Nancy Kelly was an American actress in film, theater, and television. A child actress and model, she was a repertory cast member of CBS Radio's The March of Time, and appeared in several films in the late 1920s. She became a leading lady upon returning to the screen in the late 1930s, while still in her teens, and made two dozen movies between 1938 and 1946, including portraying Tyrone Power's love interest in the classic Jesse James (1939), which also featured Henry Fonda, and playing opposite Spencer Tracy in Stanley and Livingstone, later that same year. After turning to the stage in the late 1940s, she had her greatest success in a character role, the distraught mother in The Bad Seed, receiving a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the 1955 stage production and an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress for the 1956 film adaptation, her last film role. Kelly then worked regularly in television until 1963, then took over the role of Martha in the original Broadway production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for several months. She returned to television for a handful of appearances in the mid-1970s.
Alexander Franklin James was a Confederate soldier and guerrilla; in the post-Civil War period, he was an outlaw. The older brother of outlaw Jesse James, Frank was also part of the James–Younger Gang.
Brigham Young is a 1940 American biographical western film starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell and Dean Jagger that describes Young's succession to the presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after founder Joseph Smith was assassinated in 1844. The supporting cast features Brian Donlevy, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Mary Astor, Vincent Price and Tully Marshall.
The James–Younger Gang was a notable 19th-century gang of American outlaws that revolved around Jesse James and his brother Frank James. The gang was based in the state of Missouri, the home of most of the members.
Tyrone Edmund Power III was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include Jesse James, The Mark of Zorro, Marie Antoinette, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan, Prince of Foxes, Witness for the Prosecution, The Black Rose, and Captain from Castile. Power's own favorite film among those in which he starred was Nightmare Alley.
Jane Darwell was an American actress of stage, film, and television. With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her poignant portrayal of the matriarch and leader of the Joad family in the film adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, for which she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Thomas Coleman Younger was an American Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War and later an outlaw leader with the James–Younger Gang. He was the elder brother of Jim, John and Bob Younger, who were also members of the gang.
Zerelda Amanda Mimms James was the wife and first cousin of Jesse James.
The Return of Frank James is a 1940 Western film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Henry Fonda and Gene Tierney. It is a sequel to Henry King's 1939 film Jesse James. Written by Sam Hellman, the film loosely follows the life of Frank James following the death of his outlaw brother, Jesse James, at the hands of the Ford brothers. The film is universally considered historically inaccurate, but was a commercial success. It was the first motion picture for the actress Gene Tierney, who plays a reporter for the newspaper The Denver Star.
The Long Riders is a 1980 American biographical Western film directed by Walter Hill. It was produced by James Keach, Stacy Keach and Tim Zinnemann and featured an original soundtrack by Ry Cooder. Cooder won the Best Music award in 1980 from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards for this soundtrack. The film was entered into the 1980 Cannes Film Festival.
Robert Newton Ford was an American outlaw who killed fellow outlaw Jesse James on April 3, 1882. He and his brother Charley, both members of the James–Younger Gang under James's leadership, went on to perform paid re-enactments of the killing at publicity events. Ford went on to operate various saloons and dance halls in the West, before being killed – at age 30 – by Edward Capehart O'Kelley in Creede, Colorado.
American Outlaws is a 2001 American Western action film directed by Les Mayfield and starring Colin Farrell, Scott Caan, and Ali Larter.
Zerelda Elizabeth Cole James Simms Samuel was the mother of famous outlaws Frank James and Jesse James.
The John Ford Stock Company is the name given to the large collection of actors used repeatedly in the films of American director John Ford. Most famous among these was John Wayne, who appeared in twenty-four films and three television episodes for the director.
The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid is a 1972 American Western film about the James-Younger Gang distributed by Universal Pictures. It was written and directed by Philip Kaufman in a cinéma vérité style and starring Cliff Robertson. The film purports to recreate the James-Younger Gang's most infamous escapade, the September 7, 1876, robbery of "the biggest bank west of the Mississippi", in Northfield, Minnesota.
The True Story of Jesse James is a 1957 American Western drama film adapted from Henry King's 1939 film Jesse James, which was only loosely based on James' life. It was directed by Nicholas Ray, with Robert Wagner portraying Jesse James and Jeffrey Hunter starring as Frank James. Filming took place during 1955. Originally titled The James Brothers in the United Kingdom, the film focused on the relationship between the two James brothers during the last 18 years of Jesse James' life.
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie" area of Missouri, James and his family maintained strong Southern sympathies. He and his brother Frank James joined pro-Confederate guerrillas known as "bushwhackers" operating in Missouri and Kansas during the American Civil War. As followers of William Quantrill and "Bloody Bill" Anderson, they were accused of committing atrocities against Union soldiers and civilian abolitionists, including the Centralia Massacre in 1864.
When the Daltons Rode is a 1940 American Western film directed by George Marshall and starring Randolph Scott, Kay Francis and Brian Donlevy. Based on the 1931 book of the same name by Emmett Dalton, a member of the Dalton Gang, and Jack Jungmeyer Sr., the film also includes a fictional family friend who tries to dissuade the Dalton brothers from becoming outlaws.
Jesse James is a 1927 American silent Western film produced by Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky and released through Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by Lloyd Ingraham and starred cowboy star Fred Thomson whose wife Frances Marion wrote the scenario under the nom de plume Frank M. Clifton.
Cultural depictions of Jesse James appear in various types of media, including literature, video games, comics, music, stage productions, films, television, and radio. James is variously described as an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla, and leader of the James–Younger Gang. After the American civil war, as members of various gangs of outlaws, Jesse and Frank James robbed banks, stagecoaches, and trains across the Midwest, gaining national fame and even sympathy despite their crimes. James became an iconic figure from the era, and his life has been dramatized and memorialized numerous times.
