part six page two
Born on 10 August 1914 in Brooklyn, New York, USA, American actor Jeff Corey forsook a job as sewing-machine salesman for the less stable world of New York theatre in the 1930s. The 26-year-old Corey was regarded as a valuable character-actor commodity when he arrived in Hollywood in 1940. Perhaps the best of his many early unbilled appearances was in the Kay Kyser film You'll Find Out 1940, in which Corey, playing a game-show contestant (conveniently named Jeff Corey), was required to sing a song while stuffing his mouth full of crackers. The actor was busiest during the "film noir" mid-to-late 1940s, playing several weasely villain roles; it is hard to forget the image of Corey, in the role of a slimy stoolie in Burt Lancaster's Brute Force, being tied to the front of a truck and pushed directly into a hail of police bullets. Corey's film career ended abruptly in 1952 when he was unfairly blacklisted for his left-leaning political beliefs. To keep food on the table, Corey became an acting coach, eventually running one of the top training schools in the business (among his more famous pupils was Jack Nicholson). He was permitted to return to films in the 1960s, essaying such roles as a wild-eyed wino in Lady in a Cage 1964, the louse who kills Kim Darby's father in True Grit (68), and a sympathetic sheriff in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1968. In addition to his film work, Jeff Corey has acted in and directed numerous TV series, Jeff appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture fromTrue Grit 1969, After a fall at his Malibu home in August of 2002, Corey died on 16 August 2002 in Santa Monica, California, USA. due to complications resulting from the accident.
Born on 17 February 1926 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA, Born by the Atlantic Ocean, Jeremy Slate also had a Pacific Ocean view when he lived in Malibu, California. In between oceans, he has travelled the world. He attended a military academy, joined the navy at 16 and was barely 18 when his destroyer joined the invasion of Normandy on D-Day June 6, 1944. Aboard that destroyer at Omaha Beach that day, Jeremy vowed if he survived the attack he would make his life a never-ending series of adventures. He has lived up to that promise with adventures as a lifeguard, a swimming instructor, the first person to swim across the Long Island Sound after the war, college graduate with honours in English, writer, songwriter, screenwriter, a radio announcer, actor and director. After the war Jeremy attended St. Lawrence University, graduating with honours. A football player and backfield coach of the only undefeated freshman team in the school's history. A campus radio personality, in his senior year, he married the queen of his fraternity's ball. After graduating, he became a professional radio sports-caster and DJ for CBS and ABC affiliates While in Peru he joined a professional theatre group and became involved with the production of "The Rainmaker" at the Professional English Language Theatre in Lima. He was awarded the Tiahuanaco the, Peruvian equivalent of the Tony award, for his portrayal of the character Starbuck. After a year of training, he left W.R. Grace to pursue a theatrical career and was cast in a small, significant role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Look Homeward, Angel" on Broadway and did 254 performances. Jeremy appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from The Sons of Katie Elder 1965, Jeremy passed away on 19 November 2006 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Oothout Zabriskie Whitehead on 1 March 1911 in New York, New York, USA, O.Z. Whitehead American character actor of rather bizarre range, a member of the so-called "John Ford Stock Company." Originally a New York stage actor of some repute, Whitehead entered films in the 1930s. He played a wide variety of character parts, often quite different from his own actual age and type. He is probably most familiar as Al Joad in 'John Ford The Grapes of Wrath 1940. But twenty-two years later, in his fifth film for Ford, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962, Whitehead at 51 was playing a lollipop-licking schoolboy! He continued to work predominantly on the stage, appearing now and again in films or on television, Picture from The Horse Soldiers 1959, with John Wayne, Whitehead passed away on 29 July 1998 in Dublin, Ireland.
Born Walter Lee Barnes on 26 January 1918 in Parkersburg, West Virginia, USA, An American character actor described to some as a 'rugged outdoor western/war type', proved to be Walter Barnes status in motion pictures for nearly thirty years. A pro football player, Barnes made a mark into playing roles in pictures with his performance in the 1957 film "Westbound". Although, Barnes found work in countless foreign films of the 1960s, he usually played roles ranging from crusty law officals to occasional villians, in notable roles in "Captain Sinbad", Clint Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter", "Pete's Dragon" and "Day of the Animals". Also as a veteran of television, Barnes has had guest starring roles in such series including "Gunsmoke", "Rawhide" and "Cheyenne". He also played Bo Svenson's father on the early 80s TV series "Walking Tall" and appeared in the 1985-86 mini series "North and South". A diabetic, Barnes retired from acting in the late 1980s and eventually moved into the Motion Picture and Television Retirement Home in Woodland Hills, California, Walter appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Cahill United States Marshal 1973, Walter passed away on 6 January 1998 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born on 4 May 1903 in New York, New York, USA, Born Lutha Adler in New York City, Adler was one of 25 Adlers that had appeared in the Yiddish theatre. As one of six children of actor Jacob Adler, his family included such notables as his sister, famed acting teacher Stella Adler. His film career began in 1937 with Lancer Spy, and included such notable films as M, D.O.A., and Voyage of the Damned. Adler was a frequent TV guest star on shows such as Naked City and The Untouchables. Ironically, the Jewish actor had one role that he was repeatedly asked to play--Adolph Hitler. He played Hitler in the films The Magic Face, and The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel, and even in the finale of The Twilight Zone episode: “Man in the Bottle.”, Lutha appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Wake of the Red Witch 1948, Lutha passed away on 8 December 1984 in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, USA.
