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Gertrude and Sonny Chorre from the FLAMING FRONTIERS image below.
Sonny Chorre

Gertrude Chorre


Gertrude Chorre (1885 - 1972) was born at the La Jolla Indian Reservation in California, and a member of the Luiseņo tribe. From late 1920s silents through the mid 1950s, she appeared in about twenty films, most often portraying a Native American. Her son and daughter, Sonny Chorre and Marie Chorre, also did some films beginning in the 1930s.


(Courtesy of Ken Jones)

L-to-R are Chief John Big Tree, Gertrude Chorre, her son Sonny Chorre, Eleanor Hansen, and Charles Stevens.  The Chief is ordering that their captive be made comfortable in this scene from the Johnny Mack Brown cliffhanger, FLAMING FRONTIERS (Universal, 1938).



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

L-to-R are Sonny Chorre, William Gould, Jack Perrin, Charles 'Slim' Whitaker, and Earl Dwire (as 'Red Wolf') in Perrin's WOLF RIDERS (Reliable, 1935).



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from left to right are Eva Puig, Bob Steele, Gertrude Chorre and Carl Mathews in a crop/blowup from Steele's THE NAVAJO KID (PRC, 1945).



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from L-to-R are unidentified player, Sonny Chorre (as Cardona and credited in this film as 'Soni Chorre'), Frank Sully (as Looie), Joe Kirkwood Jr. (as Joe Palooka) Eddie Gribbon (as Canvasback), Leon Erroll (as Knobby Walsh), and in the far right background is Frank Ellis (as Policeman). From the pressbook from JOE PALOOKA IN THE COUNTERPUNCH (Monogram, 1949).  Chorre also had a prize fighter role in JOE PALOOKA IN THE KNOCKOUT (Monogram, 1947).



Curt Eriksmoen is the Americans All Project Director at North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota. Special thanks to Curt for the following profile on Sonny Chorre:

Sonny Chorre was the son of character actress Gertrude Chorre (1885-1972).

He was born Joseph Vance Chorre on November 14, 1914 in California. His mother's maiden name was Martinez. His acting credits show a wide variety of names: Joseph Vance Chorre, Sonny Chorre, Sunni Chorre, Joseph Chorrie, Suni Chorre, Suni Warcloud, et al.

He became a very popular wrestler under that later name with a career that spanned over 25 years. He was in a number of films with his mother and appeared in RAMONA in 1936 with Marie Chorre and in HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS in 1938 with Clarence Chorre. Marie Chorre and Clarence Chorre may have been siblings.

No doubt through his acting and wrestling background, he became a good friend of Mike Mazurki and frequented his Baron's Castle Restaurant in Los Angeles. It was as Suni Warcloud that he received his biggest movie role playing the part of Wally Denny in the Burt Lancaster film JIM THORPE: ALL AMERICAN in 1951.

Mr. Chorre died in Los Angeles on June 14, 1987.


  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on:
Gertrude Chorre: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0159243/
Sonny Chorre: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0159245/

You may also want to visit the In Search Of ... page on the Old Corral, and then search the California Death Records database.  There you will find 5 Chorre records, and 4 of the records have Martinez listed as the Mother's maiden name:

Gertrude Chorre, born 4/30/1885, and she passed away on 9/3/1972. There is a corresponding record in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

Benjamin Albert Chorre, born 4/27/1924, Mother's maiden name of Martinez, and he passed away on 10/31/1989. The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) has a record for him as "Bennie Chorre".

James J. Chorre, born 11/4/1921, Mother's maiden name of Martinez, died 12/31/1965, no Social Security number listed.

Joseph Vance Chorre, born 11/14/1914, Mother's maiden name of Martinez, and he passed away on 6/14/1987. There is a corresponding record in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

Marie Rosalee Chorre, born 1/21/1919, Mother's maiden name of Martinez, and she passed away on 6/8/1989. There is a corresponding record in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).


Les Adams ran his database and identified Chorre family members in "at least this many" films.  Les adds: "I suspect Sonny and his mother made scores of films, usually uncredited. He may have been in the service during World War II."
Name Westerns Serials Features Shorts Total
Sonny Chorre 7 2 6 0 15
Gertrude Chorre 8 1 1 0 10
Marie Chorre 2 0 0 0 2


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