Westerners with 250 - 299 western credits.
Actors born 1864 - 1930.
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- Writer
Kenne Duncan was born on 17 February 1902 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. He was an actor and writer, known for Night of the Ghouls (1959), Manhunt of Mystery Island (1945) and The Astounding She-Monster (1957). He died on 5 February 1972 in Hollywood, California, USA.(257) - westerns, 28-60.
166 feature westerns.
1903 - 1972, 68. Canada. USA.- Actor
- Stunts
- Camera and Electrical Department
Ted Mapes was born on a Nebraska wheat ranch. His father, John H. Mapes, also had cattle, horses, and mules. When Ted was in his 20s, he traveled west to California, where he worked driving a truck in the Signal Hills oil fields near Long Beach, then a moving van for a Los Angeles company. While moving John Barrymore's baggage and equipment from the United Artists studios to Barrymore's home, Ted met a "grip" boss, Alex Hume. That meeting led to Ted's first film job as a grip boss on The Taming of the Shrew (1929). He was later head grip on Tom Mix's last picture, The Miracle Rider (1935), and on The Phantom Empire (1935), in which Gene Autry had his first starring role. Ted had bit parts in many movies, primarily westerns. He appeared in at least 13 serials produced by Republic Pictures. He was also a top stuntman, and doubled Charles Starrett, Bruce Bennett and others. Ted bore a striking resemblance to Gary Cooper and doubled for Cooper in 17 films, beginning with Sergeant York (1941) and including Along Came Jones (1945), The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944), Saratoga Trunk (1945), Unconquered (1947) and Blowing Wild (1953). He also doubled James Stewart in films from Broken Arrow (1950) through Bandolero! (1968). After retiring from acting in 1969, Ted worked for the American Humane Association as an advisor on films in which animals were used, such as Ben (1972) and Willard (1971). Ted was inducted into The Hollywood Stuntmen's Hall of Fame on September 18, 1978.(279) westerns, 35-68.
198 feature westerns.
Henchman Ricks, Tonto Basin Outlaws (1941). 1941. Stunts. Credited actor.
Drifting Along (1946). 1946. Stunts.
1901 - 1984, 82.- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Bill Coontz was born on 28 August 1917 in Johnson, Iowa, USA. He was an actor, known for Convoy (1978), Plunderers of Painted Flats (1959) and Frankenstein's Daughter (1958). He died on 7 April 1978 in Van Buren, Arkansas, USA.(299) westerns, 50-75
76 feature westerns.
The Longhorn (1951). 1951. Stunts. Actor.
1917 - 1978, 60.- Emile Avery was born on 9 May 1908 in New Mexico, USA. He was an actor, known for The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1966), Temple Houston (1963) and Lawman (1958). He died on 8 November 1985 in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA.(298), - westerns, 47-69.
67 feature westerns.
17 stunts.
Cattle Drive (1951). 1951. Stunts. Actor.
1908 - 1985, 77. - Producer
- Director
- Script and Continuity Department
Laven, Jules V. Levy and Arthur Gardner met in 1943 in the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Force. They were stationed at the Hal Roach Studio in Culver City, California (with other notables such as Capt. Ronald Reagan, Capt. Clark Gable and Lt. William Holden), 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 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)).297 westerns, 48-73.
13 feature westerns.
The Daring Caballero (1949), 1949. Script supervisor.
The Sharpshooter (1958). 1958. Director.
1922 - 2009, 87.- Although Charles King played a variety of roles in silent films, and even made a series of comedy shorts for Universal in the 1920s, it was as a villain in sound westerns that King achieved his greatest fame. In the 1930s and 1940s his jowly face, beady eyes, Texas accent, droopy walrus mustache and overhanging beer belly became familiar to legions of fans of B westerns, especially those of rock-bottom PRC Pictures (it seemed like he showed up in every western PRC ever made), and you knew as soon as you saw him that he would meet his doom before the end of the last reel. Sometimes he was actually the head of the gang, but usually he was just a hired gun or, on even rarer occasions, "middle management". There's a line in Blazing Saddles (1974) where Gene Wilder says, "I've killed more men than Cecil B. DeMille"; it's doubtful that anyone has been killed more times in films than Charlie King. He's been shot, beaten up, run over, thrown off cliffs and blown up by the likes of John Wayne, Buster Crabbe, Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, and pretty much anyone who ever appeared in a movie with him--if he had been in a Shirley Temple picture, she would have found a way to bump him off.
After a memorable career as a punching bag, piñata and moving target for most of the actors in Hollywood, Charlie King finally hung up his spurs in 1957, and died of cirrhosis of the liver in May of that year. - Robert "Bob" Jasper Reeves was born on January 28, 1892 in Marlin, Texas. He attended Texas A&M University and served in the US Army during World War I. In 1921 he was cast in a series of Western shorts that were called "Cactus Features". He and his leading lady Maryon Aye would make 18 Cactus Features together including Streak Of Yellow and The Claim Jumpers. Bob, who was six foot two inches tall and weighed over 200 pounds, became a popular Western star during the silent era. His success didn't last long and by the 1940s he was playing bit parts. During his long career he appeared in more three hundred movies. He also had roles on the television shows Maverick and Wyatt Earp. Bob was married to Mary Lee Turner. The couple had no children together but Bob was a stepfather to Mary's children from a previous marriage. On April 12, 1960 Bob had a heart attack and died while filling out an unemployment application. He was buried at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California.(293) westerns, 19-60.
198 feature westerns.
To the Tune of Bullets (1919), 1919.
The Gun Game (1920), 1920.
The No-Gun Man (1924), 1924.
The Two Gun Man (1931), 1931.
1892 - 1960, 68. - Actor
- Soundtrack
John McIntire possessed the requisite grit, craggy features and crusty, steely-eyed countenance to make for one of television and film's most durable supporting players in western settings and film noir. Born in Spokane, Washington in 1907 and the son of a lawyer, he grew up in Montana where he learned to raise and ride broncos on the family homestead. After two years at USC, he spent some time out at sea before turning his attentions to entertainment and the stage. As a radio announcer, he gained quite a following announcing on the "March of Time" broadcasts.
In the late 1940s, John migrated west and found a niche for himself in rugged oaters and crimers. Normally the politicians, ranchers and lawmen he portrayed could be counted on for their integrity, maturity and worldly wise, no-nonsense approach to life such as in Black Bart (1948), Down to the Sea in Ships (1949), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Scene of the Crime (1949) Ambush (1950) Saddle Tramp (1950) and The World in His Arms (1952). However, director Anthony Mann tapped his versatility and gave him a few shadier, more interesting villains to play in two of his top-notch western films: Winchester '73 (1950) and The Far Country (1954) and a kindhearted role in The Tin Star (1957). Television helped John gain an even stronger foothold in late 1950s Hollywood. Although his character departed the first season of the Naked City (1958) program, he became a familiar face in two other classic western series. He won the role of Christopher Hale in 1961 after Wagon Train (1957) series' star Ward Bond died, and then succeeded the late Charles Bickford in The Virginian (1962) in 1967 playing Bickford's brother, Clay Grainger, for three years.