Born Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish on 21 January 1897 in New York, New York, USA, Naish joined the Navy at age of sixteen, and spent the next decade travelling all over the world, absorbing the languages, dialects and customs of several nations. Stranded in California, Naish began picking up extra work in Hollywood films. The acting bug took hold, and within five years he was a well-established member of the theatrical community. Naish thrived during the early days of talking pictures thanks to his expertise in a limitless variety of foreign dialects. At various times he was seen as Chinese, Japanese, a Frenchman, a South Seas Islander, Portuguese, an Italian, a German, and a Native American. Many of his assignments were villainous in nature he was a gangster boss in virtually every Paramount "B" of the late 1930s, though his two Oscar nominations were for sympathetic roles: the tragic Italian POW in Sahara 1943 and the indigent Mexican father of a deceased war hero in A Medal For Benny 1954. Naish continued to flourish on radio and television, at one point playing both a priest and a rabbi on the same anthology series. He starred in both the radio and TV versions of the melting-pot sitcom "Life with Luigi," essayed the title role in 39 episodes of "The New Adventures of Charlie Chan" 1957, and played a comedy Indian on the 1960 sitcom "Guestward Ho." Illness forced him to retire in 1969, but Naish was cajoled back before the cameras by producer Al Adamson for the 1970 Dracula vs.Frankenstein; even weighed down by bad false teeth, coke-bottle glasses and a wheelchair, Naish managed to act the rest of the cast right off the screen. J. Carrol Naish appeared in three movies with John Wayne, Picture from Rio Grande 1950, J. Carrol passed away on 24 January 1973 in La Jolla, California, USA.
Born on 9 August 1906 in Clarksville, Tennessee, USA, Before Dorothy Jordan established herself as a feisty movie ingénue, dark-haired Dorothy Jordan trained in ballet and studied acting at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Art. A veteran of Broadway musicals, Jordan came to Hollywood in 1929, securing such roles as Bianca in the Fairbanks/Pickford version of Taming of the Shrew 1929 and the daughter of Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery in Min and Bill 1930. From 1932 onward, Jordan's film assignments became increasingly humdrum, prompting her to retire from moviemaking when she married producer Merian C. Cooper. At the request (and cajoling) of her husband and their mutual friend John Ford, Dorothy Jordan made a brief comeback in three Ford-directed films of the 1950s, The Sun Shines Bright 1953, The Searchers 1956 and The Wings of Eagles 1957. Dorothy also appeared in two more movies with John Wayne, Picture from The Searchers 1956, Dorothy passed away on 7 December 1988 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born George Clinton Fisher on 26 September 1907 in Grady County, Oklahoma, USA, This country singing-and-playing perennial earned the nickname of "Shug" early in life from his mother. The native Oklahoman the son of a Scots-Irish father and part Choctaw mother. He learned how to play the mandolin, fiddle and guitar by the time he went on the road and later added comedy schtick to his traveling act. He finally took the plunge and headed west to California toiling in a series of side jobs (oil field cabler, tool dresser) before getting some work on radio. He joined various country groups, including the "Hollywood Hillbillies," in which he played bass fiddle, and the "Beverly Hill Billies." He finally found "gold up in them thar hills" saddling up with Roy Rogers in his western films and singing with the renown group "Sons of the Pioneers." On various radio broadcasts with the group, Shug's talents soon included songwriting. Some of his songs included "Out on the Open Range" and "Ridin' Down to Santa Fe," tunes later recorded by such established stars as Merle Travis. Shug first joined the Sons of the Pioneers in 1943 as a bass player and comedian and appearing on their Lucky U Ranch radio program. He also performed with Stuart Hamblen's "Lucky Stars". Following his break with the Pioneers, he worked actor Ken Curtis in movies and on TV and radio. He returned once more with the Sons of the Pioneers (1955-1959), then went on to appear with Red Foley's and his Ozark Jubilee TV show for a couple of years. Shug appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1962, Shug passed away on 16 March 1984 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Charles Henry Daniel on 5 March 1894 in London, England, UK, London-born Henry Daniell began his career on the British stage, and continued it on the Broadway stage when he emigrated to the US. He entered films in 1929, and excelled at playing the suave, well-bred villain who could kill an enemy or start a war with a certain air of upper-class disdain, as if all of this effort was beneath him. His long and distinguished career ended when he suffered a heart attack while filming My Fair Lady 1963. Henry appeared in three movies with John Wayne, Picture from Wake of the Red Witch 1948, Henry passed away on 31 October 1963 in Santa Monica, California, USA.
