1904-10-16 Pattonsburg, Missouri, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wild Bill Elliott (October 16, 1904 – November 26, 1965) was an American film actor. He specialized in playing the rugged heroes of B Westerns, particularly the Red Ryder series of films. By 1925, he was getting occasional extra work in films. He took classes at the Pasadena Playhouse and appeared in a few stage roles there. By 1927, he had made his first Western, The Arizona Wildcat, playing his first featured role. Several co-starring roles followed, and he renamed himself Gordon Elliott. But as the studios made the transition to sound films, he slipped back into roles as an extra and bit parts, as in Broadway Scandals, in 1929. For the next eight years, he appeared in over a hundred films for various studios, but almost always in unbilled parts as an extra. Elliott began to be noticed in some minor B Westerns, enough so that Columbia Pictures offered him the title role in a serial, The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938). The serial was so successful, and Elliott so personable, that Columbia promoted him to starring in his own series of Western features, replacing Columbia's number-two cowboy star Robert "Tex" Allen. Henceforth Gordon Elliott would be known as Bill Elliott. Within two years, he was among the Motion Picture Herald's Top Ten Western Stars, where he would remain for the next 15 years. In 1943, Elliott signed with Republic Pictures, which cast him in a series of Westerns alongside George "Gabby" Hayes. The first of these, Calling Wild Bill Elliott, gave Elliott the name by which he would be best known and by which he would be billed almost exclusively for the rest of his career. Following several films in which both actor and character shared the name Wild Bill Elliott, he took the role for which he would be best remembered, that of Red Ryder in a series of sixteen movies about the famous comic strip cowboy and his young Indian companion, Little Beaver (played in Elliott's films by Bobby Blake). Elliott played the role for only two years but would forever be associated with it. Elliott's trademark was a pair of six guns worn butt-forward in their holsters. Elliott's career thrived during and after the Red Ryder films, and he continued making B Westerns into the early 1950s. He also had his own radio show during the late 1940s. His final contract as a Western star was with Monogram Pictures, where budgets declined as the B Western lost its audience to television. When Monogram became Allied Artists Pictures Corporation in 1953, it phased out its Western productions, and Elliott finished out his contract playing a homicide detective in a series of five modern police dramas, his first non-Westerns since 1938. Elliott retired from films (except for a couple of TV Western pilots which were not picked up). He worked for a time as a spokesman for Viceroy cigarettes and hosted a local TV program in Las Vegas, Nevada, which featured many of his Western films.
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It's Showtime | Self (archive footage) | 1976-03-31 |
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Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch | (archive footage) | 1976-05-01 |
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Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? | Self (archive footage) | 1975-08-06 |
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Footsteps in the Night | Andy Doyle | 1957-04-14 |
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Chain of Evidence | Andy Doyle | 1957-01-06 |
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Calling Homicide | Andy Doyle | 1956-09-30 |
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Dial Red O | Andy Flynn / Andy Doyle | 1955-03-13 |
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Sudden Danger | Andy Doyle | 1955-12-14 |
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The Forty-Niners | Sam Nelson | 1954-07-30 |
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Bitter Creek | Clay Tyndall | 1954-02-21 |
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Topeka | Jim Levering | 1953-08-09 |
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The Homesteaders | Mace Corbin | 1953-03-22 |
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Vigilante Terror | Tack Hamlin | 1953-11-15 |
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Rebel City | Frank Graham | 1953-05-10 |
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Kansas Territory | Joe Daniels | 1952-05-04 |
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Fargo | Bill Martin | 1952-09-07 |
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The Maverick | Pete Devlin | 1952-12-14 |
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Waco | Matt Boone | 1952-02-24 |
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The Longhorn | Jim Kirk | 1951-11-25 |
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The Showdown | Shadrach Jones | 1950-08-15 |
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The Savage Horde | Ringo | 1950-05-22 |
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The Marshall of Trail City | Wild Bill Elliott | 1950-05-10 |
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The Last Bandit | Frank Norris / Frank Plummer | 1949-02-25 |
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Hellfire | Zeb Smith | 1949-05-29 |
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The Gallant Legion | Gary Conway | 1948-05-24 |
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Old Los Angeles | Bill Stockton | 1948-04-24 |
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The Fabulous Texan | Josie Allen | 1947-11-09 |
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Wyoming | Charles Alderson | 1947-07-28 |
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Conquest of Cheyenne | Red Ryder | 1946-07-29 |
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Sun Valley Cyclone | Red Ryder | 1946-05-10 |
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Sheriff of Redwood Valley | Red Ryder | 1946-03-29 |
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California Gold Rush | Red Ryder | 1946-02-04 |
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The Plainsman and the Lady | Sam Colton | 1946-11-11 |
