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Barton MacLane (1902-1969)
Barton MacLane

Honor Before Justice, March 5, 1966 Written by Frank Q. Dobbs & Robert C. Stewart, Directed by Harry Harris, Guest Cast: France Nuyen, Michael Ansara, George Keymas, Noah Beep, Larry Bartell, Ralph Moody, Barton MacLane, James Almanzar, Richard Gilden, Ken Renard

Noose Of Gold, March 4, 1967 Written by Clyde Ware, Directed by Irving Moore, Guest Cast: Vincent Gardenia, Barton MacLane, Steve Ihnat, Sam Gilman, Jan Shepard, Michael Preece, Jack Balley, Harry Basch

Stranger In Town, November 20, 1967 Written by John Dunkel, Story by John Dunkel & Emily Mosher, Directed by E. Darrell Hallenbeck, Guest Cast: Pernell Roberts, Jacqueline Scott, Henry Jones, R.G. Armstrong, Billy Halop, Pete Kellett, John Kowal, Eric Shea, Barry MacLane

One of the screen's best 'heavies' he was a staple in films of the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s. Always a tough guy, usually bad but occasionally a good guy, he was tall, very burly and stocky with a square rugged face, mean looking, menacing eyes and a gravelly voice. He was born in Columbia, South Carolina on Christmas Day December 25, 1902 and grew up in the south. He attended Wesleyan University where he was a football and basketball star. It was his agility on the football field that led to his acting career. He was discovered at a game and asked to audition for the Richard Dix film "Quarterback" (1926) in an uncredited role, his film debut. Bitten by the acting bug he enlisted at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and while attending joined a community theatre in Brooklyn. Soon he was debuting on Broadway and had a solid career on stage even writing a successful play "Rendezvous." In the 1930s he was back on screen as a successful film character actor, most often in westerns or as a cop. What a year he had in 1941 in some film classics. His film credits include: "Cocoanuts" (1929) with the Marx Brothers, as Bather; "His Woman" (1933) as Crewman; "Tillie and Gus" (1933) as Commissioner MacLennan; "The Thundering Herd" (1933) as Pruitt; "The Last Round-Up" (1934) as Charley Benson; "Ceiling Zero" (1935) as Al Stone; "G-Men" (1935) as Brad Collins; "Bullets or Ballots" (1936) as Al Kruger; "The Walking Dead" (1936) as Loder; "San Quentin" (1937) as Lt. Druggin; "The Prince and the Pauper" (1937) with Errol Flynn, as John Canty; "You and Me" (1938) as Mickey; "The Storm" (1938) as Capt. Cogswell; "Torchy Blane in Chinatown" (1939) as Lt. Steve McBride, a role he oft repeated in the Torchy Blane film series; "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1941) with Spencer Tracy, as Sam Higgins; "High Sierra" (1941) with Bogart, as Jake Kranmer, one of his best roles; "Western Union" (1941) as Smiley Quinn; "Barnacle Bill" (1941) as John Kelly; "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) again with Bogart, as Det. Lt. Dundy; "All Through the Night" (1942) as Marty Callahan; "Bombardier" (1943) as Sgt. Archie Dixon; "Cry of the Werewolf" (1944) as Lt. Barry Lane; "The Mummy's Ghost" (1944) as Insp. Walgreen; "Scared Stiff" (1945) as Deacon Markham; "Tarzan and the Amazons" (1945) with Johnny Weissmuller, as Ballister; "San Quentin" (1946) as Nick Taylor, his second film with that title; "Cheyenne" (1947) as Yancey; the film classic "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1949) as McCormick; "The Bandit Queen" (1950) as Jim Harden; "Thunderbirds" (1952) as Sgt. Durkee; "Sea of Lost Ships" (1953) as Capt. Matthews; "Jack Slade" (1953) as Jules Reni; "The Glenn Miller Story" (1954) with James Stewart, as Gen. Arnold; "Jubilee Trail" (1954) as Deacon Bartlett; "The Silver Star" (1955) as Henry 'Tiny' Longtree; "Three Violent People" (1956) as Yates; "Hell's Crossroads" (1957) as Pinkerton Agent O'Connell; "The Geisha Boy" (1958) with Jerry Lewis, as Maj. Ridgley; "Pocketful of Miracles" (1961) with Bette Davis, as Police Commissioner; "The Rounders" (1965) as Tanner; "Buckskin" (1968) as Doc Raymond and "Arizona Bushwhackers" (1968) as Sheriff Lloyd Grover, his final film. He also appeared on TV as a regular in "The Outlaws" (1960-61) as U.S. Marshal Frank Caine and "I Dream of Jeannie" (1965-69) as Gen. Martin Peterson. He also starred in the Disney TV movie "The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca" (1958). He guest starred on such series as: "Cheyenne"; "Circus Boy"; "Perry Mason"; "Laramie"; "The Munsters"; "Gunsmoke" and "The Monkees." He was married twice: to Martha Stewart and former actress Charlotte Wynters in 1939 thru his death and they had a son William and a daughter Martha. He died on January 1, 1969 of cancer in Santa Monica, California at age 67.

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