Russell Simpson
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Russell McCaskill Simpson (June 17, 1880, Danville, California – December 12, 1959, Woodland Hills, California) was an American character actor who appeared in over 500 movies. He is best known for his "grizzled old man" appearances. Gaunt, lanky, and rustic-sounding, Simpson was a familiar character actor for almost forty-five years, particularly as a member of the John Ford Stock Company. At age 18 Simpson prospected for gold in Alaska. He began taking acting classes in Seattle, Washington. In 1910 he married Gertrude Alter from New York City. By 1909, he had gone into the theatre. He appeared in at least two plays on Broadway between 1909 and 1912, and made his motion picture debut in Cecil B. DeMille's 1914 original film version of The Virginian in a bit part. By 1923, when the film was remade, Simpson had progressed to playing the lead villain. Throughout his career, Simpson worked for 12 years in road shows, stock companies, and on Broadway. He didn't usually perform lead roles, but he did star in many movies throughout the silent movie era. He performed a lead role as the grandfather in Out of the Dust (1920). Simpson is best known for his work in the films of John Ford and, in particular, for his portrayal of Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). His final film was The Horse Soldiers, his tenth film for Ford. Simpson worked up to 1959, the year of his death. He was the president of the Overseas Phonograph Accessories Corporation.
Known for
Credits
Oklahoma! (1955)
as The Minister (uncredited)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
as Pa Joad
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
as Fred Bixby
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
as Kenneth Allen (uncredited)
The Horse Soldiers (1959)
as Henry Goodbody
My Darling Clementine (1946)
as John Simpson
They Were Expendable (1945)
as 'Dad' Knowland
Tap Roots (1948)
as Big Sam Dabney
Joan of Arc (1948)
as Old Man with Pipe (uncredited)
The Tin Star (1957)
as Clem Hall
Abraham Lincoln (1930)
as Lincoln's Employer
Broken Lance (1954)
as Judge (uncredited)
Brigham Young (1940)
as U.S. Army Major
The Tall Men (1955)
as Emigrant (uncredited)
Wagon Master (1950)
as Adam Perkins
San Francisco (1936)
as 'Red' Kelly
Tall in the Saddle (1944)
as Pat Foster (uncredited)
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
as Dr. Petry
The Last Command (1955)
as The Parson
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
as Brother Griffith - Elder (uncredited)
Dodge City (1939)
as Orth
The Outriders (1950)
as Farmer (uncredited)
Santa Fe Trail (1940)
as Shubel Morgan
Susan Lenox (1931)
as Doctor
Lone Star (1952)
as Maynard Cole
Coroner Creek (1948)
as Walt Hardison
Meet John Doe (1941)
as (uncredited)
Tobacco Road (1941)
as Chief of Police
The Spoilers (1942)
as Flapjack
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
as Woolridge (uncredited)
Tennessee Johnson (1942)
as Kirby
Swamp Water (1941)
as Marty McCord
Carolina (1934)
as Richards
Snowblind (1921)
as Hugh Garth
Death Valley (1946)
as Old Silas Bagley
Comin' Round the Mountain (1951)
as Judge
Nazi Agent (1942)
as 2nd Captain (uncredited)
Three Faces West (1940)
as Minister
The Eagle (1925)
as The Eagle's Lieutenant / Coach Driver (uncredited)
