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
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
as Pa Joad
My Darling Clementine (1946)
as John Simpson
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
as Fred Bixby
Brigham Young (1940)
as U.S. Army Major
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
as Kenneth Allen (uncredited)
Oklahoma! (1955)
as The Minister (uncredited)
Susan Lenox (1931)
as Doctor
The Horse Soldiers (1959)
as Henry Goodbody
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
as Woolridge (uncredited)
The Tall Men (1955)
as Emigrant (uncredited)
The Gal Who Took the West (1949)
as Bartender (as old Timer)
They Were Expendable (1945)
as 'Dad' Knowland
Tap Roots (1948)
as Big Sam Dabney
Hello Trouble (1932)
as Jonathan Kenyon
Tall in the Saddle (1944)
as Pat Foster (uncredited)
Parnell (1937)
as Dead Child's Father
Along Came Jones (1945)
as Pop de Longpre
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
as Brother Griffith - Elder (uncredited)
Dodge City (1939)
as Orth
Broken Lance (1954)
as Judge (uncredited)
The Tin Star (1957)
as Clem Hall
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
as Dr. Petry
Joan of Arc (1948)
as Old Man with Pipe (uncredited)
Valley of the Giants (1938)
as McKenzie
Breakers Ahead (1918)
as Captain Scudder
Meet John Doe (1941)
as (uncredited)
Death Valley (1946)
as Old Silas Bagley
The Barrier (1917)
as John Gaylord / John Tale
Old Shoes (1925)
Actor
Snowblind (1921)
as Hugh Garth
Desire (1923)
as Patrick Ryan
Call Her Savage (1932)
as Old Man in Wagon Train
Gold Is Where You Find It (1938)
as MacKenzie
The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947)
as Dan Yeary
Shut My Big Mouth (1942)
as Mayor Potter
Lahoma (1920)
as 'Brick' Willock
The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon (1952)
as Sam Stanton
Wagon Master (1950)
as Adam Perkins
Fighting Cressy (1919)
as Hiram McKinstry
The Lonely Man (1957)
Actor
The Outriders (1950)
as Farmer (uncredited)
Carolina (1934)
as Richards
Law and Order (1932)
as Judge R.W. Williams
The Sun Shines Bright (1953)
as Lewt Lake
Santa Fe Trail (1940)
as Shubel Morgan
Tobacco Road (1941)
as Chief of Police
The Eagle (1925)
as The Eagle's Lieutenant / Coach Driver (uncredited)
Noisy Neighbors (1929)
as Ebenezer
West of the Pecos (1934)
as Roy Neal
San Francisco (1936)
as 'Red' Kelly
Abraham Lincoln (1930)
as Lincoln's Employer
The Big Bonanza (1944)
as Adam Parker
Painted People (1924)
as Fred Lane
Virginia City (1940)
as Gaylord
Sixteen Fathoms Deep (1934)
as A.B. Crockett
The Last Command (1955)
as The Parson
My Dog Shep (1946)
as Mathew Hodgkins
The Spoilers (1942)
as Flapjack
Lone Star (1952)
as Maynard Cole
Blue Jeans (1917)
as Jacob Tutwiler
Bad Men of Missouri (1941)
as Hank Younger
The Heart of the Yukon (1927)
as 'Cash' Cynon
Defying Destiny (1923)
as Mr. Wilkens
Maid of Salem (1937)
as Village Marshal (Uncredited)
The Social Highwayman (1926)
as The Mayor's Partner
The Narrow Street (1925)
as Garvey
Saddle Tramp (1950)
as Pop
Comin' Round the Mountain (1951)
as Judge
Girl of the Ozarks (1936)
as Bascomb Rogers
Wild Geese Calling (1941)
as Marshal Len Baker
The Bill of Rights (1939)
as Frontiersman
The Earth Woman (1926)
as Ezra Tilden
The Brass Legend (1956)
as Deputy 'Pop' Jackson
Lovely Mary (1916)
as Peter Nelson
The Famous Ferguson Case (1932)
as Banker Craig
Peg o' My Heart (1922)
as Jim O'Connell
Swamp Water (1941)
as Marty McCord
Wild Bill Hickok Rides (1942)
as Ned Nolan
Life's Mockery (1928)
as Wolf Miller
Flames (1932)
as Jake
Way Down East (1935)
as Squire Amasa Bartlett
Under the Lash (1921)
as Simeon Krillet
Citadel of Crime (1941)
as Jess Meekins
The Food Gamblers (1917)
as Samuel Sloane
The Girl of the Golden West (1938)
as Fred - Outrider in Prologue
Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge (1937)
as Bayliss Baynum
Nazi Agent (1942)
as 2nd Captain (uncredited)
The Woman of the Town (1943)
as Sime
Beauty and the Bad Man (1925)
as Chuckwalla Bill
Free For All (1949)
as Farmer
Heart of the North (1938)
as Dave MacMillan
The World Moves On (1934)
as Notary (1825)
The Girl of the Golden West (1923)
as Jack Rance
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952)
as Clem Johnson
