1918-09-21 Wright City, Missouri, USA
Arlington Rand Brooks Jr. (September 21, 1918 – September 1, 2003) was an American film and television actor. Brooks was born in Wright City, Missouri. He was the son of Arlington Rand Brooks, a farmer. His mother and he moved to Los Angeles when he was four, though he continued to spend summers in Wright City. Brooks continued to make visits to his hometown of Wright City into the 1950s, up to and following the death of his father in 1950. His mother and his grandfather were actors. After leaving school, Brooks got a screen test at MGM and was given a bit part in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938). His big fame came with his part as Charles Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939), a role which he later admitted he despised; he wanted to play more macho parts. He made $100 per week under contract at MGM, but when he was on loan to Selznick International Pictures for Gone with the Wind, he made $500 per week. After Gone With the Wind, he had relatively small parts in other movies including Babes in Arms, then a regular role as Lucky in the Hopalong Cassidy series of Westerns in the mid-1940s; Brooks succeeded Russell Hayden in the role. Among the films, which starred William Boyd as Hopalong, were Hoppy's Holiday, The Dead Don't Dream, and Borrowed Trouble. He received positive notice for his work in Fool's Gold, with Variety reporting that he did "an excellent job." In edited, half-hour versions of some of the films, he appeared in 12 of the 52 episodes of the Hopalong Cassidy television series. In 1948, he co-starred with Adele Jergens and Marilyn Monroe in the low-budget, black-and-white Columbia Pictures film, Ladies of the Chorus. Brooks became the first actor to share an on-screen kiss with Monroe, who in a few years was one of the world's biggest movie stars. Filmed in just 10 days, the film was released soon after its completion. Variety called his performance in the 1952 film The Steel Fist "capable." Television brought new opportunities, again often in Westerns. He played Cpl. Randy Boone in the 1950s television series, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. Brooks had guest roles in 1950s Western series, including Mackenzie's Raiders, The Lone Ranger, Maverick, Gunsmoke, and Bonanza. He appeared twice on the syndicated adventure series, Rescue 8, as well as on CBS's Perry Mason courtroom drama series. In 1962, he directed and produced a movie about brave dogs, Bearheart, but the film was entangled in legal troubles due to his business manager's involvement in crimes such as forgery and graft. The film was finally released in 1978, under the title Legend of the Northwest. After he left show business, Brooks ran a private ambulance company in Glendale, California. He commented that he "died in more pictures than almost anyone" and that though he was never very big in show business, he was willing to return to it. Brooks sold the ambulance company in 1994, and retired to his ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, where he bred champion Andalusian horses. He attended a Gone with the Wind reunion for Clark Gable's birthday, along with Ann Rutherford and Fred Crane, in Cadiz, Ohio, in 1992. On September 1, 2003, Brooks died in Santa Ynez, California.
