co-stars part seven
Born Virginia Pound on 26 July 1917 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, Lorna Gray was "discovered" by a Columbia Pictures agent while modeling in a fashion show. She was given a screen test, and Columbia was impressed enough to sign her to a contract (it was at this time that she was given the name "Lorna Gray", which she kept until 1945, when she changed it to "Adrian Booth"). She was put in the studio's B unit, occasionally loaned out to Republic or Monogram, and when not making features was used in several "Three Stooges" and Buster Keaton comedy shorts (where she actually acquitted herself quite well). She left Columbia and began her long career with Republic Pictures in 1941, appearing in westerns, thrillers, horror pictures and especially the serials in which the studio specialized. She married actor David Brian in 1948, and after making films for a few more years, retired from the screen in 1951. Lorna appeared in two movies with John Wayne. Lorna passed away in April 30, 2017, Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.
Born Margaret Kies on 19 September 1910, Dubuque, Iowa, USA, The Dubuque, Iowa-born lovely was christened Margaret Kies in real life, the eldest of five (she had three sisters, one brother). Her father, a druggist, enrolled her at the National Park Seminary in Washington, DC. The acting bug hit Margaret Lindsay quite early, however, and she subsequently attended New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts to pursue her dream. Unable to find work in New York, she travelled to England for further speech and acting study. Here she made her professional stage debut and gained experience and confidence in such plays as "Escape," "By Candlelight," and "Death Takes a Holiday". With her resume now consisting of strong theatre credits, she returned to the States hoping to finally make a mark on Broadway, but again her career stalled. While waiting for a show of hers to open following production delays eventually she co-starred on Broadway opposite Roland Young in "Another Love Story", Margaret had a number of screen tests arranged for her. Shelving her Iowa-based roots, Universal took an interest in the "British stage actress" and signed her on. She made her debut in Okay, America! 1932 and toiled in a few minor roles before taking full advantage of her "English tea rose" reputation with a small but noticeable part in the "all-British" grand-scale epic film Cavalcade 1933 as an optimistic honeymooner on board the fateful S.S. Titanic. Margaret appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from The Spoilers 1942, Margaret passed away on 9 May 1981 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Karolyn Grimes on 4 July 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA, At the tender age of 4, Karolyn Grimes began memorizing lines and acting in the fantasy world of cinema. She worked with film legends John Wayne, Cary Grant, Bing Crosby, Loretta Young, Fred MacMurray, Betty Grable, Danny Kaye and, of course, Jimmy Stewart. She already had appeared in four films when the part of Zuzu came along. It was just another small part, but one that has made an indelible imprint on the American consciousness. Karolyn's life has not always been wonderful. In fact, tragedy beset her early and often. Her Hollywood career ended in her teens when her mother died from early-onset Alzheimer's disease and her father was killed in an automobile accident. An only child, Karolyn was sent by the court to live in tiny Osceola, Mo. Living in a less than desirable home, she found support from the townspeople, and, through their love and encouragement, Karolyn decided to get an education and became a medical technician. Karolyn only appeared in one movie with John Wayne. Picture from Rio Grande 1950.
Born Leonid Kinskey on 18 April 1903, St. Petersburg, Russia, Leonid Kinskey performed across Europe and much of Latin America before his arrival in the United States. By 1932 he landed a small role as a radical in Ernst Lubitsch's comedy, Trouble in Paradise (1932). The next year he played an agitator in Duck Soup (1933). He went on to play small parts, nearly always foreigners and often comedic, in over sixty films, including Genflou in Misérables, Les (1935), the snake charmer in the well-known scene from The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935), an Arab in The Garden of Allah (1936), Ivan In The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938), and Pierre in That Night in Rio (1941). His final film role was Dominiwski in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). Kinskey's most famous role was as Sascha, the humorous bartender at Rick's Cafe Americaine, in Casablanca (1942). The part had originally been given to Leon Mostovoy; Kinskey replaced him because (1) he was funnier than Mostovoy, and (2) by his own testimony, he was a drinking buddy of the star Humphrey Bogart. His contract guaranteed him two weeks at $750 a week. Leonid appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from The Fighting Seabees 1944, Leonid passed away on 8 September 1998 in Fountain Hills, Arizona, USA.
