First up for Friday, actor Albert Russell (1876) played a prospector in GOLD RUSH MAISIE (1940). All the pics I found are of the director Albert Russell who worked at the same time but is a different guy. Our Albert started in Hollywood at age 59 and IMDb only lists eight credits for him. He played Abraham Lincoln in two different films, COURAGE OF THE WEST and the short YANKEE DOODLE GOES TO TOWN. Since I’m not sure which prospector he is, I’m going with a photo of Jubie and Maisie from the film.
Actor Edward Hearn (1888) is a TIGer twice over, playing a fireman in BAD LITTLE ANGEL (1939) at MGM and a Police Sergeant in THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT (1939) at Columbia. He played a LOT of policemen and the occasional guard. He even played a prisoner once during his 40 year career. Here he reads the APB on the Lone Wolf to his squad.
George Hively (1889) was the father of Jack Hively, who we honored for September 5. Those Hivelys just couldn’t keep a job. Jack was an editor turned director and father George was a writer turned editor. George did his editing thing on MOTHER CAREY’S CHICKENS (1938). He was nominated for an Oscar for editing for THE INFORMER, a film starring Victor McLaglen and directed by John Ford. A poster from MCC stands in. Please note that if you squint you will see that Virginia’s name does appear on the poster.
Rowland V. Lee (1891) was the director on MOTHER CAREY’S CHICKENS. He also directed THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, THE SON OF MONTE CRISTO, SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, and CAPTAIN KIDD.
Irving Bacon (1893) appeared on screens in over 500 movies and television programs. It is not a surprise he showed up in four Weidler films. He played Henry, the drunken wagon driver in TIMOTHY’S QUEST (1936), the Property Manager in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1937, and Harry Gilpin in GOLD RUSH MAISIE (1940). He made it into some pretty good films, including GONE WITH THE WIND and SHADOW OF A DOUBT. His characters were usually in the service industry, friendly, and were reacting to circumstances around them. As the Patrol Sergeant in the Italian Restaurant in THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT I don’t know how friendly he was, but he certainly reacts to Lanyard’s reckless driving and Ida Lupino breaking the restaurant window behind his seat.
Ray McCarey (1904) was the younger, less successful brother of director Leo McCarey. Ray directed a lot of shorts for Hal Roach before moving into features, mainly at Columbia and Republic. He was the director of OUTSIDE THESE WALLS (1939). He’s seen here with Grace Bradley, Mrs. Hopalong Cassidy, on the set of THREE CHEERS FOR LOVE, a film Irving Bacon had a role in.
When I saw the photo of child actor Leonard Kibrick (1924) I swore we had already done his birthday. That’s because his younger brother Sid is already a TIGer because he played Woim in Our Gangs with the Weidler Brothers. Leonard was also in Our Gangs, but not with the Weidlers. His TIG connection is direct, he played Mike’s friend in LOVE IS A HEADACHE (1938), Ginny’s first movie with Mickey. The photo is from his appearance in CONFLICT, a 1936 John Wayne film.
