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Max Wagner
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Max Wagner (November 28, 1901 – November 16, 1975) was a Mexican-born American film actor who specialized in playing small parts such as thugs, gangsters, sailors, henchmen, bodyguards, cab drivers and moving men, appearing more than 400 films in his career, most without receiving screen credit. Newspaper gossip columnists noted his rise from playing "Gangster #4", with no lines, and not carrying a gun, to "Gangster #2", with both lines and a gun.
Wagner was one of five children, all boys, of William Wallace Wagner, a railroad conductor, and Edith Wagner, a writer who provided dispatches for the Christian Science Monitor during the Mexican Revolution. …
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Max Wagner (November 28, 1901 – November 16, 1975) was a Mexican-born American film actor who specialized in playing small parts such as thugs, gangsters, sailors, henchmen, bodyguards, cab drivers and moving men, appearing more than 400 films in his career, most without receiving screen credit. Newspaper gossip columnists noted his rise from playing "Gangster #4", with no lines, and not carrying a gun, to "Gangster #2", with both lines and a gun. Wagner was one of five children, all boys, of William Wallace Wagner, a railroad conductor, and Edith Wagner, a writer who provided dispatches for the Christian Science Monitor during the Mexican Revolution. When he was 10 years old, his father was killed by rebels and the family moved to Salinas, California, where he met John Steinbeck, who became a lifelong friend. Steinback based the character of the boy in his novel The Red Pony on Wagner. Under the name "Max Baron", Wagner acted in many Spanish-language versions of English-language films, which studios made as a matter of course in the early days of sound films, He also served as a Spanish language coach for other actors, and appeared in many of the "Mexican Spitfire" films starring Lupe Vélez, where he also served to monitor Velez's Spanish ad-libs for profanity. Other series that Wagner appeared in include the Charlie Chan films, and Tom Mix serials, as well as others made by Mascot Pictures Corporation. In the 1940s, Wagner was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in six films written and directed by Sturges, beginning with The Palm Beach Story In 1940 during the filming of "The Mad Doctor", Wagner was credited for driving 50,000 miles as an on-screen taxi driver on the studio back lots of Hollywood. Since his appearance as a cab driver in Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935), producers often cast him as a wise-cracking or henchman taxi driver. "I was cast as a taxi driver about five years ago", Wagner told a reporter. "And I was typed." In 1952, Wagner began to appear on television, in episodes of such shows as The Cisco Kid, Zane Grey Theater and Perry Mason, playing much the same kind of parts he played in the movies. He was a regular cast member on the western television series Gunsmoke, making nearly 80 appearances between 1959 and 1973. He also appeared in many episodes of The Rifleman, Bonanza, Cimarron Strip, The Wild Wild West and Maverick, including a guest-starring role in the 1959 Rifleman episode "Blood Brother." He also had roles in the original Star Trek and The Twilight Zone series. He appeared in more than 200 television episodes between 1952 and 1974. Notable film roles for Wagner include a supporting role in the cult science fiction classic Invaders from Mars (1953), an actor playing a gangster in the film-within-a-film segment of Bullets or Ballots (1936), and the bull farm attendant in the Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bullfighters (1945). Late in his career, he appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). He also occasionally composed music, such as the Mexican folk ballad "Pedro, Rudarte y Simon" in the Western film The Last Trail (1933). Wagner died of a heart attack in Hollywood in 1975.
Biography expanded
BODY OF WORK
Max Wagner's Filmography
Select any movie to open its full Movies Mates details page.
