December 10 Birthday Wishes

Victor McLaglen [1886 - 1959]
Ray Collins [1889 - 1965]
George J. Lewis [1903 - 1995]
Anne Gwynn [1918 - 2003]
Hal Baylor [1918 - 1998]
Harold Gould [1923 - 2010]
Dan Blocker [1928 - 1972]
Barbara Nichols [1928 - 1976]
Mako [1933 - 2006]
Tommy Rettg [1941 - 1996]
Tommy Kirk [1941 - ]

Wow! That's a lot of names! And I'm not gonna get help from Ed on this, so here goes:

Victor McLaglen: Just watch the John Ford cavalry trilogy, look for the big Irishman, and you found him! He wasn't really Irish, he was English, a former boxer and WWI veteran who started acting after the war. A favorite of John Ford, he won the Oscar for Best Actor for the Ford directed movie The Informer in 1935. He played Sgt. Mulcahey in Fort Apache, and Sgt. Quincannon in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Rio Grande. He earned a second Oscar nomination for his role in The Quiet Man. He was the father of director Andrew V. McLaglen.

Ray Collins was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater, and his big break was as political boss Jim Gettys in Citizen Kane. He appeared in other mvoies with Welles, including The Magnificent Ambersons and Touch of Evil, as well as other movies like The Best Years of Our Lives and The Fountainhead, but may be best known as Lt. Tragg on the TV series Perry Mason.

George J. Lewis played in many B movies, serials, and short films, including a couple of 3 Stooges shorts. He's mostly known for playing the outlaw gang member who posed as one of, and betrayed, the Texas Rangers in the first 2 episodes of The Lone Ranger, and later as the father of Don Diego Vega in Disney's Zorro.

Anne Gwynne was a contract player at Universal and a pin-up girl during WWII. She appeared in Serials like Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, The Green Hornet (1940 serial), The Black Cat (1941), House of Frankenstein, and Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome, The Man from Red Butte, and Ride 'em Cowboy.

I'll be back to do some more bio's later.

Howdy Manco and Tinhorn!!

Tinhorn, they let me out early. Good test results, so I'll try and give you a hand!!

Hal Baylor's career spanned 40 years in film, from 1938-1978. First appearing in 1938, in The Adventures Of Robin Hood, he was one of the uncredited Merry Men. It would be another 10 years before Baylor appeared in film again. He's the fella that the Duke is seen teaching him how to march and hold a rifle in Sands Of Iwo Jima. The funny thing here, is that Baylor fought on Saipan and Tinian as a U.S. Marine in the Pacific during WW II and the Duke never served at all. Baylor's great great grandfather is the founder of Baylor University. Baylor appeared in over 45 films during the 40's and 50's like, Jim Thorpe- All American, River Of No Return, Away All Boats and Big Jim McClain. During the early 50's, like many actors, Baylor turned to the new medium of t.v. and made numerous appearances on The Lone Ranger, The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp, Cheyenne ect. Baylor did his last acting in 1978.

Hal Baylor also played a boxer in The Set Up with Robert Ryan, and their fight is one of the boxing scenes ever. He was also Lazarus in the Star Trek episode The Alternative Factor.

Harold Gould had been in many TV shows and movies over his 40 year career, most memorably as Rhoda Morgentern's father Martin on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda, and Miles Weber on 13 episodes of The Golden Girls. He played various German generals on Hogan's Heroes, even though he was Jewish. And he originated the role of Howard Cunningham on an episode of Love American Style called Love and the Happy Days.

Dan Blocker was many things before he started acting: a college football player, Army First Sergeant, school teacher, and rodeo rider. But the thing he'll always be remembered for is playing the gentle giant middle son of Ben Cartright, Hoss, on Bonanza from 1959 until his death in 1972.

Barbara Nichols played the ditzy blonde in various movies and made frequent guest appearances on The Red Skelton Show, The Bob Cummings Show, and The Jack Benny Program. She died in 1975 from damage to her liver and spleen as a result of an automobile accident 20 years earlier.

Mako was a Japanese actor who played various Asian roles over a a nearly 50 year career. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1966 for his role in The Sand Pebbles, appeared in 9 episodes of McHale's Navy and 4 episodes of MASH, both of the Conan movies, episodes of F Troop, The Big Valley, Hawaii Five-O, The Incredible Hulk, and as Adm. Yamamoto in Pearl Harbor, as well as several voice acting jobs.

Tommy Rettig played Jeff Miller on the first 3 seasons of Lassie, and appeared in 18 movies, including River of No Return, and TV shows like Wagon Train, Lawman, and Death Vally Days. Having never being able able to make the transition from child acting, he became a computer programmer. He died of a heart attack at 54.

Tommy Kirk worked for Disney in the 1950s and '60s, first in the Hardy Boys segments of the Mickey Mouse Club, then in feature films like The Absent Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, Old Yeller, and The Misadventure of Merlin Jones. Walt Disney fired Kirk in 1963 for reportedly having a sex with a 15 year old boy, but hired him back due to audience demand. He also appeared in AIP's "Beach" movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. When his career went into decline in the late '60s, he quit acting, and started a carpet leaning service.

Ed, you would have cramped your trigger finger typing all this up!

Howdy Tinhorn!!

Thanks for all the good help, Pard!! After 2 separate medical procedures today, which turned up nothing, I needed it!!

Thanks

Ed

Ed, glad that it went well for you today.
Hal Baylor & George J. Lewis are two of the actors we had the good fortune to know personally. George remembered as a boy watching Pancho Villa make his triumphant entry into Mexico City. Hal Baylor's bit in Robin Hood was when he was a student at college in Northern California where part of the movie was made and they used some of the students there as extras. Between that and his first really professional role as an actor, Hal was a boxer for a time and that is how he got his role in The Set Up with Robert Ryan. I think, if I remember right, his first real part was as a boxer in a Joe Palooka movie.

The character Hoss Cartwright was actually named Eric Haas Cartwright. The nickname “Hoss” comes from his middle name.


From the internet.