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In Old Sacramento | Johnny Barrett / Spanish Jack | 1946-05-31 |
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Bells of Rosarita | Wild Bill Elliott | 1945-06-19 |
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Marshal of Laredo | Red Ryder | 1945-10-06 |
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Great Stagecoach Robbery | Red Ryder | 1945-02-15 |
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Wagon Wheels Westward | Red Ryder | 1945-12-21 |
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Phantom of the Plains | Red Ryder | 1945-09-07 |
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Colorado Pioneers | Red Ryder | 1945-11-14 |
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Lone Texas Ranger | Red Ryder | 1945-05-20 |
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Vigilantes of Dodge City | Red Ryder | 1944-11-15 |
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Sheriff of Las Vegas | Red Ryder | 1944-12-31 |
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Cheyenne Wildcat | Red Ryder | 1944-09-30 |
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Hidden Valley Outlaws | Bill Elliott | 1944-04-01 |
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Tucson Raiders | Red Ryder | 1944-05-14 |
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Mojave Firebrand | Wild Bill Elliott | 1944-03-19 |
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San Antonio Kid | Red Ryder | 1944-08-16 |
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Marshal of Reno | Red Ryder | 1944-07-02 |
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Death Valley Manhunt | Wild Bill Elliott | 1943-11-25 |
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Calling Wild Bill Elliott | Wild Bill Elliott | 1943-04-30 |
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Wagon Tracks West | Wild Bill Elliott | 1943-08-18 |
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Bordertown Gun Fighters | Wild Bill Elliott | 1943-07-08 |
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The Man from Thunder River | Wild Bill Elliott | 1943-06-11 |
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Overland Mail Robbery | Wild Bill Elliott | 1943-11-20 |
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The Lone Star Vigilantes | 'Wild' Bill Hickok | 1942-01-01 |
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Bullets for Bandits | 'Wild' Bill Hickok / Prince Katey | 1942-02-12 |
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The Valley of Vanishing Men | Wild Bill Tolliver | 1942-12-17 |
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Prairie Gunsmoke | 'Wild' Bill Hickok | 1942-07-16 |
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Vengeance of the West | Joaquin Murietta aka The Black Shadow | 1942-08-16 |
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The Devil's Trail | 'Wild' Bill Hickok | 1942-05-14 |
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North of the Rockies | Sergeant Bill Cameron | 1942-04-02 |
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Hands Across the Rockies | 'Wild' Bill Hickok | 1941-06-19 |
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The Return of Daniel Boone | Wild Bill Boone | 1941-05-07 |
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King of Dodge City | 'Wild' Bill Hickok | 1941-08-14 |
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Roaring Frontiers | 'Wild' Bill Hickok | 1941-10-15 |
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The Son of Davy Crockett | Dave Crockett | 1941-07-15 |
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Across the Sierras | 'Wild' Bill Hickok | 1941-02-13 |
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North from the Lone Star | 'Wild' Bill Hickok | 1941-03-30 |
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Tank Patrol | Bluey | 1941-06-16 |
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Prairie Schooners | 'Wild' Bill Hickok | 1940-09-29 |
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Pioneers of the Frontier | Wild Bill Saunders | 1940-02-14 |
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Beyond the Sacramento | 'Wild' Bill Hickok | 1940-11-11 |
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The Return of Wild Bill | Wild Bill Saunders | 1940-06-26 |
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The Wildcat of Tucson | 'Wild' Bill Hickok | 1940-12-31 |
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The Man from Tumbleweeds | Wild Bill Saunders | 1940-05-02 |
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Lone Star Pioneers | Pat Barret | 1939-03-16 |
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The Law Comes to Texas | John Haynes | 1939-04-16 |
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Taming of the West | Wild Bill Saunders | 1939-12-07 |
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The Roaring Twenties | Bootlegger (uncredited) | 1939-10-28 |
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Frontiers of '49 | John Freeman | 1939-01-19 |
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Overland with Kit Carson | Kit Carson | 1939-07-21 |
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Boy of the Streets | Dr. Allan | 1938-01-08 |
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The Lady in the Morgue | Chauncey Courtland | 1938-04-22 |
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Letter of Introduction | Backgammon Man (uncredited) | 1938-08-05 |
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The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok | 'Wild' Bill Hickok | 1938-06-30 |
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In Early Arizona | Whit Gordon | 1938-11-02 |
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Boots and Saddles | Jim Neale | 1937-10-04 |
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Speed to Spare | Steve Fellows | 1937-05-04 |
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Wife, Doctor and Nurse | Bruce Thomas | 1937-09-17 |
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You Can't Have Everything | Lulu's Bathing Companion (uncredited) | 1937-08-02 |
