225, though the most tickets the show ever sold in a day was $165, while on a bad day the show took in as little as $1.25. To make the show pay, Horsely built a film studio at the site that he called the Bostock Jungle Films Co., which included its own film processing lab. Horsely began turning out movies, many of which used the wild animals as background. His new studio made five-reel dramas with Crane Wilbur, "Stanley in Africa" pictures, and approximately 200 comedies with George Ovey. By the fall of 1918 his movie-making venture was through, and when he filed for bankruptcy in 1919, the once-rich Horsely was $38,000 in debt.
The loss of his company, his exotic animal show and his fortune broke David Horsely. He died on February 23, 1933, a forgotten man, barely remembered as one of the men who saved the film industry from The Trust and pioneered Hollywood as a filmmaking center. Horsely was interred in Hollywood Cemetery, now known as Hollywood Forever Cemetery, reduced to a footnote in American cinema history.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Very popular American star of silent films who left the business at the height of his career. While barely in his teens, he worked as a warehouse clerk until a chance arrived to appear in a vaudeville production. He continued to act in traveling stock productions, though he took a brief time away from the stage to attend the University of Illinois. By the time he was thirty, he had begun to make appearances in films for Essanay and Biograph. A contract with the American Film Corporation opened the door to leading roles, often as a well-dressed and elegant man-about-town. Universal Pictures lured him with a better deal and he quickly rose to stardom there. A glib remark about his refusal to enlist in the American army after the U.S. entry into World War I cost him both sympathy with audiences and the support of the studios. He began to work less frequently and for more minor studios. When director James Cruze cast him as the rugged lead in The Covered Wagon (1923), Kerrigan found himself back on top, appearing in dashing leads in several important pictures. However, within a year, he decided to abandon his film career while at its zenith. His stardom had given him the freedom to live freely and easily without working, which is how he lived out the rest of his life. Supposedly he made a few small appearances in supporting roles just before his death in June, 1947.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Allan Dwan was born on 3 April 1885 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was a director and writer, known for Bound in Morocco (1918), A Perfect Crime (1921) and Panthea (1917). He was married to Marie Shelton and Pauline Bush. He died on 28 December 1981 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Guy Wilkerson was born on 21 December 1899 in Whitewright, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Fugitive (1963), Captain Midnight (1942) and Return of the Rangers (1943). He died on 15 July 1971 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles Stevens was born on 26 May 1893 in Solomonsville, Arizona, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for The Three Musketeers (1921), The Americano (1916) and Ebb Tide (1937). He was married to Lila Ethel Berry. He died on 22 August 1964 in Hollywood, California, USA.167 westerns, 15-61.
99 feature westerns.
tt0027377/combined, 1936. Credited: Captain Vargas.
1893-1964, 71.- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bob Kortman was born on 24 December 1887 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Arabian Love (1922), Another Man's Boots (1922) and The Last of the Mohicans (1932). He was married to Gonda Durand and Nellie Vignonette Varain. He died on 13 March 1967 in Long Beach, California, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Frank Mills was born on 26 January 1891 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. He was an actor, known for Those Who Dance (1930), Parole! (1936) and Charlie Chan's Courage (1934). He died on 18 August 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
- Producer
- Editor
Joseph Kane's career as a professional cellist ended when he became a film editor in 1926. His directing career started with co-directing serials for Mascot and Republic, and he soon became Republic's top western director. He handled many of John Wayne's Republic westerns of the 1940s, and piloted numerous Roy Rogers and Gene Autry films (he was once asked in an interview why he did so many westerns. He replied, "I like the outdoors. The horses. The cowboys. I like that."). Unlike most Republic house directors, Kane was credited as associate producer on many of his films. He stayed at Republic until the studio's demise in 1959, and after freelancing for mostly independent production companies, he turned to directing TV series.165 westerns, 25-75. 50 years of westerns.
107 feature westerns.
Lost Allegiance (1962), 1962.
Smoke in the Wind (1975). 1975. Director.
1894-1975, 81.- Blackjack Ward was born on 3 May 1891 in Franklin, Louisiana, USA. He was an actor, known for Texas Stampede (1939), Rainbow Riders (1934) and Lighting Bill (1934). He was married to Madeline J.. He died on 29 April 1954 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- The son of vaudeville performers, Richard Theodore "Ted" Adams was part of his parents' troupe before attending Cornell University at the age of 18. After college he did stock work for three years before going on to New York City and stage work there. For more than half his life he performed on the stage before coming to films around 1926. He and his good friend Leo Carrillo performed together in Porter Emerson Browne's play "The Bad Man" in 1920, and Adams was also in the Broadway production of "Kongo", which starred Walter Huston, in 1926.
His earliest documented film role was as the doctor in Rayart's The Road Agent (1926), starring Al Hoxie, and he made his sound-film debut in 1930's Under Texas Skies (1930), starring Bob Custer. Adams quickly established himself in westerns, in which he worked almost exclusively for 25 years in over 200 films. He was a mainstay performer (mostly lead villains) for the low-budget films cranked out by independents such as Supreme, Metropolitan, Puritan, Colony and Victory in the 1930s and PRC and Monogram in the 1940s, in addition to appearing in films from Republic, Columbia, Paramount and Universal.
Following a role in Bill Elliott's Kansas Territory (1952) for Monogram Pictures, and some TV work on Russell Hayden's Cowboy G-Men (1952) TV series, Ted Adams hung up his spurs at the age of 62, then lived quietly in retirement until his death from heart disease at the age of 83. A widower at the time of his death, September 24, 1973, he was at Braewood Convalescence Hospital in South Pasadena, his place of residence prior to his death. His cremated remains were placed at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.165 westerns, 25-53.
Quick on the Trigger (1948), 1948. Credited : Sheriff Martin Oakes.
1890-1973, 83. - Actor
- Director
- Writer
Frank O'Connor was born on 11 April 1881 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Religious Racketeers (1938), Call of the Circus (1930) and The Lawful Cheater (1925). He died on 22 November 1959 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Canada's child prodigy violinist. Played a command performance for the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII, at age 5.) First cousin of Walter Huston, father of child actress Baby Rose, Grandfather of Sharmagne Leland-St. John-Sylbert, Great-grandfather of 'Daisy Alexandra Sylbert'.164 westerns, 28-49.
