Trivia: One of the best movie equestrians of all time, Ken Maynard had been a 1920 world champion trick-rider and had toured with Pawnee Bill (aka Ted Wells) and Ringling Bros. before doubling for Marion Davies and playing the small, but important, role of Paul Revere in Janice Meredith (1924). A year later, Maynard starred in poverty row producer J. Charles Davis in a series of very low-budget oaters that also featured a group of ex-Follies girls, an odd mix that, in many ways, foreshadowed Maynard's later career and ultimate downfall. From Gower Gulch, Ken Maynard moved up to become First National's resident cowboy hero prior to the advent of sound. The Maynard-First National Westerns were top-flight affairs, with the star performing daring feats on his famous palomino horse, Tarzan. (A copyright infringement suit by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of the pulp-fiction jungle hero of the same name, was finally dismissed in 1935.) The string of box-office and critical successes, of which, sadly, few examples remain, ended when Maynard left First National in favor of more pedestrian Universal. Increasingly difficult to handle, Maynard's reign at Carl Laemmle's huge, family-oriented lot proved brief, however, and he returned to star for a poverty row company, in this case Samuel Bischoff's KBS. Universal brought him back in 1933 as a replacement for the retiring Tom Mix, but Maynard's ego had, by then, gotten nearly out of control. He is credited with introducing the Singing Cowboy fad at this juncture (despite a voice that he himself often dismissed as "nasal soundin'" and amateurish, at best) and his Westerns became increasingly flamboyant, both in attitude and expenditure. The star, who had become his own producer, spent money with abandon, but the market for B-Westerns was diminishing and the otherwise so avuncular Carl Laemmle summarily replaced him with the less expensive (and far less volatile) Buck Jones. Still a potential moneymaker in the hinterlands, Maynard continued to star in low-budget Westerns through the mid-'40s -- at a reported salary of 850 dollars per picture as opposed to the 10,000-dollar paycheck he had received in his heyday -- but an ever expanding waistline and an impossible ego put the final nails in his cinematic coffin. Sadly, Maynard was never able to shake rumors that he had mistreated his equine co-stars and spent his declining years if not in outright poverty then in very diminished circumstances and, some said, an alcoholic stupor. One of the great showmen of early Hollywood action fare, Maynard died at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. He was preceded in death by his brother, ultra-low-budget Western star, stunt double, and all-around good fellow Kermit Maynard, with whom he had always retained a rather strained relationship.

Trivia: Actor Edmund "Hoot" Gibson is said to have been given his unusual nickname because of his boyhood habit of hunting owls. After joining a circus at age 13, Gibson became stranded in Colorado and there began work as a cowpuncher. By age 16 he was a skilled performer in Wild West rodeo shows, going on to win the title of "World's All-Around Champion Cowboy" in 1912. It was about that time that Gibson began working in films as an extra and stunt man, frequently acting as a double for Harry Carey and other western stars; during the teens he appeared in many western two-reelers, but his career progressed slowly. In 1917 Gibson started getting supporting roles in John Ford-Harry Carey westerns at Universal, but this work was interrupted by service in the Army Tank Corps during World War I. Gibson was discharged in 1919 and went back to supporting roles in Ford westerns, soon landing his own two-reel series in which he was billed as "The Smiling Whirlwind." After starring in his first feature films, John Ford's five-reelers Action and Sure Fire, Gibson skyrocketed to fame and went on to become the cowboy idol of millions of American kids in the '20s and well into the '30s. However, Gibson was an atypical western hero as he rarely carried a gun and was more of a comedian than action hero. Universal's #1 cowboy star throughout the '20s--earning $14,000 a week as star and producer--Gibson's only significant rival was Fox's Tom Mix. Gibson's popularity continued until 1936, the last year in which he was on the Top Ten Money-Making Western Stars list; Gene Autry's cowboy style took over after that, and Gibson retired from the screen after making a serial in 1937. He occasionally did a little more film work, though, including the low-budget 1944 Trail Blazers series as well as guest appearances in a few movies. Edward "Hoot" Gibson married and divorced silent-screen actress Helen Wegner Gibson and actress Sally Eilers.

Trivia: One of Hollywood's best equestriennes, brunette Betty Miles was elevated to leading lady status in nine Westerns at Monogram (1941-1944), most of them starring Tom Keene or old-timers Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson. She also appeared in the Republic serial The Masked Marvel (1943) and did heroine duty at both Columbia and PRC, but her main metier was doubling for less limber actresses.