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Roll Along, Cowboy | Odie Fenton | 1937-10-18 |
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Melody for Two | Walter Wilson | 1937-05-01 |
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Midnight Court | City Attorney Seabrook | 1937-03-06 |
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Swing It Professor | Randall | 1937-03-13 |
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Michael O'Halloran | Little Lord Fauntleroy (uncredited) | 1937-05-15 |
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Love Takes Flight | Bill Parker | 1937-11-05 |
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Polo Joe | Don Trumbeau | 1936-11-04 |
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The Case of the Black Cat | Sam Laxter | 1936-10-31 |
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Murder by an Aristocrat | Dave Thatcher | 1936-06-13 |
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King of Hockey | 2nd Radio Announcer | 1936-12-19 |
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Down the Stretch | Robert Bates | 1936-09-18 |
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The Big Noise | Sharp, Board of Directors Member (uncredited) | 1936-06-22 |
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The Case of the Velvet Claws | Carl Griffin | 1936-07-03 |
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China Clipper | Pilot (uncredited) | 1936-08-11 |
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Romance in the Air | Announcer | 1936-05-16 |
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Two Against the World | News Commentator (uncredited) | 1936-07-11 |
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Bullets or Ballots | Hunter - Bank Worker (uncredited) | 1936-06-06 |
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The Murder of Dr. Harrigan | Kenneth Martin | 1936-01-11 |
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Trailin' West | Jefferson Duane | 1936-09-04 |
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Guns of the Pecos | Wellman, a Dude | 1936-12-28 |
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Fugitive in the Sky | Ramon Duval | 1936-11-28 |
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Stars Over Broadway | Minor Role | 1935-11-23 |
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A Night at the Ritz | Vincent's Assistant (uncredited) | 1935-03-23 |
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Man of Iron | Charlie Fagan | 1935-12-21 |
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Broadway Gondolier | Reporter | 1935-07-27 |
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Bright Lights | Backstage Actor | 1935-07-27 |
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The Goose and the Gander | Teddy | 1935-09-21 |
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The Right to Live | Wedding Guest | 1935-01-26 |
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Traveling Saleslady | Freddie | 1935-03-28 |
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The Girl from 10th Avenue | James, Clerk at College Club | 1935-06-01 |
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Page Miss Glory | Reporter (uncredited) | 1935-09-07 |
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Dr. Socrates | Tom Collins - Greer's Associate | 1935-10-19 |
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'G' Men | Bootlegger Who Gives Eddie the Bottle Outside the Club (uncredited) | 1935-05-04 |
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Moonlight on the Prairie | Jeff Holt | 1935-11-02 |
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Personal Maid's Secret | Warren Sherrill | 1935-10-26 |
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The Woman in Red | Stuart Wyatt | 1935-02-16 |
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Dangerous | 1935-12-25 | |
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Broadway Hostess | Playboy in 'Playboy of Paree' Number (uncredited) | 1935-12-07 |
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The Payoff | Maxine's Casino Escort (uncredited) | 1935-01-09 |
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While the Patient Slept | Bank Teller (uncredited) | 1935-03-09 |
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Go Into Your Dance | Jackson's Secretary / Dorothy's Dance Partner | 1935-04-20 |
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A Lost Lady | Polo Match Spectator (uncredited) | 1934-09-29 |
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The Case of the Howling Dog | Reporter in Courtroom (uncredited) | 1934-09-22 |
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Upperworld | Police Photographer (uncredited) | 1934-04-28 |
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Murder in the Clouds | Lt. Saunders | 1934-12-15 |
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The Merry Frinks | Dancer (uncredited) | 1934-05-26 |
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Smarty | Nightclub Patron (uncredited) | 1934-05-19 |
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Wonder Bar | Norman (uncredited) | 1934-03-31 |
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Registered Nurse | Male Nurse | 1934-04-06 |
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The Secret Bride | Governor's Secretary (uncredited) | 1934-12-22 |
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Desirable | Party Guest | 1934-09-08 |
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The Keyhole | Partygoer (uncredited) | 1933-03-25 |
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Only Yesterday | New Year's Eve Reveler (Uncredited) | 1933-11-01 |
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Stage Mother | Audience Member / Dexter's Party Guest (uncredited) | 1933-09-29 |
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Gold Diggers of 1933 | Night Club Patron (uncredited) | 1933-05-27 |
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Midnight Mary | Party Guest (uncredited) | 1933-06-30 |
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The Little Giant | Guest at Polly's Party (uncredited) | 1933-05-20 |
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Private Detective 62 | Man at Roulette Table (Uncredited) | 1933-06-10 |