John's deep, dusty, resonant voice was utilized often for narratives and documentaries. In the ensuing years, he and his longtime wife, actress Jeanette Nolan, became the Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee of the sagebrush set, appearing together as the quintessential frontier couple for decades and decades. They were married for 56 years until John's death of emphysema in 1991. They both outlived their son, Tim McIntire, a strapping, imposing actor himself, who died in 1986 of heart problems.- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Actor and stuntman Boyd Franklin 'Red' Morgan was born on October 24, 1915 in Waurika, Oklahoma. Morgan spent the first twelve years of his life growing up on a combination farm and cattle ranch. Boyd started high school in Hobbs, New Mexico and finished high school in Holtville, California. An outstanding athlete in high school, Morgan attended the University of Southern California on a football scholarship in 1935 and made his film debut as a football player in 1936. Following graduation from college, Boyd was recruited by the Washington Redskins before going on to join the Pacific Coast League in 1940 and went on to play football for the Hollywood Bears and the Birmingham Generals. Morgan joined the U.S. Navy as an ensign in 1942 and in the wake of his military service worked as a football coach at Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California up until 1948. Boyd decided to pursue a career as both an actor and stuntman in the late 1940's. Among the notable actors that he doubled for are Stuart Whitman, Dean Martin, Scott Brady, Gene Evans, Darren McGavin, Jim Davis, Peter Graves, and Leo Gordon. A steady and sturdy fixture in Western movies and TV shows, Morgan's career in show business encompassed over five decades altogether. Boyd died from a heart attack at age 72 on January 8, 1988 in Tarzana, California.- Writer
- Producer
Herb Meadow was born on 27 May 1911 in New York, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for The Man from Blackhawk (1959), The Master of Ballantrae (1953) and Have Gun - Will Travel (1957). He died on 1 March 1995 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Producer
- Additional Crew
- Director
Born into a large Bohemian-Polish family in Chicago on March 14, 1864, William N. Selig was one of the true pioneers of the motion picture industry. Though not widely remembered today, his Selig Polyscope Co. was responsible for many landmark events in early cinema. Among these were construction of the first permanent studio in Los Angeles in 1908-1909, production of the first cliff-hanger serial (The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913)) and the first film version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910).
After working as an upholsterer, then a vaudeville magician in Chicago, Selig traveled to northern California in 1890 to run a fruit ranch in a small town called Chicago Park. The move was partially necessitated by health problems he was having at the time. By 1893 William had recovered enough to start an African-American minstrel company known as "Selig and Johnson's Colored Minstrels." Performing in the San Francisco area, the most notable member of this troupe was Bert Williams, who would become the greatest African-American comedian of the vaudeville era.
Upon seeing an Edison Kinetescope at the Dallas Fair in 1894, Selig decided to return home to Chicago where he began working on his own camera-projection system. In 1896 he founded one of the world's first motion picture studios. From very modest beginnings, his Selig Polyscope Co. quickly grew to be one of the major players during the pioneer era. With the help of a machinist named Andrew Schustek, Selig designed one of the earliest camera-projectors. Based largely on the Lumiere Cinematographe, his invention would share its name with his fledgling studio.
The first decade of Selig Polyscope's operation was marked by legal turmoil, due largely to the efforts of Thomas A. Edison's lawyers. Finally, in 1909, Selig and several other studio heads formed an uneasy alliance with Edison. The resulting Motion Picture Patents Company and its distribution arm General Films would dominate the film industry until 1915. That year the independent companies won a major victory when the Supreme Court ruled the M.P.P.C. an illegal monopoly.
"Colonel" Selig's ambitions were not strictly confined to cinema. Around 1911 he began acquiring land for what would become the largest private zoo in the world. The Selig Zoo at Eastlake (now Lincoln) Park, in Los Angeles was a logical extension of his movie business. Over the years, William had accumulated a sizable collection of animals for his jungle movies. The 32-acre zoo allowed him to showcase his menagerie while leaving room for studios at the back of the grounds. Many famous animals resided at the zoo, including the original Leo the MGM lion.
Once the zoo/studio was in operation, Selig no longer needed the first L.A. studio that director Francis Boggs had opened for him in Edendale (now Echo Park). An up-and-coming producer named William Fox decided to lease that site for his soon-to-be-famous company. Another giant of the industry benefited from Selig's initial investment in Los Angeles. Louis B. Mayer moved into the studios at the zoo once Selig retired from major production around 1920. The Colonel had no desire to compete against these younger, more aggressive movie moguls.
There were other factors which led William to leave the industry he helped found. With the release of The Spoilers (1914) in 1914, Selig enjoyed his greatest success. At this point Selig Polyscope appeared to have a bright future, but things quickly changed. During this time the industry was evolving from producing the short films Selig specialized in to the modern feature-length productions. While William did make longer films like "The Spoilers," he felt shorts were the way of the future. The onset of World War I also hurt Selig Polyscope, given its extensive European operations. Finally, the dissolution of the Patents Company made the industry more competitive, dooming the pioneer studios.
Selig moved into independent production after closing his studios, working infrequently until the 1930s. The Colonel's glory days were past, though, and he faded into obscurity. The cost of operating a large zoo and the Great Depression had reduced Selig's fortune to nothing. He became a literary agent in his later years, selling off the story rights purchased years before for his films. In 1947 Selig and several other film pioneers were awarded special Oscars. He died the following year on July 15, with his loving wife of many years, Mary, at his side.286 westerns, 03-21.
Stage Hold-Up (1903). 1903.
Local Color on the A-1 Ranch (1916). 1916.
1864 - 1948, 84.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Most familiar to TV audiences as no-nonsense Sheriff Roy Coffee on the long-running western series Bonanza (1959), Ray Teal was one of the most versatile character actors in the business. In his almost 40-year career he played everything from cops to gunfighters to sheriffs to gangsters to a judge at the Nuremberg War Crimes trials. He could play a kindly grandfather in one film and a heartless, sadistic killer in the next, and be equally believable in both roles. A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, he was a musician who worked his way through college playing the sax in local bands. At UCLA in the 1920s he formed his own band and led it until 1936. He appeared in several films in minor bit parts, and it wasn't until 1938 that he had a somewhat more substantial part, in Western Jamboree (1938). The next year he had a bigger part in the splashy Spencer Tracy adventure Northwest Passage (1940) as one of Rogers' Rangers. He appeared in serials, westerns, crime dramas, costume epics (he even appeared as Little John in The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946)!), war pictures, had a small but memorable part as an anti-Semitic blowhard who gets knocked into a store display by Dana Andrews in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and a bigger and more memorable part as one of Spencer Tracy's fellow judges in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). He also made many appearances on TV, in everything from The Lone Ranger (1949) to Green Acres (1965). He died of natural causes in 1976.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Horace B. Carpenter was born on 31 January 1875 in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Maniac (1934), The Arizona Kid (1929) and Fangs of Fate (1925). He was married to Beatrice Allen and Ella N. Hilger. He died on 21 May 1945 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Stunts
Terry Frost was born on 26 October 1906 in Bemidji, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for Mysterious Island (1951), Dead Man's Gold (1948) and Apache Rose (1947). He was married to Marion Carney and Marguerite Beday. He died on 1 March 1993 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Hank Patterson was born in Springville, Alabama to Green and Mary Newton Patterson. Hank's great-grandfather, James Pearson, was an original settler of St. Clair County, AL as was his mother's great-grandfather, Thomas Newton. Between 1894 & 1897, the family left AL to live in Taylor, Texas, where Hank attempted to work as a serious musician, only to settle for playing piano in traveling vaudeville shows. He worked his way out to California in the 1920s and here began his film career followed by long runs on two television series Gunsmoke (1955) and Green Acres (1965).(285), - westerns, 39-73.
52 feature westerns.
1888 - 1975, 86. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Dabbs Greer was a very familiar face in films and especially on TV. He was a sort of "everyman" in his roles and played merchants, preachers, businessmen, and other "pillars of the community" types as well as assorted villains. With his plain looking face, wavy hair and mellow, distinctive voice he was a solid supporting actor.