5 soundtrack credits.
1928, The Bandit Chaser (1928).
1949, Ride, Ryder, Ride! (1949).
1941, In Old Cheyenne (1941). Accordion player.
1888-1958, 69. Canada. USA- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Lloyd Ingraham was born on 30 November 1874 in Rochelle, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Intolerance (1916), At the Sign of the Jack O'Lantern (1922) and Man's Desire (1919). He was married to Maude May Plopper and Blanche M. Stoddard. He died on 4 April 1956 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Philo McCullough was born on 16 June 1893 in San Bernardino, California, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Girl Who Wouldn't Quit (1918), The Gay Lord Quex (1919) and Trilby (1923). He was married to Valeri Gratton and Laura Anson. He died on 5 June 1981 in Burbank, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Harry Woods was born on 5 May 1889 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for The Viking (1928), Monkey Business (1931) and Colorado Territory (1949). He was married to Helen P. Hookenberry. He died on 28 December 1968 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Stanley Blystone was born on 1 August 1894 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Modern Times (1936), Eyes of Texas (1948) and Code of the Mounted (1935). He was married to Alma Tell and Claire Siebrecht. He died on 16 July 1956 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Robert McKenzie was born on 22 September 1880 in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland [now Ballymena District, Northern Ireland], UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Beginner's Luck (1935), The White Outlaw (1929) and A Naughty Nurse (1928). He was married to Eva McKenzie. He died on 8 July 1949 in Manunuck, Rhode Island, USA.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
American character actor, the most famous of Western-movie sidekicks of the 1930s and 1940s. He was born May 7, 1885, the third of seven children, in the Hayes Hotel (owned by his father) in the tiny hamlet of Stannards, New York, on the outskirts of Wellsville, New York. Hayes was the son of hotelier and oil-production manager Clark Hayes, and grew up in Stannards. As a young man, George Hayes worked in a circus and played semi-pro baseball while a teenager. He ran away from home at 17, in 1902, and joined a touring stock company. He married Olive Ireland in 1914 and the pair became quite successful on the vaudeville circuit. Retired in his 40s, he lost much of his money in the 1929 stock market crash and was forced to return to work. Although he had made his film debut in a single appearance prior to the crash, it was not until his wife convinced him to move to California and he met producer Trem Carr that he began working steadily in the medium. He played scores of roles in Westerns and non-Westerns alike, finally in the mid-1930s settling in to an almost exclusively Western career. He gained fame as Hopalong Cassidy's sidekick Windy Halliday in many films between 1936-39. Leaving the Cassidy films in a salary dispute, he was legally precluded from using the "Windy" nickname, and so took on the sobriquet "Gabby", and was so billed from about 1940. One of the few sidekicks to land on the annual list of Top Ten Western Boxoffice Stars, he did so repeatedly. In his early films, he alternated between whiskered comic-relief sidekicks and clean-shaven bad guys, but by the later 1930s, he worked almost exclusively as a Western sidekick to stars such as John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Randolph Scott. After his last film, in 1950, he starred as the host of a network television show devoted to stories of the Old West for children, The Gabby Hayes Show (1950). Offstage an elegant and well-appointed connoisseur and man-about-town, Hayes devoted the final years of his life to his investments. He died of cardiovascular disease in Burbank, California, on February 9, 1969.160 westerns, 31-56.
14 soundtrack credits, 32-48.
142 feature westerns.
Cavalier of the West (1931), 1931. Credited : Sheriff Bill Ryan.
1885-1969, 83.- Actor
- Director
A graduate of the University of Southern California School of Law, Morris Ankrum was an attorney and an economics professor before switching careers and joining the theater. He was a veteran stage actor by the time he entered the film industry in the 1930s. His film career spanned 1933-64, during which time he played in 279 films and TV shows. Ankrum spent much time in westerns, playing everything from Indian chiefs to crooked bankers. Among his best remembered parts are his numerous villainous roles in Paramount's highly popular Hopalong Cassidy film series. The Hoppy films in which he appears include North of the Rio Grande (1937), Hills of Old Wyoming (1937), Pirates on Horseback (1941), Three Men from Texas (1940), Borderland (1937), and Hopalong Cassidy Returns (1936), among others.
He was cast in many other films throughout the '30s, '40s, and '50s, varying from small appearances to co-starring roles. He can be seen in low-budget "B" pictures and big-budget blockbusters alike. It was in the 1950s, though, that he hit his stride in the science-fiction genre, where his gruff, no-nonsense demeanor and authoritative voice perfectly fit the role of the military officer helping scientists fight off outer-space menaces, most memorably as Col. Fielding in the classic Invaders from Mars (1953).
Later in his career he did much TV work, in such series as Bonanza (1959), The Rifleman (1958), Rawhide (1959), Cheyenne (1955), Gunsmoke (1955), The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1955), Maverick (1957), Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Sea Hunt (1958), and over a dozen more. At the end of his career from 1957-64, he had a recurring role as a judge in 22 episodes on the Perry Mason (1957) TV series.- Balding, narrow-eyed American character player, a former vaudevillian and radio actor from 1929. Acted in early silent films on the East Coast. Regularly on screen after 1937, he was seen in innumerable small roles as clerks, bartenders and shopkeepers. Most familiar for his recurring role as the telegrapher Barney on TV's Gunsmoke (1955) and as newsman Mr. Krinkie in Dennis the Menace (1959).
- Actor
- Director
Al Ferguson was born on 19 April 1888 in Rosslare, County Wexford, Ireland. He was an actor and director, known for The Three Musketeers (1933), The Trail of Vengeance (1924) and Shackles of Fear (1924). He was married to Lottie Taber. He died on 4 December 1971 in Burbank, California, USA.- Bud McClure was born on 21 February 1883 in Hopland, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Flyin' Buckaroo (1928), The Mystery Rider (1928) and Heroes of the Range (1936). He was married to Grace. He died on 2 November 1942 in North Hollywood, California, USA.
