- Born
- Died
- Birth nameEtienne Pelissier Jacques de Bujac
- Height6′ 2½″ (1.89 m)
- Hollywood stalwart Bruce Cabot's main claim to fame, other than rescuing Fay Wray from King Kong (1933), is that he tested for the lead role of The Ringo Kid in John Ford's Western masterpiece Stagecoach (1939). John Wayne got the role and became the most durable star in Hollywood history, while Cabot (eventually) found himself a new drinking partner when the two co-starred in Angel and the Badman (1947). In the latter stages of his career, Cabot could rely on Wayne for a supporting part in one of the Duke's movies.
It wasn't always so. In the 1930s Cabot's star shone bright. He was born with the unlikely name Etienne Pelissier Jacques de Bujac in Carlsbad, New Mexico, the son of French Col. Etienne de Bujac and Julia Armandine Graves, who died shortly after giving birth to the future Bruce Cabot. After leaving the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, the future thespian hit the road, working a wide variety of jobs including sailor and insurance salesman, and doing a stint in a knacker's yard. In 1931 he wound up in Hollywood and appeared in several films in bit parts.
The young Monsieur de Bujac met David O. Selznick, then RKO's central producer (a job akin to Irving Thalberg's at MGM), at a Hollywood party, which led to an uncredited bit part as a dancer in Lady with a Past (1932) and a supporting role in The Roadhouse Murder (1932). On a parallel career track at the time, Marion Morrison (John Wayne) had failed to follow up on his audacious debut in Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail (1930) (the Duke had appeared in 18 movies previously but had only been billed in one, as "Duke Morrison" in the unlikely John Wayne vehicle Words and Music (1929)). Cabot and Wayne eventually appeared in 11 films together.
Although Cabot was prominently featured in the blockbuster "King Kong" in 1933, he never did make the step to stardom, though he enjoyed a thriving career as a supporting player. He was a heavy in the 1930s, playing a gangster boss in Let 'em Have It (1935) and the revenge-minded Native American brave Magua after Randolph Scott's scalp in The Last of the Mohicans (1936); over at MGM, he ably supported Spencer Tracy as the instigator of a lynch mob in Fritz Lang's indictment of domestic fascism, Fury (1936). A freelancer, he appeared in movies at many studios before leaving Hollywood for military service. Cabot worked for Army intelligence overseas during World War II; after the war, he continued to work steadily, with and without his friend and frequent co-star, the Duke.
Bruce Cabot died in 1972 of lung and throat cancer. He was 68 years old.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C. Hopwood
- SpousesFrancesca De Scaffa(September 17, 1950 - February 1, 1957) (divorced, 1 child)Adrienne Ames(October 31, 1933 - April 6, 1937) (divorced)Gracy Mary Mather Smith (divorced, 1 child)
- ParentsEtienne de BujacJulia Armandine Graves
- Was part of a group of actors that John Wayne regularly used in his films, and was variously known as both "The John Wayne Stock Company," and "The John Ford Stock Company".
- Finished his career in the films of his friend and drinking companion John Wayne, of which he appeared in a total of 11 films where John Wayne received top billing. Cabot died the year following the release of his last film with Wayne.
- Most remembered as Fay Wray's savior from the hairy clutches of King Kong (1933).
- He fell out with Errol Flynn while filming the uncompleted "Story of William Tell," in 1953 (it was later re-edited and repackaged as a short, The Story of William Tell (1953)), but later spoke favorably of Flynn in interviews, especially so after Flynn's death in 1959, at age 50 from a massive heart attack, brought on by Flynn's severe alcoholism.
- Dolores Del Río introduced him to David O. Selznick while he was manager of the Embassy Roof Club.
- [in 1970, about Errol Flynn] He was a better actor than his publicity gave him credit for. I shared his house, his fights, his liquor and his girls. He was a real man with terrific looks. What happened to him, of course, was that he took to the dope--in fact, he was registered over here in England as an addict--and that destroyed him. God, if he were alive today do you realize that he would be 61--and probably still be a star.
- [on Joan Crawford] Now, there's a formidable lady. Her knowledge of the business of the lighting is something out of this world.
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