Richard Arlen
Acting
Biography
Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore) was an American film and television actor. He served as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Flying Corps during World War I. After the war, he went to the oilfields of Texas and Oklahoma and found work as a tool boy. He was thereafter a messenger and sporting editor of a newspaper before going to Los Angeles to act in films, but no producer wanted him. He was a delivery boy for a film laboratory when the motorcycle which he was riding landed him a broken leg outside the Paramount Pictures lot. A sympathetic film director gave him his start as an extra. He appeared at first in silent films before making the transition to talkies. His first important film role was in Vengeance of the Deep. He took time out from his Hollywood career to teach as a United States Army Air Forces flight instructor in World War II. Arlen is best known for his role as a pilot in the Academy Award-winning Wings with Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Gary Cooper, El Brendel, and his second wife, Jobyna Ralston, whom he married in 1927. He was among the more famous residents of the celebrity enclave, Toluca Lake, California. He married New York socialite, Margaret Kinsella, in 1946. In 1939, Universal teamed him with Andy Devine for a series of 14 B-pictures, mostly action-comedies with heavy reliance on stock footage from larger-scale films. They are informally known as the "Aces of Action" series, which is how the stars were billed in the trailers. When Arlen left the studio in 1941, the series continued with Devine teamed with a variety of other actors. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Arlen was active in television, having guest starred in several anthology series, including Playhouse 90, The Loretta Young Show, The 20th Century Fox Hour, and in three episodes of the series about clergymen, Crossroads. In 1960, Arlen was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star at 6755 Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the film industry. In 1968, he appeared on Petticoat Junction playing himself. The episode was called "Wings" and it was in direct reference to the 1927 silent movie Wings. Arlen appeared in westerns, such as Lawman, Branded, Bat Masterson, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Wagon Train, and Yancy Derringer, and in such drama/adventure programs as Ripcord, Whirlybirds, Perry Mason, The New Breed, Coronado 9, and Michael Shayne.
Born: August 30, 1899
Place of Birth: Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
Known For
Filmography
as (archive footage)
as Mr. Monahan
as Silent Film Star 2
as Grimes
as Townsman
as Man in Club
as Sam Tyler
as Sheriff Travis
as Deadwood Telegrapher
as Billy Kelly
as Brig. Gen. F.W. Ramsgate
as Ned Duggan
as Captain Gannon
as Matthew Ridgeway
as Doctor Kent
as Pete
as National Intelligence
as Sheriff Jenkins
as Charles Devon
as Ben the Bartender
as Sen. Oscar Anderson
as Self
as Lee Barrenger
as Col. Ralph Holbein
as Richard
as Willits
as Col. Edwin Martin
as Chris Garber
as Bacon
as John Minor
as Sheriff Dan Rainey
as General Hugh Morgan
as Damon Ring, Sr.
as Sgt. Jim Heisler
as Dr. Harrison
as Louis Contino
as C. W. Rivial
as Sheriff Ward Young
as Tony Pelassier
as John 'Captain' Martin
as Nevers
as Christopher Waring
as Gen. Robert E 'Bob' Hale
as Joe Morgan
as Brundage
as Self
as Showdown Calhoun
as Charles Storrs
as Union Captain
as Self
as Mike Adams
as Harvey Howell
as Dobe Williams
as Cliff Jordan
as Buffalo Bill
as Simon Lash
as Himself (uncredited)
as Matt Fraser
as Johnny March
as Capt. Jed Kilton
as John Craig
as Tim Jones
as Dr. Patrick Cory
as Russell Evans
as Richard Houston
as Lewis J. 'Lee' Deerhold
as Woody Ormsby
as Jon Davis
as Matt Carney
as Pvt. John W. Lewis
as Johnny Maverick
as Skinner Barnes
as Jim Clark
as Dick Williams
as Dick Manning
as Dan Kendall
as Brad Farrell
as Dick O'Hara
as Dick Barclay
as Dick McManus
as Dick Talbot
as Dick 'Kid' Roberts
as Walter Norton
as Frank Stewart
as "Lucky" Larry Taylor
as Clark Manning
as Gene 'Loop' Gillan
as Dan Burton
as Capt. Robert Lawrence
as Wally King
as Denny Paine
as Gaston Rogers
as Perry Brown
as Steve Havens Jackson Jr.
as Alan Townsend
as Lee Rogers
as Hickey
as Bob Harvey
as William 'Bill' Jones, an alias of William Foster
as Dan Matthews
as Mal Stevens
as Art Ryan
as Julian Barrow
as Wild Bill Smith
as Lucky Davis
as Cheshire Cat
as Walt Martin
as Dr. Alan Stevens
as Mondrake
as Bill Hoffman
as Self
as Edward Parker
as Gary King
as Pipes Boley
as Frank C. Marsh
as Bert 'Speed' Condon
as Self (uncredited)
as David Frost
as Dan Curtis
as Lt. Tom Colton
as Tom Blake
as Joe Hart
as Brad Farley
as Dan McMasters
as Larry Payne
as Stan Hollister
as Phillip 'Pink' Barker
as Jim Cleve
as Hunter (Dream Girl)
as Dick Bailey
as Heyst
as Lou Larrigan
as Steven 'Steve'
as Larry Lee
as Bob Moran
as Lt. Harry Faversham
as Joe "Dum-Dum" Brooks
as Fred Tilden
as The Boy (Jim)
as Red
as Her Problem
as Edd Denmeade
as Capt. Colton
as Bob Blewe
as Jimmie Adams
as David Armstrong
as John Shreve
as Ralph Treadway
as Seaman (uncredited)
as Reporter (uncredited)
as 'Tubby' Clark
as Percy Brown
as Link Halliwell
as Bather
as Dumas Dufrayne
as Richard Arlen