He was born on April 2, 1917, in Fairview, Missouri, to Randall Alexander Greer and Bernice Irene Dabbs. Reared in Anderson, Missouri, he was the only child of a pharmacist father and a speech therapist mother. His first acting experience was on stage in a children's theatre production when he was eight years old. He attended Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, where he earned a BA and headed the drama department and Little Theatre in Mountain Grove, Missouri, from 1940-43. He then moved on to the famed Pasadena Playhouse in California as actor, instructor and administrator from 1943-50. He made his film debut in Reign of Terror (1949) (aka "The Black Book") in an uncredited bit part and went on to appear in many parts during the next 50 years. He is probably best remembered for his role as Rev. Alden on Little House on the Prairie (1974) but he was also a regular on the TV series Gunsmoke (1955) as a merchant, Mr. Jonas; Hank (1965) as Coach Ossie Weiss and Picket Fences (1992) as Rev. Henry Novotny. He also appeared in made-for-TV movies and guest-starred on such series as Adventures of Superman (1952); The Rifleman (1958); Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958); Trackdown (1957); Perry Mason (1957); Bonanza (1959); The Fugitive (1963) and The Brady Bunch (1969). He died in 2007, aged 90. He never married, had no children, and left no immediate relatives.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Colorful American character actor equally adept at vicious killers or grizzled sidekicks. As a child he worked in the cotton fields. He attended Santa Monica Junior College in California and subsequently became an accountant and, at one time, manager of the Bel Air Hotel. Elam got his first movie job by trading his accounting services for a role. In short time he became one of the most memorable supporting players in Hollywood, thanks not only to his near-demented screen persona but also to an out-of-kilter left eye, sightless from a childhood fight. He appeared with great aplomb in Westerns and gangster films alike, and in later years played to wonderful effect in comedic roles.(276) westerns, 44-02.
62 feature westerns.
1920 - 2003, 82.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Composer
Like thousands of "day actors' during Hollywood's Golden Era, Max Wagner toiled in relative obscurity in supporting and bit roles with the occasional meaty character part. It was a film career that sustained him as a durable and dependable actor from the mid-1920s through the '70s.
The youngest of five boys, Wagner was born in Mexico, the son of William W. Wagner, a railroad conductor. His mother, Edith Wagner, was a writer and correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor during the Mexican Revolution. He was 10 years old when Mexican rebels fatally wounded his father. His mother then brought him to Salinas, California, where he struck up a lifelong friendship with John Steinbeck. Wagner served as a model for the boy in Steinbeck's novel "The Red Pony" and he would appear in many of the films based on Steinbeck's books.
Max's brothers - Jack, Blake, and Bob - were already in Hollywood working on films. Jack and Blake worked under D.W. Griffith at Biograph as cameramen and later went to work for Hal Roach and Mack Sennett. Bob worked on the First National lot as an assistant cameraman. At 23 years old, Max joined his brothers in Hollywood. Jack was working on a Harry Langdon film in 1924 and helped Max secure his first acting part. His early experiences at Mack Sennett honed his talent in physical comedy that would serve him well throughout his career.
During the early talkie period studios often made Spanish-language versions of their popular films. Max, fluent in Spanish, acted in many such films in supporting roles under the name of Max Baron. Studios often went to him to serve as a Spanish-language coach for actors. He appeared alongside Lupe Velez in the "Mexican Spitfire" series and when he wasn't acting, he monitored Velez's ad-libbing in Spanish to spot any profanity.
While most of Max's work was with major studios, he was a regular with Mascot, the low-budget studio that churned out serials including "The Lost Jungle (1934) and Tom Mix's "The Miracle Rider" (1935). Max was a regular in the Charlie Chan series and was a company player with Preston Sturges, appearing in such films as "The Palm Beach Story" (1942), "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1944), "The Great Moment" (1944) and "The Sin of Harold Diddlebock" (1946).
During World War II, he took a break to serve in the U.S. Army in North Africa.
His tough, brawny appearance made him a casting director's perfect choice for gangster roles, giving him unlimited work as a henchman in dozens of Warner Bros. films in the 1930s. Los Angeles newspaper gossip columnists used to jokingly chart his rise from Gangster No. 4 (no gun, no dialog) to Gangster No. 2 (gun and dialog).
A lifelong heavy drinker, Max struggled off and on with alcoholism. He entered Alcoholics Anonymous in 1950, but resumed acting the following year.
His most notable appearance in films came in 1953 with the role of Sgt. Rinaldi in the cult sci-fi classic "Invaders from Mars." The same year he was also cast in "Donovan's Brain," another cult favorite.
By the 1960s, Max was cast mostly in bit parts in film and television westerns and dramas, ending his career with small parts in such TV series as "Gunsmoke" and "Columbo."(280) - westerns, 30-73.
56 feature westerns.
The Last Trail (1933). 1933. Composer, actor.
1901 - 1975, 73. Mexico. California.- Robert Robinson was born on 10 July 1903 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He was an actor, known for El Diablo Rides (1939) and Cattle Queen (1951). He died on 1 September 1970 in Tampa, Florida, USA.(274) westerns, 39-69.
1903 - 1970, 67. - Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
Born in Oklahoma in 1915, Witney broke into the business in 1933, working at Mascot, the leading producer of low-budget serials. After Mascot and other small companies merged in 1935 to form Republic, Witney graduated to director (at 21, he was Hollywood's youngest). Witney teamed with director John English on many of the era's best serials, most of them highlighted by kinetic fight and chase scenes that helped change the face of action moviemaking. Witney also directed many features and much TV. Retired since the late 1970s, he has authored two books, "In a Door, Into a Fight, Out a Door, Into a Chase" (about his serial directing career) and "Trigger Remembered" (about Roy Rogers' famed movie horse).- Stunts
- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Starting out as a rodeo cowboy and then becoming a stuntman in silent westerns, Yakima Canutt later doubled for such stars as Clark Gable and John Wayne, among others, in such dangerous activities as jumping off the top of a cliff on horseback, leaping from a stagecoach onto its runaway team, being "shot" off a horse at full gallop and other such potentially life-threatening activities. He became expert at staging massive events involving livestock, such as cattle stampedes and covered-wagon races, as well as Indians-vs.-cavalry battles on a grand scale. Canutt's most noteworthy achievement as a second-unit director came in his staging and direction of the chariot-race sequence in William Wyler 's Ben-Hur (1959)--which, from initial planning to final execution, took two years.(271) westerns, 15-75.
1895 - 1986, 90.- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
George DeNormand's life is an example of somebody whose life is almost too eventful to be true. Once he got out of the military, he became a professional boxer. Like most boxers, his career only lasted a handful of professional bouts however it opened up the door to a move to appearing as a stuntman in films.
While most boxers who appeared in movies had faces which showcased the many years of abuse they took during their career, DeNormand was able to escape with face and cognitive ability intact. In the 1930s, he started a long career as a stuntman. Like most stuntman, he had a specialty, and his was appearing in fight scenes and doubling for actors who the studio did not want to risk hurting.
There was no better period in DeNormand's career than the 1940s. By then he had established himself as one of the go-to brawlers for movies. This led him to be cast as a regular henchman in various Johnny Mack Brown movies where he was able to get paid as a stuntman and as an actor. Sometimes he was handy to have around just in case they needed a stuntman to do a fighting sequence or if they needed a random henchman to have beaten up. DeNormand had several credited roles in the late 1940s where he was an outlaw that Johnny Mack Brown had to fight or a gang member Brown had to shoot off a horse.