Born on 5 June 1914 in Douglas, Arizona, USA, The name Stan Jones doesn't pop up in too many country music reference books, but most fans of cowboy songs and Western movie soundtrack music, not to mention the music of Gene Autry, the Sons of the Pioneers, Vaughn Monroe, and Johnny Cash, know his name, as the author of "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky." Stan appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from The Horse Soldiers 1959, Stan passed away on 13 December 1963 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Ron Soble on 28 March 1932 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, A veteran actor whose longtime association with the Screen Actor's Guild found him the recipient of the prolific Ralph Morgan Award for Distinguished Service to the Hollywood Branch of SAG, Ron Soble's decade-long association with the guild followed years as a popular actor in television and film as well as a notable athletic career. A native of Chicago, Soble took to sports early in life, becoming a Golden Gloves champion in 1944 before moving on to play football with the University of Michigan. His early acting career marked by numerous Western appearances, Soble made his film debut in 1959's Al Capone before appearing onscreen in such beloved John Wayne oaters as True Grit 1969 and Chisum 1970. On the small screen, Soble continued his career as a cowboy with frequent appearances on Rawhide, The Virginian, and The Monroes (the actor would also parlay his spurs into science fiction territory with an appearance as Wyatt Earp in an episode of the original Star Trek series). Moving into a more modern era (at least at the time) with appearances in Charlie's Angels, ChiPs, and Knight Rider, Soble's later roles in such features as Pterodactyl Woman From Beverly Hills 1994 and Deuce Bigalo: Male Gigalo 1999 were a healthy indicator that after years in the business Soble had not lost his sense of humor. Ron appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Chisum 1970, Ron passed away on 2 May 2002 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Rudy Diaz born in 1918, Diaz was a famous LAPD Homicide Detective who retired to become a familiar character actor. Served in the Army as a paratrooper. He was a real-life cop in the 1950s; he worked for 5 years on the narcotics squad in Los Angeles when his wife Dorothy Abbott landed a role on "Dragnet" 1951. Two of his cases were dramatized on "Dragnet" 1951 and led to his future in television. Became an actor after he retired from the Los Angeles Police Department in 1967. As an ethnic character actor, he also played American Indians frequently. Rudy appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Hellfighters 1968, Rudy passed away on 5 December 2006.
Born Walter Reed Smith on 10 February 1916 in Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA, The son of an Army officer, Walter Reed was born in Washington and grew up in Honolulu and Los Angeles, where he attended school with the children of movie stars. After his parents' divorce, and, during the darkest days of the Depression, 17-year-old Reed decided to try acting as a career and made a two-week trip to New York (via hitched rides on railroad freight cars, amidst hobos and tramps) to look for work on the stage. He worked in stock and on Broadway and, with an assist from actor Joel McCrea, broke into pictures in the early 1940s. Walter appeared in three movies with John Wayne, Picture from The High and the Mighty 1954, Walter passed away on 20 August 2001 in Santa Cruz, California, USA.
Born Chester Gan on 4 July 1908 in San Francisco, California, USA, Appropriately moon-faced and often sporting a rather timid-looking Fu Manchu mustache, Chester Gan played hundreds of rickshaw boys, cooks, café owners, and the ubiquitous Chinese laundry proprietors. Although of Korean descent, Gan more often than not portrayed enemy Japanese during World War II, Hollywood of course counting on the fact that few non-Asians could tell the difference. Chester appeared in three movies with John Wayne, Picture from Flying Tigers 1942, Chester passed away on 29 June 1959 in San Francisco, California, USA.
Born Robert F. Kortman on 24 December 1887, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, In films after 1915, hatchet-faced Robert Kortman claimed to have served in the U.S. Cavalry prior to going on-stage. With producer Thomas H. Ince in the mid-1910s, the menacing actor often supported the era's great Western icon William S. Hart Kortman was one of the rowdy townsmen in 1916's Hell's Hinges and was equally busy in the '20s. Kortman, however, came into his own in sound serials, especially at Mascot and its successor Republic Pictures, where his menacing visage turned up everywhere, from playing Magua in Last of the Mohicans 1932 to portraying One-Eye Chapin in Adventures of Red Ryder 1940. His roles grew increasingly smaller, and Kortman continued to play mostly villains until at least 1951. Bob appeared in seven movies with John Wayne, Bob passed away on 13 March 1967 in Long Beach, California, USA.