Bob Steele (actor)

For other people named Bob Steele, see Bob Steele (disambiguation).

Bob Steele
Bob Steele in The Carson City Kid (1940)
Born	Robert Adrian Bradbury (1907-01-23)January 23, 1907 Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Died	December 21, 1988(1988-12-21) (aged 81)
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Other names	Bob Bradbury Jr.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1920–1973
Spouse(s)	Louise A. Chessman ​ ​ (m. 1931;div. 1933)​ Alice Petty Hackley ​ ​ (m. 1935;div. 1938)​ Virginia Nash Tatem ​ (m. 1939)​

Bob Steele (January 23, 1907 – December 21, 1988) was an American actor in film and television, performing mostly in Westerns. He also was billed as Bob Bradbury Jr., changing his name to Bob Steele in 1927 when he starred in The Mojave Kid. Altogether, Steele appeared in more than 400 Western films and television series. In 1937 and 1938, he was among the top 10 Western moneymakers. ^[1]

Steele was born Robert Adrian Bradbury Portland Oregon, his father was Robert North Bradbury, who was a director of Western films straddling the silent and talkie eras. Steele began acting as a child actor, appearing in films directed by his father.

Early life

Steele was born Robert Adrian Bradbury in Portland, Oregon. His parents were Robert North Bradbury and the former Nieta Quinn. ^[2] He had a twin brother, Bill, also an actor, ^[2] as well as another brother named Jim. ^[1]

Being born into a vaudeville family, Bob and his brother Bill appeared as The Murdock Brothers. ^[1] After years of touring, the family settled in Hollywood in the late 1910s, where his father soon found work in the movies, first as an actor, later as a director. ^[2]

In 1920, Steele's father, Robert N. Bradbury, filmed and directed a number of two-reelers that he had made of Bill and his brother Bob. After showing these to friends, it was suggested that he produce them as an adventure series for children. They were released as a series of 16 one-reelers titled The Adventures of Bill and Bob . The series was only moderately successful because screenings were designed for children and thus were often withdrawn from theaters and instead shown in Sunday school groups and in schools. ^[3]

Steele attended Glendale High School, but left before graduation. ^[2] While at Glendale, Steele became close friends with classmate Duke Morrison, who would, like Steele, become an actor and change his name to John Wayne. ^[4] Steele would remain a lifelong presence around Wayne. ^[4]

Career

Steele's career began to take off in 1927, when he was hired by production company Film Booking Offices of America (FBO) to star in a series of Westerns. Renamed Bob Steele at FBO, he soon made a name for himself, and in the late 1920s, '30s, and '40s, starred in B Westerns for almost every minor film studio, including Monogram, Supreme, Tiffany, Syndicate, Republic (including several films of The Three Mesquiteers series ^[5] ) and Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) (including the initial films of their "Billy the Kid" series ^[6] ), plus he had the occasional role in an A-movie, as in the adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men in 1939. ^[7]

In the 1940s, Steele's career as a cowboy hero was on the decline, although he still had leading roles in Westerns as late as 1946 in films such as Ambush Trail (1946). ^[8] He kept himself working regularly by accepting supporting roles in big movies like Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep , and the John Wayne vehicles Island in the Sky , Rio Bravo , Rio Lobo , The Comancheros , and The Longest Day . ^[9] Besides these he made occasional appearances in science fiction films like The Atomic Submarine ^[10] and Giant from the Unknown . ^{[11] [12]}

He also performed on television, including the role of Sergeant Granger in the premiere episode, "The Peacemaker", in 1957 of the ABC/Warner Bros. Western series, Colt .45 . In 1957, he was cast as Sam Shoulders in "Bunch Quitter" in another ABC/WB Western series, Sugarfoot , with Will Hutchins. He appeared in 1958 and 1959 in two episodes of the NBC Western, The Californians , and three episodes of Maverick with James Garner, including "The War of the Silver Kings", "The Seventh Hand", and "Holiday at Hollow Rock".