Like most stuntmen, DeNormand's body began to break down in the 1950s and he found regular work as an extra in both westerns and dramas as an extra. Sometimes he would be given dialog but DeNormand's thick New York accent made it really hard to give him lines of dialog if the setting was wrong. He was able to appear multiple times in many of the hit television shows of the time and he even had a few talking appearances in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.
By the late 1960s, DeNormand's stunt days were over. The various productions he worked for would occasionally have him do a few small stunts that could not be done by a regular person. These were regularly referred to by various cast members as "Whammys" where the stunt would not be hazardous enough to call in a member of the stuntman's union but where an extra would get upgraded in pay. One of DeNormand's final stunts or credits where he received a whammy was on the hit television show "The Wild Wild West" where he played a murdered toy maker who receives a close-up right before his body falls out of a closet.
DeNormand was heavily connected to the studios so by the 1970s, he was still receiving various silent bits from movies. He was still frequently chosen in shows like Gunsmoke to play a banker or movies like Get to Know Your Rabbit where he had a single line of dialog as an aspiring magician. DeNormand loved the motion picture industry and he continued to appear in various films until he died as result of cancer in 1976 leaving behind a legacy of somebody who appeared in various aspects of the film industry and who was greatly respected by all who knew him.(270) westerns, 35-75.
1903 - 1976, 73.- Actor
- Stunts
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stuntman, actor, and second unit director Bill Catching was born Jerome P. Catching on June 16, 1926 in Bexar County, Texas. In 1942 at age sixteen Catching hitchhiked from Bandera, Texas to Hollywood, California. Upon reaching California Bill got a job working in barns that furnished horses for movies. After serving a stint in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Catching went on to work as a wrangler for horse trainer and wrangler Ralph McCutcheon. Bill began his long and extensive career as a stuntman primarily in Western films and television shows in the late 1940's. Catching signed up as a stuntman for the production company ZIV Television Programs in the early 1950's. Bill not only doubled for Leo Carrillo on the TV series The Cisco Kid (1950), but also was a stunt coordinator on the TV shows The Wild Wild West (1965) and The Fall Guy (1981). In the wake of retiring from the film and television industry in the mid-1990's, Catching settled in Arizona and raised prize horses on his ranch just outside of Yuma. In August, 1994 Bill received a Golden Boot Award for his sterling and significant contributions to the Western genre; said award was presented to Bill by his good friend Roy Rogers. Catching died of cancer at age 81 on August 24, 2007 at his home in Somerton, Arizona.(268) westerns, 40-86.
1926 - 2007, 81.- Additional Crew
- Production Manager
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Frank Baur was born on 1 December 1917 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a production manager and assistant director, known for The Omega Man (1971), Jaws: The Revenge (1987) and Young Frankenstein (1974). He was married to Geri Marshall. He died on 3 July 1993 in Ojai, California, USA.266 westerns, 56-72.
4 feature westerns.
Means to an End (1960). 1960. Director.
The Sharpshooter (1958). 1958.- Stunts
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Tom Steele was born on 12 June 1909 in Carluke, Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for The Blues Brothers (1980), Scarface (1983) and Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952). He died on 30 October 1990 in Los Angeles, California, USA.(266) westerns, 30-82.
1909 - 1990, 81.- Actor
- Stunts
Rod McGaughy is one of the unsung heroes of the television western genre. Like most cowboys in his day, McGaughy started out appearing in local rodeos around the California area and he eventually became a member of the Screen Extras Guild.
McGaughy couldn't have picked a better time to come into films because a lot of the older cowboys who rode horses in the 1930s and 1940s were either retiring or getting to old to frequently appear on horseback. As former rodeo rider, McGaughy's equestrian skills were frequently utilized by having him appear in posse scenes or by having him participate in a brawl.
Throughout the 1960s, McGaughy spent a lot of time appearing in various episodes of Bonanza and Gunsmoke. His stern appearance was frequently used on the Gunsmoke film sets by having him play gang members or rowdy cowhands. He became such a fixture on the Gunsmoke set that they eventually gave him a talking role as a cowhand that was annoyed with a saloon girl. It was probably in 1972 when they filmed Blazing Saddles that McGaughy had his best acting role as a cowhand who comforts a crying dancer.
By the last 1980s, western shows were riding off into the sunset and Little House on the Prairie became the last hurrah for many old cowboys. McGaughy and other cowboys were frequently given more meaningful roles on Little House on the Prairie but it also came to a close. Eventually McGaughy decided to retire but not without leaving behind a reputation for taking care of himself and his coworkers when it came to any disputes with assistant directors.(265) westerns, 58-85.
19 feature westerns.
5 stunts, 60-85.
Outcast of Cripple Creek (1960). 1960, stunts.
1923 - 2011, 87.- Actor
- Writer
- Composer
Ideal for playing swarthy villains, James Griffith's tall, dark and gaunt features and shady countenance invaded hundreds of film and TV dramas (and a few comedies) throughout his career on-camera. Highlighted by his arched brows, hooded eyes and prominent proboscis, heavy character work would be his largest source of income for nearly four decades.
He was born James J. Griffith, of Welsh ancestry, on February 13, 1916, in Los Angeles. He and sister Dorothy were raised in the Santa Monica area. An early interest in music led to his learning to play several instruments, including the clarinet and saxophone. He got his first taste of entertaining audiences by performing in local bands while arranging music for them as well. An interest in acting came about participating in school plays and continued when he found parts to play in small theatre houses in such productions as "They Can't Get You Down" in 1939.
Unable to consistently pay the bills, however, Griffith found steadier work at Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica. Enlisting in the Marine Corps. in 1941, he served his country until 1947. Eventually married with a newborn, a chance meeting with bandleader Spike Jones while working as a gas station attendant led to a six month traveling gig with Jones' City Slicker Band playing tenor saxophone.
Griffith finally broke into "B" films with a smarmy but showy role as an insurance agent in the murder drama Blonde Ice (1948). He continued to sniff out work in both drama and occasional comedy usually as unsympathetic or shady characters, sometimes billed and sometimes not. Some of his bigger, noteworthy parts in the early years came with the pictures Alaska Patrol (1949), Indian Territory (1950) and Double Deal (1950). He also took on some famous and infamous figures of history as in Fighting Man of the Plains (1949) (as William Quantrill), Day of Triumph (1954) (as Judas Iscariot), Jesse James vs. the Daltons (1954) (as outlaw Bob Dalton), The Law vs. Billy the Kid (1954) (as Pat Garrett), and Masterson of Kansas (1954) as Doc Holliday. He provided the voice of Abraham Lincoln in the Rod Cameron western Stage to Tucson (1950).
TV took much of the mustachioed actor's time from the 1950s on, notably in westerns such as "The Lone Ranger," "Annie Oakley," "Gunsmoke," "The Big Valley," "Bonanza," "Death Valley Days," "The Gene Autry Show," "Wagon Train," "Rawhide," "Maverick," "Little House on the Prairie," "B.J. and the Bear" and "Dallas." Elsewhere on the small screen he played cold-hearted villains twice on "Batman" in support of the nefarious Ma Parker and Catwoman. Not to be pegged in just oaters, he also appeared in less dusty TV fare such as "The Streets of San Francisco," "Fantasy Island" and Emergency!" Griffith made his final acting appearance on a 1984 "Trapper John" episode.
