Matinee Classics - Rory Calhoun Biography & Filmography

Rory Calhoun ACTOR

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RORY CALHOUN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Rory Calhoun, born on August 8, 1922 as Timothy McOwn in Los Angeles, California, was raised in Santa Cruz, California. He married twice and had four daughters. His trademark was a black cowboy hat, and he stood 6’3”, a tall and good-looking man. He was featured in more than 80 films and 1,000 television episodes. Calhoun is most remembered for his work in action and western genre movies, but he acted in many types of features.

Calhoun had a tough life growing up. His father died in 1923. In the 1930’s he dropped out of high school, got involved with the wrong group, and took up petty theft. In 1940 he was arrested for stealing a car. After his three year sentence, he decided to take control of his life and became a lumber jack, working in Santa Cruz, California. It was there, in the Hollywood Hills in 1944, that a lucky run-in with actor Alan Ladd’s Hollywood agent wife, Sue Carol, got him a screen test at 20th Century Fox.

This company obviously liked him, because they had him form a contract with them. He changed his screen name to Frank McCown, and debuted in the movie “Something for the Boys” (1944) with actress Carmen Miranda. He was given mostly small parts in movies for the first few years, although he played a supporting role in the Laurel and Hardy film “The Bullfighters” (1945).

In 1974 Henry Wilson, an accredited agent, changed his name to Rory Calhoun. He then started appearing in more films. Calhoun started to form a fan following with his part in “The Red House” (1947), although his first starring role was in “Adventure Island” (1947). In the late 1940’s, Calhoun acted in his first two western movies “Sand” (1949), and “Massacre River” (1949). These movies helped pave his way to appearing in many more films about the west, and was soon offered spots in larger budgeted films like “River of No Return” (1954) with Marilyn Monroe, Tommy Rettig and Robert Mitchum.

Some of his better known films include “With a Song in my Heart” (1952) ,a film in which he played a pilot who saved Susan Hayward’s life, the comedy “How to Marry a Millionaire” (1953), in which he played an honest but poor fire ranger who won over Betty Grable’s heart, and “Ain’t Misbehavin” (1955), a musical about an older man who falls in love with a younger woman. Some of his cowboy roles are the western-comedy “A Ticket to Mohawk” (1950), “Domino Kid” (1957), “The Hired Gun” (1957), and “Apache Territory” (1958).

He undertook two period pieces when he was cast in “The Colossus of Rhodes” (1961), looking uncomfortable in a toga, and played the title role in “Marco Polo” (1962). After, he played a US spy in the World War II drama “A Face in the Rain” (1963), and as a sergeant in another World War II picture, “Operation Cross Eagles” (1967). Calhoun acted in some additional laughers when he was in “The Night of the Leprus” (1972), “Angel” (1984), and the sequel “Avenging Angel” (1985). In 1977, he appeared in the disaster movie on NBC “Flight to Holocaust”. He was in some more western films in the later parts of his acting career when he played roles in “Bad Jim” (1990) and “Pure Country” (1992) starring George Strait and Lesley Ann Warren, his very last role.

Calhoun died at the age of 76 of advanced emphysema and diabetes, following a ten-day hospitalization. His date of death was April 28, 1999, and he was in Burbank, California when his life ended. He was not forgotten though. Calhoun was referred to several times in an episode of the very well known sitcom “The Simpsons”. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for his contributions in the motion picture industry, and another for his involvement in television. He will forever be remembered as a remarkable and well-liked leading man in many films and television shows, especially in the western genre.

Filmography

1992 Pure Country

1990 Roller Blade Warriors: Taken by Force

1989 Bad Jim

1988 Hell Comes to Frogtown

1985 Half-Nelson

1985 Avenging Angel

1984 Angel

1983 Running Hot

1982 The Blue and the Gray

1980 Smokey and the Judge

1980 Motel Hell