Russell Simpson
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Russell McCaskill Simpson (June 17, 1880, Danville, California – December 12, 1959, Woodland Hills, California) was an American character actor who appeared in over 500 movies. He is best known for his "grizzled old man" appearances. Gaunt, lanky, and rustic-sounding, Simpson was a familiar character actor for almost forty-five years, particularly as a member of the John Ford Stock Company. At age 18 Simpson prospected for gold in Alaska. He began taking acting classes in Seattle, Washington. In 1910 he married Gertrude Alter from New York City. By 1909, he had gone into the theatre. He appeared in at least two plays on Broadway between 1909 and 1912, and made his motion picture debut in Cecil B. DeMille's 1914 original film version of The Virginian in a bit part. By 1923, when the film was remade, Simpson had progressed to playing the lead villain. Throughout his career, Simpson worked for 12 years in road shows, stock companies, and on Broadway. He didn't usually perform lead roles, but he did star in many movies throughout the silent movie era. He performed a lead role as the grandfather in Out of the Dust (1920). Simpson is best known for his work in the films of John Ford and, in particular, for his portrayal of Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). His final film was The Horse Soldiers, his tenth film for Ford. Simpson worked up to 1959, the year of his death. He was the president of the Overseas Phonograph Accessories Corporation.
Known for
Credits
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
as Kenneth Allen (uncredited)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
as Pa Joad
Susan Lenox (1931)
as Doctor
The Barrier (1917)
as John Gaylord / John Tale
Hello Trouble (1932)
as Jonathan Kenyon
Breakers Ahead (1918)
as Captain Scudder
The Horse Soldiers (1959)
as Henry Goodbody
Death Valley (1946)
as Old Silas Bagley
Oklahoma! (1955)
as The Minister (uncredited)
The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon (1952)
as Sam Stanton
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
as Brother Griffith - Elder (uncredited)
Dodge City (1939)
as Orth
My Darling Clementine (1946)
as John Simpson
Parnell (1937)
as Dead Child's Father
Brigham Young (1940)
as U.S. Army Major
They Were Expendable (1945)
as 'Dad' Knowland
Carolina (1934)
as Richards
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
as Dr. Petry
Fighting Cressy (1919)
as Hiram McKinstry
The Tin Star (1957)
as Clem Hall
Tap Roots (1948)
as Big Sam Dabney
Old Shoes (1925)
Actor
Lahoma (1920)
as 'Brick' Willock
Defying Destiny (1923)
as Mr. Wilkens
Desire (1923)
as Patrick Ryan
Along Came Jones (1945)
as Pop de Longpre
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
as Fred Bixby
Tall in the Saddle (1944)
as Pat Foster (uncredited)
The Tall Men (1955)
as Emigrant (uncredited)
Broken Lance (1954)
as Judge (uncredited)
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
as Woolridge (uncredited)
Joan of Arc (1948)
as Old Man with Pipe (uncredited)
Law and Order (1932)
as Judge R.W. Williams
Lovely Mary (1916)
as Peter Nelson
Painted People (1924)
as Fred Lane
Meet John Doe (1941)
as (uncredited)
Wagon Master (1950)
as Adam Perkins
The Eagle (1925)
as The Eagle's Lieutenant / Coach Driver (uncredited)
