Russell Simpson (actor)
Encyclopedia
Russell McCaskill Simpson (17 June 1880 – 12 December 1959) was an American character actor
.
Born in San Francisco, California
, Simpson is best known for his work in the films of John Ford
and, in particular, for his portrayal of Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath
in 1940.
Simpson reportedly prospected for gold in Alaska in his youth, but by 1909 had gone into the theatre. He appeared in at least two plays on Broadway between 1909 and 1912, and made his motion picture debut in Cecil B. DeMille
's 1914 original film version of The Virginian
in a bit part. By 1923, when the film was remade, Simpson had progressed to playing the lead villain.
Gaunt, lanky, and rustic-sounding, Simpson was a familiar character actor for almost forty-five years, particularly as a member of the John Ford Stock Company
. He worked up to 1959, the year of his death. His final film was The Horse Soldiers
, his tenth film for Ford. He died in Woodland Hills, California.
He was survived by his wife Gertrude. Simpson had two children, Russell Jr. and Roberta.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Born in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, Simpson is best known for his work in the films of John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
and, in particular, for his portrayal of Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath (film)
The Grapes of Wrath is a 1940 drama film directed by John Ford. It was based on John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and the executive producer was Darryl F...
in 1940.
Simpson reportedly prospected for gold in Alaska in his youth, but by 1909 had gone into the theatre. He appeared in at least two plays on Broadway between 1909 and 1912, and made his motion picture debut in Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille was an American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer in both silent and sound films. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies...
's 1914 original film version of The Virginian
The Virginian (1914 film)
The Virginian is a 1914 film based upon the novel by Owen Wister, and starring Dustin Farnum as the Virginian. The movie is the first of several versions, including a 1929 movie with Gary Cooper and Walter Huston and a 1960 television series. The 1914 film was directed by Cecil B....
in a bit part. By 1923, when the film was remade, Simpson had progressed to playing the lead villain.
Gaunt, lanky, and rustic-sounding, Simpson was a familiar character actor for almost forty-five years, particularly as a member of the John Ford Stock Company
John Ford Stock Company
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...
. He worked up to 1959, the year of his death. His final film was The Horse Soldiers
The Horse Soldiers
The Horse Soldiers is a 1959 DeLuxe Color war film, set in the American Civil War, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers...
, his tenth film for Ford. He died in Woodland Hills, California.
He was survived by his wife Gertrude. Simpson had two children, Russell Jr. and Roberta.
Selected filmography
- The VirginianThe Virginian (1914 film)The Virginian is a 1914 film based upon the novel by Owen Wister, and starring Dustin Farnum as the Virginian. The movie is the first of several versions, including a 1929 movie with Gary Cooper and Walter Huston and a 1960 television series. The 1914 film was directed by Cecil B....
(19141914 in filmThe year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.-Events:*The 3,300-seat Mark Strand Theatre opens in New York City....
) (uncredited) - Lovely MaryLovely Mary-Plot:Mary and her cousin Clairborne are the last descendants of the Lane family who announce they are selling their land. Two land scouts come over to buy their property. One of them, Roland Manning, falls in love with Mary. The other, Wade Dempster, tries to get his hand on their home by getting...
(19161916 in filmThe year 1916 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 17 - release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star....
) - The Deadlier SexThe Deadlier SexThe Deadlier Sex is a 1920 comedy film directed by Robert Thornby and featuring Boris Karloff.-Cast:* Blanche Sweet - Mary Willard* Winter Hall - Henry Willard* Roy Laidlaw - Huntley Green* Mahlon Hamilton - Harvey Judson* Russell Simpson - Jim Willis...
(19201920 in filmThe year 1920 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 27 - The Mark of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks opens.-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1920:U.S.A. unless stated*The $1,000,000 Reward...
) - Under the LashUnder the LashUnder the Lash is a 1921 silent drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gloria Swanson.-Cast:* Gloria Swanson - Deborah Krillet* Mahlon Hamilton - Robert Waring* Russell Simpson - Simeon Krillet* Lillian Leighton - Tant Anna Vanderberg...
(19211921 in film-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1921:U.S.A. unless stated*$10,000 Under a Pillow, silent film directed by Frank Moser*The Ace of Hearts, silent film directed by Wallace Worsley*Across the Divide, silent film directed by John Holloway...
) - Peg o' My HeartPeg o' My Heart (1922 film)Peg o' My Heart is a silent drama film directed by King Vidor and starring Laurette Taylor. It is based on the 1912 play written by Taylor's husband J. Hartley Manners. The play starred Laurette Taylor and famously ran a record number of performances on Broadway...
(19221922 in film-Events:* June 11 - United States première of Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North, the first commercially successful feature length documentary film....
