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1-18 of 18
- Actor
- Soundtrack
As they say, like father, like son. Cowboy hero Tim Holt avidly followed in the boots of his famous character-actor dad, the granite-jawed Jack Holt (b. Charles John Holt), who appeared in hundreds of silents and talkies (many of them westerns) over the years. The two actually appeared together as father and son in the western The Arizona Ranger (1948), and Jack was glimpsed (as a hobo in the Mexican flophouse that Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, and Tim were staying in) in the classic The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). Also a part of the acting Holt clan was the beautiful "prairie flower" Jennifer Holt (nee Elizabeth Marshall Holt), Tim's younger sister, who appeared in scores of 1940s oaters. The three, however, never performed together in a single film.
Tim was born Charles John Holt, Jr. in Beverly Hills on February 5, 1918, to Jack and his wife, Margaret Woods, at a time when Jack was just making a dent in silent films. Nicknamed "Tim", he was raised on his father's ranch in Fresno, where he performed outside chores and learned to ride a horse. Tim, in fact, made his debut at age 10 in one of his father's westerns, The Vanishing Pioneer (1928), based on a Zane Grey story. He played Jack's character as a young boy.
The boyishly rugged, athletically inclined Tim attended military school in his teens, excelling in polo. While studying at college, he married his college sweetheart, Virginia Ashcroft, in 1938. At this point he decided to try to put together an acting career. Virginia herself made a very brief foray into acting.
Tim apprenticed at various stock companies before he eased his way back into films with an unbilled part in History Is Made at Night (1937). He then earned strong notices in the classic Barbara Stanwyck tearjerker Stella Dallas (1937) and as Olivia de Havilland's brother in Gold Is Where You Find It (1938). His horseback riding capabilities and fast-drawing technique quickly kicked in with The Law West of Tombstone (1938), and he joined a superb cast in John Ford's classic western Stagecoach (1939) as a by-the-book cavalry lieutenant.
Hardly confined to westerns at this early stage, Tim showed impressive acting abilities in comedy (Fifth Avenue Girl (1939)), adventures (Swiss Family Robinson (1940)), and high drama (Back Street (1941)), all for RKO Pictures. He reached an early peak when Orson Welles cast him against type as the cruel, malicious son George in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), a role Welles initially contemplated playing himself. By the mid '40s, however, Tim had settled into the western genre. He starred in a series of dusty RKO features partnered with comic Cliff Edwards by his side and also appeared solo elsewhere.
World War II interrupted his thriving career. He was a decorated hero (Distinguished Flying Cross, Victory Medal, and Presidential Unit Citation among his awards) while serving in the Air Corps and was discharged with the rank of second lieutenant. Wounded over Tokyo on the last day of the war, he was also given the Purple Heart. He made an auspicious return to films in the role of Virgil Earp in Ford's My Darling Clementine (1946) and then continued in a somewhat lesser vein with "B"-level oaters. He came to the forefront one more time, co-starring with gold prospecting rivals Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston in John Huston's masterpiece The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), arguably the high point of Tim's entire film career, which rightfully earned him the best notices he ever received.
Richard Martin became his second sidekick in another popular string of RKO westerns, with Tim repeatedly making the "top ten" ranks of money-making cowboy stars. Appearing almost exclusively for RKO from 1939 on, Tim eventually became disillusioned with the quality of his pictures and decided to abandon films after appearing in RKO's Desert Passage (1952) while still a popular draw. Divorced from his second wife, Alice Harrison, he retired for the most part to his Oklahoma ranch with his third wife, Berdee Stephens, and their three children. He later became a manager for a radio station in Oklahoma City. In 1957 he came out of retirement to head up the cast in the subpar sci-fi horror film The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) and then quickly returned to obscurity.
Little was heard from Tim over the years save a co-starring role in a low-budget hillbilly moonshine extravaganza for exploitation king Herschell Gordon Lewis called This Stuff'll Kill Ya! (1971). He was diagnosed with bone cancer in August of 1972 and passed away rather quickly on February 15, 1973, shortly after his 54th birthday. Buried in Oklahoma, he was posthumously inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame in 1991 and was a recipient of the "Golden Boot" award in 1992.- Stan Levitt was born on 28 June 1917 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. He was an actor, known for Carnival of Souls (1962). He died on 11 June 2004 in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, USA.
- Art Director
- Art Department
- Set Decorator
Kim Swados was born on 31 October 1922 in New York City, New York, USA. Kim was an art director and set decorator, known for The Deer Hunter (1978), The Amityville Horror (1979) and East of Eden (1981). Kim died on 30 August 2011 in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, USA.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Composer, songwriter, author, and pianist and singer in the orchestra led by his brother Fred Waring. He was educated at Penn State University, and was a soloist in the Cummberland MD Glee Club and the Penn State Glee Club. He sang on radio and in films and concerts. Joining ASCAP in 1935, his popular-song compositions include "So Beats My Heart for You", "Way Back Home", "Jonah", "Countin' My Blessings", "Desire", "Swing Me a Lullaby", "When Angels Sang of Peace", and "Leave It to Me to Remember".- Debra Bluford was born on 1 June 1958. She was an actress, known for Article 99 (1992), A Matter of Justice (1993) and Dead Before Dawn (1993). She died on 5 December 2019 in Shawnee, Kansas, USA.
- Adelaide Prince was born on 14 December 1866 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Who Are My Parents? (1922), Captain Swift (1920) and National Red Cross Pageant (1917). She was married to Creston Clarke and Henry D. Prince. She died on 4 April 1941 in Shawnee-on-Delaware, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Bill Clauson was born on 16 October 1923 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor, known for Canon City (1948) and The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947). He was married to Margaret Irene Suss Clauson. He died on 2 January 2007 in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, USA.
- Hank Bauer was born on 31 July 1922 in East St. Louis, Illinois, USA. He died on 9 February 2007 in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, USA.
- Tracy Fresquez was born on 8 September 1960. She died on 6 October 1979 in Shawnee, Kansas, USA.
- Art Department
- Sound Department
- Writer
David Yonally was born on 12 June 1966 in Kansas City, USA. He was a writer, known for Terminal Interface (2003), Devotion (2006) and Nice Girls Don't Explode (1987). He died on 4 January 2007 in Shawnee Mission, Kansas, USA.- Popular local television personality in Kansas City in the 1950s. Hosted children's shows and other programs, and also acted in commercials, radio programs, little theater presentations, and industrial films made in the Kansas City area. Retired from the TV business in the early 1970s to become an area politician. For a while he was mayor of Merriam, Kansas, near Kansas City.
- Alvin Sykes was born on 21 July 1956 in Kansas City, Kansas, USA. Alvin died on 19 March 2021 in Shawnee, Kansas, USA.
- Actor
Harry Taffe was born on 13 September 1909 in Kenton, Kentucky, USA. He was an actor. He died on 13 August 2000 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA.- Actress
Blanche Taffe was born on 10 November 1911 in Chandlerville, Illinois, USA. She was an actress. She died on 30 July 2002 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA.- Charles Marsh was born on 24 March 1941 in North Carolina, USA. He was an actor, known for UHF (1989), Once Were Warriors (1994) and Radioland Murders (1994). He died on 12 July 2013 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA.
- Art Department
Robert Scutti was born on 14 July 1930 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. Robert is known for Grand Canyon (1991). Robert died on 13 September 2008 in Shawnee, Kansas, USA.- Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon was born on 24 December 1922 in Okemah, Oklahoma, USA. She died on 16 March 2019 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA.
- Bob Grim was born on 8 March 1930 in New York City, New York, USA. He died on 23 October 1996 in Shawnee, Kansas, USA.