Young Frankenstein
as Villager (uncredited)
Terror in the Wax Museum
as Music Hall Drunk (Uncredited)
Evil Roy Slade
as Townsman (uncredited)
Support Your Local Gunfighter
as Townsman Watching Fight (uncredited)
The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
as Barfly (uncredited)
The Cheyenne Social Club
as Barfly (uncredited)
True Grit
as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
The Legend of Lylah Clare
as Reporter (uncredited)
Rosemary's Baby
as Man in Dream Sequence (uncredited)
Hang 'em High
as Prisoner
Return of the Gunfighter
as Barfly (uncredited)
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
as Cashier (uncredited)
Gunpoint
The Great Race
as Barfly (uncredited)
Shenandoah
as Church Member
4 for Texas
as Blackjack Dealer
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
as Spectator (uncredited)
To Kill a Mockingbird
as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Pressure Point
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
as Townsman (uncredited)
Sunrise at Campobello
as Convention Delegate (uncredited)
Ice Palace
as Party Guest (uncredited)
Public Pigeon No. 1
as Police Detective (uncredited)
The Spirit of St. Louis
as Reporter (uncredited)
Robbery Under Arms
as Sergeant Goring
The Conqueror
as Mongul Guard (uncredited)
I Died a Thousand Times
as Deputy Charlie (uncredited)
Illegal
as Bartender (uncredited)
Tennessee's Partner
as Townsman (uncredited)
East of Eden
as Workman (uncredited)
The Country Girl
as Expressman (uncredited)
The Great Diamond Robbery
as Policeman (uncredited)
Donovan's Brain
as Station Agent (uncredited)
Invaders from Mars
as Army Sgt. Rinaldi
Flaming Feather
The Racket
as Durko (uncredited)
The Secret of Convict Lake
as Jack Purcell (uncredited)
Pier 23
as Bar Patron (uncredited)
Frenchie
as Drunk (uncredited)
Reign of Terror
as Citizen (uncredited)
It Happens Every Spring
as Umpire (uncredited)
The Red Pony
as Bartender
Caught
as Projectionist (uncredited)
Flaxy Martin
as Charles McMahon
Shed No Tears
as Second Investigating Detective (Uncredited)
The Sainted Sisters
as Townsman (uncredited)
The Miracle of the Bells
as Baggage Man
Half Past Midnight
as Mike
Tycoon
Possessed
as Man in Café (uncredited)
Sinbad the Sailor
as Assistant Overseer (uncredited)
That Brennan Girl
as Moving Man (uncredited)
It's a Wonderful Life
as Cashier / Nick's Assistant Bouncer (uncredited)
Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
as Bartender (uncredited)
The Truth About Murder
as Henchman Mike (uncredited)
The Lost Weekend
as Mike (uncredited)
Fallen Angel
as Bartender (uncredited)
Radio Stars on Parade
as George
Circumstantial Evidence
as Truck Driver
A Medal for Benny
as Jake (uncredited)
Hi, Beautiful
as Sailor (uncredited)
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
as Military Police Driver (uncredited)
Boss of Boomtown
as Sergeant George Dunne
Undercover: How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines
as Rudy the Sailor
A Night to Remember
as Policeman Temple (uncredited)
Panama Hattie
as Jailer (uncredited)
Overland to Deadwood
as Buck
Mexican Spitfire's Elephant
as Villa Luigi Headwaiter
The Palm Beach Story
as Tom's Best Man (uncredited)
Sabotage Squad
as Recruiting Sergeant
The Talk of the Town
as Moving Man (uncredited)
Matri-Phony
as Guard (uncredited)
The Spoilers
as Deputy (uncredited)
Come on Danger
as Tough Guy
Moontide
as Fisherman (uncredited)
The Wife Takes a Flyer
as Sergeant
Obliging Young Lady
as Jack - Diner Counterman (uncredited)
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
as Bartender
Texas
as Fats Delaney
Cyclone on Horseback
as Jamison
Ride on Vaquero
as Partner
The Mad Doctor
as Cab Driver (Uncredited)
Trail of the Vigilantes
as Joe
The Bank Dick
as Shirtless Ditchdigger (uncredited)
Hired Wife
as Streetcar Conductor
Men Against the Sky
as Max - Radioman
Rhythm on the River
as Cherry's Cabbie
Wildcat Bus
as Bus Driver Jackson (uncredited)
Lucky Partners
