Acting
185
Man
16 Jun 1880
12 Dec 1959 (79)
Danville, California, USA
Russell Simpson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Russell McCaskill Simpson (June 17, 1880, Danville, California – December 12, 1959, Woodland Hills, California) was an American character actor who appeared in over 500 movies. He is best known for his "grizzled old man" appearances. 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. At age 18 Simpson prospected for gold in Alaska. He began taking acting classes in Seattle, Washington. In 1910 he married Gertrude Alter from New York City. By 1909, he 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. Throughout his career, Simpson worked for 12 years in road shows, stock companies, and on Broadway. He didn't usually perform lead roles, but he did star in many movies throughout the silent movie era. He performed a lead role as the grandfather in Out of the Dust (1920). 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 (1940). His final film was The Horse Soldiers, his tenth film for Ford. Simpson worked up to 1959, the year of his death. He was the president of the Overseas Phonograph Accessories Corporation.
Year | Movie / TV show / Other | Role |
---|---|---|
1959 | The Horse Soldiers | Henry Goodbody |
1958 | The Texan | Zeb Waters |
1957 | The Tin Star | Clem Hall |
1957 | Wagon Train | Mr. Carr |
1957 | The Lonely Man | |
1956 | Friendly Persuasion | Brother Griffith - Elder (uncredited) |
1956 | The Brass Legend | Deputy 'Pop' Jackson |
1955 | The Tall Men | Emigrant (uncredited) |
1955 | The Last Command | The Parson |
1955 | Sergeant Preston of the Yukon | |
1955 | The 20th Century Fox Hour | Old Man |
1954 | Seven Brides for Seven Brothers | Fred Bixby |
1954 | Broken Lance | Judge (uncredited) |
1954 | Public Defender | Lundquist |
1953 | The Sun Shines Bright | Lewt Lake |
1953 | Meet Me at the Fair | Sheriff Evans |
1952 | Lone Star | Maynard Cole |
1952 | Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair | Clem Johnson |
1952 | Cavalcade of America | Quatermaster |
1952 | Cavalcade of America | |
1952 | Cavalcade of America | Judge Grant |
1952 | Feudin' Fools | Grandpa Smith |
1952 | The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon | Sam Stanton |
1951 | Comin' Round the Mountain | Judge |
1951 | The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok | Sam |
1950 | Wagon Master | Adam Perkins |
1950 | The Outriders | Farmer (uncredited) |
1950 | Saddle Tramp | Pop |
1950 | Call of the Klondike | Andy McKay |
1949 | The Lone Ranger | Jack Brewster |
1949 | The Gal Who Took the West | Bartender (as old Timer) |
1949 | Free For All | Farmer |
1949 | Tuna Clipper | Capt. Fergus MacLennan |
1948 | Joan of Arc | Old Man with Pipe (uncredited) |
1948 | Coroner Creek | Walt Hardison |
1948 | Albuquerque | Abner Huggins |
1948 | Tap Roots | Big Sam Dabney |
1948 | The Untamed Breed | Minister |
1948 | Sundown in Santa Fe | Sheriff Jim Wyatt |
1947 | The Romance of Rosy Ridge | Dan Yeary |
1947 | Bowery Buckaroos | Luke Barlow |
1947 | The Fabulous Texan | Wade Clayton |
1946 | My Darling Clementine | John Simpson |
1946 | A Boy and His Dog | Mr. Thornycroft |
1946 | My Dog Shep | Mathew Hodgkins |
1946 | Bad Bascomb | Elijah Walker |
1946 | Death Valley | Old Silas Bagley |
1946 | California Gold Rush | Colonel Parker |
1945 | They Were Expendable | 'Dad' Knowland |
1945 | Along Came Jones | Pop de Longpre |
1945 | Roughly Speaking | The Colonel - Drill Instructor (uncredited) |
1944 | The Big Bonanza | Adam Parker |
1944 | Texas Masquerade | J.K. Trimble |
1944 | Roaring Guns | Farmer MacKenzie |
1943 | Colt Comrades | Sheriff |
1943 | The Woman of the Town | Sime |
1943 | Riding High | Frenchy McGuire |
1943 | Border Patrol | Orestes Krebs |
1943 | Moonlight in Vermont | Uncle Rufus |
1942 | The Spoilers | Flapjack |
1942 | Nazi Agent | 2nd Captain (uncredited) |
1942 | Tennessee Johnson | Kirby |
1942 | Wild Bill Hickok Rides | Ned Nolan |
1942 | Shut My Big Mouth | Mayor Potter |
1942 | Lone Star Ranger | Tom Duane |
1941 | Meet John Doe | (uncredited) |
1941 | Tobacco Road | Chief of Police |
1941 | Swamp Water | Marty McCord |
1941 | Bad Men of Missouri | Hank Younger |
1941 | Wild Geese Calling | Marshal Len Baker |
1941 | Last of the Duanes | Tom Duane |
1941 | Citadel of Crime | Jess Meekins |
1940 | The Grapes of Wrath | Pa Joad |
1940 | Santa Fe Trail | Shubel Morgan |
1940 | Virginia City | Gaylord |
1940 | Brigham Young | U.S. Army Major |
1940 | Three Faces West | Minister |