Gold Is Where You Find It (1938)
as MacKenzie
The Lonely Man (1957)
Actor
Way Down East (1935)
as Squire Amasa Bartlett
Geronimo (1939)
as Scout
Maid of Salem (1937)
as Village Marshal (Uncredited)
The Sun Shines Bright (1953)
as Lewt Lake
Parnell (1937)
as Dead Child's Father
Blue Jeans (1917)
as Jacob Tutwiler
Shut My Big Mouth (1942)
as Mayor Potter
Secrets (1933)
as Doctor (uncredited)
Painted People (1924)
as Fred Lane
Noisy Neighbors (1929)
as Ebenezer
Virginia City (1940)
as Gaylord
Along Came Jones (1945)
as Pop de Longpre
Hello Trouble (1932)
as Jonathan Kenyon
The Bill of Rights (1939)
as Frontiersman
Law and Order (1932)
as Judge R.W. Williams
Wild Geese Calling (1941)
as Marshal Len Baker
Green Light (1937)
as Sheep Man
Valley of the Giants (1938)
as McKenzie
Mountain Justice (1937)
as Matthew Turnbull
Man to Man (1930)
as Uncle Cal
Man Hunt (1936)
as Jeff Parkington
The Harvester (1936)
as Abner Prewett
Free For All (1949)
as Farmer
The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947)
as Dan Yeary
Saddle Tramp (1950)
as Pop
A Boy and His Dog (1946)
as Mr. Thornycroft
Wild Bill Hickok Rides (1942)
as Ned Nolan
Breakers Ahead (1918)
as Captain Scudder
Billy the Kid (1930)
as Angus McSween
The Gal Who Took the West (1949)
as Bartender (as old Timer)
Fighting Cressy (1919)
as Hiram McKinstry
The World Moves On (1934)
as Notary (1825)
Roaring Guns (1944)
as Farmer MacKenzie
The Brass Legend (1956)
as Deputy 'Pop' Jackson
Old Shoes (1925)
Actor
Paddy O'Day (1936)
as Benton
Riding High (1943)
as Frenchy McGuire
Heart of the North (1938)
as Dave MacMillan
The Woman of the Town (1943)
as Sime
Albuquerque (1948)
as Abner Huggins
The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)
as Uncle Joe
Desire (1923)
as Patrick Ryan
Annie Laurie (1927)
as Sandy
Flames (1932)
as Jake
Lena Rivers (1932)
as Grandfather Nichols
The Famous Ferguson Case (1932)
as Banker Craig
Bad Bascomb (1946)
as Elijah Walker
Ramona (1936)
as Scroggs
The Girl of the Golden West (1938)
as Fred - Outrider in Prologue
Bad Men of Missouri (1941)
as Hank Younger
My Dog Shep (1946)
as Mathew Hodgkins
Sundown in Santa Fe (1948)
as Sheriff Jim Wyatt
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952)
as Clem Johnson
The Great Meadow (1931)
as Thomas Hall
Call Her Savage (1932)
as Old Man in Wagon Train
West of the Pecos (1934)
as Roy Neal
Tuna Clipper (1949)
as Capt. Fergus MacLennan
Wyoming (1940)
as Mr. Bronson
The Girl of the Golden West (1923)
as Jack Rance
The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon (1952)
as Sam Stanton
Roughly Speaking (1945)
as The Colonel - Drill Instructor (uncredited)
Silver Dollar (1932)
as Hamlin
The Sap (1929)
as The Banker
Face in the Sky (1933)
as Pa Nathan Brown
The Untamed Breed (1948)
as Minister
Lahoma (1920)
as 'Brick' Willock
Feudin' Fools (1952)
as Grandpa Smith
The Power and the Glory (1933)
as Professor (uncredited)
Wild Geese (1927)
as Caleb Gare
Meet Me at the Fair (1953)
as Sheriff Evans
Colt Comrades (1943)
as Sheriff
Texas Masquerade (1944)
as J.K. Trimble
Last of the Duanes (1941)
as Tom Duane
Moonlight in Vermont (1943)
as Uncle Rufus
Citadel of Crime (1941)
as Jess Meekins
Border Patrol (1943)
as Orestes Krebs
The Virginian (1914)
as Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
Back to Nature (1936)
