|
* 1908 - † Los Angeles, CA 3.10.1994,
Omnipresent, much-loved character actor, a fixture of
Westerns for over 60 years. Taylor
began in vaudeville playing the harmonica and the xylophone, and the latter
talent came in handy when he made his film debut as the untalented
xylophone-playing Ed Carmichael, one of a family of zanies peopling Frank
Capra's adaptation of the George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart farce, YOU CAN'T TAKE
IT WITH YOU (1938). Although he can be spotted in that same year's delightful
Astaire-Rogers musical CAREFREE (1938), Taylor soon began hitting the dusty
trail in THE TAMING OF THE WEST (1939), THE MAN FROM TUMBLEWEEDS (1940),
SAGEBRUSH HEROES (1944) and dozens of others during the 1940s. He proved
himself one of the best things to happen to fine "B" Westerns as he played
comic sidekick first to Bill Elliott, then to Charles Starrett and later to
Russell Hayden.
Delighting audiences as he had trouble with his
saddle, his gun, or a flirtatious frontierswoman, Taylor continued his antics on TV's "The
Roy Rogers Show" in the 50s. His film credits began to diversify, though,
including crime drama (CRIME WAVE, 1954), comedy (NO TIME FOR SERGEANTS, 1958,
Capra's A HOLE IN THE HEAD, 1959 and theatrical adaptation (SWEET BIRD OF
YOUTH, 1962). He also brought rustic humour to his recurring roles of Ben,
fix-it-shop owner Emmett’s brother-in-law, on TV's "The Andy Griffith
Show" and repairman Ed Hewley on the first season (1965-66) of
"Please Don't Eat the Daisies." In 1967 he memorably played the man
who helped bring down the title characters in Arthur Penn's landmark BONNIE AND
CLYDE.
Taylor never left the Western, though. As genre revisions
became common, Taylor's
leathery presence, often grizzled, came to embody the Old West not only as it
was lived but how it had been represented onscreen. Sam Peckinpah used him thus
in MAJOR DUNDEE (1965), THE WILD BUNCH (1969), JUNIOR BONNER (1972) and PAT
GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID (1973), as did films ranging from DEATH OF A
GUNFIGHTER (1969) to BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III (1990), credited as "saloon
old timer"). Taylor
was as busy as in the old days, with eight credits in 1976 alone. He was as
amusing as ever as a toothless varmint in the revival series "Bret
Maverick" (1981-82) and in the TV western comedies THE DOOLEY BROTHERS
(1979) and ONCE UPON A TEXAS TRAIN (1988). Well into his 80s, Taylor still stole scenes as the grandfather
in the feature country singer saga FALLING FROM GRACE (1992).
Filmografie
1938 CAREFREE
1938 YOU CAN'T
TAKE IT WITH YOU
1939 MR. SMITH
GOES TO WASHINGTON
1939 THE TAMING
OF THE WEST
1940 BEYOND THE
SACRAMENTO
1940 THE MAN
FROM TUMBLEWEEDS
1940 ONE MAN'S
LAW
1940 PIONEERS
OF THE FRONTIER
1940 PRAIRIE
SCHOONERS
1941 ACROSS THE
SIERRAS
1941 HANDS
ACROSS THE ROCKIES
1941 KING OF DODGE CITY
1941 NORTH FROM
THE LONE STAR
1941 THE RETURN
OF DANIEL BOONE
1941 THE SON OF
DAVY CROCKETT
1941 THE
WILDCAT OF TUCSON
1942 THE LONE
PRAIRIE
1942 A TORNADO
IN THE SADDLE
1943 COWBOY IN
THE CLOUDS
1943 RIDERS OF
THE NORTHWEST MOUNTED
1943 SADDLES
AND SAGEBRUSH
1943 SILVER
CITY RAIDERS
1943 WHAT'S
BUZZIN' COUSIN?
