Film Snail

Richard Arlen

Born · August 30, 1899

Died · March 28, 1976 (76 years old)

Known For: Acting

Place of Birth: Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA

Bio

Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore) was an American film and television actor. He served as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Flying Corps during World War I. After the war, he went to the oilfields of Texas and Oklahoma and found work as a tool boy. He was thereafter a messenger and sporting editor of a newspaper before going to Los Angeles to act in films, but no producer wanted him. He was a delivery boy for a film laboratory when the motorcycle which he was riding landed him a broken leg outside the Paramount Pictures lot. A sympathetic film director gave him his start as an extra. He appeared at first in silent films before making the transition to talkies. His first important film role was in Vengeance of the Deep. He took time out from his Hollywood career to teach as a United States Army Air Forces flight instructor in World War II. Arlen is best known for his role as a pilot in the Academy Award-winning Wings with Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Gary Cooper, El Brendel, and his second wife, Jobyna Ralston, whom he married in 1927. He was among the more famous residents of the celebrity enclave, Toluca Lake, California. He married New York socialite, Margaret Kinsella, in 1946. In 1939, Universal teamed him with Andy Devine for a series of 14 B-pictures, mostly action-comedies with heavy reliance on stock footage from larger-scale films. They are informally known as the "Aces of Action" series, which is how the stars were billed in the trailers. When Arlen left the studio in 1941, the series continued with Devine teamed with a variety of other actors. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Arlen was active in television, having guest starred in several anthology series, including Playhouse 90, The Loretta Young Show, The 20th Century Fox Hour, and in three episodes of the series about clergymen, Crossroads. In 1960, Arlen was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star at 6755 Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the film industry. In 1968, he appeared on Petticoat Junction playing himself. The episode was called "Wings" and it was in direct reference to the 1927 silent movie Wings. Arlen appeared in westerns, such as Lawman, Branded, Bat Masterson, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Wagon Train, and Yancy Derringer, and in such drama/adventure programs as Ripcord, Whirlybirds, Perry Mason, The New Breed, Coronado 9, and Michael Shayne.

Known for

The Horror Show

(archive footage)

6.0

1979

A Whale of a Tale

Mr. Monahan

4.0

1976

Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood

Silent Film Star 2

4.1

1976

The Sky's the Limit

Grimes

0.0

1975

Buckskin

Townsman

5.3

1968

Rogue's Gallery

Man in Club

6.0

1968

Fort Utah

Sam Tyler

3.6

1967

Hostile Guns

Sheriff Travis

5.1

1967

Red Tomahawk

Deadwood Telegrapher

6.4

1967

Waco

Billy Kelly

6.4

1966

To the Shores of Hell

Brig. Gen. F.W. Ramsgate

5.0

1966

Johnny Reno

Ned Duggan

6.3

1966

Apache Uprising

Captain Gannon

6.4

1965

The Bounty Killer

Matthew Ridgeway

5.8

1965

Town Tamer

Doctor Kent

6.4

1965

Black Spurs

Pete

6.0

1965

The Human Duplicators

National Intelligence

3.4

1965

Branded

(1 episode)

6.4

1965

Young Fury

Sheriff Jenkins

5.4

1964

Sex and the College Girl

Charles Devon

4.0

1964

Law of the Lawless

Ben the Bartender

6.1

1964

The Best Man

Sen. Oscar Anderson

7.3

1964

Petticoat Junction

Self · (1 episode)

5.8

1963

The Crawling Hand

Lee Barrenger

2.9

1963

The Young and the Brave

Col. Ralph Holbein

5.9

1963

The Lucy Show

Richard · (1 episode)

7.0

1962

Hollywood: The Selznick Years

'Four Feathers' (archive footage) (uncredited)

3.3

1961

The New Breed

Willits · (1 episode)

7.0

1961

The Last Time I Saw Archie

Col. Edwin Martin

5.7

1961

Coronado 9

(1 episode)

6.0

1960

Raymie

Chris Garber

0.0

1960

Lock-Up

(1 episode)

6.2

1959

Warlock

Bacon

6.7

1959

Bat Masterson

John Minor · (1 episode)

6.1

1958

Bat Masterson

Sheriff Dan Rainey · (1 episode)

6.1

1958

Yancy Derringer

General Hugh Morgan · (1 episode)

5.6

1958

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Damon Ring, Sr. · (1 episode)

6.9

1958

The Day of the Trumpet

Sgt. Jim Heisler

5.0

1958

Perry Mason

Dr. Harrison · (1 episode)

7.7

1957

The Mountain

C. W. Rivial

6.9

1956

Hidden Guns

Sheriff Ward Young

5.0

1956

Matinee Theater

(1 episode)

4.6

1955

The 20th Century Fox Hour

(1 episode)

5.2

1955

Blonde Blackmailer

Tony Pelassier

0.0

1955

Devil's Point

John 'Captain' Martin

0.0

1954

Climax!

