February 12 Birthday Wishes

Wallace Ford [1898 - 1966]

Lorne Greene [1915 - 1987]

Forrest Tucker [1919 - 1986]

Joe Don Baker [1936 - ]

Howdy Manco!!

Who doesn't know who Lorne Greene was?? The patriarch of the Cartwright clan on the t.v. series Bonanza, from 1959 through the next 12 or 14 years, along with Michael Landon, Pernell Roberts and Dan Blocker. Originally a Canadian D.J. on the radio, his booming bass voice brought him international attention and the part in the series.

Forest Tucker will probably be best remembered for his role in F Troop, but he also appeared in Chisum, with the Duke, Barquero with Lee Van Cleef and many many other films.

I 1st saw Joe Don Baker in Charlie Varrick with Walter Matthau and Sheree North, back in the early 70's, I think. He was typecast as a heavy from the beginning, but recently, like Leslie Nielsen, he began to break out of this pidgeon hole, with his comedic appearance in the sci-fi spoof with Jack Nicholson, Invaders From Mars.

Ed

Wallace Ford's name rang a bell. He played Lila Hyams' boyfriend Phroso the Clown in Tod Browning's horror classic Freaks, and he was in The Mummy's Hand with George Zucco and Tom Tyler (Tyler played the mummy). He was a second tier character actor, played in a variety on movies an TV episodes.

Lorne Greene, of course, is a Western icon thanks to 14 years as Ben Cartright. He was also Commander Adama in the original Battlestar Galactica.

Forrest Tucker was a good tough guy, be it in Sands of Iwo Jima or some of the Westerns he was in, but he'll always be Sgt. O'Roarke on F Troop to me. He was kind of like a Western Sgt. Bilko.

I remember Joe Don Baker first as Sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall. He also played in 3 James Bond films as 2 different characters: Arms dealer Brad Whitaker in The Living Daylights, and CIA agent Jack Wade in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies.

Hi Tinhorn,
Wallace Ford may have been classed as a second tier charactor actor but in every Western i've seen him in he's always stolen the show,most recently funnily enough in Stagecoach To Fury with Forrest Tucker, and that's not easy to do as Mr. Tucker was a damn Fine Actor Too.

HI ALL,
I DO BELIEVE WALLACE FORD WAS IN JOHN FORD'S THE INFORMER WHOM VICTOR MC LAGLEN INFORMED ON AND IN THE LOST PATROL ALSO WITH MCLAGLEN AND HE APPEARED IN NUMEROUS WESTERNS OVER THE YEARS. LORNE GREENE , BEN CARTWRIGHT WHAT ELSE CAN WE SAY ? FORREST TUCKER ANOTHER MEMBER OF MY FAVOURITE ACTORS LIST, MANY WESTERNS AND WAR MOVIES AND TWO CRACKING BRITISH PRODUCTIONS OF SCI FI MOVIES THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN AND THE TROLLENBURG TERROR BOTH OF WHICH I HAVE IN MY COLLECTION. JOE DON BAKER GOT TO AGREE GREAT PERFORMANCE IN CHARLEY VARICK. GERARD.

Wallace Ford was one of my favorite character actors in a long string of A-westerns (as well as all those old B-films he starred in) & the John Ford films that Gerard mentioned. Lorne Greene began his movie career a number of years before appearing in Bonanza, working in features like The Silver Chalice (with Paul Newman & Jack Palance), The Hard Man (a western with Guy Madison, I believe), & The Bucaneer (with Charlton Heston & Yul Brynner). Although some may remember Forrest Tucker best from F-Troop (anyone remember his earlier TV series "Crunch and Des"?) but to me I will remember him most from his string of westerns like The Nevadan, Ride the Man Down, The Gunfighters, Coroner Creek, and the many others he did. The first film I remember with Joe Don Baker was way back in 1970 in a film called "Adam at 6AM." Four good actors to share their birthday with each other.