1944 COWBOY
CANTEEN
1944 COWBOY
FROM LONESOME RIVER
1944 CYCLONE
PRAIRIE RANGERS
1944 THE LAST
HORSEMAN
1944 SADDLE
LEATHER LAW
1944 SAGEBRUSH
HEROES
1944 SUNDOWN VALLEY
1944 THE
VIGILANTES RIDE
1944 WYOMING HURRICANE
1945 BLAZING
THE WESTERN TRAIL
1945 BOTH
BARRELS BLAZING
1945 FRONTIER
GUN LAW
1945 LAWLESS
EMPIRE
1945 OUTLAWS OF
THE ROCKIES
1945 ROUGH
RIDIN' JUSTICE
1945 RUSTLERS
OF THE BADLANDS
1947 SONG OF
THE DRIFTER
1948 OKLAHOMA BLUES
1948 PARTNERS
OF THE SUNSET
1948 RANGE
RENEGADES
1950 RIDING
HIGH
1952 THE STORY
OF WILL ROGERS
1953 THE CHARGE
AT FEATHER RIVER
1954 THE BOUNTY
HUNTER
1954 CRIME WAVE
1954 A STAR IS
BORN
1954 THEM!
1955 I DIED A
THOUSAND TIMES
1955 TALL MAN
RIDING
1956 THE
FASTEST GUN ALIVE
1956 YOU CAN'T
RUN AWAY FROM IT
1958 HOT ROD GANG
1958 NO TIME
FOR SERGEANTS
1958 STREET OF
DARKNESS
1959 A HOLE IN
THE HEAD
1960 HOME FROM
THE HILL
1961 PARRISH
1962 SWEET BIRD
OF YOUTH
1963 BLACK GOLD
1963 SPENCER'S
MOUNTAIN
1965 THE CINCINNATI KID
1965 THE
HALLELUJAH TRAIL
1965 MAJOR DUNDEE
1967 THE
ADVENTURES OF BULLWHIP GRIFFIN
1967 BONNIE AND
CLYDE
1967 DON'T MAKE
WAVES
1968 BANDOLERO!
1968 THE
SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST
1968 THREE GUNS
FOR TEXAS
1969 DEATH OF A
GUNFIGHTER
1969 THE
LEARNING TREE
1969 THE
REIVERS/YELLOW WINTON FLYER
1969 THE WILD
BUNCH
1970 THE
LIBERATION OF L.B. JONES
1970 A MAN
CALLED HORSE
1970 TICK…
TICK… TICK…
1971 SUPPORT
YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER
1971 THE WILD
COUNTRY
1972 BLACK
JACK/WILD IN THE SKY
1972 EVEL
KNIEVEL
1972 THE
GETAWAY
1972 JUNIOR
BONNER
1972 MAN AND
BOY
1972 WILD IN
THE SKY/BLACK JACK
1973 PAT
GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID
1973 THIS IS A
HIJACK
1973 TOM SAWYER
1974 SHOOTOUT
IN A ONE-DOG TOWN
1974 THUNDERBOLT
AND LIGHTFOOT
1975 COUNTRY
BLUE
1975 THE
DAUGHTERS OF JOSHUA CABE RETURN
1975 FLASH AND
THE FIRECAT
1975 THE
FORTUNE
1975 HEARTS OF
THE WEST
1975 POOR PRETTY
EDDIE
1976 BURNT
OFFERINGS
1976 CREATURE
FROM BLACK LAKE
1976 DOC
HOOKER'S BUNCH
1976 GATOR
1976 THE GREAT
SMOKEY ROADBLOCK/LAST OF THE COWBOYS
1976 PONY
EXPRESS RIDER
1976 TREASURE
OF MATECUMBE
1976 THE WINDS
OF AUTUMN
1977 MOONSHINE COUNTY EXPRESS
1977 THE
RESCUERS
1978 THEY WENT
THAT-A-WAY AND THAT-A-WAY
1979 1941
1980 USED CARS
1984 CANNONBALL
RUN II
1986 THE BEST
OF TIMES
1988 ONCE UPON
A TEXAS TRAIN
1990 BACK TO
THE FUTURE PART III
1991 CONAGHER
1991 MY HEROES
HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COWBOYS
1992 FALLING
FROM GRACE
1994 MAVERICK
# |