Born Charles B. Hayward on 20 January 1920, Alliance, Nebraska, USA, His parents, Bert and Hazel Hayward, were cattle ranchers on a farm near Hyannis, Nebraska, about sixty miles east of Hayward's birthplace in Alliance. He spent his early youth working cattle, then, at 16, left home to join the rodeo circuit as a bronc rider and horse trainer. In 1947, he arrived in Los Angeles and sought work as a wrangler. Nicknamed Chuck he began doing stunts in 1949 on The Fighting Kentuckian (1949), doubling John Wayne. The two became pals and Hayward subsequently stunted and doubled Wayne on nearly two dozen of the latter's films. Excelling at all sorts of horseback stunts, Hayward doubled most stars of the period who found themselves in Westerns or otherwise astride a horse, including Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, and Gregory Peck. He graduated into stunt coordination, arranging the stunts on films such as The Deadly Companions (1961) and the TV series "The Rat Patrol" (1966). He played small roles in numerous films and TV shows, and his appearance often served as an accurate predictor of an upcoming fight scene. He retired from stuntwork in 1981, and from acting in 1989. Hayward was a member of the unofficial "John Ford Stock Company," a lifetime member of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures and an inductee into the Stuntmen's Hall of Fame. Chuck appeared in nine movies with John Wayne, but did stunts in many more of Wayne's movies, Picture from The Horse Soldiers 1959, Chuck passed away on 23 February 1998 in North Hollywood, California, USA.
Born Frank Thomas Feeney on 14 August 1881, Portland, Maine, USA, Francis Ford 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. Francis appeared in eight movies with John Wayne, Picture from The Quiet Man 1952, Francis passed away on 5 September 1953 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Emory Parnell on 29 December 1892 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, Trained at Iowa's Morningside College for a career as a musician, American actor Emory Parnell spent his earliest performing years as a concert violinist. He worked the Chautauqua and Lyceum tent circuits for a decade before leaving the road in 1930. For the next few seasons, Parnell acted and narrated in commercial and industrial films produced in Detroit. Determining that the opportunities and remuneration were better in Hollywood, Emory and his actress wife Effie boarded the Super Chief and headed for California. Endowed with a ruddy Irish countenance and perpetual air of frustration, Parnell immediately landed a string of character roles as cops, small town business owners, fathers-in-law and landlords (though his very first film part in Bing Crosby's Dr. Rhythm 1938, in which, as a Paramount movie executive, he sings an opening song about avoiding libel suits! Parnell was a regular in Universal's Ma and Pa Kettle film series 1949-55, playing small town entrepreneur Billy Reed; on TV, the actor appeared as William Bendix' factory foreman The Life of Riley 1952-58. Emory appeared in two movies with John Wayne. Picture from Tall in the Saddle 1944, Emory passed away on 22 June 1979 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Clem Bevans on 16 October 1879 in Cozaddale, Ohio, USA, Clem Bevans spent most of his performing career on the stage. First appearing in 1900 in a vaudeville act with Grace Emmett as a boy and girl act, he would move on to burlesque and eventually make the move to Broadway and even opera productions. His first screen appearance did not come until 1935, when at the age of 55 he was cast as toothless old codger Doc Wiggins in Way Down East 1935. So good was his performance that he would become pigeonholed into "old codger" roles for his entire movie career. Occasionally he would be given the opportunity to play something out of character, such as a voyeuristic millionaire with a fetish for women's knees in Happy Go Lucky 1943 and a Nazi spy in Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur 1942, but he would go on to to play variations of his "old coot" role until the day he died. Clem appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Idol of the Crowds 1937, Clem passed away on 11 August 1963 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born William Haade on 2 March 1903, New York, USA, William Haade spent most of his movie career playing the very worst kind of bully--the kind that has the physical training to back up his bullying. His first feature-film assignment was as the arrogant, drunken professional boxer who is knocked out by bellhop Wayne Morris in Kid Galahad 1937. In many of his western appearances, Haade was known to temper villainy with an unexpected sense of humour; in one Republic western, he spews forth hilarious one-liners while hacking his victims to death with a knife! William Haade also proved an excellent menace to timorous comedians like Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello; in fact, his last film appearance was in Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops 1955. William appeared in five movies with John Wayne, Picture from Pittsburgh 1942, William passed away on 15 November 1966 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born William Albert Henry on 10 November 1914 in Los Angeles, California, USA, Debuted in films at the age of 8, and would then enjoy a well-rounded career first as juvenile actor, then B-movie hero and ultimately character player in his later years. William appeared in seven movies with John Wayne, Picture from El Dorado 1966, William passed away on 10 August 1982 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born William Anton Gittinger on 28 March 1888, San Antonio, Texas, USA, American actor of small roles in Westerns, particularly those of John Ford. Although his screen credits and many records indicate a wide variety of names and spellings. Little is known of his life prior to his arrival in Los Angeles around 1910. As the film industry in Hollywood was just blossoming, and as he apparently had great experience with horses, William Steele easily obtained work in quickie Westerns. He fought in Europe