 |  | In the photo left, Fuzzy tightens up the last knot on the well-tied Buster Crabbe In THE DRIFTER (PRC, 1944). This is another of those 'hero plays dual role' oaters, with Crabbe in his normal job as 'Billy Carson' as well as a baddie. Naturally, poor ol' Fuzzy gets confused and tries to restrain the evil 'Drifter' from mixing it up with his pal Billy ... but the 'Drifter' convinces Fuzz that he's really Billy Carson ... got the plot? In addition to THE DRIFTER, Crabbe essayed dual roles in LAW AND ORDER (PRC, 1942), SHERIFF OF SAGE VALLEY (PRC, 1942), and PRAIRIE RUSTLERS (PRC, 1945). |
All of the Crabbe features were produced and directed by the dynamic duo of Sigmund Neufeld (PRC producer) and Sam Newfield (PRC house director). In real life, Sam and Sig were brothers, and knew how to churn out a low budget oater. At PRC, they were right at home.
Crabbe went back into the jungle for several other films for "Sig and Sam". One less than memorable effort was NABONGA (PRC, 1944), a tale of a gal and a gorilla --- this film may be better known because of the appearance of young, sultry Julie London, who would later have the hit song "Cry Me A River".
 (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above and right are pressbook ads for several of Crabbe's non-western films at PRC, THE CONTENDER (1944) and JUNGLE SIREN (1942). |  (Courtesy of Les Adams) |
Crabbe was tired of PRC and he made his last film for them in 1946. All reflected PRC production shortcuts and minimal budgets ... and there were those tinderbox sets. A further hindrance was that most of series was done during WW2 years, when budgets were even tighter. PRC's stable of baddies included Charlie King, Kermit Maynard, Frank Ellis, I. Stanford Jolley, and several other familiar faces, and they seemed to turn up in most all of the pictures. But Crabbe and Fuzzy worked well together, and their camaraderie came across on the screen.
Crabbe's first sagebrusher for PRC, BILLY THE KID WANTED (PRC, 1941), hit the screens in late 1941. Five years later, his finale was released, OUTLAWS OF THE PLAINS (PRC, 1946). In total, Crabbe did 36 low=budget oaters for PRC, and all featured Al 'Fuzzy' St. John as his sidekick.
 (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is the cover of the pressbook for PRAIRIE BADMEN (PRC, 1946), one of the later 'Billy Carson' entries. |  Above is Crabbe and longtime friend Kermit Maynard in a scene from PRAIRIE RUSTLERS (PRC, 1945). |
Bobby Copeland's Trail Talk book includes a couple of quotes from Crabbe which seem appropriate to this writeup:
"Some say my acting rose to the level of incompetence and then leveled off. I was a lot better actor than people gave me credit for. I didn't have any training, but I feel if I had been given the chance, I could have become a really good, top-rate actor. I didn't make it like a Gable or Boyer. But I wonder what would have happened if things had been different."
"If you can believe it, we started my last movie for PRC on Monday and had it in the can on Thursday! That's when I decided I'd had enough and quit. I went in and told them I was through. They didn't even bat an eye. The next thing I knew they replaced me with Lash LaRue."
The remaining years of Crabbe's life included several more starring cliffhangers for Columbia Pictures; he did a few "nostalgia" westerns which featured a bunch of oldtime cowboy performers; along with son 'Cuffy' and comedian Fuzzy Knight, Crabbe starred in the CAPTAIN GALLANT OF THE FOREIGN LEGION TV series in the mid 1950s; there was the Buster Crabbe swimming pool company; he did an exercise book for arthritis sufferers; and he made an occasional TV appearance such as in the BUCK ROGERS TV show around 1980.
But there were some difficult times also, including the death of Crabbe's daughter Sande from anorexia.
One of Crabbe's jobs after PRC was working on several New York TV stations where he hosted a show featuring old B westerns, including his own PRC oaters. Titled THE BUSTER CRABBE SHOW and BUSTER'S BUDDIES, the program initially ran on New York's WOR TV circa 1951. The show later moved to another New York TV station and ended around 1954.
 (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above is a publicity postcard of Crabbe during his time at New York's WOR-TV in the early 1950s when he hosted THE BUSTER CRABBE SHOW which featured his westerns. The back of the postcard has an ad for the Palisades Amusement Park, including free admission on opening week. |  Above, Crabbe and son Cullen 'Cuffy' Crabbe during their CAPTAIN GALLANT OF THE FOREIGN LEGION TV days circa 1955 --- 'Fuzzy' Knight was Crabbe's sidekick. The director of the show was none other than Sam Newfield. |
George Kirazian remembers Crabbe and his WOR TV show. George writes:
"Circa 1950, Buster was on every Monday night on WOR-TV (Channel 9) in New York City, hosting one of his own films. He even brought (as I recall) Fuzzy St. John and Charlie King on, as guests. Regarding the Palisade Amusement Park postcard --- that Summer, Buster taught a swimming class there to about 8-10 kids, and I was lucky enough to be one of them. It was, at the time, THE public pool in the New York/New Jersey area. He had a beautiful family that accompanied him on the days he taught us, and several times they invited me to their 'blanket'."
Remember Crabbe's quote above: " ... wonder what would have happened if things had been different." I wonder too --- think what could have been if Crabbe had contracted to do a cowboy series at Columbia or Republic. Dream a bit more, and visualize Crabbe as 'Tucson' in the Republic Three Mesquiteers. Returning to real life, methinks that memories of the ol' cowboy stars will continue to wane through the further passing of time (and the passing of fans such as you and I). The legacy of Clarence Linden Crabbe is that years into the future, they'll still be showing the Flash Gordon serials ... and a new generation of kids will see him battlin' the forces of Ming the Merciless ... in glorious B&W.
Buster Crabbe passed away in Scottsdale, Arizona on April 23, 1983 from a heart attack, and his remains were cremated. You may want to go to the In Search Of ... webpage. Then go to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), and see if you can find a record for Crabbe. Crabbe's year of birth is in question --- some sources list 1907 or 1910. I've used the February 7, 1908 date from the Social Security Death Index.
Crabbe graduated from the University of Southern California in 1931, and they do have a Buster Crabbe Collection and Archive which was donated by his wife Virginia in the mid 1980s.
The Motion Picture Herald and Boxoffice polls were conducted from about the mid 1930s through the mid 1950s. With a few exceptions, the annual poll results would list the "Top Ten" (or "Top Five") cowboy film stars. In most cases, the winners were what you would expect --- Autry, Rogers, Holt, Starrett, Hoppy, etc. Crabbe did receive a rating in the 1936 Motion Picture Herald poll while he was at Paramount. However, he was not ranked during his many years at PRC. But only a few of PRC's western heroes ever attained a ranking in these polls --- Tex Ritter made the list in 1944 and '45 while in the Texas Ranger series and Eddie Dean did it in 1946 and '47. Lash LaRue never achieved a ranking in these polls.
| Popularity Ranking of Buster Crabbe | |
| Year | Motion Picture Herald Poll Ranking |
| 1936 | 10th |
| "THE KING OF THE SERIALS" Crabbe starred in 9 cliffhangers:
TARZAN THE FEARLESS (Principal, 1933) |
 Above, pretty Carol Hughes (replacing Jean Rogers as Dale Arden) and Buster Crabbe in the last (and weakest) of the three Flash Gordon serials, FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE (Universal, 1940). |