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part five page two

Martin Milner was born December 28, 1931, in Detroit, Michigan. His father, Sam, was a film distributor. His mother, Jerre Martin, was a dancer with the Paramount Theatre circuit. The Milners moved to Seattle when Martin was a baby and to Los Angeles soon after. At age 15 Martin's father got him an agent and he was chosen to play the role of "John Day" in Life with Father 1947, Warner Bros.' version of C'larence Day, Jr.' 's popular Broadway play. Milner contracted polio shortly after filming was completed and his career was put on hold for a year as he recovered from the illness. After graduating from North Hollywood High School and studying for one year at the University of Southern California, Milner worked steadily in films during the years 1949-1960. He appeared in films such as Sands of Iwo Jima 1949, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral 1957, Marjorie Morningstar 1958 and Sweet Smell of Success 1957. He put his career on hold again when he was inducted into the Army in 1952 for two years. Shortly after joining the Army, he was assigned to the Human Research Division, where he directed military training films and served as Master of Ceremonies for a touring show based at Fort Ord, California. Martin appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Operation Pacific 1951, plus "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" 1968. Martin passed away on 6 September 2015, in Carlsbad, California, U.S.A.

Born on 1 September 1920, Richard Farnsworth American stuntman who, after more than thirty years in the business, moved into acting and became an acclaimed and respected character actor. A native of Los Angeles, Farnsworth grew up around horses and as a teenager was offered an opportunity to ride in films. He appeared in horse-racing scenes and cavalry charges Anonymously, first as a general equestrian and later as a stuntman. His riding and stunting skills gained him regular work doubling stars ranging from Roy Rogers to Gary Cooper, and he often doubled the bad guy as well. Although like most stuntmen, he was occasionally given a line or two of dialogue, it was not until Farnsworth was over fifty that his natural talent for acting and his ease and warmth before the camera became apparent. When he won an Academy Award nomination for his role in Comes a Horseman 1978, it came as a surprise to many in the industry that this "newcomer" had been around since the Thirties. Farnsworth followed his Oscar nomination with a number of finely wrought performance. Richard appeared in three movies with John Wayne, Richard passed away on 6 October 2000 in Lincoln, New Mexico, USA

Born on 25 December 1910 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, Actress Marguerite Churchill journeyed from her native Kansas City to New York as a child. She was trained for a theatrical career at Professional Children's School and Theatre Guild Drama School, and was on Broadway before reaching the age of 14. In 1929, she was signed to a Fox Studios contract; her first film was The Valiant 1929, in which she co-starred with Paul Muni. Dissatisfied with the sort of roles assigned her at Fox, Marguerite returned to Broadway, where she appeared in Kaufman and Ferber's Dinner at Eight 1933. She gave Hollywood a second chance in 1935, but except for her intriguing damsel-in-distress portrayal in Dracula's Daughter 1936, most of her film roles were eminently forgettable. She left films again in 1936 to spend more time with her husband, cowboy star George O'Brien; after the breakup of their marriage in 1948, Ms. Churchill made one final screen appearance in the RKO "B" Bunco Squad (1950). Marguerite appeared in three movies with John Wayne, Picture from The Big Trail 1930, Marguerite passed away on 9 January 2000 in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, USA.

Born 28 July 1911 in Amarillo, Texas, USA, Ann Doran appeared in over 500 motion pictures and 1000 television shows, by one count. Starting at the age of four, she appeared in hundreds of silent films under assumed names so her father's family wouldn't find out. Rarely a featured player although Charles Starrett's Rio Grande 1938 is a notable exception), she provided many a wonderful performance in support of the leads. Ann appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Island in the Sky 1953, Ann passed away on 19 September 2000 in Carmichael, California, USA.

Born Fess Parker on 16 August 1924 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, A former college athlete at the University of Texas, Fess studied Drama in the early fifties and debuted in 'Springfield Rifle' 1952. He made only a handful of movies until he was signed by Walt Disney to star in the Davy Crockett series. When Walt was looking for an actor to play the part of Davy, he screened the Sci-fi movie 'Them!' 1954 with James Arness. When he saw Fess in a scene, he chose him over Arness and Fess became an instant celebrity when 'Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier' debuted in 1955. His appeal with children was enormous with the coon-skinned hat and the hit song "Davey Crockett". But the craze ended almost as fast as it started in 1956, and Fess was typecast. Fess appeared in other Disney movies dealing with the early years of Davey and also in non-Crockett parts such as 'Old Yeller' 1957. By 1959, unable to achieve the success that he had gained as Crockett, his career had leveled off. He made guest appearances on a number of television shows, but his attempted return to television in the series "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" 1962 was not successful. Unable to procure the rights to play Crockett from Disney, Fess tried the frontiersman role once again with the TV series "Daniel Boone" 1964. He played this role for six years and the fact that he had a beautiful red-headed wife in a colour series did not hurt him at all. After "Daniel Boone", Fess retired from the screen and went into real estate, which was profitable. Fess appeared in only one movie with John Wayne. Picture from Island in the Sky 1953, Fess passed away on March 18, 2010 in Santa Ynez, California, USA.