- Hal Price was born on 24 June 1886 in Wauseon, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Sin's Pay Day (1932), Arizona Frontier (1940) and The Lone Ranger (1949). He was married to Coy Danz, Amy F. Goodrich, Eleanor May Fitzsimmons and DeSimone, Josephine. He died on 15 April 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Charles Soldani was born on 1 June 1893 in Ponca City, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Daughter of the Jungle (1949), Man from Oklahoma (1945) and The Pioneers (1941). He died on 10 September 1968 in Glendale, California, USA.150 westerns, 38-69.
84 feature westerns.
Medicine Man Show (1951), 1951. Chief Red Moon. Credited.
1893-1968, 75. - Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
The son of a rancher-turned-politician, Guinn Williams was given the nickname "Big Boy" (and he was, too - 6' 2" of mostly solid muscle from years of working on ranches and playing semi-pro and pro baseball) by Will Rogers, with whom he made one of his first films, in 1919. Although his father wanted him to attend West Point (he had been an officer in the Army during World War I), Williams had always wanted to act and made his way to Hollywood in 1919. His experience as a cowboy and rodeo rider got him work as a stuntman, and he gradually worked his way up to acting. He became friends with Rogers and together they made around 15 films. Additionally,in a film that has recently received critical acclaim, he appeared alongside Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor in the silent film Lucky Star (1929), playing a brute vying for the affections of Janet Gaynor in competition with a returning war veteran, played by Charles Farrell. He then easily made the transition from silents to talkies. Although he also starred in a series of low-budget westerns in the early and mid-1930s, he really came into his own as a supporting player in the late 1930s and early 1940s, especially at Warner Bros., where he appeared in such resoundingly successful westerns as Dodge City (1939) and Santa Fe Trail (1940) with his friends Errol Flynn and Alan Hale. Williams specialized in the somewhat dim and quick-tempered but basically decent sidekick, a role he would play for the next 20 years or so. He also made sound films other than westerns, and was in, for example, A Star Is Born (1937). Late in his career, he won the hearts of TV viewers in a regular role as Pete, the comedic roadie in Circus Boy (1956). In the early 1960s Williams' health began to deteriorate, which was noticeable in his last film, The Comancheros (1961), in which he had a small part and, sadly, did not look well at all. He died of uremic poisoning shortly afterwards.150 westerns, 19-61.
4 soundtrack credits, 34-40.
Santa Fe Trail (1940), 1940. Soundtrack credits.
The Conspirators (1957), 1957. Prairie Dog. Credited.
1899-1962, 63.- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
A former journalist who came from a show-business family--his mother was actress Lydia Knott--western specialist Lambert Hillyer entered films in 1917. After becoming a director, he soon teamed up with cowboy actor William S. Hart for a series of westerns that resulted in making Hart a star, for which the actor--an old-fashioned man who never forgot a slight or a favor--always gave Hillyer credit. Although he could never be considered a stylist, Hillyer often managed to inject his work with the kind of panache and a flourish that other, bigger-budgeted films lacked. The opening scene of Beau Bandit (1930), for example, consists of an eerily atmospheric shot of a posse emerging from a dark, foggy river crossing; it's a somewhat Germanic touch in an otherwise undistinguished film. An incredibly prolific director, Hillyer didn't confine himself to westerns, although they were the majority of his output. He turned out the stylish Dracula's Daughter (1936) and the creepy and chilling The Invisible Ray (1935), both for Universal, and even managed to get in a few serials at Columbia, most notably Batman (1943). Hillyer, like so many B directors before him, finished out his career in television.147 westerns, 17-56.
The Narrow Trail (1917), 1917. Director.
Credits: Director, writer, actor.
1889-1969, 79.- Actor
- Writer
Bill Patton was born on 2 June 1894 in Amarillo, Texas, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Last Chance (1926), Smoking Trails (1924) and Fangs of Fate (1925). He was married to Emily and Birdie. He died on 12 December 1951 in Gardena, California, USA.146 westerns, 17-43.
26 stunts, 26-39.
Gunfire (1934), 1934. Onion peeler.
1894-1951, 57.
Wagon driver, cattleman, hat check man, street brawler, guard.- Ralph Moody was born on November 5, 1886 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA as Ralph Roy Moody, the oldest son of Franklin Jerome Moody and Ida M. Hicklin. His introduction to show business was first as an actor on the stage in pre-radio days and then as a radio personality. His first acting role was in 1900 as the boy, Heinrich, in Rip Van Winkle. At the 1904 World's Fair he sang tenor in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. He had a wide following as Uncle Abner on WIBW, CBS Radio, in the 1930's in Topeka, Kansas, USA. As Uncle Abner he was the town's barber, constable, postmaster, and chief source of information. Beginning in the mid-1940's he was a frequent radio cast member on The Roy Rogers Show. When Gunsmoke began its radio show run in 1952, Ralph Moody was one of the regular cast members. He began making film and television appearances at the age of 62. His first television roles were on three 1949-50 The Lone Ranger (1949) episodes, each time as an Indian chief with a different name. Frequently on TV westerns he had roles as an Indian, but was not type cast. His range of characters included a variety of roles with Jack Webb on Dragnet (1951). Many of his dozen appearances on The Rifleman (1958) were as Doc Burrage. He had six appearances on Bonanza (1959), most as an Indian, at the end of his 23 year acting career. He was married to Hazel B. McOwen. He died on September 16, 1971 in Burbank, California, USA.
- Ernie Adams was born on 18 June 1885 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for The Pride of the Yankees (1942), The Man with Nine Lives (1940) and Invisible Ghost (1941). He was married to Mamie Silver, Margaret Adams, Shirley Adams and Berdonna Gilbert. He died on 26 November 1947 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.145 westerns, 24-48.
Beyond the Rockies (1932), 1932. Soundtrack credits, 3 performances.
1885-1947, 62. - Edward Peil Sr. was born on 18 January 1883 in Racine, Wisconsin, USA. He was an actor, known for Broken Blossoms (1919), The Big Cage (1933) and Dream Street (1921). He was married to Henrietta 'Etta' Raynor. He died on 29 December 1958 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Buck Jones was one of the greatest of the "B" western stars. Although born in Indiana, Jones reportedly (but disputedly) grew up on a ranch near Red Rock in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), and there learned the riding and shooting skills that would stand him in good stead as a hero of Westerns. He joined the army as a teenager and served on US-Mexican border before seeing service in the Moro uprising in the Philippines. Though wounded, he recuperated and re-enlisted, hoping to become a pilot. He was not accepted for pilot training and left the army in 1913. He took a menial job with the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show and soon became champion bronco buster for the show. He moved on to the Julia Allen Show, but with the beginning of the First World War, Jones took work training horses for the Allied armies. After the war, he and his wife, Odelle Osborne, whom he had met in the Miller Brothers show, toured with the Ringling Brothers circus, then settled in Hollywood, where Jones got work in a number of Westerns starring Tom Mix and Franklyn Farnum. Producer William Fox put Jones under contract and promoted him as a new Western star. He used the name Charles Jones at first, then Charles "Buck" Jones, before settling on his permanent stage name. He quickly climbed to the upper ranks of Western stardom, playing a more dignified, less gaudy hero than Mix, if not as austere as William S. Hart. With his famed horse Silver, Jones was one of the most successful and popular actors in the genre, and at one point he was receiving more fan mail than any actor in the world. Months after America's entry into World War II, Jones participated in a war-bond-selling tour. On November 28, 1942, he was a guest of some local citizens in Boston at the famed Coconut Grove nightclub. Fire broke out and nearly 500 people died in one of the worst fire disasters on record. Jones was horribly burned and died two days later before his wife Dell could arrive to comfort him. Although legend has it that he died returning to the blaze to rescue others (a story probably originated by producer Trem Carr for whatever reason), the actual evidence indicates that he was trapped with all the others and succumbed as most did, trying to escape. He remains, however, a hero to thousands who followed his film adventures.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Brick Sullivan was born on 28 July 1899 in Beresford, South Dakota, USA. He was an actor, known for Canon City (1948), Adventures of Superman (1952) and The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1955). He died on 4 September 1959 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Producer
Jack Mower was born on 5 September 1890 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for The Radio Detective (1926), The Son of Sontag (1925) and The Shock (1923). He was married to Diana Woods Smith and Anna Stachia Houlihan. He died on 6 January 1965 in Hollywood, California, USA.142 westerns, 14-63.
80 feature westerns.
Blazing Sixes (1937). 1937. Wells Fargo Agent. Credited.
1890-1965, 74.- One of those wonderfully busy character actors whose face is familiar if not his name, mild-mannered actor Byron Foulger began performing with community theater, and stock and repertory companies after graduating from the University of Utah. He met his future wife, character actress Dorothy Adams, in one of these companies. The marriage lasted nearly five decades and ended only with his death.
Making his Broadway debut in a 1920 production of "Medea" that featured Moroni Olsen as Jason (of the Argonauts), and went on to appear in several other Olsen Broadway productions and in close succession (including "The Trial of Joan of Arc," "Mr. Faust" and "Candida"). While touring the country with Olsen's stock company, he ended up at the Pasadena Playhouse where he both acted and directed. Thereafter he and wife Dorothy decided to settle in Los Angeles.
Together the acting couple tried to stake a claim for themselves in 30s and 40s Hollywood films. Both succeeded, appearing in hundreds of film parts, both together and apart, albeit in small and often unbilled bits. A man of meek, nervous countenance, Foulger's short stature and squinty stare could be used for playing both humble and shady fellows. In the 1940s, the actor became a part of Preston Sturges' company of players, appearing in five of his classic films -- The Great McGinty (1940), Sullivan's Travels (1941), The Palm Beach Story (1942), The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943) and The Great Moment (1944).
Although predominantly employed as an owlish storekeeper, mortician, professor, or bank teller, his better parts had darker intentions. He was exceptional as weaselly, mealy-mouthed, whining henchmen who inevitably showed their yellow streak by the film's end.
The character actor eased into TV roles in the 1950s and '60s, displaying a comedy side in many folksy, rural sitcoms. His final regular TV role was as train conductor Wendell Gibbs in the final years of the Petticoat Junction (1963) series. The father of actress Rachel Ames, Foulger died of a heart ailment on April 4, 1970, coincidentally the same day the final new episode of Petticoat Junction (1963) was broadcast. . - Actor
- Additional Crew
Monte Montague was born on 23 April 1891 in Somerset, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor, known for The Radio Detective (1926), A Western Demon (1922) and The Rookie Cop (1939). He was married to Mary M.. He died on 6 April 1959 in Burbank, California, USA.- George Eldredge was born on 10 September 1898 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Riders to the Stars (1954), Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951) and Crossroads (1955). He was married to Marjorie Joyce Roberta Pett, Irene Haisman and Phyllis Helen Harms. He died on 12 March 1977 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Born in Bolton, Lancashire, Aubrey was the son of US born gymnast Robert Aubrey. Later a member of the Fred Karno variety troupe, he first traveled to New York in 1900, then settled permanently after emigrating from London, on August 29, 1908. An early understudy of Charlie Chaplin, he later achieved leading status during the silents era (Oliver Hardy once providing support). Following his career decline as a starring performer, he was initially given work by Laurel & Hardy, before embarking on a career as a bit-part player in over 300 features.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Ford Beebe was born on 26 November 1888 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. He was a writer and director, known for The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944), Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) and The Golden Idol (1954). He was married to Kitty Winifred Delevanti and Frances Caroline Willey. He died on 26 November 1978 in Lake Elsinore, California, USA.- Karl Hackett was born on 5 September 1893 in Carthage, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Ghost of Hidden Valley (1946), Death Rides the Plains (1943) and Songs and Saddles (1938). He was married to Ruby Burnette Moore. He died on 24 October 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Despite her eastern roots, Ruth Cornwall Woodman created one of the great anthologies about the American West. A descendant of Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop and a Vassar graduate, Woodman was a mother of two and wife to a New York investment banker when she was asked to create a radio show (she was working at the time as a copywriter in an advertising agency). Given the product ties of the sponsor (U.S. Borax) to the remote desert region of the United States, Woodman thought the program should be tied to that area. The sponsor agreed, on one condition--that she travel to the region (the sponsor didn't want stories coming out of the imagination of someone sitting back in New York). Woodman's creation, "Death Valley Days," with its devotion to realistic drama and western character studies, ran on American network radio from 1931 to 1951 and then on television for another two decades.