The Sun Shines Bright (1953)
as Lewt Lake
The Spoilers (1942)
as Flapjack
Call Her Savage (1932)
as Old Man in Wagon Train
Snowblind (1921)
as Hugh Garth
Abraham Lincoln (1930)
as Lincoln's Employer
Santa Fe Trail (1940)
as Shubel Morgan
The Outriders (1950)
as Farmer (uncredited)
Shut My Big Mouth (1942)
as Mayor Potter
Blue Jeans (1917)
as Jacob Tutwiler
Valley of the Giants (1938)
as McKenzie
San Francisco (1936)
as 'Red' Kelly
The Last Command (1955)
as The Parson
Lone Star (1952)
as Maynard Cole
Wild Bill Hickok Rides (1942)
as Ned Nolan
Virginia City (1940)
as Gaylord
Saddle Tramp (1950)
as Pop
The Gal Who Took the West (1949)
as Bartender (as old Timer)
Flames (1932)
as Jake
Oh, Johnny! (1918)
as Adele's Father
Noisy Neighbors (1929)
as Ebenezer
Comin' Round the Mountain (1951)
as Judge
Roughly Speaking (1945)
as The Colonel - Drill Instructor (uncredited)
Swamp Water (1941)
as Marty McCord
Green Light (1937)
as Sheep Man
The Girl of the Golden West (1938)
as Fred - Outrider in Prologue
Tobacco Road (1941)
as Chief of Police
Last of the Duanes (1941)
as Tom Duane
Under the Lash (1921)
as Simeon Krillet
Three Faces West (1940)
as Minister
The Brass Legend (1956)
as Deputy 'Pop' Jackson
Sixteen Fathoms Deep (1934)
as A.B. Crockett
Coroner Creek (1948)
as Walt Hardison
Tennessee Johnson (1942)
as Kirby
Life's Mockery (1928)
as Wolf Miller
The Heart of the Yukon (1927)
as 'Cash' Cynon
The Cabin in the Cotton (1932)
as Uncle Joe
The Challenge Accepted (1918)
as Uncle Zeke Sawyer
The Social Highwayman (1926)
as The Mayor's Partner
Ramona (1936)
as Scroggs
The Blue Bandanna (1919)
as Jim Yancy
Nazi Agent (1942)
as 2nd Captain (uncredited)
The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947)
as Dan Yeary
The Narrow Street (1925)
as Garvey
The Earth Woman (1926)
as Ezra Tilden
Mountain Justice (1937)
as Matthew Turnbull
Way Down East (1935)
as Squire Amasa Bartlett
Maid of Salem (1937)
as Village Marshal (Uncredited)
Gold Is Where You Find It (1938)
as MacKenzie
Secrets (1933)
as Doctor (uncredited)
Citadel of Crime (1941)
as Jess Meekins
Texas Masquerade (1944)
as J.K. Trimble
My Dog Shep (1946)
as Mathew Hodgkins
The Honor of the Press (1932)
as Dan Perkins
The Food Gamblers (1917)
as Samuel Sloane
The Brand (1919)
as Dan McGill
The World Moves On (1934)
as Notary (1825)
Frontier Marshal (1934)
as Editor Pickett
Bad Men of Missouri (1941)
as Hank Younger
West of the Pecos (1934)
as Roy Neal
Paddy O'Day (1936)
as Benton
The Deadlier Sex (1920)
as Jim Willis
The Virginian (1914)
as Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
The Big Bonanza (1944)
as Adam Parker
Billy the Kid (1930)
as Angus McSween
The Woman of the Town (1943)
as Sime
Border Patrol (1943)
as Orestes Krebs
Colt Comrades (1943)
as Sheriff
The Famous Ferguson Case (1932)
as Banker Craig
The Power and the Glory (1933)
as Professor (uncredited)
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952)
as Clem Johnson
Girl of the Ozarks (1936)
as Bascomb Rogers
Albuquerque (1948)
as Abner Huggins
Face in the Sky (1933)
as Pa Nathan Brown
Back to Nature (1936)
as Sheriff
Wyoming (1940)
as Mr. Bronson
Annie Laurie (1927)
as Sandy
Motive for Revenge (1935)
as McAllister
Riding High (1943)
as Frenchy McGuire
Sundown in Santa Fe (1948)
as Sheriff Jim Wyatt