Born John R. Cox Jnr. on 14 April 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, A native Ohioan, John Howard had no interest in working in theatre until schoolmates at Cleveland's Western Reserve University turned him on to acting. After some work on his college stage, he made his movie debut in a bit part in Paramount's _One Hour Late 1935 before moving up the Hollywood ladder to featured parts and ultimately landing his own series (the "Bulldog Drummond" mysteries). Decades later, when offers of work began to slow down, Howard went into teaching. Best-known for his role as Ronald Colman's brother in director Frank Capra's classic Lost Horizon 1937, Howard later said he felt he did a bad job of playing the character: "Damn it, I thought I was too brash, too uncontrolled, too unbelievable. And I've wished always that I could go back and do it again." John appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from The High and the Mighty 1954, John passed away on 19 February 1995 in Santa Rosa, California, USA.

Born Oliver Norvell Hardy on 18 January 1892 in Harlem, Georgia, USA, His Scottish-English parents were never in show business. As a young boy, he was a gifted singer and, by age eight, was performing with minstrel shows. In 1910, he ran a movie theatre, which he preferred to studying law. In 1913, he became a comedy actor with the Lubin Company in Florida and began appearing in a long series of shorts; his debut film was Outwitting Dad 1914; 1914-5 was the "Pokes and Jabbs" series; 1916-8 saw the "Plump and Runt" series, 1919-21 the "Jimmy Aubrey" series, and from 1921-5 he worked as an actor and co-director of comedy shorts for Larry Semon. In 1917, he had played a bit part in A Lucky Dog 1921, starring Stan Laurel. His first two-reeler with Laurel was Forty-five Minutes from Hollywood 1926. Their first release through MGM was Sugar Daddies 1927 and the first with star billing was From Soup to Nuts 1928. Their first feature-length starring roles were in Pardon Us 1931. Their work became more production-line and less popular during the war years, mostly working for Twentieth Century-Fox. Their last movie together was The Bullfighters 1945 except for a French failure (Atoll K 1951). He appeared without Laurel in The Fighting Kentuckian 1949 and Riding High 1950, Oliver appeared in one movie with John Wayne, Picture from The Fighting Kentuckian 1949, Oliver passed away passed on 7 August 1957 in North Hollywood, California, USA.

Born on 2 October 1920 in Greenville, Tennessee, USA, While appearing on Broadway in such 1930s productions as Life with Father, James Dobson launched a lengthy career in radio. He was one of several adolescent-sounding performers to essay the role of comic-book favorite Archie Andrews. Dobson's first film, lensed in New England, was Boomerang 1947 his last efforts included The Undefeated 1969 and What's the Matter With Helen? 1970. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, James Dobson was frequently employed by television series like Hawaii 5-0 as a utility actor and dialogue director. James appeared in two movies with John, Picture from Flying Leathernecks 1951, James passed away on 6 December 1987 in Hollywood, California, USA.

Born in Puerto Rico, actor Alberto Morin received his education in France. While in that country he worked briefly for Pathe Freres, a major film distribution firm, then studied theatre at the Escuela de Mimica in Mexico. Upon the advent of talking pictures, Morin was signed by Fox Pictures to make Spanish-language films for the South American market. He remained in Hollywood as a character actor, seldom getting much of a part but nearly always making an impression in his few seconds of screen time. Morin also worked steadily in radio and on such TV weeklies as Dobie Gillis and Mr. Roberts, sometimes billed as Albert Morin. During his five decades in Hollywood, Alberto Morin contributed uncredited performances in several of Tinseltown's most laudable achievements: he played Rene Picard in the Bazaar sequence in Gone With the Wind (1939), was a French military officer at Rick's Cafe Americain in Casablanca 1942, and showed up as a boat skipper in Key Largo 1947. Alberto appeared in four movies with John, Picture from Hellfighters 1968, Alberto passed away on 7 April 1989 in Burbank, California, USA.