A gifted raconteur, his later years were spent writing theatre plays and movie scripts, and attending film festivals. Two of his earlier movie scripts that found releases were Russ Meyer's Lorna (1964) (in which he also appeared), Shalako (1968) and Catlow (1971). Griffith died of cancer on September 17, 1993, at age 77.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Chuck Connors was born Kevin Joseph Connors in Brooklyn, New York, to Marcella (nee Lundrigan; died 1971) and Alban Francis "Allan" Connors (died 1966), Roman Catholic immigrants of Irish descent from the Dominion of Newfoundland (now part of Canada). Chuck and his two-years-younger sister, Gloria, grew up in a working-class section of the west side of Brooklyn, where their father worked the local docks as a longshoreman. He served as an altar boy at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica School and attended school there. He later became a member of the Bay Ridge Boys' Club and playing sandlot ball as a member of the Bay Ridge Celtics.
A life-long Dodgers' fan, he always dreamed of a baseball career with his favorite team. His natural athletic prowess earned him a scholarship to Adelphi Academy, a private high school, and then to Seton Hall, a Catholic college in South Orange, New Jersey. Leaving Seton Hall after two years, on October 20, 1942, aged 21, he joined the army, listing his occupation as a ski instructor. After enlistment in the infantry at Fort Knox, he later served mostly as a tank-warfare instructor at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, and then finally at West Point. Following his discharge early in 1946, he resumed his athletic pursuits. He played center for the Boston Celtics in the 1946-47 season but left early for spring training with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Baseball had always been Connors' first love, and for the next several years he knocked about the minor leagues in such places as Rochester (NY), Norfolk (VA), Newark (NJ), Newport News (VA), Mobile (AL) and Montreal, Canada (while in Montreal he met Elizabeth Riddell, whom he married in October 1948. They had four sons during their 13-year marriage). He finally reached his goal, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, in May 1949, but after just five weeks and one at-bat, he returned to Montreal. After a brief stint with the Chicago Cubs in 1951, during which he hit two home runs, Connors wound up with the Cubs' Triple-A farm team, the L.A. Angels, in 1952.
A baseball fan who was also a casting director for MGM spotted Connors and recommended him for a part in the Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn comedy Pat and Mike (1952). Originally cast to play a prizefighter, but that role went instead to Aldo Ray. Connors was cast as a captain in the state police. He now abandoned his athletic hopes and devoted full time to his acting career, which often emphasized his muscular 6'6" physique.
During the next several years Connors made 20 movies, culminating in a key role in William Wyler's 1958 western The Big Country (1958). Also appearing in many television series, he finally hit the big time in 1958 with The Rifleman (1958), which began its highly successful five-year run on ABC. Other television series followed, as did a number of movies which, though mostly minor, allowed Connors to display his range as both a stalwart "good guy" and a menacing "heavy".
Connors died at age 71 of lung cancer and pneumonia on November 10, 1992 in Los Angeles, California. He is buried in San Fernando Mission Cemetery with his tombstone carrying a photo of Connors as Lucas McCain in "The Rifleman" as well as logos from the three professional sports teams he played for: the Dodgers, Cubs and Celtics.264 westerns, 53-91.
13 feature westerns.
The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991). 1991.
1921 - 1992, 71.- Gregg Barton was born on 5 June 1912 in Long Island City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Tripoli (1950), The Gunman (1952) and The Gene Autry Show (1950). He was married to Bonita Cooper and Helen Norris. He died on 28 November 2000 in Fallbrook, California, USA.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Hugh O'Brian had the term "beefcake" written about him during his nascent film years in the early 1950s, but he chose to avoid the obvious typecast as he set up his career.
O'Brian was born Hugh Charles Krampe on April 19, 1925, in Rochester, New York, to Ohio-born parents Edith Lillian (Marks) and Hugh John Krampe, a United States Marine Corps officer. His paternal grandparents were German immigrants, while his mother was of half German Jewish and half English/Scottish descent. O'Brian first attended school at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, then Kemper Military School in Booneville, Missouri. Moving from place to place growing up, he managed to show off his athletic prowess quite early. By the time he graduated from high school, he had lettered in football, basketball, wrestling and track. Originally pursuing law, he dropped out of the University of Cincinnati in 1942 (age 19) and enlisted in the Marine Corps. Upon his discharge he ended up in Los Angeles. Hugh joined a little theater group and a Santa Barbara stock company, where he developed his acting chops and slowly built up his résumé. He was discovered for TV by director/actress Ida Lupino, which opened the door to his signing with Universal Studios for films.
Hugh's gentlemanly ruggedness, similar to a James Garner or a Gene Barry, was ideal for pictures, and his lean physique and exceptionally photographic mug had the modest, brown-eyed, curly-haired looker plastered all over the movie magazines. He rebelled against the image for the most part and, as a result, his years with Universal were not as fruitful as they could have been. For the duration, he was pretty much confined as a secondary player to standard action pictures such as The Return of Jesse James (1950), The Cimarron Kid (1952), The Battle at Apache Pass (1952), Red Ball Express (1952), Son of Ali Baba (1952), The Lawless Breed (1952), Seminole (1953), Saskatchewan (1954) and Drums Across the River (1954). It was Rock Hudson who earned all of the Universal glamour guy roles and the out-and-out stardom that could easily have been Hugh's. In 1954, he left Universal to freelance but did not fare any better with more serviceable roles in White Feather (1955) and The Twinkle in God's Eye (1955).
Hugh finally earned top status in the "B" action adventure The Brass Legend (1956) but it did little to advance his film career. Offered the starring role in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955) on TV, a year later, it became a mainstay hit and Hugh an "overnight" star. During his six-year run on the western classic, he managed to show off his singing talents on variety shows and appeared on Broadway, replacing Andy Griffith for a week in the musical "Destry Rides Again" in January of 1960.
The hirsutely handsome bachelor remained a durable talent throughout the 60s and 70s with plentiful work on the big screen, including Come Fly with Me (1963), Love Has Many Faces (1965), Ten Little Indians (1965), Ambush Bay (1966), Africa: Texas Style (1967), Strategy of Terror (1969), John Wayne's last film The Shootist (1976), and Bruce Lee's last film Game of Death (1978), as well as with the TV-movies Wild Women (1970), Harpy (1971), Murder on Flight 502 (1975), Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover (1977), Murder at the World Series (1977), Cruise Into Terror (1978). He also starred in the crime adventure series Search (1972), but never got the one role to earn the critical attention he merited. In addition, he kept busy on the summer stock circuit.
In later years, he appeared in the Arnold Schwarzenegger/Danny DeVito comedy "Twins"; returned as "Wyatt Earp" in the TV movies The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991) and Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone (1994); and made guest appearances on such TV shows as "Fantasy Island," "The Love Boat," "Matt Houston," "Murder, She Wrote," "L.A. Law" and made his last on-camera appearance on the series "Call of the Wild" in 2000.
A sports enthusiast, his hobbies included sailing, tennis, swimming and long-distance bicycling, and his many philanthropic efforts did not go unrecognized. His proudest achievement was the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY), which he founded in 1958 after spending considerable time with Dr. Albert Schweitzer and his clinic in Africa. Struck by the impassioned work being done by Schweitzer, O'Brian set up his own program to help develop young people into future leaders. O'Brian was awarded honorary degrees by several prestigious institutions of higher learning. The perennial bachelor finally "settled down" and tied the knot at age 81 with longtime companion Virginia Barber, who was close to three decades his junior. They lived in his Benedict Canyon home.
Hugh died on September 5, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California, of natural causes.(263) - westerns , 50-08.
25 feature westerns.