Woodman's trips to the Death Valley region to pick up bits of fact and fiction themselves became legend. On her first trip, Woodman recalled later, she encountered Death Valley Scotty, a man who had built a castle in the desert and rode around in a car that had a machine gun on the front.
In her lifetime, Woodman became known as one of the foremost authorities on Death Valley history and folklore. She served as story editor and chief writer of "Death Valley Days" until she retired in 1959, although she still wrote occasional scripts for the series. She died in 1970 at the age of 75 following a brief illness. - Writer
- Actress
- Script and Continuity Department
Betty Burbridge was born on 7 December 1895 in San Diego, California, USA. She was a writer and actress, known for In the Clutches of the Gangsters (1914), Anybody's Blonde (1931) and Paradise Express (1937). She died on 19 September 1987 in Tarzana, California, USA.- Actor
- Stunts
- Producer
American cowboy star of silent pictures. He studied science in school but dropped out to pursue a rodeo career. With some success, he was asked to appear in a number of film shorts, all before his eighteenth birthday. He worked for The American Film Manufacturing Company, but was soon signed by Universal Pictures and appeared in Western serials and short features there. He took some time away from movies to travel the country in a Wild West Show, then returned and did numerous Westerns for Triangle and Universal. He agreed to make a series of pictures in Central and South America, but eventually returned to Universal. With the arrival of sound pictures, he shifted into supporting roles before retiring from the screen in 1935, at the age of 45. He died in Los Angeles thirty-eight years later.- Actor
- Writer
American character actor, a fixture both in Westerns and in the comedies of Preston Sturges. Although frequently billed as "Alan" Bridge, he was born Alfred Morton Bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1891 (not as "Alford" Bridge in 1890, as his tombstone erroneously states), he and his sister, future actress Loie Bridge, were raised by their mother Loie and her second husband, butcher Wilmer Shinn. Following service as a corporal in the U.S. Army infantry in the first World War, Bridge joined a theatrical troupe which also included several of his relatives. The 1920 census showed him on tour in Kansas City, Missouri. He dabbled in writing and in 1930 sold a script to a short film, Her Hired Husband (1930). He followed this with a B-Western script, God's Country and the Man (1931), in which he made his film debut as an actor. For the next quarter century, he managed the atypical achievement of maintaining a career in both B-Westerns and in bigger dramatic and comedy features. Ten films for director Preston Sturges represent probably his most familiar contribution to Hollywood history. Bridge also appeared frequently on television until his death in 1957 at 66.- Pauline Bush was born on 22 May 1886 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. She was an actress, known for A Mountain Melody (1915), The Recognition (1912) and Richelieu (1914). She was married to Allan Dwan. She died on 1 November 1969 in San Diego, California, USA.131 westerns, 11-17.
The Desert Breed (1915). 1915.
Maiden and Men (1912). 1912.
The Wooers of Mountain Kate (1912). 1912.
The Winning of La Mesa (1912). 1912.
1886-1969, 83. - Rube Dalroy was born on 2 July 1878 in Wheaton, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Stormy Seas (1923) and Roaring Rangers (1946). He was married to Myrtle M. Smith. He died on 8 March 1954 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Bob Card was born on 4 May 1887 in Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Ridin' the Cherokee Trail (1941), Terror of the Plains (1934) and Across the Plains (1939). He was married to Hazel. He died on 7 April 1970 in Los Angeles, California, USA.128 westerns, 29-44.
Fiddler, Smoking Guns (1934). 1934, Uncredited.
Cowhand banjo player, Terror of the Plains (1934). 1934.
guitar player, Rio Rattler (1935). 1935.
violin player, In Old Cheyenne (1941). 1941.
1887-1970, 82.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Arthur Mackley was born on 3 July 1865 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK. He was an actor and director, known for Old Gorman's Gal (1913), Two Western Paths (1913) and The Daughter of the Sheriff (1913). He was married to Julia Mackley. He died on 21 December 1926 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Leo Sailor, a.k.a. Syd Saylor, was born into a very notable family. His father, George Sailor, was a renowned engineer, and was often called out to various locations for consultation and evaluation. In 1906 he was called to San Francisco on a job, and he had no sooner checked into his hotel than the city was devastated by the notorious 1906 earthquake. Mr. Sailor was never seen again, and was presumed to have been one of many to have died in the quake. That left Syd and his brother without a father, and to remedy that situation his mother's brother Ed moved in with the family.
Syd decided to follow his uncle Ed's advice; he studied hard and had the help of his uncle as a tutor. Syd soon joined several local actors groups. While appearing in a variety of plays put on by the troupe, Syd discovered that he had a talent for making people laugh, and his other uncle--a captain in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department who was a former member of Mack Sennett's comedy troupe The Keystone Kops--encouraged him to go to Los Angeles to break into the film industry. Syd did just that, and his uncle used the connections he had in the film industry to get Syd's foot in the door. Syd became a prolific character actor, recognizable by his bulging eyes, stuttering speech and a protruding Adam's apple that bobbed up and down like a pogo stick. He appeared in everything from comedies (in the 1920s he had his own series of two-reel shorts) to westerns, usually as the hero's sidekick. He wasn't just a one-note comic, though. He had a small but touching role as a lonely patient in a psychiatric hospital in The Snake Pit (1948), who goes to the facility's annual dance and desperately and sadly looks for a woman to dance with him.
