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, barflys, deputies, wagon drivers, ranch hands, etc. We tend to recognize some of their faces, but have no clue as to their real names. |
1941 | George Hazel AKA 'Arizona Slim' Full name: appeared in at least 50 westerns and 1 serial ... and still counting |
Another face that shows up in 1930s - 1940s B westerns is George Hazel. Most all of his roles were typical of the background performers of that period - he was an unbilled / uncredited henchman, townsman, barfly, etc. Ken Jones, co-author of Heroes, Heavies and Sagebrush, had info on Hazel: The real name of 'Arizona Slim' was George Hazel and he was born July 30, 1890 in Purcell, Oklahoma. He died January 29, 1952 as a result of a skull fracture after falling off of a bicycle in Palm Springs, California. In the 1920 census (below), George was in Los Angeles and his occupation was "Cowboy - Motion Pictures". He probably appeared in some/many silents, but the films are lost, unavailable ... or no one has identified him as yet. And George was on the payroll of the Universal Pictures police / security service when he registered for the World War II draft in 1942. |
(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above - Blackie Whiteford on the left and George Hazel on the right in FIGHTING BILL FARGO (1941), one of the Johnny Mack Brown oaters for Universal. At the time this was filmed, Hazel and Whiteford were both about fifty years old. (Courtesy of Les Adams) In the foreground are Nell O'Day and Ted Adams, and George Hazel is ready to pounce ... also from FIGHTING BILL FARGO. |
Although some of the data may be incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on George Hazel: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0371933/
The Family Search website (free), Ancestry.com (subscription), and California Death Index have information on George Hazel:
Info on the Dawes Rolls (or Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, or Dawes Commission of Final Rolls): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawes_Rolls Find A Grave website has George Slim Hazel interred at Fairhaven Memorial Park, Santa Ana, Orange County, California: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58969390/george-slim-hazel |