1925 - 2016, 91.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Brooklyn-born Don Diamond's most famous role is probably that of the scheming and ambitious, but inept and somewhat cowardly, underling Crazy Cat to Frank DeKova's Chief Wild Eagle in the cult western comedy series F Troop (1965). By the time he got that role he had been an actor for quite some time, starting out in radio in the early 1940s, where he discovered that he had a knack for picking up dialects, especially Spanish. He became so proficient in it that many believed he was actually Spanish or Mexican, when in reality his family came from Russia. His facility in that dialect got him the role as the Mexican sidekick of Kit Carson in the early TV series The Adventures of Kit Carson (1951). He also landed a recurring part as a Spanish corporal, "Corporal Reyes", in the Disney TV series Zorro (1957). In addition to his TV and film work, he did much voice-over work in both cartoons and commercials, such as voicing Toro from the DFE series, Tijuana Toads.- A dark-haired, durably handsome and dependable cowboy actor equipped with a strong stance and taciturn seriousness both on and off camera, Dennis Moore was cast as both hero and villain in his three-decade-long career. A player in well over 200 "B"-level oaters and serials during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, Moore never reached the rugged heights of top-flight stardom but did manage to find steady employment until only a few years before his death at age 56.
Moore was born Dennis Price Meadows on January 26, 1908, in Fort Worth, TX, the son of Texas-born Dennis Wesley Meadows and Tennessee-born Bessie Bebe Price Meadows. His initial interest in show business may have been sparked while employed as an usher at a movie theater. He eventually learned the tools of the trade performing on the dramatic stage in Texas and in stock companies in the early 1930s. His film career began in 1932 with uncredited appearances for a time in a variety of cliffhangers and westerns as various henchmen and cowhands, and he even worked as a stuntman on occasion. Billed first as Denny Meadows, he changed his stage name to the more catchy, marquee-friendly Dennis Moore by 1936, and legally changed his last name to Moore in the early 1950s. An avid flyer (he was once a transport pilot and flight instructor), a few of his roles reflected this passion. He played a pilot in the Tailspin Tommy (1934) serial and, while signed at Warner Brothers for a time, played Humphrey Bogart's flight engineer in China Clipper (1936).
By the 1940s he was freelancing at various minor studios and was occasionally given the action lead, such as in Fangs of the Wild (1939). He also appeared opposite stalwart cowboys Gene Autry, Buster Crabbe and Buck Jones, among others, and was seen in both the "Three Mesquiteers" and "Rough Riders" series.
Moore hit his peak in films during WW II when many of the big stars had enlisted or been drafted into the military (serious injuries incurred in a plane crash rendered him ineligible for military service). During this productive period he co-starred with Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune in the "Range Buster" series at Monogram Pictures and then co-starred with Tex Ritter and Jimmy Wakely in some of their popular western entries. He also was front and center in the Raiders of Ghost City (1944) and The Purple Monster Strikes (1945) serials, among others.
In mid-career, Moore turned from granite-jawed heroes to black-hatted bad guys and henchmen in many "Poverty Row" westerns, yet still snagged a couple of leads and co-leads in serials every now and then, including Perils of the Wilderness (1956) and Blazing the Overland Trail (1956). He also was seen quite frequently on TV western series (Tombstone Territory (1957), Sky King (1951), The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (1954), Bat Masterson (1958)) in standard guest spots. One of his last was a recurring part in Disney's The New Adventures of Spin and Marty (1957) on the "Mickey Mouse Club" series. He pretty much hung up his gun belt shortly thereafter.
A highly private man who was considered a loner by nature, little is known about his private life. He was married more than once, perhaps up to four times according to surviving relatives. His final marriage, in 1947 to Marilyn Mason, produced one daughter, Linda, and lasted until his death. He subsequently moved to Big Bear Lake, CA, where he operated a gift shop for the last few years of his life. He died on March 1, 1964, at age 56 of rheumatic heart disease combined with circulatory problems. - Eddy Waller worked in vaudeville and the theater before he entered movies in 1936. Within a few years he was being cast in character parts. In the 1940s he would be a mainstay in the westerns of Republic Pictures and would work with just about every cowboy actor from Tim Holt to Rocky Lane. With Lane, Eddy's billing would be as high as second, as he played grizzly old prospector Nugget Clark, adding the comic relief to a picture with such pearls as "He is as square as the day is long". The "B" western finally died out in the 1950s, and so did Eddy's career.(259) westerns, 36-63.
121 feature westerns.
The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938). 1938
1889 - 1977, 88. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Earle Hodgins was born on 6 October 1893 in Payson, Utah, USA. He was an actor, known for Oregon Trail (1945), The Sagebrush Family Trails West (1940) and Heroes of the Alamo (1937). He was married to Elizabeth Birss Ogilvie and Sue Henley. He died on 14 April 1964 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.(260), - westerns, 35-63.
141 features.
1893 - 1964, 70.- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
French-born (Paris) George Archainbaud got his start in show business as an actor and stage manager in France. Emigrating to the US in 1915, he got work as an assistant director to fellow French expatriate Emile Chautard at William A. Brady's World Film Co. in Fort Lee, NJ. His directorial debut came in 1917 with As Man Made Her (1917). Archainbaud turned into a prolific director in both films and television, turning out more than 100 features over the next 35 years and numerous TV series episodes.
Although a good amount of his feature-film output was fairly routine, there was some first-rate work scattered among them, such as The Lost Squadron (1932), a gritty and dark tale of a group of former World War I aviators who find work as stunt fliers in war movies. It was a critical and financial success, earning accolades from critics for its exciting flying sequences.
The genre most associated with Archainbaud, however, is westerns. In the 1940s he turned out some fast-paced, exciting westerns, such as The Kansan (1943) and several entries in the Hopalong Cassidy series. When cowboy star Gene Autry went to television to star in his own series, he brought Archainbaud along with him and he became the principal director on the show and other Autry-produced series, such as Buffalo Bill, Jr. (1955), Annie Oakley (1954) and The Adventures of Champion (1955).
He died of a heart attack in Beverly Hills, CA, in 1959.(257) -westerns, 16-59.
36 feature westerns.
The Man Who Came Back (1950), 1950.
1890 - 1959, 68. France. USA.- Kevin Hagen is the son of professional ballroom dancers, Haakon Olaf Hagen and Marvel Lucile Wadsworth. His father abandoned the family when Kevin was five. He was raised by his mother, grandmother, and two aunts, with some help from his uncle, a physician.
The family moved to Portland, Oregon, when Kevin was a teenager. He played baseball and football at Jefferson High School. He attended Oregon State University before enlisting in the U.S. Navy after World War II; he served in San Diego.
Hagen, married four times, was a single parent for two decades to his son, Christopher Hagen, a Special Education teacher and high school baseball coach in Bakersfield, California.(257) westerns, 57-88.
1928 - 2005, 77. - While most actors like to play cowboy, Tom Smith was one. He was born to a family of poor German farmers who were originally from Germany. The shiftless Smith eventually made his way to California where he got into the motion picture business.
Staring in the 1920s, Smith worked in countless westerns. His prowess with a horse, his long hair, and his big bushy mustache was the very ideal image of what an old western outlaw looked like. Smith was so trusted with horses that he was taken across the country in 1930 so he could appear in Raoul Walsh's epic film The Big Trail.
Smith did not usually have dialog in the films that he appeared in but his appearance helped him gain work in countless films and television. By the 1930s, he was constantly appearing in Republic films typically appearing in posse or bar scenes. Through his connections, he was able to gain work in some of the better western productions and frequently appeared in higher-budgeted films as his career went on.
While most cowboys either retired or passed away, Smith found a new avenue of income with the introduction of television. He could regularly be seen appearing in some Universal Studios productions and in some of the more well-known westerns like Gunsmoke but during this period, he primarily did a lot of shows at For Star Productions studios where you can see him appear in bar scenes of shows like Zane Grey Theatre, The Rifleman, Black Saddle, and many other productions.