The Deadlier Sex (1920)
as Jim Willis
Coroner Creek (1948)
as Walt Hardison
My Lady's Past (1929)
Actor
Albuquerque (1948)
as Abner Huggins
Three Faces West (1940)
as Minister
Now We're in the Air (1927)
as Lord Abercrombie McTavish
Riders of the Night (1918)
as Sally's Grandfather
The Power and the Glory (1933)
as Professor (uncredited)
Border Patrol (1943)
as Orestes Krebs
The Blue Bandanna (1919)
as Jim Yancy
The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)
as Uncle Joe
Call of the Klondike (1950)
as Andy McKay
The Kingdom Within (1922)
as Caleb Deming
Green Light (1937)
as Sheep Man
Bunty Pulls the Strings (1921)
as Tammas Biggar
Desert Gold (1919)
as Ladd
Last of the Duanes (1941)
as Tom Duane
Billy the Kid (1930)
as Angus McSween
Meet Me at the Fair (1953)
as Sheriff Evans
Three on a Honeymoon (1934)
as Ezra MacDuff
Wyoming (1940)
as Mr. Bronson
Roughly Speaking (1945)
as The Colonel - Drill Instructor (uncredited)
Sundown in Santa Fe (1948)
as Sheriff Jim Wyatt
Bill Apperson's Boy (1919)
as Bill Apperson
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent (1925)
as Jap Taylor
Oh, Johnny! (1918)
as Adele's Father
Paddy O'Day (1936)
as Benton
The Challenge Accepted (1918)
as Uncle Zeke Sawyer
Tennessee Johnson (1942)
as Kirby
The Honor of the Press (1932)
as Dan Perkins
Geronimo (1939)
as Scout
A Weaver of Dreams (1918)
as Martin Chandler
Silver Dollar (1932)
as Hamlin
Bad Bascomb (1946)
as Elijah Walker
The Lone Star Ranger (1930)
as Colonel John Aldridge
Secrets (1933)
as Doctor (uncredited)
Riding High (1943)
as Frenchy McGuire
The Fabulous Texan (1947)
as Wade Clayton
Desperate Trails (1939)
as Sheriff Big Bill Tanner
Tuna Clipper (1949)
as Capt. Fergus MacLennan
Motive for Revenge (1935)
as McAllister
The Great Meadow (1931)
as Thomas Hall
Roaring Guns (1944)
as Farmer MacKenzie
Frontier Marshal (1934)
as Editor Pickett
Wild Geese (1927)
as Caleb Gare
Across the Dead-Line (1922)
as Enoch Kidder
Wild West Days (1937)
as Matt Keeler
Mountain Justice (1937)
as Matthew Turnbull
The Brand (1919)
as Dan McGill
Lone Star Ranger (1942)
as Tom Duane
A Boy and His Dog (1946)
as Mr. Thornycroft
Lena Rivers (1932)
as Grandfather Nichols
Ramona (1936)
as Scroggs
Colt Comrades (1943)
as Sheriff
California Gold Rush (1946)
as Colonel Parker
Texas Masquerade (1944)
as J.K. Trimble
The Harvester (1936)
as Abner Prewett
Face in the Sky (1933)
as Pa Nathan Brown
The First Auto (1927)
as Hank Armstrong
The Hoosier Schoolmaster (1935)
as Doc Small
Man Hunt (1936)
as Jeff Parkington
Moonlight in Vermont (1943)
as Uncle Rufus
Hearts Aflame (1923)
as Black Joe
The Frontiersman (1927)
as Andrew Jackson
The Huntress (1923)
as Big Jack Skinner
Annie Laurie (1927)
as Sandy
Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles (1933)
as Speaker
Feudin' Fools (1952)
as Grandpa Smith
Ever Since Eve (1934)
as Jim Wood
The Untamed Breed (1948)
as Minister
Why Women Love (1925)
as Silas Martin
The Virginian (1914)
as Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
Radio Scout (1934)
as Pappy Tolliver
The Sap (1929)
as The Banker
Tropical Nights (1928)
as Singapore Joe
Man to Man (1930)
as Uncle Cal
The Virginian (1923)
as Trampas
Lovey Mary (1926)
as Stubbins
The Riding Tornado (1932)
as Sheriff
Paradise Isle (1937)
as Baxter
Bowery Buckaroos (1947)
as Luke Barlow
The Uphill Path (1918)
as James Lawton
After the Fog (1929)
as Joshua Barker
Ridin' for Justice (1932)
as Marshal Joseph Slyde
Human Hearts (1922)
as Paul Logan
Thunder Mountain (1925)
as Si Pace
The Splendid Road (1925)
as Capt. Lightfoot
Rustlin' for Cupid (1926)
as Hank Blatchford
Circus Days (1923)
as Eben Holt
Alexander Hamilton (1931)
as Harvey Taylor - First Ex-Soldier
Western Caravans (1939)
as Winchester Thompson
That I May Live (1937)
as Bish Plivens
The Old Homestead (1915)
as Sheriff
Faint Perfume (1925)
as Grandpa Crumb
Paint and Powder (1925)
as Riley
The Border Legion (1918)
as Overland Bradley
The Bushranger (1928)
as Sir Eric
All Faces West (1929)
as Gunner Bill
The Branding Iron (1920)
as John Carver
Ship of Souls (1925)
as Angus Garth
Godless Men (1920)
as 'Black' Pawl
Innocents of Paris (1929)
as Emile Leval
Back to Nature (1936)
as Sheriff
Rags to Riches (1922)
as The Sheriff