as Sheriff
The First Auto (1927)
as Hank Armstrong
The Fabulous Texan (1947)
as Wade Clayton
The Frontiersman (1927)
as Andrew Jackson
The Social Highwayman (1926)
as The Mayor's Partner
Across the Dead-Line (1922)
as Enoch Kidder
Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge (1937)
as Bayliss Baynum
Wild West Days (1937)
as Matt Keeler
The Heart of the Yukon (1927)
as 'Cash' Cynon
Defying Destiny (1923)
as Mr. Wilkens
After the Fog (1929)
as Joshua Barker
The Earth Woman (1926)
as Ezra Tilden
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent (1925)
as Jap Taylor
Lone Star Ranger (1942)
as Tom Duane
Desperate Trails (1939)
as Sheriff Big Bill Tanner
Why Women Love (1925)
as Silas Martin
Godless Men (1920)
as 'Black' Pawl
The Lone Star Ranger (1930)
as Colonel John Aldridge
Circus Days (1923)
as Eben Holt
Girl of the Ozarks (1936)
as Bascomb Rogers
Human Hearts (1922)
as Paul Logan
Sixteen Fathoms Deep (1934)
as A.B. Crockett
Bunty Pulls the Strings (1921)
as Tammas Biggar
The Huntress (1923)
as Big Jack Skinner
Peg o' My Heart (1922)
as Jim O'Connell
Innocents of Paris (1929)
as Emile Leval
The Virginian (1923)
as Trampas
Desert Gold (1919)
as Ladd
Three on a Honeymoon (1934)
as Ezra MacDuff
Western Caravans (1939)
as Winchester Thompson
Motive for Revenge (1935)
as McAllister
My Lady's Past (1929)
Actor
Frontier Marshal (1934)
as Editor Pickett
Riders of the Night (1918)
as Sally's Grandfather
The Big Bonanza (1944)
as Adam Parker
Call of the Klondike (1950)
as Andy McKay
Alexander Hamilton (1931)
as Harvey Taylor - First Ex-Soldier
Rustlin' for Cupid (1926)
as Hank Blatchford
Beauty and the Bad Man (1925)
as Chuckwalla Bill
Life's Mockery (1928)
as Wolf Miller
The Hoosier Schoolmaster (1935)
as Doc Small
The Branding Iron (1920)
as John Carver
The Deadlier Sex (1920)
as Jim Willis
Faint Perfume (1925)
as Grandpa Crumb
The Splendid Road (1925)
as Capt. Lightfoot
Under the Lash (1921)
as Simeon Krillet
Thunder Mountain (1925)
as Si Pace
Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles (1933)
as Speaker
Lovey Mary (1926)
as Stubbins
California Gold Rush (1946)
as Colonel Parker
Ridin' for Justice (1932)
as Marshal Joseph Slyde
The Old Homestead (1915)
as Sheriff
Rags to Riches (1922)
as The Sheriff
Ever Since Eve (1934)
as Jim Wood
The Food Gamblers (1917)
as Samuel Sloane
Paradise Isle (1937)
as Baxter
That I May Live (1937)
as Bish Plivens
The Brand (1919)
as Dan McGill
The Blue Bandanna (1919)
as Jim Yancy
The Bushranger (1928)
as Sir Eric
The Narrow Street (1925)
as Garvey
The Border Legion (1918)
as Overland Bradley
Tropical Nights (1928)
as Singapore Joe
Hearts Aflame (1923)
as Black Joe
Paint and Powder (1925)
as Riley
The Honor of the Press (1932)
as Dan Perkins
The Kingdom Within (1922)
as Caleb Deming
The Riding Tornado (1932)
as Sheriff
The Barrier (1917)
as John Gaylord / John Tale
Bowery Buckaroos (1947)
as Luke Barlow
Radio Scout (1934)
as Pappy Tolliver
Bill Apperson's Boy (1919)
as Bill Apperson
Oh, Johnny! (1918)
as Adele's Father
Now We're in the Air (1927)
as Lord Abercrombie McTavish
Lovely Mary (1916)
as Peter Nelson
Ship of Souls (1925)
as Angus Garth
The Challenge Accepted (1918)
as Uncle Zeke Sawyer
All Faces West (1929)
as Gunner Bill
The Uphill Path (1918)
as James Lawton
A Weaver of Dreams (1918)
as Martin Chandler