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Richard Arlen
Acting
Biography
Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore) was an American film and television actor. He served as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Flying Corps during World War I. After the war, he went to the oilfields of Texas and Oklahoma and found work as a tool boy. He was thereafter a messenger and sporting editor of a newspaper before going to Los Angeles to act in films, but no producer wanted him. He was a delivery boy for a film laboratory when the motorcycle which he was riding landed him a broken leg outside the Paramount Pictures lot. A sympathetic film director gave him his start as an extra. He appeared at first in silent films before making the transition to talkies. His first important f…
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Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore) was an American film and television actor. He served as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Flying Corps during World War I. After the war, he went to the oilfields of Texas and Oklahoma and found work as a tool boy. He was thereafter a messenger and sporting editor of a newspaper before going to Los Angeles to act in films, but no producer wanted him. He was a delivery boy for a film laboratory when the motorcycle which he was riding landed him a broken leg outside the Paramount Pictures lot. A sympathetic film director gave him his start as an extra. He appeared at first in silent films before making the transition to talkies. His first important film role was in Vengeance of the Deep. He took time out from his Hollywood career to teach as a United States Army Air Forces flight instructor in World War II. Arlen is best known for his role as a pilot in the Academy Award-winning Wings with Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Gary Cooper, El Brendel, and his second wife, Jobyna Ralston, whom he married in 1927. He was among the more famous residents of the celebrity enclave, Toluca Lake, California. He married New York socialite, Margaret Kinsella, in 1946. In 1939, Universal teamed him with Andy Devine for a series of 14 B-pictures, mostly action-comedies with heavy reliance on stock footage from larger-scale films. They are informally known as the "Aces of Action" series, which is how the stars were billed in the trailers. When Arlen left the studio in 1941, the series continued with Devine teamed with a variety of other actors. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Arlen was active in television, having guest starred in several anthology series, including Playhouse 90, The Loretta Young Show, The 20th Century Fox Hour, and in three episodes of the series about clergymen, Crossroads. In 1960, Arlen was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star at 6755 Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the film industry. In 1968, he appeared on Petticoat Junction playing himself. The episode was called "Wings" and it was in direct reference to the 1927 silent movie Wings. Arlen appeared in westerns, such as Lawman, Branded, Bat Masterson, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Wagon Train, and Yancy Derringer, and in such drama/adventure programs as Ripcord, Whirlybirds, Perry Mason, The New Breed, Coronado 9, and Michael Shayne.
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BODY OF WORK
Richard Arlen's Filmography
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Clara Bow: Hollywood's Lost Screen Goddess
The Muppets Go to the Movies
as David Armstrong (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Horror Show
as (archive footage)
A Whale of a Tale
as Mr. Monahan
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
as Silent Film Star 2
The Sky's the Limit
as Grimes
Buckskin
as Townsman
Rogue's Gallery
as Man in Club
Fort Utah
as Sam Tyler
Hostile Guns
as Sheriff Travis
Red Tomahawk
as Deadwood Telegrapher
Road to Nashville
as Studio Boss
Waco
as Billy Kelly
To the Shores of Hell
as Brig. Gen. F.W. Ramsgate
Johnny Reno
as Ned Duggan
Apache Uprising
as Captain Gannon
The Bounty Killer
as Matthew Ridgeway
Town Tamer
as Doctor Kent
Black Spurs
as Pete
The Human Duplicators
as National Intelligence
Young Fury
as Sheriff Jenkins
Sex and the College Girl
as Charles Devon
Law of the Lawless
as Ben the Bartender
The Shepherd of the Hills
as Old Matt
The Best Man
as Sen. Oscar Anderson
The Crawling Hand
as Lee Barrenger
The Young and the Brave
as Col. Ralph Holbein
The Last Time I Saw Archie
as Col. Edwin Martin
Raymie
as Chris Garber
Warlock
as Bacon
Cavalry Command
as Sgt. Jim Heisler
Child of Trouble
as Louis Contino
The Mountain
as C. W. Rivial
Hidden Guns
as Sheriff Ward Young
Blonde Blackmailer
as Tony Pelassier
Devil's Point
as John 'Captain' Martin
Sabre Jet
as Gen. Robert E 'Bob' Hale
The Blazing Forest
as Joe Morgan
Hurricane Smith
as Brundage
Flaming Feather
as Showdown Calhoun
Silver City
as Charles Storrs
Kansas Raiders
as Union Captain
Grand Canyon
as Mike Adams
When My Baby Smiles at Me
as Harvey Howell
The Return of Wildfire
as Dobe Williams
Speed to Spare
as Cliff Jordan
Buffalo Bill Rides Again
as Buffalo Bill
Accomplice
as Simon Lash
The French Key
as Himself (uncredited)
The Phantom Speaks
as Matt Fraser
Identity Unknown
as Johnny March
The Big Bonanza
as Capt. Jed Kilton
Storm Over Lisbon
as John Craig
That's My Baby!
