Trivia: Rugged, handsome, stalwart, taciturn leading man George Montgomery (born George Montgomery Letz) began appearing under his given name in low-budget films as an extra, stuntman, and bit player in 1935. He changed his name in 1940 when he began getting lead roles, going on to a busy screen career primarily in westerns and action films. For a time Montgomery was very popular, receiving much publicity for his offscreen romances with such stars as Ginger Rogers, Hedy Lamarr, and Dinah Shore; he and Shore were married from 1943-62. Service in World War II interrupted his career, and after the war he was assigned mostly to minor productions. He starred in the late '50s TV series Cimarron City. In the early '60s Montgomery directed, produced, and wrote several low-budget action films shot in the Philippines. He was rarely onscreen after 1970.

Trivia: The daughter of Will Rogers, actress Mary Rogers was so anxious to succeed on her own without her dad's help or influence that she billed herself as Mary Howard, and for several years managed to hide her lineage from prospective employees. In films from 1933, she never quite achieved stardom, but she managed to work steadily in features and short subjects. Her screen roles ranged from the heroine in the wacky Olsen and Johnson starrer All Over Town (1937) to Ann Rutledge in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940). She also appeared in such Broadway productions as On to Fortune and Crime Marches On. Mary Howard retired to private life at the age of 29 and died in the summer of 2009 at age 94.

Trivia: When actor Robert H. Barrat moved from stage to films in the early 1930s, he found himself twice blessed: He was dignified-looking enough to portray business and society types, but also athletic enough to get down and dirty in barroom-brawl scenes. An ardent physical-fitness advocate in real life, Barrat was once described by his friend and frequent co-worker James Cagney as having "a solid forearm the size of the average man's thigh"; as a result, the usually cautious Cagney was extra careful during his fight scenes with the formidable Barrat. The actor's size and menacing demeanor served him well when pitted against such comparatively pint-sized comedians as the Marx Bros. (in Go West). When not intimidating one and all with his muscle power, the actor was fond of playing roles that called for quaint, colorful accents, notably his Lionel Barrymore-ish turn as a suicidal baron in the 1934 Grand Hotel derivation Wonder Bar. Robert H. Barrat's last film appearance was in the rugged western Tall Man Riding (55).

Trivia: Actress Lynne Roberts began her film career in minor roles in 1936. Upon being signed by Republic, she co-starred with the studio's newest singing cowboy Roy Rogers. From 1939 to 1942, she was billed as Mary Hart, reportedly so that Republic could advertise their own "Rogers and Hart" screen team. During this period she was also a regular in the studio's Higgins Family series, co-starring with James, Lucille, and Russell Gleason. Upon moving to 20th Century Fox in 1942, she became Lynne (or Lynn) Roberts again, and remained so until her retirement in 1953.

Trivia: Stalwart, granite-jawed Kane Richmond was gainfully employed as a States' Rights film booker when he was invited to appear in films. Richmond's first acting assignment was Universal's The Leather Pushers, a long-running series of boxing two-reelers. Leather Pushers had made a major star out of Reginald Denny in the 1920s, but Richmond was not so lucky. He spent the first half of the 1930s playing bits in big studio films and heroes in basement-budgeted serials like Krellberg's The Lost Jungle (1935). In the latter part of the decade, he co-starred with juvenile actor Frankie Darro in a series of peppy action films produced variously at Ambassador and Monogram. By the 1940s, Richmond was firmly established as a serial leading man at Republic -- one of the very few of that breed who could act as well as take punches. Most fans of the chapter-play genre consider Richmond's dual role in Spy Smasher (1942) as his best work. Kane Richmond retired from films in 1948, then went on to make a fortune in the fashion business.

Trivia: A repertory actor since childhood, Wisconsin-born Richard Lane was singing and dancing in vaudeville by the time he reached his thirteenth birthday. Lane toured europe with a circus "iron jaw" act, then bluffed his way into a dance band job. After more vaudeville work, Lane began securing "legit" gigs on Broadway. He appeared with Al Jolson in the late-'20s musical Big Boy, and was a headliner with George White's Scandals when he was signed to an RKO movie contract in 1937. While at RKO, Lane developed his standard characterization of a fast-talking sharpster, which secured him a recurring role on Al Pearce's popular radio program. He played a variety of detectives, con artists and travelling salesmen throughout the '40s, most often at 20th Century-Fox, Universal and Columbia. He was featured in several Abbott and Costello and Laurel and Hardy comedies during the decade, and costarred as Inspector Farraday in Columbia's Boston Blackie B-series; he also appeared in 11 Columbia 2-reel comedies, teamed with comic actor Gus Schilling. Though most closely associated with breezy, urban characters, Lane was also effective in slow-and-steady dramatic roles, notably the father in the 1940 sleeper The Biscuit Eater and baseball manager Clay Hopper in 1950's The Jackie Robinson Story. A television pioneer, Lane worked at Los Angeles' KTLA-TV as a newsman, sportscaster and used-car pitchman. For over twenty years, he was the mile-a-minute commentator on KTLA's nationally syndicated wrestling and roller derby matches. Significantly, Richard Lane's last screen appearances were in Raquel Welch's roller-derby epic Kansas City Bomber (1978) and Henry Winkler's pro-wrestling spoof The One and Only (1982).

Trivia: American stage-actor Oscar O'Shea made his first screen appearance in the 1937 MGM musical Rosalie. O'Shea spent most of the rest of his movie career as an MGM utility player. One of his best-remembered roles, however, was for producer Hal Roach: O'Shea appeared as the ranch boss in 1939's Of Mice and Men. Otherwise, Oscar O'Shea was generally consigned to one- or two-scene roles, usually as salty sea captains.

Trivia: The quintessential "Big Boss" heavy in B-Westerns, with or without a mustache, LeRoy Mason entered films in the mid-'20s as Roy Mason, playing mostly juveniles. After the advent of talkies, he was usually on the wrong side of the law, appearing opposite nearly every Western star on the Hollywood prairie, a career that included quite a few action serials as well. By the 1940s, he had become one of the busiest character actors in Hollywood, switching from 20th Century Fox to Republic and back again with seemingly little time to recuperate. In 1943, he signed a "term player" contract with Republic and became busier than ever. The hectic schedule took an awful toll, however, when he suffered a fatal heart attack on the set of the 1947 Monte Hale Western California Firebrand. Mason was married to Rita Carewe, who briefly billed herself Rita Mason, a former actress and the daughter of silent screen director Edwin Carewe.