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Rin-Tin-Tin: Hero of the West | Cpl. Boone | 1991-04-11 |
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The Sex Symbol | Edward Kelly (voice) | 1974-09-17 |
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In Like Flint | Missle Control Officer (uncredited) | 1967-03-15 |
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Stagecoach to Dancers' Rock | Quint Rucker | 1962-10-01 |
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Comanche Station | Station Man | 1960-03-01 |
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Stump Run | 1959-12-12 | |
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The Last Hurrah | Votes Tallyman (uncredited) | 1958-12-31 |
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The Challenge of Rin Tin Tin | 1958-08-01 | |
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Silver Needle in the Sky | Ranger Andrews | 1954-05-29 |
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Crash of Moons | Andrews | 1954-07-10 |
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Born to the Saddle | John Grant | 1953-03-15 |
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The Gunman | Jud Calvert | 1952-01-01 |
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Montana Incident | Dave Connors | 1952-08-10 |
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Waco | Al | 1952-02-24 |
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Man from the Black Hills | Fake Jimmy Fallon | 1952-03-29 |
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The Maverick | Trooper Barnham | 1952-12-14 |
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The Steel Fist | Captain Giorg Nicholoff | 1952-01-06 |
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Behind Southern Lines | Captain Loomis | 1952-11-02 |
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Heart of the Rockies | Jim Corley | 1951-03-29 |
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Yukon Manhunt | Len Kaufman | 1951-07-12 |
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The Vanishing Westerner | Sanderson's First Victim | 1950-03-31 |
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Riding High | Henry Early | 1950-04-12 |
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Bunco Squad | Robert (uncredited) | 1950-09-01 |
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The Wyoming Bandit | Jimmy Howard | 1949-07-15 |
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Black Midnight | Daniel Jordan | 1949-10-01 |
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The Dead Don't Dream | Lucky Jenkins | 1948-04-30 |
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False Paradise | Lucky Jenkins | 1948-09-10 |
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Sinister Journey | Lucky Jenkins | 1948-06-11 |
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Joan of Arc | Jean d'Arc, Joan's older brother | 1948-12-22 |
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Ladies of the Chorus | Randy Carroll | 1948-12-30 |
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Borrowed Trouble | Lucky Jenkins | 1948-07-23 |
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Strange Gamble | Lucky Jenkins | 1948-10-08 |
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Silent Conflict | Lucky Jenkins | 1948-03-19 |
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Sundown in Santa Fe | Tom Wyatt | 1948-11-05 |
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Unexpected Guest | Lucky Jenkins | 1947-03-28 |
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Dangerous Venture | Lucky Jenkins | 1947-05-23 |
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Hoppy's Holiday | Lucky Jenkins | 1947-07-18 |
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The Marauders | Lucky Jenkins | 1947-07-01 |
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Kilroy Was Here | Rodney Meadows | 1947-07-19 |
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Fool's Gold | Lucky Jenkins | 1946-10-09 |
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The Devil's Playground | Lucky Jenkins | 1946-11-15 |
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The Great Morgan | Film Character (uncredited) | 1945-01-01 |
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Resisting Enemy Interrogation | Pilot | 1944-08-01 |
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Lady in the Dark | Ben | 1944-02-10 |
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Ditch and Live | T / Sgt. Ryan | 1944-01-01 |
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Air Force | Co-Pilot (uncredited) | 1943-03-20 |
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High Explosive | Jimmy Baker | 1943-03-27 |
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The Sombrero Kid | Philip Martin | 1942-07-31 |
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Fingers at the Window | Young Reporter (uncredited) | 1942-04-22 |
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Cowboy Serenade | Jim Agnew | 1942-01-30 |
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The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine | 1942-03-27 | |
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Niagara Falls | Honeymooner | 1941-10-17 |
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Lady Scarface | James 'Jimmy' Powell | 1941-09-26 |
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Life with Henry | Daniel Gordon (uncredited) | 1941-01-23 |
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And One Was Beautiful | Joe Havens | 1940-04-05 |
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Florian | Victor | 1940-06-05 |
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Laddie | Peter Dover | 1940-01-18 |
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Andy Hardy's Dilemma: A Lesson in Mathematics... and Other Things | Mechanic (uncredited) | 1940-01-01 |
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Northwest Passage | Eben Towne | 1940-02-23 |
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The Son of Monte Cristo | Hans Mirbach | 1940-12-05 |
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The Girl from Avenue A | Steve | 1940-08-09 |
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Thunder Afloat | Listener (uncredited) | 1939-09-15 |
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The Old Maid | Jim | 1939-08-16 |
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Balalaika | Crying Soldier (uncredited) | 1939-12-15 |
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Gone with the Wind | Charles Hamilton | 1939-12-15 |
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Babes in Arms | Jeff Steele | 1939-10-10 |
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Dancing Co-Ed | Steve (uncredited) | 1939-09-29 |
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Dramatic School | Pasquel Jr. | 1938-12-09 |
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Love Finds Andy Hardy | Young Man on Bandstand (uncredited) | 1938-07-22 |