He appeared in more than 170 films, and died of a heart attack in Hollywood in 1962.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Bill Nestell was born on 3 March 1893 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Buckskin Frontier (1943), Sir Lumberjack (1926) and When the Law Rides (1928). He died on 18 October 1966 in Bishop, California, USA.- William H. O'Brien was born on 19 July 1891 in Peak Hill, New South Wales, Australia. He was an actor, known for I've Been Around (1935), Once a Gentleman (1930) and The Sky Raiders (1931). He died on 18 April 1981 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Editor
- Editorial Department
- Director
Carl Pierson was born on 26 June 1891 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. He was an editor and director, known for The New Frontier (1935), The Arm of the Law (1932) and Paradise Canyon (1935). He died on 11 February 1977 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Clyde McClary was born on 10 July 1888 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Speedy Spurs (1926), Range Riders (1934) and Paradise Valley (1934). He died on 30 June 1939 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Charles Brinley was born on 15 November 1880 in Yuma, Arizona, USA. He was an actor, known for In the Days of Daniel Boone (1923), Moran of the Lady Letty (1922) and At Shiloh (1913). He was married to Johanna ?. He died on 17 February 1946 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Jack Low was born on 2 August 1897 in Pueblo, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for Outlaws of the Panhandle (1941) and Adventures of the Texas Kid: Border Ambush (1954). He died on 21 February 1958 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
The son of a day laborer, William Boyd moved with his family to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was seven. His parents died while he was in his early teens, forcing him to quit school and take such jobs as a grocery clerk, surveyor and oil field worker. He went to Hollywood in 1919, already gray-haired. His first role was as an extra in Cecil B. DeMille's Why Change Your Wife? (1920). He bought some fancy clothes, caught DeMille's eye and got the romantic lead in The Volga Boatman (1926), quickly becoming a matinée idol and earning upwards of $100,000 a year. However, with the end of silent movies, Boyd was without a contract, couldn't find work and was going broke. By mistake his picture was run in a newspaper story about the arrest of another actor with a similar name (William 'Stage' Boyd) on gambling, liquor and morals charges, and that hurt his career even more. In 1935 he was offered the lead role in Hop-a-Long Cassidy (1935) (named because of a limp caused by an earlier bullet wound). He changed the original pulp-fiction character to its opposite, made sure that "Hoppy" didn't smoke, drink, chew tobacco or swear, rarely kissed a girl and let the bad guy draw first. By 1943 he had made 54 "Hoppies" for his original producer, Harry Sherman; after Sherman dropped the series, Boyd produced and starred in 12 more on his own. The series was wildly popular, and all recouped at least double their production costs. In 1948 Boyd, in a savvy and precedent-setting move, bought the rights to all his pictures (he had to sell his ranch to raise the money) just as TV was looking for Saturday morning Western fare. He marketed all sorts of "Hoppy" products (lunch boxes, toy guns, cowboy hats, etc.) and received royalties from comic books, radio and records. He retired to Palm Desert, California, in 1953. In 1968 he had surgery to remove a tumor from a lymph gland and from then on refused all interview and photograph requests.- Barney Beasley was born on 20 June 1895 in Blaine Bottom, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor, known for Gun Play (1935), Carrying the Mail (1934) and Pals of the West (1934). He was married to Lulu L. McLinden, Minnie Cordell Grubbs, Julia and Lila. He died on 1 June 1951 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Frank LaRue was born on 5 December 1878 in Ridgeway, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for The Cyclone Kid (1942), Flying Devils (1933) and Port of Hate (1939). He was married to Florence Ronette Smith, Stella, Elsie May Payne and Alice Clark. He died on 26 September 1960 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Stunts
Another face in Hollywood's crowd, John Barton faced many challenges that your typical extra didn't. Barton only had one leg and he used a peg leg to get around from film set to film set. This constantly challenged Barton because it eliminated a lot of work that his aged appearance might otherwise have gotten him.
Starting in the 1930s, Barton typically appeared as workman but his handicap limited him to appearing in scenes were people were typically sitting down or where he could lean against a bar to prop himself up. He managed to appear in various movies in 1930s but it wasn't until the big budget westerns of the 1940s that Barton really started to work steadily.
With the rise in popularity of westerns in the 1940s, studios started investing heavily into westerns with bigger budgets. In the past, western sets were typically inhabited by old time cowboys who drifted to Hollywood but with the increase in popularity, Barton and other extras were able to capitalize by lending their rough looking appearances to countless bar scenes. This became a regular source of income to Barton because it enabled him to sit down in the bar or lean against it when needed.
With the advent of television, Barton's career really took off because he had a lot of television westerns he could appear in and there were new courtroom based series that he could appear in. By the 1950s and 1960s, he appeared in almost every American movie where there was a courtroom scene and could regularly be seen on shows like Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and Perry Mason.