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Cocktail Hour | Party Guest (uncredited) | 1933-06-05 |
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Handlebars | Bicyclist (uncredited) | 1933-08-26 |
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Made on Broadway | Night Club Patron | 1933-05-19 |
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Vanity Fair | Bit Role | 1932-03-15 |
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Night After Night | Escort (uncredited) | 1932-10-29 |
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The Greeks Had a Word for Them | Wedding Guest (uncredited) | 1932-02-03 |
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The Rich Are Always with Us | Gambler (uncredited) | 1932-05-19 |
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Jewel Robbery | Policeman Following Blonde (uncredited) | 1932-07-08 |
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Lady with a Past | Alex Brown (Uncredited) | 1932-02-19 |
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A Successful Calamity | Polo Player (uncredited) | 1932-09-17 |
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Scarface | Man Outside Theatre (uncredited) | 1932-04-09 |
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Merrily We Go to Hell | Party Guest (uncredited) | 1932-06-10 |
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One Hour with You | Party Guest (uncredited) | 1932-03-23 |
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The Mummy | Party Guest (uncredited) | 1932-12-22 |
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Bachelor's Affairs | Ship's Passenger / Dance Extra (uncredited) | 1932-06-26 |
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Five and Ten | Wedding Guest (uncredited) | 1931-06-13 |
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Traveling Husbands | Hotel Dining Room Guest | 1931-08-15 |
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The Road to Reno | Party Boy | 1931-09-25 |
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The Public Defender | Country Club Guest | 1931-08-01 |
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Blonde Crazy | Nightclub Patron (uncredited) | 1931-09-16 |
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Born to Love | Hotel Dancer (uncredited) | 1931-04-17 |
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West of Broadway | Nightclub Patron (uncredited) | 1931-11-28 |
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Sweepstakes | Night Club Patron | 1931-07-10 |
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God's Gift to Women | Minor Role (uncredited) | 1931-04-13 |
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Platinum Blonde | Ann's Beau (uncredited) | 1931-10-31 |
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Let's Do Things | Music Store Customer (uncredited) | 1931-06-06 |
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Party Husband | Wedding Party Guest | 1931-06-06 |
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Delicious | Larry's Friend | 1931-12-27 |
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Left Over Ladies | Escort (uncredited) | 1931-09-30 |
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Working Girls | Dance Extra / Lobby Extra (uncredited) | 1931-12-12 |
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Broadminded | Hotel Guest on Veranda | 1931-08-01 |
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The Truth About Youth | Nightclub Patron (uncredited) | 1930-11-03 |
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The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu | 1930-05-02 | |
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Sunny | One of Tom's War Buddies | 1930-11-09 |
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Part Time Wife | Golfer (uncredited) | 1930-11-30 |
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What Men Want | Party Boy | 1930-07-12 |
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She Who Gets Slapped | Poker Player | 1930-05-15 |
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The Girl Said No | Wedding Guest | 1930-03-15 |
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Double Cross Roads | Party Guest | 1930-04-20 |
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Born Reckless | Customer at Beretti's | 1930-05-11 |
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She Couldn't Say No | Gangster | 1930-02-15 |
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Going Wild | Physical Exam Onlooker | 1930-12-21 |
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Lord Byron of Broadway | Party-Goer | 1930-02-28 |
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Night Parade | Party Guest | 1929-10-27 |
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The Great Divide | Ruth's Friend (uncredited) | 1929-09-15 |
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Broadway Scandals | George Halloway | 1929-11-10 |
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The Boy Friend | Gordon Elliot | 1928-11-10 |
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Beyond London Lights | Colin Drummond | 1928-03-18 |
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Restless Youth | George Baxter | 1928-11-30 |
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The Arizona Wildcat | Roy Schyler | 1927-11-20 |
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The Private Life of Helen of Troy | Telemachus | 1927-12-09 |
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The Drop Kick | Aggressive Student at Dance | 1927-09-25 |
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Children of Divorce | Party Guest (uncredited) | 1927-04-25 |
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Napoleon, Jr. | Flora's Father | 1926-11-14 |
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The Shamrock Handicap | Well-Wishing Villager | 1926-05-02 |
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The Plastic Age | Athlete (uncredited) | 1925-12-15 |
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Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ | Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited) | 1925-12-25 |
