co-stars part five
Born Charles Halton on 16 March 1876 inWashington, District of Columbia, USA, A respected stage actor he trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts - since the 1920s, birdlike Charles Halton's thinning hair, rimless glasses and officious manner were familiar to generations of moviegoers. Whether playing the neighborhood busybody, a stern government bureaucrat or weaselly attorney, you could count on Halton to try to drive the "immoral influences" out of the neighbourhood, foreclose on the orphanage, evict the poor widow and her children from their apartment, or any other number of dastardly deeds, all justified by "I'm sorry but that's my job." His 40-year film career ended with Friendly Persuasion 1956, after which he retired, Charles appeared in two movies with Wayne, Picture from 3 Godfathers 1948, Charles passed away on 16 April 1959 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born on 15 February 1942 in Wendell, Idaho, USA, One knockout of a beauty, Sherry Jackson began her prolific career as a child actress, holding her own among Hollywood's top echelon of stars, including Barbara Hale in Lorna Doone 1951, moppet star Bobby Driscoll in When I Grow Up 1951, Steve Cochran in The Lion and the Horse 1952 and, most impressively, opposite John Wayne in Trouble Along the Way 1953. Rumor has it that Sherry was "discovered" by a talent agent while she and her mother were waiting for a bus. A busy little beaver from 1949 on, pig-tailed Sherry often appeared unbilled in films and turned up as one of the bucolic brood in the popular "Ma and Pa Kettle" series for Universal Pictures. Her most impressive role, however, was as a Portuguese youngster who witnesses a vision in The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima1952. TV became her choice of medium at the age of 11 and Sherry literally grew up as Danny Thomas' feisty daughter Terry on "Make Room for Daddy" 1953. Sherry grew from adorable child actress to a ravishing beauty. After leaving the stability of her classic sitcom (the script had her heading off for college), however, she found it difficult finding work as a young adult and compromised her talents by taking advantage of her smashing looks. smoldering love interests. Besides the customary guest parts on TV sitcoms and dramas, she developed a minor cult audience playing beehive brunettes in lurid low-budgets actioners. You could count on seeing Sherry as a biker babe, scantily-dressed party girl or man-eating femme fatale. The work was strictly routine and her career pretty much fell away by the 1980, Picture from Trouble Along the Way 1953.
Born Glenn Rothenburg on 17 August 1930 in El Monte, California, USA, The son of a garage mechanic, Glenn Corbett was sent to live with his grandparents at the age of two. He later joined the Seabees and it was during his Navy years that he met his future wife, Judy, a speech major at Occidental College. With Judy's encouragement, Corbett began trying out for campus theatricals. His performance in Occidental's staging of The Caine Mutiny Court Martial led to his being signed by Columbia Pictures. After two year's worth of nondescript roles in films like The Mountain Road (1960) and Homicidal 1961, he landed the lead in the picturesque 1962 TV series It's a Man's World. Though the series lasted only 13 weeks, it gained enough of a cult following to assure Corbett's future stardom. In early 1963, he made a guest appearance as troublesome ex-G.I. Linc Case on the long-running series Route 66; by the fall of that year, he was appearing in that series on a weekly basis, as a replacement for defecting Route 66 star George Maharis. After the series ran its course in 1964, Corbett went on to co-star as Chance Reynolds in the prime-time Western The Road West, which lasted a single season 1966-1967. He kept busy in theatrical features, appearing with John Wayne in Chisum 1969 and Big Jake 1971, and starring in director Sam Fuller's West German-produced Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street 1972. He went on to play Paul Morgan during the 1983-1984 season of Dallas, returning to the role in 1988. In his last years, he occasionally worked as a dialogue director. Picture from Chisum 1970, Glenn passed away on 16 January 1993 in San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Born Joan Boniface Winnifrith on 2 January 1913 in Igtham, Kent, England, UK, The daughter of a clergyman, Anna Lee was encouraged to pursue an acting career by her father. After training at London's Royal Albert Hall, she took to the boards and later began appearing in English films, first as an extra, then working her way up to featured parts and finally earning the unofficial title "Queen of the Quota Quickies". Lee and her husband, director Robert Stevenson, relocated to Hollywood in the late 1930s and Lee began starring in stateside productions as well as becoming a fixture of the John Ford stock company (she appeared in How Green Was My Valley 1941, Fort Apache 1948 and a half-dozen others). In 1970, she became the seventh wife of novelist, poet and playwright Robert Nathan (Portrait of Jennie 1948, The Bishop's Wife 1947; they married three months after they met. Now widowed, Lee soldiers on, regularly playing wealthy Lila Quartermaine on the TV soaper "General Hospital" 1963. Anna apeared in five movies with John and also The Colter Craven Story an episode from Wagon Train which John had a cameo role in, Picture from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962, Anna passed away on 14 May 2004 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born John Dierkes on 10 February 1905 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, Tall and gaunt American character actor prominent in a number of classic American films. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended Brown University and subsequently went to work as an economist for the United States Department of State. In 1941, he joined the American Red Cross and served in Great Britain during the war. There he met director John Huston, who took a liking to Dierkes and recommended that he try Hollywood after the war. Instead, Dierkes went to work for the U.S. Treasury Department, which, coincidentally, sent him to Hollywood to function as technical adviser on the film To the Ends of the Earth 1948. 'Orson Welles' cast him as Ross in his adaptation of Macbeth 1948. Dierkes returned to the Treasury Department, but two years later, Huston called on him to play The Tall Soldier in The Red Badge of Courage 1951. Dierkes took a leave of absence from his job, a leave which lasted for the rest of Dierkes's life. His quiet dignity and distinctive appearance led him to dozens of roles in film and on television. In John Wayne's The Alamo 1960, Dierkes plays a Scot, "Jocko Robertson", named after Dierkes's own maternal grandfather. John also appeared in, The Comancheros, Picture from The Alamo 1960, John passed away on 8th January 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born on 10 September 1915 in New York, New York, USA, Reportedly a neighbor of Harry Houdini while growing up in the Bronx, American actor Edmond O'Brien decided to emulate Houdini by becoming a magician himself. The demonstrative skills gleaned from this experience enabled O'Brien to move into acting while attending high school. After majoring in drama at Columbia University, he made his first Broadway appearance at age 21 in Daughters of Atrus. O'Brien's mature features and deep, commanding voice allowed him to play characters far older than himself, and it looked as though he was going to become one of Broadway's premiere character actors. Yet when he was signed for film work by RKO in 1939, the studio somehow thought he was potential leading man material -- perhaps as a result of his powerful stage performance as young Marc Antony in Orson Welles' modern dress version of Julius Caesar. As Gringoire the poet in The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1939, O'Brien was a bit callow and overemphatic, but he did manage to walk off with the heroine (Maureen O'Hara) at the end of the film. O'Brien's subsequent film roles weren't quite as substantial, though he was shown to excellent comic advantage in the Moss Hart all-serviceman play Winged Victory, in a role he repeated in the 1944 film version while simultaneously serving in World War II (he was billed as "Sergeant Edmond O'Brien"). Older and stockier when he returned to Hollywood after the war, O'Brien was able to secure meaty leading parts in such "films noir" as The Killers 1946, The Web 1947 and White Heat 1949. In the classic melodrama D.O.A. 1950, O'Brien enjoyed one of the great moments in "noir" history when, as a man dying of poison, he staggered into a police station at the start of the film and gasped "I want to report a murder...mine." Edmond appeared in two movie with John Wayne, Picture from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962, Edmond passed away on 9 May 1985 in Inglewood, California, USA.
Born Guy Bridges Kibbee on 6 March 1882 in El Paso, Texas, USA, Beginning his show business career at age 13 as an entertainer on Mississippi riverboats, Guy Kibbee graduated to the legitimate stage and spent many years in the theater. In the 1930s he was signed by Warner Brothers, and became part of what was known as "the Warner Brothers Stock Company", a cadre of seasoned character actors and actresses who enlivened many a Warners musical or gangster film. Kibbee specialized in playing jovial, but not particularly bright, businessmen and government officials. He was memorable as the wealthy but dim "stage-door Johnny" in Gold Diggers of 1933, Guy appeared in three movies with John, Picture from 3 Godfathers 1948, Guy passed away on 24 May 1956 in East Islip, Long Island, New York, USA.
Born on 14 February 1936 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Joan O'Brien began her show-biz career while she was in high school, on a local TV music show in California with Tennessee Ernie Ford. Soon she was a successful singer, and made the jump to acting. In about half the films she ever made it appeared that Joan played a nurse. Perhaps her most memorable appearance was in Blake Edwards' Operation Petticoat 1959, as the nurse who gets in everyone's way because her, umm, "proportions" cause uncomfortable crowding in a small submarine. Because of her, Cary Grant becomes the first officer in the history of the U.S. Navy to sink an enemy truck! She again played a nurse in the Jerry Lewis film _It's Only Money (1963)_ and yet one more time with Elvis Presley in It Happened at the World's Fair 1963-- Also in 1963, in a strange sort of "Columbo" connection, she was voted "most likely to wed Robert Vaughn". Joan's final movie was Get Yourself a College Girl 1964, a "Swinging Sixties" teenfest also featuring Nancy Sinatra, with music by The Animals and The Dave Clark Five. After that she went back to singing for a while, touring with the Harry James Orchestra. She left show business for good to concentrate on raising her children. Joan appeared in two movies with John. Picture from The Comancheros 1961.