By the 1960s, the tiresome days of the movie set started to affect Barton. Parry Mason had been canceled and westerns were starting to lose their popularity so Barton decided to retire leaving behind a long career that spanned a few generation.- Actor
- Additional Crew
John Hugh Elliott was born July 5th 1876 to Sarah E. Norris (07/04/1845-02/21/1897) and Jehue S. Elliott (9/21/1845-8/18/1916) in Keosauqua. He had three sisters, Elizabeth (3/7/1869-01/18/1916), Fanny (10/31/1871-02/24/1897), and Nina (03/15/1887-05/26/1958). In Febuary 1897, Typhoid Fever hit the Elliott family. John, his mother, and sister Fanny all fell ill. Elizabeth came out from Keosaqua to care for her sick siblings. Fanny passed just three days after their mother but John, after about a week began his full recovery. On April 14th, 1897 he married Cleo Kelly. They lived in Pella Iowa where John had moved to in October 1895 with his family. Two years later, the couple had twins, a boy and girl, Donald and Dorothy on August 9th, 1899. It was a rough marriage since Cleo's family highly disapproved of her relationship with an "actor". John began as a stage actor, but he truly shone with his appearances in "talkies". John enjoyed playing a variety of roles, including those of more despicable characters, seeing it as a way to exercise an actor's best talents. He died December 12th, 1956 in his California home.- Actor
- Writer
Robert Walker was born on 18 June 1888 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Pueblo Terror (1931), The Fair Pretender (1918) and The Gates of Eden (1916). He was married to Ruth R., Cora J. and Vera. He died on 4 March 1954 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- After spending his childhood in San Francisco, Bennett eventually moved to Los Angeles and was residing in Beverly Hills by 1930. From the onset, he had close ties to the acting profession, his mother (Ella Costillo Bennett) being a celebrated drama critic and author. His first acting was in stock and his entry to films was via stunt work. Throughout his career he was variously billed either as "Ray' or (for better productions) as 'Raphael' Bennett. When he eventually graduated to speaking parts -- which varied in size from small to medium -- it was generally as hard-bitten desperadoes or assorted sneaky henchmen in westerns and serials. On luckier occasions he got to play the lead villain. The majority of his appearances were for Poverty Row outfits like Republic or Monogram. The life of a small part contract player could not have been an easy one. The 1940 census had Ray working for six weeks in 1939, earning a meagre $1250. In between filming, Ray tried his hand at writing dramatic novels with a historical setting. At least one of his unpublished manuscripts ("The Shelter of the Cloth") is still held as part of the UCLA Library Special Collections. He never married and died from a long-standing heart affliction in December 1957 at the age of 62.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Born in New York City to a Judge of Special Sessions who was also president of a sewing machine company. Grew up on City Island, New York. Attended Hamilton Military Academy and turned down an appointment to West Point to attend New York Law School, where his law school classmates included future New York City mayor James J. Walker. After a boating accident which led to pneumonia, Carey wrote a play while recuperating and toured the country in it for three years, earning a great deal of money, all of which evaporated after his next play was a failure. In 1911, his friend Henry B. Walthall introduced him to director D.W. Griffith, for whom Carey was to make many films. Carey married twice, the second time to actress Olive Fuller Golden (aka Olive Carey, who introduced him to future director John Ford. Carey influenced Universal Studios head Carl Laemmle to use Ford as a director, and a partnership was born that lasted until a rift in the friendship in 1921. During this time, Carey grew into one of the most popular Western stars of the early motion picture, occasionally writing and directing films as well. In the '30s he moved slowly into character roles and was nominated for an Oscar for one of them, the President of the Senate in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). He worked once more with Ford, in The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), and appeared once with his son, Harry Carey Jr., in Howard Hawks's Red River (1948). He died after a protracted bout with emphysema and cancer. Ford dedicated his remake of 3 Godfathers (1948) "To Harry Carey--Bright Star Of The Early Western Sky."- Julian Rivero was born on 25 July 1890 in San Francisco, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Burn 'Em Up Barnes (1934), The Mad Empress (1939) and Heroes of the Alamo (1937). He was married to Isobel Thomas. He died on 24 February 1976 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Tex Driscoll was born on 7 September 1889 in Center, Indiana, USA. He was an actor, known for In the Days of Buffalo Bill (1922), The Squaw Man (1914) and The Country Boy (1915). He died on 1 June 1970 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Stunts
Sid Jordan was born on 12 August 1889 in Muskogee, Indian Territory, USA [now Oklahoma, USA]. He was an actor, known for Men in the Raw (1923), The Ridin' Kid from Powder River (1924) and Trooper O'Neill (1922). He died on 30 September 1970 in Hemet, California, USA.120 westerns, 13-49.
Tom and Jerry (1917). 1917. Sheriff. Credited.
1889-1970, 81.
Born in Muskogee, Indian Territory, Oklahoma.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
- Director
Wilbur McGaugh was born on 12 March 1895 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an assistant director and actor, known for Three Pals (1926), The Fuller Brush Man (1948) and Unknown Woman (1935). He died on 31 January 1965 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Pascale Perry was born on 22 October 1895 in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. He was an actor, known for The Gallant Fool (1933), Eyes of Texas (1948) and Springtime in the Sierras (1947). He died on 11 July 1953 in North Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Actor/producer/director Leo Maloney was owner of the Leo Maloney Studio located in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. Several early westerns were filmed at the studio, which overlooked orange groves and included a small city that housed 35 people who lived there year-round. The last film he directed and produced, Overland Bound (1929), was one of the first all-talking pictures. After a celebration for the new film, Maloney suffered a heart attack and was unable to enjoy the film's success.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Andy Clyde's more than 40-year film career started on the vaudeville stages and music halls in his native Scotland in the 1920s. He made his way to Hollywood and began as an extra in Mack Sennett comedies, but he was soon moved up to featured player, usually the sidekick or second banana to the lead. He had his own series of well-received comedy shorts at Educational Pictures in the mid-1930s, and began a long association with Columbia Pictures, where he made his own series of comedy shorts over the next 20 years. Being a popular player there, he outlasted every Columbia Pictures comedian except The Three Stooges.
He is best remembered, however, for his role as California Carlson, the easygoing comedic relief in Paramount's highly successful "Hopalong Cassidy" series. He played in 36 of the 66 movies, and also joined William Boyd ("Hoppy") on his popular radio show. Clyde also appeared in several other western films, usually playing the grizzled, grungy, scruffy marshal, deputy or just plain old cowboy, generally with several days growth of beard and a sloppy, mismatched wardrobe (in real life he was exactly the opposite, being a slick, clean-shaven and sharp dresser). His last film, Pardon My Nightshirt (1956), also brought an end to his Columbia shorts series. He had regular parts in such TV series as No Time for Sergeants (1964) and The Real McCoys (1957).
He died in 1967, age 75, in Hollywood, still working.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Joe Dominguez was born on 19 March 1894 in Chihuahua, Mexico. He was an actor, known for Fighting Fate (1921), The Fast Express (1924) and Wolves of the North (1924). He died on 11 April 1970 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.117 westerns, 29-69
75 feature westerns.
1929, Border Romance (1929).
1969, Robber's Roost (1969).
1894-1970, 76- Earl Dwire was born on 3 October 1883 in Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Randy Rides Alone (1934), Radio Patrol (1937) and The Lawless Frontier (1934). He was married to Elizabeth Alice Maddeaux and Ruth Lechler, nee Castle. He died on 16 January 1940 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Robert N. Bradbury was born on 23 March 1886 in Walla Walla, Washington, USA. He was a director and actor, known for The Lucky Texan (1934), The Star Packer (1934) and West of the Divide (1934). He was married to Nola Bradbury. He died on 24 November 1949 in Glendale, California, USA.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Bennett Cohen was born on 28 August 1890 in Trinidad, Colorado, USA. He was a writer and director, known for Dangerous Traffic (1926), The Three Musketeers (1933) and Midnight Faces (1926). He died on 10 June 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA.115 westerns, 15-53.
