Unkempt, rough and tough looking members of the gang, or lynch mob, or vigilantes, or posse riders, or cow herders. They had minimal or no dialog, not much screen time, and were generally not listed in the film credits. Some would show up as a face in the crowd, portraying townspeople, barflies, deputies, wagon drivers, ranch hands, etc. We tend to recognize some of their faces, but have no clue as to their real names. |
We thought he was Bennie Pete Pitti ... but he's not. And he's not Richard LaMarr. Who's this guy? | Above - crop/blowup from the Buster Crabbe BLAZING FRONTIER (PRC, 1943) production still shown below. |
Some people have confused this henchman with Barney Beasley and Archie Ricks. See photos below of Beasley and Ricks. We can definitely rule out Archie Ricks as both Ricks and our unidentified guy appear in several of the images shown further down this webpage. | |
Above - Archie Ricks | Above - Barney Beasley |
Our Unidentified Player
(From Old Corral collection) Sitting at the saloon table with their beers are Ray Jones (left) and our unidentified player (right). In the background left to right are Jack Evans, Benny Corbett and Chester Gan. Crop from a production still from the Reb Russell oater FIGHTING THROUGH (Willis Kent, 1934). (Courtesy of Minard Coons) On the far left and wearing the suit is Edward Peil and next to him is Yakima Canutt. On the right is Wayne restraining pretty Eleanor Hunt and George Hayes handling the six gun. From BLUE STEEL (Lone Star/Monogram, 1934), probably the best of Wayne's Lone Star westerns. Peil was the brains heavy and Canutt was the "Polka Dot Bandit". Our unidentified player is in the center, wearing the suit. Crop/blowup of his face is shown below. (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above are a covey of no-goods from the lost/missing Jack Randall oater RIDERS FROM NOWHERE (Monogram, 1940). Randall, the brother of Three Mesquiteers star Bob Livingston, would do one more western after RIDERS FROM NOWHERE and then his starring series was over. From left to right are: Jack Evans, Jack Hendricks, Archie Ricks, Charlie King, unidentified face, Carl Mathews, Herman Hack and our unidentified player. (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above from left to right are Marjorie Manners, Archie Ricks, Ray Jones, Buster Crabbe, unidentified man and woman, Frank Hagney, unidentified woman, I. Stanford Jolley (with the six-shooter), and on the far right is an unidentified player. Production still from Crabbe's BLAZING FRONTIER (PRC, 1943). Don't be fooled by the badge on Hagney as he and Stan Jolley are the gang leaders in this Billy the Kid yarn. Crop/blowup of his face is shown below. |