) - The VirginianThe Virginian (1923 film)The Virginian is a 1923 silent film based upon the Owen Wister novel, with Kenneth Harlan as the Virginian and Russell Simpson as Trampas. The film was directed by Tom Forman and has been overshadowed by the 1929 movie with Gary Cooper and Walter Huston. There have been several versions of the...
(19231923 in film-Events:*April 15 - Lee De Forest demonstrates the Phonofilm sound-on-film system at the Rivoli Theater in New York with a series of short musical films featuring vaudeville performers.-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1923:U.S.A...
) - Annie Laurie (19271927 in film-Events:*January 10 - Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany.*April 7 - Abel Gance's Napoleon often considered his best known and greatest masterpiece, premiers at the Paris Opéra and would demonstrate techniques and equipment that would not be used for years to...
) - The First AutoThe First AutoThe First Auto is a 1927 film about the transition from horses to cars and the rift it causes in one family. It stars Russell Simpson, Charles Emmett Mack, and Patsy Ruth Miller...
(1927) - Now We're in the AirNow We're in the AirNow We're in the Air is a silent film starring the unofficial late-1920s comedy team of Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton, and Louise Brooks. The movie was directed by Frank R...
(1927) - The Trail of '98The Trail of '98The Trail of '98 is a 1928 silent drama film featuring Harry Carey. The film was originally released by MGM in a short-lived widescreen process called Fanthom Screen.-Cast:* Dolores del Río as Berna* Ralph Forbes as Larry* Karl Dane as Lars Petersen...
(19281928 in film-Events:Although some movies released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.* July 28 - Lights of New York is released by Warner Brothers. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film...
) - Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln (film)Abraham Lincoln, also released under the title D. W. Griffith's 'Abraham Lincoln', is a biographical film about American president Abraham Lincoln directed by D. W. Griffith. It stars Walter Huston as Lincoln and Una Merkel, in her first talking role, as Ann Rutledge...
(19301930 in film-Events:* November 1: The Big Trail featuring a young John Wayne in his first starring role is released in both 35mm, and a very early form of 70mm film and was the first large scale big-budget film of the sound era costing over $2 million. The film was praised for its aesthetic quality and realism...
) - Billy the KidBilly the Kid (1930 film)Billy the Kid is a 1930 American film directed in widescreen by King Vidor about the relationship between frontier outlaw Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett , the man who later killed him.-Cast:...
(1930) - Law and OrderLaw and Order (1932 film)Law And Order is a 1932 film. The film starred Walter Huston, Harry Carey, Andy Devine, Russell Hopton and Russell Simpson.The film retells the story of the OK Corral shootout in Tombstone, AZ. It is based on the novel Saint Johnson by W. R. Burnett...
(19321932 in film-Events:*Cary Grant's film career begins*Katharine Hepburn's film career begins*Shirley Temple's film career begins*Disney released Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor film.*Santa, first sound film made in Mexico released....
) - Call Her SavageCall Her SavageCall Her Savage is a Pre-Code drama film directed by John Francis Dillon and starring Clara Bow as a wild young woman who rebels against the man she believes to be her father...
(1932) - Frontier MarshalFrontier Marshal (1934 film)Frontier Marshal is a 1934 western film directed by Lewis Seiler. Produced by Fox Film and Sol M. Wurtzel, the film is the first based on Stuart N. Lake's enormously popular but largely fictitious "biography" of Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal...
(19341934 in film-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
) - The World Moves OnThe World Moves On-Plot:The story opens 185 years ago when two families, cotton merchants in England and America, with branches in France and Prussia swear to stand by each other in a belief that a great business firmly established in four countries will be able to withstand even such another calamity as the...
(1934) - Wild West DaysWild West DaysWild West Days is a Universal film serial based on a western novel by W. R. Burnett. It was the 103rd of the studio's 137 serials .-Plot:...
(19371937 in filmThe year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
serial) - Drums Along the MohawkDrums Along the MohawkDrums Along the Mohawk is a 1939 historical Technicolor film based upon a 1936 novel of the same name by American author, Walter D. Edmonds. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and directed by John Ford. Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert portray settlers on the New York frontier during the...
(19391939 in filmThe year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
) - The Grapes of WrathThe Grapes of Wrath (film)The Grapes of Wrath is a 1940 drama film directed by John Ford. It was based on John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and the executive producer was Darryl F...
(19401940 in filmThe year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
) - Virginia CityVirginia City (film)Virginia City is a 1940 black-and-white movie starring Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins, and Randolph Scott, and featuring a mustachioed Humphrey Bogart in the role of the real-life outlaw John Murrell. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz...
(1940) - Three Faces WestThree Faces WestThree Faces West is a 1940 film starring John Wayne, Sigrid Gurie and Charles Coburn. An unusual film, with a political agenda that seems to be part pro New Deal, it is part anti-fascist and part pro good old American community values...
