part seven page three
Born Hugo Hass on 18 February 1901 in Brünn, Moravia, Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia, A grubby, portly, slightly manic-looking character star, Hugo Haas was one of the most celebrated Czech actors back in the 30s, a comic star who only grew in stature as he delved creatively into writing, directing and producing. The German invasion forced him to leave his beloved country and come to the United States. Like a fish out of water, he had to start small. Beginning as an announcer on US broadcasts to the Eastern Europe underground, he also offered his talents as a narrator of propaganda films. After the war, he revitalized his acting career with flashy, thick-accented support roles, often as a slick, seedy villain in lavish costumers. With the money he made, he began financing his own independent films in the 50s, taking total creative control with almost a Svengali-like obsession. This time around there was little of the adulation he had reaped so easily back in his homeland. With such lurid titles as Pickup (1951), Thy Neighbour's Wife (1953), and Bait (1954), these low budget vehicles smacked hard of sensationalism and he was generally dismissed. Hugo appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Dakota 1945, Hugo passed away on 1 December 1968, Vienna, Austria.
Born Samuel Burr Caruth on 15 June 1865 in Illinois, USA, A turn-of-the-century, stock-company leading man, white-haired Burr Caruth, came into films late in life, playing old codgers, grandfathers, and the occasional judge in such B-Westerns as Ghost Town Gold 1946, Come On, Rangers 1938, and The Phantom Cowboy 1941. He retired in 1944. Burr appeared in four movies with John Wayne, Picture from The New Frontier 1935, Burr passed away on 2 June 1953 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
Born Charles Baldra on 18 August 1899 in Albany, New York, USA, A member of the posse as early as Ken Maynard's Cheyenne 1929, New York cowboy Charles M. "Chuck" Baldra later joined the music group The Arizona Wranglers aka The Range Riders, which also included fellow B-Western regulars Jack Kirk and Oscar Gahan. With his thin mustache and threatening airs, Baldra was usually cast as a henchman, rarely receiving onscreen billing and often working in very low-budget Gower Gulch oaters. Chuck appeared in twelve movies with John Wayne, Picture from The Big Stampede 1932, Chuck passed away on 14 May 1949 in Hollywood, California, USA.
Born Eddy Waller on 14 June 1889 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, USA, Eddy Waller worked in vaudeville and the theatre 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. Eddy appeared in five movies with John Wayne, Picture from Tall in the Saddle 1944, Eddy passed away on 20 August 1977 in Los Angeles, California, USA
Born Willie Fung on 3 March 1896 in Canton, China, Chinese character actor Willie Fung spent his entire Hollywood career imprisoned by the Hollywood Stereotype Syndrome. During the silent era, Fung was the personification of the "Yellow Peril," never more fearsome than when he was threatening Dolores Costello's virtue in Old San Francisco 1927. In talkies, Fung was a buck-toothed, pigtailed, pidgin-English-spouting comedy relief, usually cast as a cook or laundryman. Willie appeared in four movies with John Wayne, Picture from Flying Tigers 1942, Willie passed away on 16 April 1945 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Richard Loo on 1 October 1903 in Maui, Hawaii, USA, One of the most familiar Asian character actors in American films of the 1930s and 1940s, Richard Loo was most often stereotyped as the Japanese enemy flier, spy or interrogator during the Second World War. Chinese by ancestry and Hawaiian by birth, Loo spent his youth in Hawaii, then moved to California as a teenager. He attended the University of California and attempted a career in business. However, the stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent economic depression forced him to start over. He became involved with amateur, then professional, theater companies and in 1931 made his first film. Like most Asian actors in non-Asian countries, he played primarily small, stereotypical roles, though he rose quickly to familiarity, if not fame, in a number of fine films. His features led him to be a favorite movie villain, and the coming of World War II gave him greater prominence in roles as vicious Japanese soldiers in successful pictures such as The Purple Heart 1944 and God Is My Co-Pilot 1945. He had a rare heroic role as a weary Japanese-American soldier in the Korean War drama The Steel Helmet 1951. Richard appeared in four movies with John Wayne, Picture from Flying Tigers 1942, Richard passed away on 20 November 1983 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Shelby F. Wooley on 10 April 1921 in Erick, Oklahoma, USA, American character actor of Westerns, also a figure in country-western music. Raised in Oklahoma where he spent his youth as a cowhand, Wooley's musical ability led to radio work and subsequently movies. He played minor supporting roles for a dozen years starting in 1950, including one of the villains of 'High Noon' 1952. In 1958, he had a giant hit record with his own song 'The Purple People Eater', and he followed it with a string of similar humorous country ditties, often recorded under the name Ben Colder. For a number of years he was best known as scout Pete Nolan on the hit TV series "Rawhide" 1959. He worked infrequently as an actor after the Sixties, concentrating mostly on the music business. Sheb appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from The War Wagon 1967, Sheb passed away on 16 September 2003 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Born on 13 February 1916 in Los Angeles, California, USA, Sharp-featured character actor James Griffith set out in life to be a professional musician. He eased into acting instead, working the little-theatre route in his hometown of Los Angeles. In 1939, Griffith appeared in his first professional production, They Can't Get You Down. Following World War II service, he made his first film, Black Ice 1946. Steadily employed in westerns, James Griffith was generally cast as an outlaw, save for a few comparative good-guy assignments such as Sheriff Pat Garrett in The Law vs. Billy the Kid 1954. James appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from North to Alaska 1960, James passed away on 17 September 1993 in Avila Beach, California, USA.
