Jay Wilsey - Buffalo Bill, Jr.

Recent Wilsey sighting: at around 1 hour, 20 minutes into the John Wayne BIG JIM McLAIN (Warners, 1952), there's a meeting of a group of communist subversives who are bossed by Alan Napier. Among the group is an unbilled Jay Wilsey as "Mr. Whalen" or "Mr. Weyland", and he's identified as a local Labor Relations Counselor. Wilsey's total dialog is a quick "Thank you!" response to Napier's introduction. This film was produced by Wayne and Bob Fellows, and they collaborated on several including HONDO, THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, and ISLAND IN THE SKY. Apparently, Wilsey was friendly with Wayne, and got this bit part when he was living in Hawaii - or had his boat anchored in Hawaii.

Long before Dick Jones portrayed Buffalo Bill Jr. on TV, there was another who used the name.

Depending on the source material, Jay C. Wilsey was born in either Wyoming or Missouri, and his birth date is probably February 6, 1896. Wherever born, Wilsey looked good on a hoss and apparently had a lot of time in the saddle before beginning his Hollywood film career. Purportedly, he spent some time working the rodeo circuit, and wound up in Tinseltown around 1922. There, he connected with Lester F. Scott, the boss of a low-budget picture outfit named Action Pictures, and Wilsey soon was ridin' the silver screen for that company (along with Buddy Roosevelt and Wally Wales). His screen name became "Buffalo Bill, Jr.", probably to capitalize on the fame of the real Buffalo Bill of the west and wild west shows, Bill Cody.

For the remainder of the silent era, Wilsey worked steadily at a variety of studios and production companies, and his films came out under the logos of Artclass and Pathe. Apparently, he also starred in a couple of silent serials at Universal, FINAL RECKONING and THE PIRATE OF PANAMA (both Universal, 1929).

He made the transition to sound along with cinema range riders Bill Cody, Buddy Roosevelt, Wally Wales, Bob Custer, Bob Steele, Tom Tyler and others. But Wilsey was never able to headline at the better studios, and therefore, I've always classified him as one of the "B-minus cowboys".

He rode the dusty trails in a dozen or two very low-cost talkies, most of which are considered as "bottom-of-the-barrel". For fans and historians, Wilsey starred or appeared in several of the earliest sound westerns: BEYOND THE RIO GRANDE (Biltmore/Big 4, 1930) with Jack Perrin; BAR L RANCH (Big 4, 1930) with Wally Wales; THE CHEYENNE KID (West Coast Pictures, 1930); WESTWARD BOUND (Syndicate, 1931) with Buddy Roosevelt; TRAILS OF THE GOLDEN WEST and PUEBLO TERROR (both West Coast/Cosmos, 1931).

(From Old Corral image collection)

Above is a photo of a lobby card from the silent THE DESERT DEMON (Action Pictures/Artclass, 1925).

(From Old Corral image collection)

Above, from L-to-R are: Buddy Roosevelt (with moustache), Benny Corbett, Tom London (on horseback), Wilsey and Bob Roper in a scene from WESTWARD BOUND (Syndicate, 1931).

It was Wilsey's work with shoestring producer Victor Adamson (AKA Denver Dixon) that is most often remembered ... sadly, for negative reasons. Adamson/Dixon was a jack-of-all-trades, and did his own script writing, directing and producing on the cheap. And his films during the 1930s are often denoted among the worst examples of the really low budget oater. During 1933-34, Wilsey did THE FIGHTING COWBOY, LIGHTNING BILL, RAWHIDE ROMANCE and RIDING SPEED for Adamson/Dixon.

And yes, the story is true --- the title credit shown on the left for LIGHTNING BILL (Superior, 1934) is misspelled as LIGHTING BILL (and neither the script nor film has anything to do with billing for your electric lights).

(Courtesy of Ed Tabor)

Les Adams identified the players in the above lobby card as, from L-to-R: Jack Evans, Boris Bullock, Wilsey, Ken Broeker and Denver Dixon.

(From Old Corral image collection)

Above, Buffalo Bill, Jr. is in real trouble in this scene from THE FIGHTING COWBOY (Superior, 1933). Ed Tabor was able to ID several of the players in the photo. Indian woman is Marin Sais (spelled Marion in the credits); behind Marin Sais is Hamilton Steel; beside Steel is probably Jack Evans; man above BB Jr's hat is unidentified; man just to right of BB Jr is Boris Bullock; next to Bullock is chief bad guy Allen Holbrooke; next man is unidentified; Sheriff is Ken Broeker; man on far right wearing glasses is Tom Pelky.

He also had time to appear in the shorts such as PALS OF THE PRAIRIE (Imperial, 1934), in which he had the lead, and THE ADVENTURES OF TEXAS JACK (Security, 1934), where he played the villain to hero Wally Wales.

In addition to the Superior and Imperial films, Wilsey also did TRAILS OF ADVENTURE (American, 1933) and THE WHIRLWIND RIDER (American, 1934). The man in charge of both was Robert J. Horner, whose reputation for churning out poor cinema far exceeded that of Adamson/Dixon. Wilsey and Horner had worked together several times in both sound and silents.

In viewing some of these films, especially his work with Adamson/Dixon, my interest always runs toward the film locations and scenery --- the backgrounds tend to look gaunt, dusty, hot ... cactus and other desert growth seems to be everywhere ... and quite often the roads are marked with fences. These were not the scenic locales utilized in westerns from Columbia, Universal and Republic.

Larry Imber sent an e-mail noting that "Denver Dixon filmed most of his films in and around Pearblossom, California, north of Victorville. There were several small ranches in the area, and he made use of the buildings, horses, cowboys, and whatever else he could hustle."

Note that Wilsey wasn't the only "B-minus cowboy" to conclude their starring career in the mid 1930s. It happened to many, including Wally Wales (who became supporting player Hal Taliaferro) and Buddy Roosevelt. The time of the really cheap, independent sagebrush film was nearing its end because of changes in the states rights distribution exchanges. Plus, Republic Pictures was formed in 1935 ... and they were initiating a new series featuring a singin' cowboy named Gene Autry.

Wilsey's salary from Adamson/Dixon and assorted other Poverty Row outfits probably wasn't enough to make ends meet (and that's the reason so many movie cowboys had to do public performances, circus tours, etc.). If starring work was unavailable, then migrating into supporting roles and stunts/doubling was a way to keep food on the table ... and if you were good and reliable, you could work steady and make a decent living. I would suggest this was the situation with Wilsey.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

On the left is Victor Adamson ... AKA Denver Dixon ... AKA Art Mix (but not to be confused with the 'other' Art Mix whose real name was George Kesterson).

Adamson/Dixon also appeared in front of the camera, often using the moniker of 'Art Mix'. An example is his portrayal of Wales' sidekick 'Blister Sanderson', with a credit as 'Al Mix' not Art, in THE ADVENTURES OF TEXAS JACK short. Was this name change to 'Al' a simple error in the film credits at the beginning of the movie? And surprise, surprise --- Adamson was responsible for the story on TEXAS JACK as well as being the producer and director.