By the late 1960s, westerns were no longer as plentiful as they once were and Smith's career started to wind itself up. He spent his last few years making sporadic appearances on television shows like Gunsmoke and Barbary Coast until he passed away in 1976 leaving behind a legacy of being a true cowboy on-screen and off of it.(255), - westerns, 24-75.
174 feature westerns.
1892 - 1976, 83. - Jack Ingram was born on 15 November 1902 in Frankfort, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Who's Guilty? (1945), Federal Operator 99 (1945) and Superman (1948). He was married to Eloise Fullerton. He died on 20 February 1969 in Canoga Park, California, USA.255 westerns, 35-60.
1902 - 1969, 66. - Actor
- Additional Crew
Dan White was born to George & Orpha White about one mile from the Suwannee River in Falmouth, Florida. Falmouth was a small sleepy town then, as it is still today. He was one of 13 siblings who were moved to Lakeland sometime around WW I. Lakeland is where Dan was introduced into show business in 1922 at the age of 14. He ran away from home when the show moved on and traveled thousands of miles throughout the South in tent, minstrel, vaudeville and theater shows. Dan performed on stage with his brother Willard for nine years with a stock company in Tampa's old Rialto Theater. Frances Langford worked with him during this time and it was Dan who told her to go to Hollywood. During this period he met Matilda "Tilda" Mae Spivey on the stage, and married her on February 25, 1933. Tilda had a two-year-old child from a previous marriage by the name of Arthur "Art" Grant Gifford. Times were tough, so Dan had to get out of show business for a while to make some real money. In 1934 he found work with the Conservation Corps in Homestead, Florida, but show business was always in his heart. Dan knew he had what it took to "make it" in Hollywood, so he decided to make the move to California in 1935. They packed all their possessions into their Ford and started the long, arduous trek across the country. This was during the Great Depression, and money was very tight. They had to stop frequently in various cities across the country to make extra money to continue their journey. Dan was a very good auto mechanic and never had a problem finding this type of work wherever he went. This skill paid off once during the filming of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). During the "mob" scene, one of the cars they were to drive away in would not start. Dan opened the hood, stepped onto the front bumper, and had the car running in no time flat.
Dan and his family lived in Panama City, Florida, and Shreveport, Louisiana for a while. They reached Texarkana, Arkansas in January 1937, and had to stop for a different reason this time. Tilda was carrying their unborn child, and it was showing signs that it could wait no longer. Tilda's sister Mary happened to live in Texarkana, and they were able to stay there for a few months until the baby was born and got big enough to travel. Daughter June Larue White was born February 14, 1937. On April 1, 1937, Dan, Tilda, Art and June continued their journey to Hollywood. They arrived 16 days later, and found a house to rent just an eye-shot away from the "HOLLYWOOD" sign. They lived in this house for 23 years where many movie deals were made, and scripts were written--right in their own living room! Upon arrival in Hollywood, Dan had a hard time finding work and found himself down in Panama working on the Pan American Highway for 6 months. When he returned home in 1938, he found work with Republic Pictures where he made at least 6 movies in his first year alone. His first known film was a western titled Prairie Moon (1938) with Gene Autry. Dan made $55 a week working on this production. Over the years in Hollywood, Dan claimed to have made nearly 300 films and 150 television appearances, with about 70% of all this work being in westerns. Among his most well-known pictures were The Yearling (1946), Distant Drums (1951), Red River (1948), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Giant (1956), Duel in the Sun (1946), Four Faces West (1948), Jailhouse Rock (1957), Touch of Evil (1958) and many, many more. Somehow during all this filming, Dan and Tilda found time to have their third child--Donald Curtis White, born November 9, 1941; just 28 days before Pearl Harbor was bombed. Dan made his reputation in the numerous "B" westerns in which often played the villain (or "henchie"). His weathered, high-cheek boned face with its tight-drawn, expressionless mouth and beady snake eyes chilled the blood of many a Saturday matinee-er in the 1940s and 1950s. Dan loved his work, especially all of his "outdoor" pictures. In the 1950s and 1960s, when work in western films started to dry up, Dan turned to television. He was offered the role of Sam the Bartender in Gunsmoke (1955), but he didn't want to commit to something like that. He told his best friend Glenn Strange to apply for the job, and the rest is history. Dan lived in California for almost 40 years, but his real love was Florida where he grew up. Upon his retirement, he returned home to Tampa, just down the street from the old Rialto Theater where it all started. He made appearances in "Western Film Round-Ups" and television talk shows, and was frequently visited by his family in California until his death on July 7, 1980 at the age of 72. Dan left behind three children and 12 grandchildren. Not only will he be recognized and remembered for all his films, but he will also be remembered as a great father and grandfather. He will be missed and loved forever.(255), - westerns, 38-75.
1908 - 1980, 72.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Dub Taylor was born on 26 February 1907 in Richmond, Virginia, USA. He was an actor and director, known for The Getaway (1972), The Wild Bunch (1969) and You Can't Take It with You (1938). He was married to Florence Gertrude Heffernan. He died on 3 October 1994 in Los Angeles, California, USA.(255). westerns, 39-94.
1907 - 1994, 87.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Merrill McCormick was born on 5 February 1892 in Denver, Colorado, USA. He was an actor and director, known for A Son of the Desert (1928), The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935) and The Last Chance (1926). He died on 19 August 1953 in San Gabriel, California, USA.(254), - westerns, 17-55.
237 feature westerns.
1892 - 1953, 61.- Budd Buster was born on 14 June 1891 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. He was an actor, known for Battle of Greed (1937), Lone Texas Ranger (1945) and Cavalry (1936). He was married to Mary. He died on 22 December 1965 in Los Angeles, California, USA.(254) - westerns, 34-55.
250 feature westerns.
1891 - 1965, 74. - Writer
- Producer
- Director
Douglas Heyes was born on 22 May 1919 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was a writer and producer, known for Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers (1956), Maverick (1957) and The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (1954). He was married to Joanna Heyes. He died on 8 February 1993 in Beverly Hills, California, USA.(253) westerns, 54-76.
Judgment Day (1957). 1957.
Credits for Writer, director, music department, soundtrack, actor, producer.
1919 - 1993, 73.- Writer
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Sam Peeples began his writing career with Western novels but later became a television script writer and series creator. His western novels include The Hanging Hills 1953); Johnny Sundance 1953); Desert Showdown (1954); The Marshal Of Medicine Bend (1954); The Lobo Horseman (1955); The Call of the Gun (1955); The Man from Andersonville (1956); Terror At Tres Alamos (1956); and Doc Colt (1957). He later wrote The Man Who Died Twice (1976). In science fiction circles, he is best remembered as the originator of the now famous "Star Trek" phrase, 'Where No Man Has Gone Before' as the title of the series' second pilot.253 westerns, 58-77.
2 feature westerns.
Killers at Chocktaw Valley (1958). 1958. Teleplay.
1917 - 1997, 79.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Elder brother of the director John Ford and himself a screen director (and John's erstwhile mentor) until the advent of sound. He had also acted in his own films and those of other directors, but turned to acting exclusively circa 1929. As actor, he would provide convincing portrayals of men of authority - men sometimes ruthless if not downright unsavory. (See him as the Republican judge in his brother John's The Informer (1935).) But he also had an ample feel for light comedy. (See him in John's The Quiet Man (1952), as the village elder who - almost in the manner of slapstick - rouses himself from his very deathbed to witness the film's donnybrook dénouement.)(251), - westerns, 10-53.