Born John Joseph MacGowran on 13 October 1918 in Dublin Ireland, Jack MacGowran worked as an insurance assessor for eight years before becoming an actor with the Abbey Theatre. He made his film debut in John Ford's The Quiet Man 1952. He was also a noted stage actor specialising in works by Sean O'Casey and Samuel Beckett. He appeared in "Waiting For Godot" at the Royal Court Theatre London, and with the Royal Shakespeare Company in "Endgame" at the Aldwych Theatre. He released an LP record, "MacGowran Speaks Beckett", to coincide with Samuel Beckett's 60th birthday. While Jack MacGowran was making The Fearless Vampire Killers 1967, it was suggested by Roman Polanski and Gérard Brach, who wrote the original story for Wonderwall 1968, that he play the part of Professor Collins.Shortly after completing his role in The Exorcist 1973, Jack died in New York on 30th January 1973, of pneumonia. He was rehearsing "The Plough and the Stars" with Siobhan McKenna at the time, which was due to open the following month. Picture from The Quiet Man 1952,
Born Woodrow Wilson Woolwine Strode on 28 July 1914 in Los Angeles, California, USA, Woody played college football and broke the color barrier at the same time as Kenney Washington. Met his wife, a Hawaiian princess and stand-in for the swim sequences for Hedy Lamarr. Woody played for the Cleveland Rams prior to their move to Los Angeles. He was also a professional wrestler, wrestling the likes of Georgeous George. An athlete turned actor, Strode was a top-notch decathlete and a football star at UCLA. He became part of Hollywood lore after meeting director John Ford and becoming a part of the Ford "family", appearing in almost a dozen Ford westerns. Strode also played the powerful gladiator who does battle with Kirk Douglas in "Spartacus." Woody appeared in only one movie with John, Picture from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962, Woody passed away on 31 December 1994 in Glendora, California, USA.
Born Olive Fuller Golden on 31 January 1896 in New York, New York, USA, Olive was 18 when she appeared in her first motion picture, a silent entitled, Tess Of The Storm Country. After she made A Knight Of The Range in 1916, she retired from films. In 1916, she married actor Harry Carey who was eighteen years older. They had two children, one of whom was Harry Carey, Jr. who was a very good actor in his own right. Olive briefly returned to the screen in 1931 in a film called Trader Horn. After 1935's Naughty Marietta, Olive again stepped away from the cameras. But in 1947, her husband passed away and she, once more, stepped into films. This time her stay was a bit longer. Her first film following Harry's death was Air Hostess in 1949. She continued to act in films off and on until the age of 70 when she appeared for the last time in 1966's Billy The Kid vs. Dracula. On March 13, 1988, Olive appeared in three movies with Wayne, Picture from The Searchers 1956, Olive died in Carpinteria, California U.S.A.
Born Louis Jean Heydt on 17 April 1905 in Montclair, New Jersey, USA, American character actor who specialized in "Average Joe's", often timid or down-on-their-luck. He was educated at Worcester Academy and Dartmouth College. He intended a career in journalism and worked as a reporter for the old New York World. he developed an interest in acting and landed a number of roles on the New York stage active there from 1927-48. In the mid-Thirties, he came to Hollywood and quickly established himself as a reliable supporting player. Although he played dozens of roles in many fine films including Gone with the Wind 1939, They Were Expendable 1945, and The Big Sleep 1946, and though his face is exceptionally familiar to viewers of that period's films, his name never quite broke through. He remained a pleasant presence in scores of films of Forties and Fifties, while continuing to work on the stage and on television. Louis appeared in three movies with John Wayne, Picture from Island in the Sky 1953, Louis passed away on 29 January 1960 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Born on 27 March 1886 in New York, New York, USA William Harrigan was the son of playwright/actor Edward Harrigan, one-half of the legendary Harrigan and Hart musical comedy team. Beginning his own acting career in the pre-WW I era, the younger Harrigan made his film debut in 1917. Most of his screen characters seemed destined for an early and unpleasant demise, as witness the duplicitous Dr. Kemp in The Invisible Man 1933 and retired gangster McKay in G-Men 1935. In 1947, Harrigan scored a personal triumph in the role of the irascible Captain in the original Broadway production of Mister Roberts; the play was co-written and staged by Joshua Logan, the husband of Harrigan's actress sister Nedda. William Harrigan's final screen assignments included the ghostly baseball great Red O'Malley in the risible Roogie's Bump 1954. William appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Flying Leathernecks 1951, William passed away on 1 February 1966 in New York, New York, USA.
Born on 26 May 1915 in Macon, Georgia, USA Sam Edwards grew up in a show business family, having made his debut on stage while he was just a baby (his mother, the actress Edna Park, was holding him). With his family, he acted on radio in "The Adventures of Sunny and Buddy," and on his family's show, "The Edwards Family." Sam appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Operation Pacific 1951, Sam passed away on 28 July 2004 in Durango, Colorado, USA.
Born on 10 June 1889 in New York, New York, USA, After a substantial stage career, American actor Cliff Clark entered films in 1937. His movie credits ranged from Mountain Music to the 1953 Burt Lancaster/Virginia Mayo affair South Sea Woman. The weather-beaten Clark usually played surly city detectives, most frequently in RKO's Falcon series of the 1940s. In 1944, Clark briefly ascended from "B"s to "A"s in the role of his namesake, famed politico Champ Clark, in the 20th Century-Fox biopic Wilson. And in the 1956 TV series Combat Sergeant, Cliff Clark was second-billed as General Harrison. Cliff appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Operation Pacific 1951, Cliff passed away on 8 February 1953 in Hollywood, California, USA.