'Curley' Dresden Real name: Albert J. Dresden 1900 - 1953 Right is Curley Dresden in a crop from a lobby card from SHERIFF OF SAGE VALLEY (PRC, 1942), starring Buster Crabbe.  The full lobby card is below. Dresden was a familiar gang member in scores of westerns in a Hollywood career that lasted about ten years, from about 1935 through the mid 1940s.

Les Adams has Curley Dresden identified in 145 films and of these, 129 are westerns and 15 are serials. And Les also notes that Dresden's last film credits end in the mid 1940s.

After that, Dresden seems to have disappeared. Looks like the investigative team of Dale Crawford, Richard Silverman and Jim Sorensen have found our man. They report:

He was born on July 17th, 1900 in Chicago (Cook County), Illinois. His mother's name was Anna Dresden. The real spelling of the family name was Drezden (with a "Z"). His father and mother were both from Germany. He had two older brothers --- August Dresden, born in 1883 or 1884, and Frank Dresden, born in 1885 or 1886. He also had a younger sister named Francis Dresden, born in 1907 or 1908. All of these children were born in Illinois. The father's name is unknown, however he died shortly after his last child was born sometime after 1907 or 1908.

Albert J. 'Curley' Dresden lived at the Norland Hotel in Spokane, Washington. He was found dead at the hotel and pronounced dead at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Washington. His date of death was June 7th, 1953. He was single and never married. The informant was the Spokane Welfare Office. He had a mass at a local church and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Spokane. He has no identifying cemetery grave marker, not even a temporary one. His occupation at the time was "Newspaper Delivery Person" for the Spokane Spokesman-Review newspaper. The newspaper there still exists.

(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above from L-to-R are Smith Ballew, Frank Ellis (masked), Armand Wright, Evelyn Daw and Curley Dresden (with his arms in the air) in PANAMINT'S BAD MAN (1938), Ballew's last starring western. (Courtesy of Bart Romans) From L-to-R are Curley Dresden (sans moustache), John Wayne and Olin Francis in a scene from PALS OF THE SADDLE (Republic, 1938), one of the Three Mesquiteers series. (Courtesy of Les Adams) From L-to-R are Curley Dresden, John Wayne and Olin Francis in another scene from PALS OF THE SADDLE (Republic, 1938). Above from L-to-R are John Merton, Dave 'Tex' O'Brien, Buster Crabbe (seated), Lynton Brent and Curley Dresden in SHERIFF OF SAGE VALLEY (1942), one of the entries in Crabbe's long running series at PRC during the 1940s.  Crabbe had a dual role in this oater, and "the other Crabbe" is facing him on the far left.

  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has film appearance information on Curley Dresden.  Click HERE.