Code of the Range (1927), 1927. Director.
Credits: Writer, director, producer.
1890-1964, 73.- Stockdale, a very good friend of Mary Miles Minter's mother, Charlotte Shelby, claimed on the witness stand that he was with Mrs. Shelby when movie director William Desmond Taylor--Minter's lover--was murdered, therefore Charlotte could not have killed him. Stockdale said that he suspected Taylor's former chauffeur, a man named Sands, was responsible for the murder. However, after many different investigations of the murder over the years by authors, private detectives and even director King Vidor, most sources familiar with the case say the evidence points to Mrs. Shelby as Taylor's killer.
- Actor
- Stunts
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stalwart, durable Monte Blue, a romantic leading man of the silent days, was born January 11, 1887, as Gerard Monte Blue (some sources indicate 1890, but his mother's application for his admission to the Soldier's and Sailor's Orphan's Home lists his birth date as January 11, 1887). Various sources have reported his first name as George or Gerald, but, again, in his mother's application, it is spelled Gerard. His father was killed in a railroad accident when Monte was eight and his mother could not support four children. He was admitted (along with another brother, Morris) to the orphanage at that time. There he built up his physique playing football. At one time or another the able-bodied gent was a railroader, a fireman, a coal miner, a cowpuncher, a ranch hand, a circus rider, a lumberjack and, finally, trekking west, he became a day laborer for D.W. Griffith's Biograph Studios.
Blue eventually became a stuntman for Griffith and an extra in The Birth of a Nation (1915), which was his first film. Griffith took him in and made him an assistant on his classic epic Intolerance (1916), where he earned another small part. Gradually moving to support roles for both Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, Blue earned his breakthrough role as "Danton" in Griffith's Orphans of the Storm (1921) with sisters Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish. He rose to stardom as a rugged romantic lead opposite Hollywood's top silent stars, among them Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow and Norma Shearer. He made a relatively easy transition into talkies as he had a fine, cultivated voice, but, at the same time, lost most of his investments when the stock market crashed in 1929. By the 1930s the aging star had moved back into small, often unbilled parts, continuously employed, however, by his old friend DeMille and Warner Bros. At the end of his life he was working as an advance man for the Hamid-Morton Circus in Milwaukee. He died of a coronary attack complicated by influenza in 1963.- George Bell is a cowboy actor who has been constantly overlooked by western enthusiast. Starting in the 1940s, Bell was a regular in western movies that were filmed at Republic where Bell could be seen menacing the good guys as a part of the gang that were terrorizing the local citizens or he could be seen riding in a sheriff's posse.
During the 1950s, Bell was so widely respected among his peers that he was frequently taken on location in various films. This was never more evident during the filming of the Gary Cooper movie "Distant Drums" where he and two other cowboy extras were chosen to join the primary cast and to portray soldiers where they were taken on location to Florida for 2 months. When he got back, he continued to appear in a various assortment of movies that were filmed at Republic and Warner Brothers.
By the late 1950s, the age of the television western had arrived. There were countless westerns on the air and they all needed cowboys to fill their posse scenes. This couldn't have come at a better time for Bell because the once dominate Republic Studios had fallen into disrepair under the mismanagement of Herbert Yates and eventually was forced to close down. Bell found himself working various television westerns including a significant amount of work appearing a barfly or a henchman in many different Warner Brothers television productions.
During the early 1960s, Warner Brothers started to divest itself from the television western market and Bell went on to appear for a few more years in shows like "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza", and "The Virginian". Eventually in 1964, George Bell decided to retire after more than 30 years as an on screen cowboy leaving behind a lasting legacy that encompassed the golden era of westerns. - Paul E. Burns was born on 26 January 1881 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Smoky River Serenade (1947), The Pilgrim Lady (1946) and Son of Paleface (1952). He died on 17 May 1967 in Van Nuys, California, USA.114 westerns, 39-67.
The Royal Mounted Rides Again (1945). 1945. 'Latitude' Bucket. Credited.
1881-1967, 86. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Martin Garralaga was born on 10 November 1894 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. He was an actor, known for What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969), La llama sagrada (1931) and Riding the California Trail (1947). He died on 12 June 1981 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Robert Emmett Tansey was born on 28 June 1897 in Brooklyn [now in New York City], New York, USA. He was a writer and director, known for Badman's Gold (1951), Timber Terrors (1935) and Courage of the North (1935). He was married to Kitty. He died on 17 June 1951 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Jim Mason was born on 3 February 1889 in Paris, France. He was an actor, known for A Race for Life (1928), The Penalty (1920) and All Faces West (1929). He was married to Lillian Ericson. He died on 7 November 1959 in Hollywood, California, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Nelson McDowell was born on 14 August 1870 in Greenville, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for The Last of the Mohicans (1920), The Girl of the Golden West (1923) and The Ridin' Kid from Powder River (1924). He was married to Sophie Lottie Green. He died on 3 November 1947 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Writer
Marin Sais was descended from one of the earliest Spanish families of California (Marin County was named after one of her ancestors). She was possessed of a fine singing voice. and after graduation from school journeyed to New York to pursue an operatic career. However, not long after her arrival she apparently changed her mind about her career path, and before long she was appearing in two-reel comedies for Vitagraph. Her career progressed steadily, and she was soon working in full-length films and serials. She soon journeyed to Hollywood, and began appearing in westerns, often with Hoot Gibson. She also became a fixture in action serials. In 1920 she married cowboy actor Jack Hoxie, and they appeared in several films together, but divorced five years later. With the coming of sound she began appearing in character roles rather than the leading or featured roles she was used to, and the films she appeared in were often for the cheap independent market. She seemed to specialize in westerns, and with few exceptions her pictures up until her retirement in 1953 were all in that genre.111 westerns, 11-53.
1890-1971, 81.
The Mesquite's Gratitude (1911), 1911.
The Pony Express Girl (1912), 1912.