Born Keith Ross on 27 February 1899 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Ian Keith became a well regarded fixture on the Broadway stage during the 1920s, but from 1924 through the remainder of the decade he expanded his acting into a string of silent movies as well. To begin the next decade he appeared in the cast of Abraham Lincoln 1930, one of the later movies of 'D W Griffith' . His forte was perhaps already becoming obvious-his role was that of John Wilkes Booth. Keith had a sly look, and there was an irritated but deadpan demeanour and a side-of-the-mouth delivery to his speech that marked him as a great villain. And he played many -including a surprising number in historic costume. There was never any emotional nuance, but his straight delivery was always completely effective. He figured prominently in some of the most ambitious of the early sound epics: The Sign of the Cross 1932, Cleopatra 1934, and The Crusades 1935 of Cecil B. DeMille, and in the latter Keith was - a sort of good guy - the great Sultan Saladin (surely a strange miscast but DeMille obviously liked him - he showed up in the much later Ten Commandments as well). He was the nemesis of 'John Gilbert' in Queen Christina 1933 and of a similar cast in Mary of Scotland 1936, the early 'John Ford' classic with 'Katherine Hepburn' . He also portrayed an odd twist in the first sound The Three Musketeers 1935. Counter to the book, his Rochefort is the plotting genius, not Cardinal Richelieu, as it should be. Incidentally, he reprised Rochefort, but more in keeping with the original character, in The Three Musketeers 1948 version for 'Gene Kelly'. Ian appeared in two movies with John, Picture from The Big Trail 1930, Ian passed away on 26 March 1960 in New York, New York, USA.

Helen Parrish born on 23 March 1923 in Columbus, Georgia, USA, The daughter of stage and bit film actress Laura Parrish, she started in movies at the ripe old age of five, playing Babe Ruth's daughter in the silent Babe Comes Home 1927. She also was featured in "Our Gang" comedy shorts and sometimes played the lead character as a child opposite some of the great femme stars of the day. In her teens she made herself known as a kid sister but is probably most notable as the bane of sweet Deanna Durbin's existence in several of her vehicles, playing a jealous, spiteful teen rival of some sort. Their first film together, Three Smart Girls 1936, worked so well that they formed a sort of Shirley Temple/Jane Withers standoff in a couple of other movie confections for Universal. Most of her films were pleasant but unexceptional and in the "B" calibre, including X Marks the Spot 1931, When a Feller Needs a Friend 1932 , A Dog of Flanders 1935, I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now 1940, Too Many Blondes 1941, X Marks the Spot 1942 and The Wolf Hunters 1949, by her mid-20s she finished in pictures and turned to TV. Helen appeared in two movies with John, Picture from In Old California 1942, Helen passed away on 22 February 1959 in Hollywood, California, USA.

Born William Phillips on 10 April 1864 in Nevada City, California, USA, Cadaverous character actor Tully Marshall attended the University of Santa Clara in the 1880s. Drifting into acting, Marshall first appeared onstage at the age of 26, turning professional shortly thereafter. He had nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind him when he made his first film in 1914. Like his fellow actors Charles Coburn and Donald Crisp, Marshall was one of those performers who seemed to have been born at the age of 60. Throughout the silent era, he played a vast array of drunken trail scouts, lovable grandpas, unforgiving fathers, sinister attorneys and lecherous aristocrats. In films until his death at the age of 78, one of the best of Tully Marshall's last performances was as the wheelchair-bound criminal mastermind in This Gun For Hire 1942, Tully appeared in four movies with John, Picture from The Big Trail 1930, Tully passed away on 10 March 1943 in Encino, California, USA.

Born on 23 May 1882, in New York, New York, USA, Character actor James Gleason usually played tough-talking, world-weary guys with a secret heart-of-gold. He is easily recognized for his tendency to talk out of the side of his mouth. after serving in the Spanish-American War, Gleason joined their stock company in Oakland, California. His career was interrupted by service in World War 1, following which he began to appear on Broadway. He debuted onscreen in 1922, but didn't begin to appear regularly in films until 1928. Meanwhile, during the '20s he also wrote a number of plays and musicals, several of which were later made into films. In the early sound era, Gleason collaborated on numerous scripts as a screenwriter or dialogue specialist; he also directed one film, Hot Tip 1935. As an actor, he appeared in character roles in over 150 films, playing a wide range of hard-boiled and often semi-comic urban characters, including detectives, reporters, marine sergeants, gamblers, fight managers, and heroes' pals. In a series of films in the '30s, he had a recurring lead role as slow-witted police inspector Oscar Piper, James appeared in three movies with John, Picture from Tycoon 1947, James passed away on 12 April 1959, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Born on 11 January 1904 in New York, New York, USA, Supporting actor Murray Alper's earliest screen credit was 1930's The Royal Family of Broadway. For the next 35 years, Alper was an inescapable movie presence, playing dozens of cab drivers, bookies, cops and GIs. One of his few credited appearances in an "A" picture was in The Maltese Falcon; he plays the friendly cabbie who drives Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) on a mid-film wild goose chase. Frequently seen in comedies, Alper showed up in eight Bowery Boys farces of the 1940s and 1950s, and was prominently featured in the Three Stooges' Trick Dicks 1953 and The Outlaws is Coming 1965, as Chief Crazy Horse!). One of Murray Alper's least characteristic roles was the judo instructor in Jerry Lewis' The Nutty Professor 1963. Murray appeared in two movies with John, Picture from Trouble Along the Way 1953, Murray passed away on 16 November 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA.