BUCK JONES BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Buck Jones, born Charles Frederick Gebhart on December 12th, 1891 in Vincennes, Indiana USA.  he grew up in Indiana and gained most of his horse riding experience there.  In 1907, he chose  to enlist in the US Army at only age 16.  He was injured in the Philippine Islands and honorably discharged in 1909.  He was very interested in car racing and became employed with the Marmon Motor Company, but then in 1910 he re-enlisted in the US Army, however in 1913 he received his 2nd honorary discharge.
 
He then found work as a cowboy in Oklahoma.  He met his first wife, Odille " Dell" Osborne and he married in 1915.  He moved to Los Angeles with his pregnant wife and decided to leave behind his cowboy career and pursue the entertainment industry.   He was hired by Universal Pictures for $5 per day as a bit player and stuntman. He later worked for Canyon Pictures, then Fox Film Corporation, eventually earning $40 per week as a stuntman. Soon with Fox his salary increased to $150 per week.  
 
His first starring role, "The Last Straw", 1920 which followed by the making of three more films in 1925.  In 1928 he chose to start his own company, however it failed.  By the 1930's he was on contract with Columbia Pictures, and his career officially was heading up.

He became a box office known name in silent Westerns, and he remained a popular cowboy hero when sound came in, one of the few to make the transition. Following two popular series of B-westerns, Jones was signed up by Universal to star in a series of B-westerns .  "The Red Ryder" 1934, was Buck's first serial under contract to Universal. 
 
Universal's decision to sign Buck Jones to a contract was due to a performance a year earlier when he was still freelancing.   The serial was "Gordon of Ghost City" 1933.  His next starring serial was released the next year, "The Roaring West" 1934 followed by, "The Phantom Rider" 1936.

Due to the oncoming singing cowboy craze, Buck's popularity began dropping after he finished his work at Universal.   In 1941, he made his last starring serial for Columbia, "White Eagle", however, this film did well for Buck Jones. Universal noticed him once again, and decided to help him stage a comeback.  "White Eagle Riders of Death Valley" was intended as the first stage of this comeback., but it turned out to be his final serial, but a good one.
 
Buck Jones was the 481st person of, eventually, 492 who died in the 12-15 minute Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire in Boston, MA, Saturday, Nov. 28, 1942.  He dies of critical second and third degree burns to his face, mouth, throat and smoke inhalation.  Jones had more than 160 film credits to his name.  Jones was a hero in real life as well as on screen.  He will never be forgotten as long as the public still appreciates a rugged, principled, and noble cowboy. 
 

Filmography

1942   Dawn on the Great Divide
1942   West of the Law
1942   Riders of the West
1942   Down Texas Way 
1942   Ghost Town Law
1942   Below the Border 
1941   Forbidden Trails
1941   The Gunman from Bodie
1941   Arizona Bound
1941   Riders of Death Valley
1941   White Eagle
1940   Wagons Westward
1939   Unmarried
1938   California Frontier
1938   Law of the Texan
1938   The Stranger from Arizona
1938   The Overland Express
1937   Headin' East
1937   Sudden Bill Dorn 
1937   Boss of Lonely Valley
1937   Hollywood Round-Up
1937   Law for Tombstone
1937   Black Aces
1937   Smoke Tree Range
1937   Left-Handed Law
1937   Sandflow
1936   Empty Saddles
1936   The Boss Rider of Gun Creek
1936   Ride 'Em Cowboy
1936   The Phantom Rider 
1936   The Cowboy and the Kid 
1936   For the Service 
1936   Silver Spurs 
1935   Sunset of Power 
1935   The Ivory-Handled Gun 
1935   The Throwback
1935   Outlawed Guns 
1935   The Roaring West
1935   Border Brigands
1935   Stone of Silver Creek
1935   The Crimson Trail
1934   When a Man Sees Red
1934   Rocky Rhodes
1934   The Red Ryder
1934   The Man Trailer
1934   The Fighting Ranger
1933   The Fighting Code
1933   Gordon of Ghost City
1933   Unknown Valley
1933   The Thrill Hunter
1933   The California Trail
1933   Treason
1933   Child of Manhattan
1932   Sundown Rider
1932   Forbidden Trail 
1932   White Eagle
1932   McKenna of the Mounted
1932   Hello Trouble
1932   High Speed
1932   South of the Rio Grande
1932   One Man Law
1932   Ridin' for Justice
1931   The Deadline
1931   Range Feud
1931   Border Law
1931   Branded
1931   The Fighting Sheriff
1931   The Texas Ranger
1931   The Avenger
1931   Desert Vengeance
1930   The Dawn Trail
1930   Men Without Law 
1930   Shadow Ranch
1930   The Lone Rider 
1928   The Big Hop
1928   The Branded Sombrero
1927   Blood Will Tell
1927   Black Jack
1927   Chain Lightning
1927   Good As Gold 
1927   Hills of Peril
1927   Whispering Sage
1927   The War Horse
1926   Desert Valley
1926   30 Below Zero 
1926   The Flying Horseman
1926   The Gentle Cyclone 
1926   A Man Four-Square
1926   The Fighting Buckaroo
1926   The Cowboy and the Countess
1925   The Desert's Price
1925   Lazybones
1925   Durand of the Bad Lands
1925   Timber Wolf
1925   Hearts and Spurs
1925   Gold and the Girl
1925   The Trail Rider
1925   Dick Turpin
1925   The Arizona Romeo
1924   The Man Who Played Square
1924   Winner Take All
1924   The Desert Outlaw
1924   Against All Odds
1924   Western Luck
1924   The Circus Cowboy
1924   The Vagabond Trail
1924   Not a Drum Was Heard 
1923   Cupid's Fireman
1923   Big Dan
1923   Hell's Hole
1923   Second Hand Love
1923   Skid-Proof
1923   The Eleventh Hour
1923   Snowdrift
1923   The Footlight Ranger
1922   The Boss of Camp Four
1922   Bells of San Juan
1922   The Fast Mail
1922   West of Chicago
1922   Trooper O'Neil
1922   Roughshod
1922   Western Speed
1922   Pardon My Nerve!
1921   Riding with Death
1921   Bar Nothing
1921   To a Finish
1921   Straight from the Shoulder
1921   Get Your Man 
1921   The One-Man Trail
1921   The Big Punch 
1920   Two Moons
1920   Just Pals
1920   Sunset Sprague
1920   Firebrand Trevison
1920   Square Shooter 
1920   The Spirit of Good
1920   Forbidden Trails
1920   The Last Straw
1920   The Cyclone
1919   The Cowboy and the Rajah
1919   The Feud
1919   Cupid's Roundup
1919   The Speed Maniac
1919   Brother Bill
1919   Rough-Riding Romance
1919   When Pals Fall Out
1919   Shackles of Fate
1919   The Wilderness Trail
1919   The Puncher and the Pup
1919   The Coming of the Law
1919   The Uphill Climb
1919   Vengeance and the Girl
1919   Pitfalls of a Big City
1919   Hell's Fury Gordon
1919   Fighting for Gold
1919   The Sheriff's Son
1919   The Two Doyles
1919   The Desert Rat
1918   The Rainbow Trail  
1918   Riders of the Purple Sage 
1918   Selfish Yates 
1918   True Blue  
1918   Western Blood 
1917   A Rough Shod Fighter