Trivia: American actor Jack LaRue is frequently mistaken for Humphrey Bogart by casual fans. In both his facial features and his choice of roles, LaRue did indeed resemble Bogart, in every respect but one; Bogart became a star, while LaRue remained in the supporting ranks. After stage work in his native New York, LaRue came to Hollywood for his first film, The Mouthpiece, in 1932. For the next few years he played secondary hoodlums (for example, the hot-head hit man in the closing sequences of Night World [1932]) and unsavory lead villains -- never more unsavory than as the sex-obsessed kidnapper in The Story of Temple Drake (1933). LaRue decided to shift gears and try romantic leading roles, but this "new" LaRue disappeared after the Mayfair Studios cheapie, The Fighting Rookie (1934). He was at his most benign as "himself", trading gentle quips with Alice Faye at an outdoor carnival in the MGM all-star short Cinema Circus (1935). Otherwise, it was back to gangsters and thugs, with a few exceptions like his sympathetic role in A Gentleman from Dixie (1941). By the 1940s, LaRue had spent most of his movie savings and was compelled to seek out any work available. Awaiting his cue to appear in a small role on one movie set, LaRue was pointed out to up-and-coming Anne Shirley on a movie set as an example of what happens when a Hollywood luminary doesn't provide for possible future career reverses. Things improved a bit when LaRue moved to England in the late 1940s to play American villains in British pictures. His most memorable appearance during this period was as Slim Grissom in the notorious No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948) -- a virtual reprisal of his part in The Story of Temple Drake. LaRue worked often in television during the last two decades of his career; in the early 1950s, he was the eerily-lit host of the spooky TV anthology Lights Out.

Trivia: Whether in vaudeville, burlesque, "legit" theatre or radio, Emmet "Pop" Lynn played variations on the toothless-old-reprobate roles that brought him screen fame. Though he'd made a tentative foray into films as a teenager in 1913, Lynn truly came into his own after 1940, playing the cantankerous sidekick to such western heroes as Don Barry and Allan "Rocky" Lane. In non-westerns, he could usually be spotted as a janitor, night watchman or rural rustic. He enjoyed a longtime association with Columbia Pictures' short-subject unit, where he was harmoniously teamed with such comics as Andy Clyde and Slim Summerville. Emmet Lynn made his final screen appearance as a downtrodden Hebrew peasant in DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956).

Trivia: Though the "Chief" was a purely honorary title, Chief Thundercloud was indeed a Native American. Educated at the University of Arizona, Thundercloud (given name: Victor Daniels) worked at a series of manual-labor and rodeo jobs before trying his luck in Hollywood. In films from 1928 through 1952, Thundercloud is best known for creating the role of Tonto in the 1938 serial The Lone Ranger. He also played the title role in Paramount's Geronimo (1939), though he incredibly received no on-screen credit. Chief Thundercloud should not be confused with another prominent Indian actor, Chief Thunderbird, who appeared as Sitting Bull in 1936's Annie Oakley, nor with film-actor Scott T. Williams, who also billed himself as Chief Thundercloud.

Trivia: American actor Kenneth Harlan possessed the main prerequisite to succeed as a silent-movie leading man: he looked as though he'd just stepped out of an Arrow Collar ad. The nephew of rolypoly character actor Otis Harlan, Kenneth was on stage from the age of seven. He signed with D.W. Griffith's production company in the mid teens, though he was never actually directed by Griffith. Taking to the Roaring Twenties like a fish to water, Harlan spent as much time partying as he did acting; he also was quite a ladies' man, toting up seven marriages. Harlan's popularity was already on the wane when sound came in, so it didn't really matter that his voice had a surly edge to it which precluded future romantic leading roles. He remained in films as a supporting and bit actor in major features, and as a leading player in serials (Dick Tracy's G-Men [1937]) and short subjects (The Three Stooges' Movie Maniacs [1936]). It was clear that he couldn't muster much enthusiasm for the roles assigned him in the '30s; whenever appearing as a western villain, Harlan seldom bothered to dress the part, generally showing up on the set with a stetson hat and a modern business suit. Kenneth Harlan left acting in 1944 to become a reasonably successful actor's agent and restauranteur.

Trivia: After regional theatrical experience in Chicago and elsewhere, Bryant Washburn joined the Essanay film company as a leading man in 1913 or thereabouts. Washburn occasionally co-starred with his wife, Mabel Forrest; their son, Bryant Jr. (actually Bryant the fourth), also briefly pursued an acting career. Popular in the teens and early '20s, Washburn's star began to fade around 1925, when he could be found playing the supporting role of Prince Kynd in Larry Semon's version of The Wizard of Oz. Shortly afterward, he appeared in several of Hal Roach's "Comedy All-Stars" two-reelers, sharing screen space with such up-and-comers as Oliver Hardy and Jean Harlow. Bryant Washburn kept busy in features, Westerns, serials, and short subjects, often playing the first-reel murder victim, until his retirement in 1947.