in World War I, then returned to Hollywood. While he was extremely inconsistent in the names he used, he worked consistently in Westerns throughout the silent era and up until the 1950s. His final appearance was as the wounded posse member Nesby in Ford's The Searchers 1956, his tenth film for Ford. William appeared in one other movie with John Wayne, Picture from The Searchers 1956, William passed away on 13 February 1966, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Sheila Bromley on 31 October 1911 in San Francisco, California, USA, A one-time Miss California, American actress Sheila Bromley came to films relatively late; she was 26 when she appeared in her first movie, Idol of the Crowds 1937, starring John Wayne. While she had several short-term starlet contracts over the years, principally at Columbia, Fox and Warner Bros., Bromley's credits are hard to trace, simply because she spent so much time not being Sheila Bromley. At various points in her career she billed herself as Sheila Manners, Sheila Mannors and Sheila Fulton, seldom rising above B-picture status under any of those names. On TV, she was a regular on the popular sitcom I Married Joan 1952-55, billed again as Sheila Bromley. After nearly twenty years in such disposable second features as Torture Ship 1939, Calling Philo Vance 1940, Time to Kill 1942 and Young Jesse James 1950, Sheila Bromley retired, returning several years later for small roles in major 1960s productions like Judgment at Nuremberg 1961 and Hotel 1966. In 1965, Sheila Bromley had a continuing featured role on the NBC TV daytime drama Morning Star. Sheila appeared in three more movies with John Wayne, Picture from Lawless Range 1935, Sheila passed away on 23 July 2003, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Victor Daniels on 12 April 1899 in Muskogee, Indian Territory, USA, He was the first of nine children born to Dark Cloud and Morning Star, who were Cherokee mixed with Scotch, Irish and German. Raised on a ranch in Arizona, he was educated at the University of Arizona at Tucson where he excelled not only scholastically but in athletics football, boxing. He performed unskilled labor on cattle ranches and rodeos in addition to finding work as a mining foreman, boxer and guide before going to. Hollywood in the late 1920s. Initially training to become a singer of tribal folk songs, he made money in films as a stuntman doubling for a number of the top western stars of the day. Victor Daniels was given the title of "Chief Thundercloud" in an honorary capacity, although he was indeed a true Native American Indian. He eventually earned screen credit for his Indian tribe members and chiefs, typecast more as bad than good. He is best known, however, for his creating the role of faithful sidekick "Tonto" in the serial The Lone Ranger 1938 and its sequel The Lone Ranger Rides Again 1939. He also played the title role of Paramount Pictures' Geronimo 1939. Thundercloud appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Thundercloud passed away on 1 December 1955 in Ventura, California, USA.
Born James Meggs on 2 October 1892 in Canada, Tall, thin, and refined, but with a hint of sneakiness in his facial make-up, James Craven was eminently qualified for playing serial brains heavies. He was handsome and dignified enough to convince the other characters that he was on the good guys' side, and cruel and shady-looking enough to let the audience know what he was really up to. However, if one were to contrast the two halves of his serial career, one would be tempted to think there were two different actors by the name of James Craven, so strongly did those two halves contrast. In Craven's three major serial roles at Columbia, he played (probably at the behest of director James Horne) wild-eyed, ranting villains in the old melodrama style, berating henchmen violently and getting more harried and flustered as the hero foiled each of his plans. In two of his three major serial roles at Republic, however, Craven portrayed very crafty, subtle heavies, the complete opposite of his hyperventilating Columbia characters. I personally enjoy his suave persona best, but his whacked-out villains could be very amusing too. Craven was really a very talented actor, and his performances, whether over-the-top or well-modulated, were always a lot of fun to watch. James appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Flying Leathernecks 1951, James passed away on 29 June 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA. "This information was kindly supplied from the Files of Jerry Blake."
Born Milburn Stone on 5 July 1904 in Burrton, Kansas, USA, Milburn Stone got his start in vaudeville as one-half of the song 'n' snappy patter team of Stone and Strain. He worked with several touring theatrical troupes before settling down in Hollywood in 1935, where he played everything from bits to full leads in the B-picture product ground out by such studios as Mascot and Monogram. One of his few appearances in an A-picture was his uncredited but memorable turn as Stephen A. Douglas in John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln. During this period, he was also a regular in the low-budget but popular Tailspin Tommy series. He spent the 1940s at Universal in a vast array of character parts, at one point being cast in a leading role only because he physically matched the actor in the film's stock-footage scenes! Full stardom would elude Stone until 1955, when he was cast as the irascible Doc Adams in Gunsmoke. Milburn Stone went on to win an Emmy for this colorful characterization, retiring from the series in 1972 due to ill health. Milburn appeared in three movies with John Wayne, Picture from Flying Leathernecks 1951, Milburn passed away on 12 June 1980 in La Jolla, California, USA.
Born Charles Brokaw on 23 September 1898, Columbus, Ohio, USA, Broadway actor, active from 1921-1936. He appeared in the hits: The Road to Rome 1928 The Great Waltz 1934 and Jubilee 1935, his last Broadway appearance running 169 performances through March 7, 1936. Charles appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Charles passed away on 23 October 1975 in New York, New York, USA.