as Tim Jones
The Lady and the Monster
as Dr. Patrick Cory
Timber Queen
as Russell Evans
Minesweeper
as Richard Houston
Submarine Alert
as Lewis J. 'Lee' Deerhold
Alaska Highway
as Woody Ormsby
Aerial Gunner
as Jon Davis
Wrecking Crew
as Matt Carney
A Letter From Bataan
as Pvt. John W. Lewis
Wildcat
as Johnny Maverick
No Poster
Soaring Stars
as Himself
Torpedo Boat
as Skinner Barnes
Flying Blind
as Jim Clark
A Dangerous Game
as Dick Williams
Raiders of the Desert
as Dick Manning
Forced Landing
as Dan Kendall
Power Dive
as Brad Farrell
Men of the Timberland
as Dick O'Hara
Mutiny in the Arctic
as Dick Barclay
Lucky Devils
as Dick McManus
The Devil's Pipeline
as Dick Talbot
The Leather Pushers
as Dick 'Kid' Roberts
Black Diamonds
as Walter Norton
No Poster
Swing with Bing
as Himself
Hot Steel
as Frank Stewart
Danger On Wheels
as "Lucky" Larry Taylor
The Man from Montreal
as Clark Manning
Legion of Lost Flyers
as Gene 'Loop' Gillan
Tropic Fury
as Dan Burton
Mutiny on the Blackhawk
as Capt. Robert Lawrence
Missing Daughters
as Wally King
Straight, Place and Show
as Denny Paine
Call of The Yukon
as Gaston Rogers
No Time to Marry
as Perry Brown
Murder in Greenwich Village
as Steve Havens Jackson Jr.
Artists & Models
as Alan Townsend
Secret Valley
as Lee Rogers
The Great Barrier
as Hickey
The Mine with the Iron Door
as Bob Harvey
Three Live Ghosts
as William 'Bill' Jones, an alias of William Foster
The Calling of Dan Matthews
as Dan Matthews
No Poster
Hollywood Hobbies
as Himself
Let 'em Have It
as Mal Stevens
Helldorado
as Art Ryan
Ready for Love
as Julian Barrow
Hollywood on Parade No. B-10
as Self
She Made Her Bed
as Wild Bill Smith
Come On, Marines!
as Lucky Davis
Alice in Wonderland
as Cheshire Cat
No Poster
Hell and High Water
as Capt J.J. Jericho
Golden Harvest
as Walt Martin
Three Cornered Moon
as Dr. Alan Stevens
No Poster
How to Break 90 #4: Downswing
College Humor
as Mondrake
Song of the Eagle
as Bill Hoffman
Hollywood on Parade No. A-6
as Self / Arlen the Great
Island of Lost Souls
as Edward Parker
The All-American
as Gary King
Tiger Shark
as Pipes Boley
Guilty as Hell
as Frank C. Marsh
Sky Bride
as Bert 'Speed' Condon
Hollywood on Parade No. A-4
as Self (uncredited)
Wayward
as David Frost
Touchdown!
as Dan Curtis
Caught
as Lt. Tom Colton
The Secret Call
as Tom Blake
The Lawyer's Secret
as Joe Hart
Gun Smoke
as Brad Farley
The Conquering Horde
as Dan McMasters
Only Saps Work
as Larry Payne
The Santa Fe Trail
as Stan Hollister
The Sea God
as Phillip 'Pink' Barker
The Border Legion
as Jim Cleve
Paramount on Parade
as Hunter (Dream Girl)
The Light of Western Stars
as Dick Bailey
Dangerous Paradise
as Heyst
Burning Up
as Lou Larrigan
The Virginian
as Steven 'Steve'
Dangerous Curves
as Larry Lee
Thunderbolt
as Bob Moran
The Four Feathers
as Lt. Harry Faversham
The Man I Love
as Joe "Dum-Dum" Brooks
Manhattan Cocktail
as Fred Tilden
Beggars of Life
as The Boy (Jim)
Ladies of the Mob
as Red
Feel My Pulse
as Her Problem
Under the Tonto Rim
as Edd Denmeade
She's a Sheik
as Capt. Colton
Figures Don't Lie
as Bob Blewe
Sally in Our Alley
as Jimmie Adams
Wings
as David Armstrong
The Blood Ship
as John Shreve
Rolled Stockings
as Ralph Treadway
Old Ironsides
as Seaman (uncredited)
You'd Be Surprised
as Reporter (uncredited)
Padlocked
as 'Tubby' Clark
Behind the Front
as Percy Brown
The Enchanted Hill
as Link Halliwell
The Coast of Folly
as Bather
In the Name of Love
as Dumas Dufrayne
Hollywood
as Richard Arlen
