Glenn Strange

Glenn Strange

actor, music department, soundtrack

Glenn Strange was born on Aug 16, 1899 in USA. Glenn Strange's big-screen debut came with The Mounted Stranger directed by Arthur Rosson in 1930, strarring Cowhand Playing Harmonica (uncredited). Glenn Strange is known for Last Train from Gun Hill directed by John Sturges, Kirk Douglas stars as Marshal Matt Morgan and Anthony Quinn as Craig Belden. The most recent award Glenn Strange achieved is Western Heritage Awards. The upcoming new movie Glenn Strange plays is The Cardinal which will be released on Dec 12, 1963.

At various times in his life a rancher, deputy sheriff and rodeo performer, this huge, towering (6' 5") beast of a man was born George Glenn Strange in Weed, New Mexico, on August 16, 1899, but grew up a real-life cowboy in Cross Cut, Texas. He taught himself (by ear) the fiddle and guitar at a young age and started performing at local functions as a teen. In the late 1920s, Glenn and his cousin, Taylor McPeters, better known later as the western character actor Cactus Mack, joined a radio singing group known as the "The Arizona Wranglers" that toured throughout the country.They both started providing singing fillers in film westerns in the early 1930s. Glenn would play extra or bit roles for a number of years B Western and serials. One of his first roles was uncredited as a soldier, in tin armor, as part of "Ming's Army", in the science fiction classic serial "Flash Gordon"(1936/I). He would perform as a cowhand, rustler, accomplice, sidekick, or plain old warbling, harmonica-blowing cowboy. Eventually in the late 30s, his billing improved and he evolved into a full-time bad guy in hundreds of "B" westerns. He was seen (or glimpsed) in many of the popular serials of the day, including The Hurricane Express (1932), Le démon noir (1934),The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939), and Les justiciers du désert (1941). It was his massive build that helped him break into the Universal horror picture genre of the 1940s. Horror star Boris Karloff had grown weary and fearful of his Frankenstein Creature typecast and abandoned the role. Glenn was the perfect replacement for the job and made his monstrous debut with La Maison de Frankenstein (1944), quickly followed by La maison de Dracula (1945). It was he who played the Creature in the cult horror/comedy classic Deux nigauds contre Frankenstein (1948) as part of the monstrous trio of Bela Lugosi's Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolf Man.As the "B" western started faded off into the sunset in the 1950s, Strange moseyed on over to TV work. He played the nemesis "Butch Cavendish" and later reprised the role, after a prison escape, on "The Lone Ranger" (1949). Among other TV roles, he capped off his career with a steady (12 years) role as Sam the bartender on the classic Gunsmoke (1955) series from 1962 until shortly before his death from lung cancer in 1973.

  • Birthday

    Aug 16, 1899

  • Place of Birth

    Weed, New Mexico, USA

Known For

Last Train from Gun Hill
Movie
Last Train from Gun Hill

19597.3

The Rifleman
TV
The Rifleman

19588.3

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Movie
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

19577.2

The Fastest Gun Alive
Movie
The Fastest Gun Alive

19567.1

The Lone Ranger Story
Movie
The Lone Ranger Story

19558.1

Gunsmoke
TV
Gunsmoke

19558.1

The Adventures of Champion
TV
The Adventures of Champion

19557.3

Judge Roy Bean
TV
Judge Roy Bean

19557.2

Calamity Jane
Movie
Calamity Jane

19537.2

The Lone Ranger
TV
The Lone Ranger

19497.7

Awards

1 wins & 0 nominations

Western Heritage Awards
1972
Fictional Television Drama
Winner - Bronze Wrangler
Gunsmoke (1955)

Movies & TV Shows

All
Movies
TV Shows