McCrea graduated from Hollywood High School and then Pomona College (class of 1928[5]), where he had acted on stage and took courses in drama and public speaking, while appearing regularly at the Pasadena Playhouse. As a high school student, he worked as a stunt double[4] and held horses for cowboy stars William S. Hart and Tom Mix.[2]
The 6'2½" McCrea worked as an extra, stunt man and bit player from 1927-28, when he signed a contract with MGM, where he was cast in a major role in The Jazz Age (1929), and got his first leading role that same year in The Silver Horde.[2] He moved to RKO in 1930, where he established himself as a handsome leading man who was considered versatile enough to star in both dramas and comedies.
Performing in Westerns was a return to what he had done earlier in his career, and McCrea enjoyed the genre. He was Wyatt Earp in Wichita directed by Jacques Tourneur. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association awarded the film with "Best Picture - Outdoor Drama" in 1955. In a 1978 interview, he said:
I liked doing comedies, but as I got older I was better suited to do Westerns. Because I think it becomes unattractive for an older fellow trying to look young, falling in love with attractive girls in those kinds of situations.... Anyway, I always felt so much more comfortable in the Western. The minute I got a horse and a hat and a pair of boots on, I felt easier. I didn't feel like I was an actor anymore. I felt like I was the guy out there doing it.[2]
In 1959, McCrea and his son Jody starred in the NBC-TV series Wichita Town, which lasted only one season. Earlier he had turned down the lead in Rawhide, feeling it would make too heavy a workload. A few years later, McCrea united with fellow veteran of westerns Randolph Scott in Ride the High Country (1962), directed by Sam Peckinpah, after which he did not make another feature film until The Young Rounders (1966). Four more years were to pass before his next film, but 1970 saw the release of two films: Cry Blood, Apache, again with his son Jody, and Sioux Nation. He made his final film appearance in 1976, in Mustang Country.[citation needed]
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, McCrea has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6901 Hollywood Blvd. and another star at 6241 Hollywood Blvd. for his contribution to radio.
McCrea married actress Frances Dee in Brooklyn on October 20, 1933,[11] after they met while filming The Silver Cord.[2][12] The couple had three sons, Jody, Peter and David. Joel and Frances remained married until his death 57 years later.
McCrea – who was an outdoorsman who had once listed his occupation as "rancher" and his hobby as "acting" – had begun buying property as early as 1933, when he purchased his first 1,000 acres (400ha) in a then unincorporated area of eastern Ventura County, California, which later became Thousand Oaks, California. This was the beginning of what became a 3,000-acre (1,200ha) spread. McCrea and his wife Frances lived, raised their sons, and rode their horses on this ranch.[2][13]
By the end of the 1940s, McCrea was a multi-millionaire, as much from his real-estate dealings as from his movie stardom. In the early 1960s, he sold 1,200 acres (490ha) of land to an oil company, on the condition that they would not drill within sight of his home.[4]
McCrea's work ethic may have stemmed from his friendship in the 1930s with fellow personality and sometime actor Will Rogers. McCrea recounted that "the Oklahoma Sage" gave him a profound piece of advice: "Save half of what you make, and live on just the other half."[14]
After his death his family ultimately donated thirty five acres of their personal property to the newly formed Conejo Valley YMCA for the city of Thousand Oaks, California preserving the ranch.[15] They also donated 75 acres to the Conejo Open Space Conservancy Agency (COSCA), which is designated as the Joel McCrea Wildlife Preserve[citation needed]; and five acres to the Boys and Girls Club of Camarillo, CA.
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↑ McCrea also appeared in Sturges' The Great Moment, which was filmed in 1942 but not released until 1944 because of studio interference. The film was not a success and marked a decline in Sturges' career.
↑ Ragan, David Movie stars of the '30s: A complete reference guide for the film historian or trivia buffStars of the '30s, 1985, Prentice-Hall, ISBN0-13-604901-X
Nott, Robert Last of the Cowboy Heroes: The Westerns of Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Audie Murphy, 2000, McFarland & Company, Inc., ISBN0-7864-2261-0
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