Born Harry Bratsburg on 10 April 1915, Detroit, Michigan, USA, The slight actor made his film debut in 1942 in To the Shores of Tripoli. Although he played significant roles in Dragonwyck 1946, The Glenn Miller Story 1953, Inherit the Wind 1960, and Support Your Local Sheriff 1969, television was always Morgan's forte and he worked continuously on the small screen since the '50s. He played a wide variety of roles in both his TV and film appearances, displaying an acting brilliance not often acknowledged. In addition to MASH and Dragnet, his other series included December Bride 1954-1958, Pete and Gladys (1960-1962), The Richard Boone Show 1964, Kentucky Jones 1964-1965, The D.A. Henry Morgan was one of the most prolific and versatile actors in television history, having starred or co-starred in 11 different television series; he was best known for his roles as Col. Sherman Potter on MASH from 1975-1983 and Officer Bill Gannon on Jack Webb's second version of Dragnet 1967-1970. After MASH 1983-1984, Blacke's Magic 1986, and You Can't Take It With You 1987. Morgan won an Emmy award in 1980 for his performance on MASH. Henry appeared in two movies with John Wayne. Picture from The Shootist 1976, Henry Passed away on December 7, 2011 in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Hans Georg Conried Jr. on 15 April 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Hans Conried was born in Baltimore, raised both there and in New York City. He studied acting at Columbia University, and played many major classical roles onstage. After having been a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre Company, he was heard as Professor Kropotkin on the radio show "My Friend Irma" and had various roles on the "Edgar Bergen - Charlie McCarthy Show". He was in the original cast of Cole Porter's 1953 Broadway hit "Can-Can" and stayed with the show for more than a year. Known for his sharp wit, Conried was in demand as an actor, panelist and narrator, appearing frequently in television series and movies throughout the 60s and 70s. Hans appeared in three movies with John Wayne, Picture from Jet Pilot 1957, Hans passed away on 5 January 1982 in Burbank, California, USA.
Born Martin Yarus on 6 February 1911 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, American actor/director George Tyne began his performing career under his own name, Martin "Buddy" Yarus, in films as varied as Errol Flynn's Objective Burma 1945 and Laurel and Hardy's Dancing Masters 1943. Under the new soubriquet George Tyne, the actor had sizable roles in a multitude of films from 1946 to the late '70s. One of his better parts during this period was as Pfc. Harris in the John Wayne war epic Sands of Iwo Jima 1949; he could also be seen in Thieves' Highway 1949, No Way Out 1950, Marlowe 1969 and I Will, I Will...For Now 1976. Turning increasingly to TV directing in the '60s, George Tyne worked extensively behind the camera on such situation comedies as The Ghost and Mrs. Muir 1968-70, Love American Style 1969-72 and Sanford and Son 1972-77. George appeared in one other movie with John Wayne. Picture from Sands of Iwo Jima 1949, George passed away on March 7, 2008 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Franklin Ferguson on 25 December 1899 in Ferndale, California, USA, Busy character actor Frank Ferguson was able to parlay his pinched facial features, his fussy little moustache, and his bellows-like voice for a vast array of characterizations. Ferguson was equally effective as a hen-pecked husband, stern military leader, irascible neighbour, merciless employer, crooked sheriff, and barbershop hanger-on. He made his inaugural film appearance in Father is a Prince 1940 and was last seen on the big screen in The Great Sioux Massacre 1965. Ferguson proved himself an above-average actor by successfully pulling off the treacly scene in The Babe Ruth Story 1948 in which Babe William Bendix says "Hi, kid" to Ferguson's crippled son—whereupon the boy suddenly stands up and walks! Among Franklin Ferguson's hundreds of TV appearances were regular stints on the children's series My Friend Flicka 1956 and the nighttime soap opera Peyton Place 1964-68. Frank appeared in three movies with John Wayne, Picture from Trouble Along the Way 1953, Frank passed away on 12 September 1978 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Harry A. Silverman on September 4, 1906 in San Francisco, California, USA . Al Murphy was an actor, known for Flame of the Barbary Coast 1945, The Bold Frontiersman 1948 and Hit Parade of 1951 1950. Al appeared in ten movies with John Wayne, Picture from The Quiet Man 1952, Al passed away on 20 February 1996 in California, USA.