1940 | Wyoming | Mr. Bronson |
1939 | Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Kenneth Allen (uncredited) |
1939 | Young Mr. Lincoln | Woolridge (uncredited) |
1939 | Drums Along the Mohawk | Dr. Petry |
1939 | Dodge City | Orth |
1939 | Geronimo | Scout |
1939 | Desperate Trails | Sheriff Big Bill Tanner |
1939 | The Bill of Rights | Frontiersman |
1939 | Western Caravans | Winchester Thompson |
1938 | Gold Is Where You Find It | MacKenzie |
1938 | Valley of the Giants | McKenzie |
1938 | The Girl of the Golden West | Fred - Outrider in Prologue |
1938 | Heart of the North | Dave MacMillan |
1937 | Green Light | Sheep Man |
1937 | Maid of Salem | Village Marshal (Uncredited) |
1937 | That I May Live | Bish Plivens |
1937 | Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge | Bayliss Baynum |
1937 | Mountain Justice | Matthew Turnbull |
1937 | Paradise Isle | Baxter |
1937 | Wild West Days | Matt Keeler |
1936 | San Francisco | 'Red' Kelly |
1936 | Ramona | Scroggs |
1936 | Paddy O'Day | Benton |
1936 | Girl of the Ozarks | |
1936 | The Harvester | Abner Prewett |
1936 | Man Hunt | Jeff Parkington |
1936 | Back to Nature | Sheriff |
1935 | The Hoosier Schoolmaster | Doc Small |
1935 | Way Down East | Squire Amasa Bartlett |
1935 | Motive for Revenge | McAllister |
1934 | The World Moves On | Notary (1825) |
1934 | Sixteen Fathoms Deep | A.B. Crockett |
1934 | Frontier Marshal | Editor Pickett |
1934 | Carolina | Richards |
1934 | Ever Since Eve | Jim Wood |
1934 | West of the Pecos | Roy Neal |
1934 | Three on a Honeymoon | Ezra MacDuff |
1933 | The Power and the Glory | Professor (uncredited) |
1933 | Face in the Sky | Pa Nathan Brown |
1933 | Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles | Speaker |
1932 | The Cabin in the Cotton | Uncle Joe |
1932 | Call Her Savage | Old Man in Wagon Train |
1932 | Law and Order | Judge R.W. Williams |
1932 | The Famous Ferguson Case | Banker Craig |
1932 | Silver Dollar | Hamlin |
1932 | Lena Rivers | Grandfather Nichols |
1932 | Hello Trouble | Jonathan Kenyon |
1932 | The Honor of the Press | Dan Perkins |
1932 | Flames | Jake |
1932 | Ridin' for Justice | Marshal Joseph Slyde |
1932 | The Riding Tornado | Sheriff |
1931 | Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) | Doctor |
1931 | Alexander Hamilton | Harvey Taylor - First Ex-Soldier |
1931 | The Great Meadow | Thomas Hall |
1930 | Abraham Lincoln | Lincoln's Employer |
1930 | Billy the Kid | Angus McSween |
1930 | Man to Man | Uncle Cal |
1930 | The Lone Star Ranger | Colonel John Aldridge |
1929 | After the Fog | Joshua Barker |
1929 | Innocents of Paris | Emile Leval |
1929 | The Sap | The Banker |
1929 | My Lady's Past | |
1929 | All Faces West | Gunner Bill |
1928 | Tropical Nights | Singapore Joe |
1927 | The First Auto | Hank Armstrong |
1927 | Annie Laurie | Sandy |
1927 | Now We're in the Air | Lord Abercrombie McTavish |
1927 | The Frontiersman | Andrew Jackson |
1927 | Wild Geese | Caleb Gare |
1926 | The Earth Woman | Ezra Tilden |
1926 | Rustlin' for Cupid | Hank Blatchford |
1926 | Lovey Mary | Stubbins |
1925 | The Eagle | The Eagle's Lieutenant / Coach Driver (uncredited) |
1925 | The Splendid Road | Capt. Lightfoot |
1925 | Thunder Mountain | Si Pace |
1925 | Faint Perfume | Grandpa Crumb |
1925 | Why Women Love | Silas Martin |
1925 | Old Shoes | |
1925 | The Narrow Street | Garvey |
1925 | Paint and Powder | Riley |
1924 | Painted People | Fred Lane |
1923 | Defying Destiny | Mr. Wilkens |
1923 | Circus Days | Eben Holt |
1923 | The Virginian | Trampas |
1923 | The Huntress | Big Jack Skinner |
1923 | The Girl of the Golden West | |
1922 | Rags to Riches | The Sheriff |
1922 | Peg o' My Heart | Jim O'Connell |
1922 | The Kingdom Within | Caleb Deming |
1922 | Human Hearts | Paul Logan |
1922 | Across the Dead-Line | Enoch Kidder |
1921 | Bunty Pulls the Strings | Tammas Biggar |
1921 | Snowblind | Hugh Garth |
1921 | Under the Lash | Simeon Krillet |
1920 | Godless Men | 'Black' Pawl |
1920 | The Deadlier Sex | Jim Willis |
1920 | The Branding Iron | John Carver |
1920 | Lahoma | 'Brick' Willock |
1919 | Desert Gold | Ladd |
1919 | The Brand | Dan McGill |
1919 | Bill Apperson's Boy | Bill Apperson |
1918 | Riders of the Night | Sally's Grandfather |
1918 | The Border Legion | Overland Bradley |
1918 | Breakers Ahead | Captain Scudder |
1918 | A Weaver of Dreams | Martin Chandler |
1917 | Blue Jeans | Jacob Tutwiler |
1915 | The Old Homestead | Sheriff |
1914 | The Virginian | Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited) |