Alexander Hamilton (1931)
as Harvey Taylor - First Ex-Soldier
Tropical Nights (1928)
as Singapore Joe
Paradise Isle (1937)
as Baxter
Free For All (1949)
as Farmer
The Great Meadow (1931)
as Thomas Hall
Heart of the North (1938)
as Dave MacMillan
Now We're in the Air (1927)
as Lord Abercrombie McTavish
The Fabulous Texan (1947)
as Wade Clayton
The First Auto (1927)
as Hank Armstrong
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent (1925)
as Jap Taylor
Three on a Honeymoon (1934)
as Ezra MacDuff
The Lone Star Ranger (1930)
as Colonel John Aldridge
Man Hunt (1936)
as Jeff Parkington
Silver Dollar (1932)
as Hamlin
Man to Man (1930)
as Uncle Cal
Tuna Clipper (1949)
as Capt. Fergus MacLennan
California Gold Rush (1946)
as Colonel Parker
Peg o' My Heart (1922)
as Jim O'Connell
Thunder Mountain (1925)
as Si Pace
Bad Bascomb (1946)
as Elijah Walker
The Bill of Rights (1939)
as Frontiersman
Lena Rivers (1932)
as Grandfather Nichols
Across the Dead-Line (1922)
as Enoch Kidder
The Kingdom Within (1922)
as Caleb Deming
Bowery Buckaroos (1947)
as Luke Barlow
Rustlin' for Cupid (1926)
as Hank Blatchford
The Lonely Man (1957)
Actor
The Virginian (1923)
as Trampas
Meet Me at the Fair (1953)
as Sheriff Evans
Lovey Mary (1926)
as Stubbins
The Untamed Breed (1948)
as Minister
Innocents of Paris (1929)
as Emile Leval
Moonlight in Vermont (1943)
as Uncle Rufus
Beauty and the Bad Man (1925)
as Chuckwalla Bill
Riders of the Night (1918)
as Sally's Grandfather
Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles (1933)
as Speaker
A Boy and His Dog (1946)
as Mr. Thornycroft
That I May Live (1937)
as Bish Plivens
Wild Geese Calling (1941)
as Marshal Len Baker
Circus Days (1923)
as Eben Holt
The Bushranger (1928)
as Sir Eric
Paint and Powder (1925)
as Riley
Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge (1937)
as Bayliss Baynum
Wild West Days (1937)
as Matt Keeler
Hearts Aflame (1923)
as Black Joe
Godless Men (1920)
as 'Black' Pawl
The Uphill Path (1918)
as James Lawton
The Splendid Road (1925)
as Capt. Lightfoot
The Sap (1929)
as The Banker
Radio Scout (1934)
as Pappy Tolliver
Desperate Trails (1939)
as Sheriff Big Bill Tanner
Feudin' Fools (1952)
as Grandpa Smith
Wild Geese (1927)
as Caleb Gare
Rags to Riches (1922)
as The Sheriff
Lone Star Ranger (1942)
as Tom Duane
The Hoosier Schoolmaster (1935)
as Doc Small
Desert Gold (1919)
as Ladd
Geronimo (1939)
as Scout
After the Fog (1929)
as Joshua Barker
Why Women Love (1925)
as Silas Martin
The Riding Tornado (1932)
as Sheriff
Faint Perfume (1925)
as Grandpa Crumb
Call of the Klondike (1950)
as Andy McKay
The Huntress (1923)
as Big Jack Skinner
Roaring Guns (1944)
as Farmer MacKenzie
The Harvester (1936)
as Abner Prewett
Ship of Souls (1925)
as Angus Garth
Western Caravans (1939)
as Winchester Thompson
Ridin' for Justice (1932)
as Marshal Joseph Slyde
The Frontiersman (1927)
as Andrew Jackson
The Girl of the Golden West (1923)
as Jack Rance
The Branding Iron (1920)
as John Carver
Bunty Pulls the Strings (1921)
as Tammas Biggar
My Lady's Past (1929)
Actor
A Weaver of Dreams (1918)
as Martin Chandler
Human Hearts (1922)
as Paul Logan
Ever Since Eve (1934)
as Jim Wood
The Border Legion (1918)
as Overland Bradley
The Old Homestead (1915)
as Sheriff
Bill Apperson's Boy (1919)
as Bill Apperson
All Faces West (1929)
as Gunner Bill