Nevers · (1 episode)

3.0

1954

The Whistler

(1 episode)

0.0

1954

Letter to Loretta

Christopher Waring · (1 episode)

6.2

1953

Sabre Jet

Gen. Robert E 'Bob' Hale

6.7

1953

The Blazing Forest

Joe Morgan

6.0

1952

Hurricane Smith

Brundage

6.0

1952

This Is Your Life

Self · (1 episode)

6.3

1952

Flaming Feather

Showdown Calhoun

5.8

1952

Silver City

Charles Storrs

6.4

1951

Kansas Raiders

Union Captain

5.8

1950

The Colgate Comedy Hour

Self · (1 episode)

7.0

1950

Your Show of Shows

(1 episode)

5.5

1950

Grand Canyon

Mike Adams

0.0

1949

When My Baby Smiles at Me

Harvey Howell

4.8

1948

The Return of Wildfire

Dobe Williams

0.0

1948

Speed to Spare

Cliff Jordan

5.0

1948

Buffalo Bill Rides Again

Buffalo Bill

5.0

1947

Accomplice

Simon Lash

5.3

1946

The French Key

Himself (uncredited)

5.0

1946

The Phantom Speaks

Matt Fraser

5.4

1945

Identity Unknown

Johnny March

5.8

1945

The Big Bonanza

Capt. Jed Kilton

5.5

1944

Storm Over Lisbon

John Craig

4.8

1944

That's My Baby!

Tim Jones

5.0

1944

The Lady and the Monster

Dr. Patrick Cory

5.8

1944

Timber Queen

Russell Evans

5.7

1944

Minesweeper

Richard Houston

5.0

1943

Submarine Alert

Lewis J. 'Lee' Deerhold

4.6

1943

Alaska Highway

Woody Ormsby

5.0

1943

Aerial Gunner

Jon Davis

4.4

1943

Wrecking Crew

Matt Carney

5.5

1942

A Letter From Bataan

Pvt. John W. Lewis

4.5

1942

Wildcat

Johnny Maverick

1940

Black Diamonds

Walter Norton

0.0

1940

Swing with Bing

Himself

4.0

1940

Hot Steel

Frank Stewart

0.0

1940

Danger On Wheels

"Lucky" Larry Taylor

4.7

1940

The Man from Montreal

Clark Manning

3.8

1939

Legion of Lost Flyers

Gene 'Loop' Gillan

4.0

1939

Tropic Fury

Dan Burton

0.0

1939

Mutiny on the Blackhawk

Capt. Robert Lawrence

0.0

1939

Missing Daughters

Wally King

3.0

1939

Straight, Place and Show

Denny Paine

6.0

1938

Call of The Yukon

Gaston Rogers

4.7

1938

No Time to Marry

Perry Brown

6.0

1938

Murder in Greenwich Village

Steve Havens Jackson Jr.

6.3

1937

Artists & Models

Alan Townsend

6.0

1937

Secret Valley

Lee Rogers

4.0

1937

The Great Barrier

Hickey

5.0

1937

The Mine with the Iron Door

Bob Harvey

0.0

1936

Three Live Ghosts

William 'Bill' Jones, an alias of William Foster

5.0

1936

The Calling of Dan Matthews

Dan Matthews

1934

Alice in Wonderland

Cheshire Cat

6.1

1933

Hell and High Water

Capt J.J. Jericho

0.0

1933

Golden Harvest

Walt Martin

5.0

1933

Three-Cornered Moon

Dr. Alan Stevens

5.2

1933

Self

5.0

1933

Island of Lost Souls

Edward Parker

6.9

1932

The All-American

Gary King

5.0

1932

Tiger Shark

Pipes Boley

6.8

1932

Guilty as Hell

Frank C. Marsh

5.8

1932

Sky Bride

Bert 'Speed' Condon

0.0

1932

Hollywood on Parade No. A-4

Self (uncredited)

0.0

1932

Wayward

David Frost

6.0

1932

Touchdown!

Dan Curtis

0.0

1931

Caught

Lt. Tom Colton

6.0

1931

The Secret Call

Tom Blake

0.0

1931

The Lawyer's Secret

Joe Hart

5.8

1931

Gun Smoke

Brad Farley

5.5

1931

The Conquering Horde

Dan McMasters

5.0

1931

Only Saps Work

Larry Payne

5.5

1930

The Santa Fe Trail

Stan Hollister

5.2

1930

The Sea God

Phillip 'Pink' Barker

4.7

1930

The Border Legion

Jim Cleve

0.0

1930

Paramount on Parade

Hunter (Dream Girl)

6.1

1930

The Light of Western Stars

Dick Bailey

2.8

1930

Dangerous Paradise

Heyst

3.8

1930

Burning Up

Lou Larrigan

3.5

1930

The Virginian

Steven 'Steve'

5.8

1929

Dangerous Curves

Larry Lee

6.0

1929

Thunderbolt

Bob Moran

5.8

1929

The Four Feathers

Lt. Harry Faversham

4.4

1929

The Man I Love

Joe "Dum-Dum" Brooks

4.5

1929

Manhattan Cocktail

Fred Tilden

0.0

1928

Beggars of Life

The Boy (Jim)

7.1

1928

Ladies of the Mob

Red

0.0

1928

Feel My Pulse

Her Problem

6.0

1928

Under the Tonto Rim

Edd Denmeade

0.0

1928

She's a Sheik

Capt. Colton

0.0

1927

Figures Don't Lie

Bob Blewe

0.0

1927

Sally in Our Alley

0.0

1925

Hollywood

Richard Arlen

7.0

1923