as Waiter (uncredited)
They Drive by Night
as Sweeney, Driver (uncredited)
The Ghost Breakers
as Ship Porter (uncredited)
Pop Always Pays
as Bill - Policeman in Car 43
Buck Benny Rides Again
as Cowboy
You Can't Fool Your Wife
as Burglar
The Grapes of Wrath
as Guard (uncredited)
Millionaire Playboy
as Highway Patrol Officer
Charlie Chan in Panama
as Soldier
The House Across the Bay
as Jim
Mexican Spitfire
as Headwaiter - Mexican Pete's
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
as Truck Driver
Reno
as Police Lt. Joe Wilson
The Roaring Twenties
as Gangster (uncredited)
Fifth Avenue Girl
as Policeman (uncredited)
The Day the Bookies Wept
as Bet Placing Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Our Leading Citizen
as Workman
The Gracie Allen Murder Case
as Thug
The Girl from Mexico
as Headwaiter
The Return of the Cisco Kid
as Brings in Rustler
Mr. Moto in Danger Island
as Sailor at Wrestling Match
Money to Loan
as Hanley's Strong-Arm Man
I'll Tell the World
as Salesman
Cafe Society
as Guest
Fast and Loose
as Nolan's Henchman (uncredited)
Wings of the Navy
as Boss Mechanic
Off the Record
as Visitor (uncredited)
Scouts to the Rescue
as Joe - Truck Driver-Henchman
Submarine Patrol
as Marine Corporal (uncredited)
Little Tough Guys in Society
as Guest
Tarnished Angel
as Tough Casino Decoy
The Arkansas Traveler
as Hobo
Painted Desert
as Henchman Kincaid
Professor Beware
as Chinatown Barker
Cocoanut Grove
as Brakeman
Maid's Night Out
as Sam Johnson - Milk Man (uncredited)
Penrod and His Twin Brother
as Blackie
Born to Be Wild
as Jake - Trucker in Cafe (uncredited)
Many Unhappy Returns
as Ernie - Counter Girl's Boyfriend
Alcatraz Island
as Party Guest (uncredited)
Stage Door
as Baggage Man (uncredited)
Step Lively, Jeeves!
as Joey
Border Cafe
as Shakey
San Quentin
as Prison Runner
Wings Over Honolulu
as Marine
The Great O'Malley
as School Bus Driver (uncredited)
Black Legion
as Truck Driver in Diner (uncredited)
You Only Live Once
as Dan - Corridor Guard (uncredited)
God's Country and the Woman
as Gus
We Who Are About to Die
as Cell Block E Convict (uncredited)
Smart Blonde
as Chuck Cannon
Night Waitress
as Diner Trying to Date Helen
The Big Game
as Man Outside Hotel
The Girl on the Front Page
as Fireman
Walking on Air
as Sam, Second Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)
Love Begins at Twenty
as Lester - O'Bannion's Driver
Bullets or Ballots
as Actor Impersonating Kruger in Newsreel (uncredited)
Dancing Pirate
as Pirate (uncredited)
Sons o' Guns
as Soldier
The Crime Patrol
as Bennie
The Girl from Mandalay
as Drunken Brawler
Two in Revolt
as Davis
The House of a Thousand Candles
as Henchman
Love on a Bet
as Reporter
Paddy O'Day
as Milkman's Helper on Dock
Chatterbox
as Himself (uncredited)
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
as Pug O'Leary
The Fighting Marines
as Gibson
Mary Burns, Fugitive
as Sailor
3 Kids and a Queen
as Reporter
Dr. Socrates
as Gangster
Charlie Chan in Shanghai
as Taxi Driver Henchman
The Daring Young Man
as Reporter
The Miracle Rider
as Morley
A Notorious Gentleman
as Taxicab Driver
The Oil Raider
as Simmons
Gridiron Flash
as Convict Football Player
She Had to Choose
as Hold-Up Man
Name the Woman
as Reporter
Blind Date
as Evans - Bob's Chauffeur
The Lost Jungle
as Slade
The Personality Kid
as Max
Hell Bent for Love
as Ernest Dallas
The Lost Jungle
as Slade
Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen
as Grip
Before Dawn
as Policeman in Car (uncredited)
Arizona to Broadway
as Pete
Rockabye
as Reporter (uncredited)
Renegades of the West
as Bob
The World and the Flesh
as Vorobiov
Cock of the Air
as Military Policeman
Suicide Fleet
as Radio Operator (uncredited)
The Good Bad Girl
as Thug
Going Wild
as Ferguson - Pilot
El Valiente
as Sargento de Policia
The Last of the Vargas
Numbered Men
as Convict Road Laborer (extra)
The Thrill Seekers
as A Hood
The First Auto
as Bartender
Flashing Oars
as Student
The Relay
as Sophomore
Making Good
as Student