1881 - 1953, 72.- American actor who had a brief flirtation with stardom before settling into character roles and bit parts. Born in rural South Dakota (according to government records, though some sources say Walsh County, North Dakota) as Robert C. Oakes, the son of a horse rancher, he moved with his family to Culbertson, Montana (not his birthplace as some sources have it), where he grew up. The family moved again and he graduated from high school in Helena. A brief attendance at Montana Wesleyan College was interrupted by the offer of a job driving a tour bus in Yellowstone National Park.
Drifting down to Los Angeles in the early 1920s, he got work as an auto mechanic, but his ranch-honed cowboy skills got him bit parts in pictures at Paramount when director John Waters offered him work in a series of Westerns. Paramount recognized possibilities in the tall, rugged, handsome cowboy and put him (with a new name, Lane Chandler) into leading roles, first in Westerns, then in contemporary films opposite some of the biggest star actresses of the time, Clara Bow, Greta Garbo, Betty Bronson, and Esther Ralston. As silent films were phased out, Chandler found his stock slipping at Paramount, which had begun to overtly favor Gary Cooper in his place. He began appearing in lower-budgeted Westerns, first in leads, then as second leads to stars such as John Wayne and Jack Hoxie. During this period he free-lanced at Big 4, Syndicate Pictures and Kent (see Willis Kent) Pictures, all a far cry from his days under contract with Adolph Zukor. Despite the relatively poor production values, several of his early talkies (The Hurricane Horseman (1931) and The Cheyenne Cyclone (1931)) rise above similar fare in entertainment value. Unfortunately, Chandler was also forced to work on other lesser productions helmed by hack directors such as J.P. McGowan who cared more about quickly earning a paycheck than the product itself. His association with Kent ended in 1930s and Chandler drifted to another independent outfit called Empire Pictures which promised to produce 6 films, although only 2 were ultimately shot, the entertaining quickies The Lone Bandit (1935) and The Outlaw Tamer (1935). Now in his mid-30's Chandler found his career in irreversible decline and settled into supporting roles. A favorite of director Cecil B. DeMille, Chandler worked in many DeMille films, often in tiny bit parts, though he claimed these were his favorite parts. Eventually Chandler no longer commanded roles of any substance and he spent the remaining 35 years of his career in progressively smaller supporting parts, playing in hundreds of films, often uncredited. A stalwart of television Westerns of the 1950s, he was a familiar face to movie fans for nearly fifty years. An astute businessman with industrial and property holdings, he died in Los Angeles in 1971 at 73.(250) westerns, 27-71.
1899 - 1972, 73. - Actor
- Stunts
Stuntman and actor Troy Melton was born on March 2, 1921 in Jackson, Tennessee. Melton migrated with his family to Los Angeles, California during the Great Depression. Following service in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Troy returned to Los Angeles and found sporadic work as an actor before his career as a stuntman took off in the late 1940's. One of the founding members of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures, Melton's career as an actor and stuntman spanned a little over forty years. Among the notable actors that Troy doubled for are Roy Rogers, Kent Taylor, Gregory Walcott, Richard Webb, and Duncan Renaldo. Moreover, Melton was also an avid golfer and owner of the Playboy Restaurant on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood (he eventually sold said restaurant in 1988). Troy died at age 74 from cancer on November 15, 1995 in Los Angeles, California.(250) westerns, 40-82.
1921 - 1995, 74.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Best recalled as the eldest son and first member of the "Bonanza" Cartwright clan to permanently leave the Ponderosa in the hopes of greener acting pastures, dark, deep-voiced and durably handsome Pernell Roberts' native roots lay in Georgia. Born Pernell Elvin Roberts, Jr. on May 18, 1928, in North Carolina and moved to Waycross as an infant, he was singing in local USO shows while still in high school (where he appeared in plays and played the horn). He attended both Georgia Tech and the University of Maryland but flunked out of both colleges, with a two-year stint as a Marine stuck somewhere in between. He eventually decided to give acting a chance and supported himself as a butcher, forest ranger, and railroad riveter during the lean years while pursuing his craft.
On stage from the early 1950s, he gained experience in such productions as "The Adding Machine," "The Firebrand" and "Faith of Our Fathers" before spending a couple of years performing the classics with the renowned Arena Stage Company in Washington, DC. Productions there included "The Taming of the Shrew" (as Petruchio), "The Playboy of the Western Word," "The Glass Menagerie," "The Importance of Being Earnest," and "Twelfth Night." He made his Broadway debut in 1955 with "Tonight in Samarkind" and that same year won the "Best Actor" Drama Desk Award for his off-Broadway performance as "Macbeth," which was immediately followed by "Romeo and Juliet" as Mercutio. Other Broadway plays include "The Lovers" (1956) with Joanne Woodward, "A Clearing in the Woods" (1957) with Kim Stanley, a return to Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" (1957) and "The Duchess of Malfi" (1957). He returned to Broadway fifteen years later as the title role opposite Ingrid Bergman in "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" (1972).
Pernell then headed for Hollywood and found minor roles in films before landing the pivotal role of Ben Cartwright's oldest and best-educated son Adam in the Bonanza (1959) series in 1959. The series made Roberts a bona fide TV star, while the program itself became the second longest-running TV western (after "Gunsmoke") and first to be filmed in color. At the peak of his and the TV show's popularity, Pernell, displeased with the writing and direction of the show, suddenly elected not to renew his contract and left at the end of the 1964-1965 season to the utter dismay of his fans. The show continued successfully without him, but a gap was always felt in the Cartwright family by this abrupt departure. The story line continued to leave open the possibility of a return if desired, but Pernell never did.
With his newfound freedom, Roberts focused on singing and the musical stage. One solo album was filled with folks songs entitled "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies." Besides such standard roles in "Camelot" and "The King and I," he starred as Rhett Butler to Lesley Ann Warren's Scarlett O'Hara in a musical version of "Gone with the Wind" that did not fare well, and appeared in another misguided musical production based on the life of "Mata Hari." During this period he became an avid civil rights activist and joined other stalwarts such as Dick Gregory, Joan Baez and Harry Belafonte who took part in civil rights demonstrations during the 60s, including the Selma March.
The following years were rocky. He never found a solid footing in films with roles in rugged, foreign films such as Tibetana (1970) [The Kashmiri Run], Four Rode Out (1969), making little impression. He maintained a viable presence in TV, however, with parts in large-scale mini-series and guest shots on TV helping to keep some momentum. In 1979 he finally won another long-running series role (and an Emmy nomination) as Trapper John, M.D. (1979) in which he recreated the Wayne Rogers TV M*A*S*H (1972) role. Pernell was now heavier, bearded and pretty close to bald at this juncture (he was already wearing a toupee during his early "Bonanza" years), but still quite virile and attractive. The medical drama co-starring Gregory Harrison ran seven seasons.
The natural-born Georgia rebel was a heavily principled man and spent a life-time of work fighting racism, segregation, and sexism, notably on TV. He was constantly at odds with the "Bonanza" series writers of his concerns regarding equality. He also kept his private life private. Married and divorced three times, he had one son, Jonathan Christopher, by first wife Vera. Jonathan was killed in a motorcycle crash in 1989. In the 1990s, Pernell starred in his last series as host of FBI: The Untold Stories (1991). It had a short life-span.
Retiring in the late 1990s, Roberts was diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and died about two years later at age 81 on January 24, 2010, survived by fourth wife Eleanor Criswell. As such, the rugged actor, who never regretted leaving the "Bonanza" series, managed to outlive the entire Cartwright clan (Dan Blocker died in 1972; Lorne Greene in 1987); and Michael Landon in 1991).(250), - westerns, 57-90.
1928 - 2010, 81.