Steele appeared as Kirby with Agnes Moorehead and Madlyn Rhue in the 1959 episode "In Memoriam" of another ABC Western series, The Rebel , starring Nick Adams. He also appeared as Deputy Sam in four episodes of Hugh O'Brian's The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp . In 1959, he appeared with Mason Alan Dinehart, another Wyatt Earp alumnus, in the episode "Half a Loaf" of the syndicated series, Death Valley Days , hosted by Stanley Andrews.

Steele appeared in six different episodes of the Walt Disney's Western television series Texas John Slaughter with Tom Tryon. On January 25, 1960, Steele was cast as the frontier gunfighter Luke Short in an episode of the CBS Western series, The Texan , starring Rory Calhoun.

In the mid-1960s, Steele was cast in a regular supporting role as Trooper Duffy in ABC's F Troop , ^[13] which allowed him to show his comic talent. Trooper Duffy in the F Troop story line claimed to have been "shoulder to shoulder with Davy Crockett at the Alamo" and to have been the only survivor of the battle 40 years before. In real life, 40 years before F Troop, Steele played a supporting role in his father's 1926 film Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo .

Steele is interred in the columbarium at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills. ^[14]

Legacy

In Peter Straub and Michael Easton's The Green Woman graphic novel, the protagonist is named Bob Steele. The novel explicitly states that he is named after the actor. ^[15]

Selected filmography

Further information: Bob Steele filmography

References

1. Katchmer 2009, p. 358.
2. Katchmer, George A. (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland. pp. 358–359. ISBN   9780786446933 . Retrieved August 12, 2018.
3. Miller 1979, p. 31.
4. Eyman 2015, p. 30.
5. Martin, Len D. (August 13, 2015). The Republic Pictures Checklist: Features, Serials, Cartoons, Short Subjects and Training Films of Republic Pictures Corporation, 1935-1959. McFarland. p. 312. ISBN   978-1-4766-0960-7.
6. Etulain, Richard W. (July 9, 2020). Thunder in the West: The Life and Legends of Billy the Kid. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 415. ISBN   978-0-8061-6805-0.
7. Freese, Gene (September 11, 2017). Classic Movie Fight Scenes: 75 Years of Bare Knuckle Brawls, 1914-1989. McFarland. p. 34. ISBN   978-1-4766-2935-3.
8. Pitts, Michael R. (January 4, 2013). Western Movies: A Guide to 5,105 Feature Films, 2d ed. McFarland. ISBN   978-0-7864-6372-5.
9. Videohound (1996). 1997 Videohound's Guide to Three and Four-Star Movies. Broadway Books. p. 556. ISBN   978-0-553-06715-6.
10. Weaver, Tom (April 23, 2007). Eye on Science Fiction: 20 Interviews with Classic SF and Horror Filmmakers. McFarland. ISBN   978-0-7864-3028-4.
11. More Magnificent Mountain Movies. W. Lee Cozad. ISBN   978-0-9723372-3-6.
12. Pitts, Michael R. (April 19, 2019). Astor Pictures: A Filmography and History of the Reissue King, 1933-1965. McFarland. ISBN   978-1-4766-3628-3.
13. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 319–320. ISBN   978-0-7864-6477-7.
14. Ellenberger, Allan R. (May 1, 2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. ISBN   978-0-7864-5019-0.
15. Straub, Peter; Easton, Michael; Bolton, John (2010). The Green Woman. Titan. ISBN   978-0-85768-035-8.

Sources

• Eyman, Scott (2015). John Wayne: The Life and Legend. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1-4391-9959-6.
• Katchmer, George A. (2009). A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland. ISBN   978-0-7864-4693-3.
• Miller, Lee O. (1979). The Great Cowboy Stars of Movies & Television. Arlington House. ISBN   978-0-87000-429-2.

External links

• Bob Steele – A Biography on (re)Search my Trash
• Bob Steele at IMDb