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Unkempt, rough and tough looking members of the gang (or lynch mob, or vigilantes, or posse or cow herders) who had minimal or no dialog.  They are generally not listed in the film credits.  We tend to recognize some of their faces, but have no clue as to their real names.


Jim Corey
Real name:
Arthur Harrison Corey
1889 - 1950
appeared in 200+ westerns and 20+ serials


Right is Jim Corey in a crop from a lobby card from LAND BEYOND THE LAW (Warners, 1937) starring Dick Foran. You can see the full lobby card by clicking HERE.




(From Old Corral image collection)


Above, Tom Tyler slugs it out with Jim Corey in BROTHERS OF THE WEST (Victory, 1937). Corey was born in New York state, and was a frequent henchman and also did stuntwork. Click HERE for a photo of Cliff 'Tex' Lyons and Corey taking a horse fall in Buck Jones' OUTLAWED GUNS (1935). Corey is relatively easy to spot --- he was thin and wore that big, tall hat.

Thanks to Dale Crawford and Jim Sorensen for providing a death certificate: Arthur H. Corey passed away from hemorrhaging and shock at the Los Angeles County General Hospital on 3/26/1950 following surgery on 3/25/1950 for an abdominal aneurysm; he was born March 22, 1889 in New York and his parents were Nathan Corey and Margaret Ford Corey; he was divorced and did not serve in the military; his occupation/business was actor - motion pictures for 37 years; and he was interred at Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, California.

I could find no record in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), but there was a record in the California Death Records database for: Arthur H. Corey, born 3/22/1889 in New York, Mother's maiden name of Ford, and he passed away in the Los Angeles area on 3/26/1950.

There is confusion with biographical info on our henchman/stuntman Jim Corey (such as the Internet Movie Database, which has now been corrected). The mixup was because of another Jim Corey who is also interred at Valhalla.

In November/December, 2010, ye Old Corral webmaster communicated with Jane Ritchey (nee Corey), the grand daughter of James Warren Corey, Sr.

Mr. Corey, Sr. was born in Long Pine, Nebraska in 1883, passed away January 10, 1956 in the Los Angeles area, and interred at Valhalla Cemetery. Old Corral contributor Lila Ashear was able to locate a January 12, 1956 obituary on Corey, Sr. which confirms his interment at Valhalla.



Tex Palmer appeared in at least 230 westerns and 10 serials
Blackie Whiteford appeared in at least 245 sound era films, including 160 westerns, 12 serials and 42 shorts (including many of the Columbia Three Stooges shorts)



(From Old Corral image collection)

Above, a crop from a lobby card from ROGUE OF THE RANGE (A. W. Hackel/Supreme, 1936) starring Johnny Mack Brown.  From L-to-R are Tex 'Squint' Palmer (?-?), Jack Rockwell, and John P. 'Blackie' Whiteford (1889-1962) (in purple shirt).  You can see the full lobby card by clicking HERE.




(From Old Corral image collection)

Above is a crop of Tex 'Squint' Palmer from from a still from the John Wayne THE LUCKY TEXAN (Lone Star/Monogram, 1933).



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from L-to-R are Jack Randall, Tex Palmer and Frank Yaconelli in a crop from a lobby card from Randall's THE CHEYENNE KID (Monogram, 1940).



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from L-to-R are Black Jack Ward, unidentified player, Blackie Whiteford and Bobby Nelson in THE GHOST RIDER (Argosy/Superior, 1935) which starred Rex Lease.


Jerome 'Black Jack' Ward
1891-1954
appeared in at least 140 westerns and 16 serials


Boyd Magers includes some history on Ward and the infamous Gower Gulch gunfight in one of his film reviews:

 BEYOND THE SACRAMENTO (1940 Columbia)
In Lodestone, Cannonball ('Dub' Taylor) recognizes saloon-keeper Bradley Page and newspaper owner Frank LaRue as notorious swindlers and sends for his pal, Wild Bill Hickok (Bill Elliott), to expose the crooks phony bond scam. Bill tries to enlist the aid of banker John Dilson and his daughter Evelyn Keyes, unaware Dilson is in league with Page and LaRue. When the chips are down, Page prepares to flee, but in his robbery of the bank, Keyes is wounded causing Dilson to realize the error of his ways and go gunning for Page. Good, but town-bound --- not Elliott's best. It was Keyes only B-western. The actress went on to major acclaim in GONE WITH THE WIND (Suellen, Scarlett O'Hara's younger sister), FACE BEHIND THE MASK, HERE COMES MR. JORDAN, DESPERADOES, MRS. MIKE etc. Page's gunslicks are Norman Willis, Bud Osborne, Steve Clark and Blackjack Ward. Ward (1891-1954), basically a minor player in westerns from the '20s, gained national attention on 2/23/40 when he was involved in a real-life shootout with movie extra John A. Tyacke at Hollywood's Gower Gulch, the unofficial name of the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Gower St. where cowboys hung out waiting to be hired by production units. Tyacke, said to have a police record, had been harassing Ward for sometime when Ward became fed up with Tyacke's pestering, blew his top and fired at Tyacke. When Tyacke ran, Ward chased him down and killed him. Onlookers testified at Ward's trial Tyacke looked "high on dope", was "pizen mean" and had pulled a knife on Ward. Ward was acquitted 7/18/40 but worked only sporadically thereafter. His last known film is Hopalong Cassidy's COLT COMRADES ('43).



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above, Fuzzy Knight (left) has a banana on Black Jack Ward (right) in this scene from THE MAN FROM MONTANA (Universal, 1941), one of the Johnny Mack Brown series.  Players in background are unidentified.



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