Born Andrew Prine on 14 February 1936 in Jennings, Florida, USA, Stage actor Andrew Prine was first seen on-screen as James Keller, older brother to Helen, in 1962's The Miracle Worker. The gangling, athletic Prine went on to specialize in frontier adventures and military dramas--sometimes a combination of both, as in the made-for-cable epic Gettysburg 1993. Prine's first starring TV role was as rodeo rider Andy Guthrie in the 1962 weekly Wide Country. Andrew Prine's subsequent TV-series assignments included homesteader Timothy Pride in The Road West 1966, bibulous network sales chief Dan Costello in W.E.B. 1978, and talk-show personality Reed Ellis in Room for Two 1992. Andrew appeared in two movies with John Wayne. Picture from Chisum 1970,
Born Gil Perkins on 24 August 1907 in Australia, A champion athlete and trackman in his native northern Australia, Gil Perkins always wanted to get into films; as a teenager he virtually ran away from home, taking a job as a deck hand on a Norwegian freighter. He eventually landed in Hollywood in the late '20s, during the era of part-silent, part- talkie movies, and because his accent was mistaken for English he played young Englishmen in some of his first films. He soon drifted into stuntwork, regularly doubling cowboy star William Boyd, putting a red toupee over his own blond hair to double Red Skelton, etc. Some of his most notable stunt jobs were in the sci-fi/horror field: He doubled star Bruce Cabot throughout "King Kong" 1933, stood in for Spencer Tracy as Mr. Hyde in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" 1941 and replaced Bela Lugosi as the Monster in the climactic battle sequence of "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" 1943. In addition to his feature films, Perkins turned up regularly in serials and on TV On many occasions, he also worked with special effects and rigging departments and helped set up large action scenes. By the 1960s, he was doing more acting than stunts; he Officially retired in 1972, although he took a number of subsequent jobs. Gil appeared in six movies with John Wayne, Picture from Reap the Wild Wind 1947, Gil passed away on 28 March 1999 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Born Jon Lormer on 7 May 1906 in Canton, Ohio, USA, Actor Jon Lormer appeared in several films from the late '50s through the mid-'80s. He was also a teacher and director at the American Theatre Wing in New York. Lormer guest starred in many television series and made-for-TV movies. Jon appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from The Comancheros 1961, Jon passed away on 19 March 1986 in Burbank, California, USA.
Born Charles Gerstle Levison, on 26 January 1905 in San Francisco, California, USA, He was actually one of the last survivors of the famous San Francisco 1906 earthquake. He started out his working-class existence selling insurance but that soon changed. After dabbling here and there in various theatre shows, he was prodded by a friend, director Irving Pichel, to consider acting as a profession. In 1928 he joined the Pasadena Playhouse company, which, at the time, had built up a solid reputation for training stage actors for the cinema. While there he performed in scores of classical and contemporary plays. He made his film debut anonymously as a hotel clerk in Smart Money 1931 starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney and was one of the first to join the Screen Actor's Guild. He typically performed many of his early atmospheric roles without screen credit and at a cost of $35 per day, but he always managed to seize the moment with whatever brief bit he happened to be in. People always remember Charles Lane as that face and raspy drone of a voice. He appeared in so many pictures in 1933 alone he made 23 films!, that he would occasionally go out and treat himself to a movie only to find himself on screen, forgetting completely that he had done a role in the film. Charles appeared in two movies with John Wayne, Picture from Flying Tigers 1942, Charles passed away on 9 July 2007 in Santa Monica, California, USA.