Trivia: White-haired character actor Fred Hoose worked almost exclusively for low-budget company Monogram, where he also functioned as production manager on series Westerns starring Tom Keene and the Trailblazers (Ken Maynard and Hoot Gibson). As a character actor, Hoose played the marshal in Lone Star Law Men (1941), the judge in Riding the Sunset Trail (1941), and a beleaguered rancher in Where the Trails End (1942).

Trivia: From his first film, Don Quickshot of the Rio Grande (1923), to his last, Fancy Pants (1950) American supporting player Hank Bell specialized in westerns. While still relatively young, Bell adopted the "grizzled old desert rat" characterization, that sustained him throughout his career, simply by removing his teeth and growing a thick, inverted handlebar mustache. Though occasionally given lines to speak, he was usually consigned to "atmosphere roles:" if you'll look closely at the jury in the Three Stooges 2-reeler Disorder in the Court, you'll see Bell in the top row on the left, making swimming motions when Curly douses the jurors with a fire hose. A fixture of "B"-pictures, Hank Bell occasionally surfaced in "A" films like Abraham Lincoln (1930), Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936), The Plainsman (1936), Geronimo (1939) and My Little Chickadee (1940).

Trivia: Born John Myrtland LaVarre, John Merton has appeared on Broadway as "Myrtland LaVarre" in the Theatre Guild's hit production of Karel Capek's R.U.R. (1922). More theater work followed and he was spotted in the background of several silent films, including as a fireman in W.C. Fields' It's the Old Army Game (1926). But the handsome, slightly frosty-looking actor found his rightful place in B-Westerns and serials. He would appear in a total of 170 films, turning up as an assortment of blackguards. Usually a bit more sophisticated than the average "dog heavy," Merton could nevertheless rough it with the best of 'em, a talent he passed on to his equally tough-looking son, Lane Bradford. Father and son appeared in six films together, including 1947's Jack Armstrong. (Another son played supporting roles on television in the '50s under the moniker of Robert La Varre.) Retiring after a bit in Cecil B. DeMille's gigantic The Ten Commandments (1956), Merton died of a heart attack at the age of 58.

Trivia: Veteran movie villain Kenne Duncan began plying his wicked trade in 1933. He hit his stride in the 1940s, when he was under contract to Republic Pictures. Duncan sneered and skulked his way through scores of westerns and serials, usually as the raffish aide-de-camp of the principal heavy (as in the 1941 serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel). When Republic slowed down production in the mid-1950s, Duncan reluctantly found himself in the circle of Hollywood "fringies" who populated the films of immortal bad-movie maven Ed Wood Jr. One of Kenne Duncan's final screen appearances was as phony mystic and erstwhile vampire Dr. Acula in Wood's Night of the Ghouls

Trivia: Born Alexander Williamson, American supporting player Roy Brent had worked in carnivals and been a semi-professional baseball player when entering films as an extra and a stuntman in the 1920s, reportedly at the suggestion of comic Bobby Vernon. After appearing for more than a decade as a stuntman and stand-in (he was Spencer Tracy's double in Dante's Inferno [1935]), Brent began earning supporting roles at Republic in 1939, mainly through his friend Robert Livingston, who starred in the company's Three Mesqueteers series. With his clipped mustache and steely gaze, the now veteran performer usually played a member of the gang but could be equally persuasive on the right side of the law. One such occasion was Blazing Guns (1943), a Trail Blazers oater from Monogram, in which he was well-cast as Leroy Mason's peaceful rancher brother and even got to romance the girl (Kay Forrester). Brent, whose screen career lasted until 1946, was also an accomplished composer.

Trivia: If the heroine's father, the town doctor, or storekeeper wasn't played by Lafe McKee or John Elliott, chances are that he would be portrayed by the equally distinguished-looking, gray-haired Steve Clark, whose B-Western credits reached an impressive 250 and whose career continued well into the 1950s in such television Westerns as The Range Rider, The Cisco Kid, and The Lone Rider. But unlike McKee and Elliott, Clark was just as often to be found on the wrong side of the law and he can be spotted playing "dog heavies" well into his fifties. A well-known actor-manager prior to entering films in the early 1930s, Clark both directed and starred in The Blue Ghost (1930), a Broadway play featuring Leslie King which enjoyed a respectable run of 112 performances.

Trivia: Perennial western supporting actor Budd Buster acted under his own, somewhat show-bizzy given name, and briefly under the "nom de stage" of George Selk. His earliest recorded screen credits occur in 1935. Buster continued laboring in B westerns for the next quarter century, spending a great deal of his time at such Poverty Row concerns as Grand National and PRC (where he showed up in 44 oaters over an eight-year period). Budd Buster's final appearance was a bit in the Alan Ladd big-budgeter Guns of the Timberland (1960).