(1940) - Swamp WaterSwamp WaterSwamp Water is a 1941 film directed by Jean Renoir, starring Walter Brennan, produced at 20th Century Fox, and based on the novel by Vereen Bell. The drama was shot on location at Okefenokee Swamp, Waycross, Georgia, USA. This was Renoir's first American film...
(19411941 in filmThe year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
) - The SpoilersThe Spoilers (1942 film)The Spoilers is a 1942 film directed by Ray Enright. The movie is set in Nome, Alaska during the Nome Gold Rush, with Marlene Dietrich as Cherry Malotte, Randolph Scott as Alexander McNamara, and John Wayne as Roy Glennister, and culminates in a spectacular saloon fistfight between McNamara and...
(19421942 in filmThe year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
) - Border PatrolBorder Patrol (1943 film)Border Patrol is a 1943 Western film starring Hopalong Cassidy . Released on April 2, 1943, it was produced by Harry Sherman and directed by Lesley Selander. Hopalong's trusty sidekicks appear: California Carlson and the young cowpoke Johnny, this time played by Jay Kirby. Other players destined...
(19431943 in filmThe year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
) - Man from FriscoMan from FriscoMan from Frisco is a United States feature length spy and war film by Republic Pictures directed by Robert Florey and starring Michael O'Shea and Anne Shirley....
(1944) - They Were ExpendableThey Were ExpendableThey Were Expendable is a 1945 American war film directed by John Ford and starring Robert Montgomery and John Wayne. The film is based on the book by William L. White, relating the story of the exploits of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three, a PT boat unit defending the Philippines against Japanese...
(1945) - A Boy and His DogA Boy and His Dog (1946 film)A Boy and His Dog is a 1946 short drama film directed by LeRoy Prinz. It won an Academy Award at the 19th Academy Awards in 1947 for Best Short Subject ....
(19461946 in filmThe year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
) - My Darling ClementineMy Darling ClementineMy Darling Clementine is a 1946 western movie. It was directed by John Ford, and based on the story of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral between the Earp brothers and the Clanton gang. It features an ensemble cast including Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Ward Bond, Walter Brennan, and others.The movie...
(1946) - Bowery BuckaroosBowery BuckaroosBowery Buckaroos is a 1947 film starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. It is the eighth film in the series and the last Bowery Boys film that Bobby Jordan appeared in.-Plot:...
(19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) - The Romance of Rosy RidgeThe Romance of Rosy RidgeThe Romance of Rosy Ridge is a 1947 drama film about a rural community still bitterly divided in the aftermath of the American Civil War. It stars Van Johnson, Thomas Mitchell, and Janet Leigh in her film debut...
(19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) - Coroner CreekCoroner CreekCoroner Creek is a 1948 western film starring Randolph Scott as a man who seeks vengeance for the death of his fiancée. It was based on the novel of the same name by Luke Short.-Cast:*Randolph Scott as Chris Denning*Marguerite Chapman as Kate Hardison...
(19481948 in filmThe year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...
) - Tap RootsTap RootsTap Roots is a 1948 period film set during the American Civil War. It is very loosely based on the true life story of Newton Knight, a farm owner who attempted to secede Jones County from Mississippi....
(1948) - Albuquerque (1948)
- Wagon MasterWagon MasterWagon Master is a 1950 Western film directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Joanne Dru, and Ward Bond.-Plot:Learning of their ability as experienced horsemen, Mormon Elder Wiggs , hires Travis Blue and Sandy Owens to guide a small group of Mormons across the West to the...
(19501950 in filmThe year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
) - The Sun Shines BrightThe Sun Shines BrightThe Sun Shines Bright is a 1953 comedy film directed by John Ford, based on material taken from a series of Irvin S. Cobb stories. Ford had adapted some of the same material in 1934 in his film Judge Priest. That film originally had a scene depicting the lynching of Stepin Fetchit’s character , but...
(19531953 in filmThe year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
) - Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (19541954 in filmThe year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
) - The Last CommandThe Last Command (1955 film)The Last Command is a 1955 Trucolor film about Jim Bowie and the fall of the Alamo during the Texas War of Independence. Filmed by Republic Pictures, it was an unusually expensive undertaking for the low-budget studio.-Production:...
(19551955 in filmThe year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
) - The Tin StarThe Tin StarThe Tin Star was first a short story then a movie American western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins, in one of Perkins' first roles. The film became one of the few low budget westerns to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Writing, Story or Screenplay...
(19571957 in filmThe year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:...
) - The Horse SoldiersThe Horse SoldiersThe Horse Soldiers is a 1959 DeLuxe Color war film, set in the American Civil War, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers...
(19591959 in filmThe year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
)