Bob Steele
Born: 1907-01-23 in Portland, Oregon, USA
Died: 1988-12-21
Known For: Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Bob Steele (January 23, 1907 - December 21, 1988) was an American actor. He was born Robert Adrian Bradbury in Portland, Oregon, into a vaudeville family. After years of touring, the family settled down in Hollywood in the late 1910s, where his father, Robert N. Bradbury, soon found work in the movies, first as an actor, later as a director, and by 1920, he hired Bob and his twin brother Bill (1907–1971) as juvenile leads for a series of adventure movies entitled "The Adventures of Bob and Bill". Bob's career began to take off for good in 1927, when he was hired by production company Film Booking Offices of America (FBO) to star in a series of Westerns. Bob—who was rechristened Bob Steele at FBO—soon made a name for himself, and in the late 1920s, 1930s and 1940s starred in B-Westerns for almost every minor film studio, including Monogram, Supreme, Tiffany, Syndicate, Republic (including several films of the Three Mesquiteers series) and Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) (including the initial films of their "Billy the Kid" series), plus he had the occasional role in an A-movie, as in the adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men from 1939. In the 1940s, Bob's career as a cowboy hero was on the decline, but he kept himself working by accepting supporting roles in many big movies like Howard Hawks' The Big Sleep, or the John Wayne vehicles Island in the Sky, Rio Bravo and Rio Lobo. Besides these he also made occasional appearances in science fiction films like Atomic Submarine and Giant from the Unknown and did lots of television work, culminating in a regular supporting role in the army comedy F Troop (1965–1967), which allowed him to show his comic talent. Steele played the character of Trooper Duffy who claimed to have been "shoulder to shoulder with Davy Crockett at the Alamo"-in fact Steele played in With Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo in 1926. Bob Steele died on December 21, 1988 from emphysema after a long sickness. Bob Steele is said to have been the inspiration for the character "Cowboy Bob" in the Dennis The Menace comic strip. Description above from the Wikipedia article Bob Steele (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
1976
- The Shootist as Books' Victim in Flashback (archive footage / uncredited)
- Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch as (archive footage)
1974
- Nightmare Honeymoon as Charlie
1973
- Charley Varrick as Bank Guard (uncredited)
1971
- Skin Game as Bidder (uncredited)
- Something Big as Teamster #3
1970
- Rio Lobo as Rio Lobo Deputy (uncredited)
1969
- Then Came Bronson as Clay Turner
- The Great Bank Robbery as First Guard
- Doc as Toby
1968
- Hang 'em High as Jenkins
1966
1965
- F Troop as Trooper Duffy
- Shenandoah as Union Train Guard
- Taggart as Earl (uncredited)
- Town Tamer as Ken
- The Bounty Killer as Red - Henchman
- Requiem for a Gunfighter as Max Smith
1964
- Bullet for a Badman as Sheriff (uncredited)
1963
- McLintock! as Train Engineer
- 4 for Texas as Bank Board Member
- Wall of Noise as Trainer
1962
- Six Black Horses as Puncher
- The Wild Westerners as Casey Banner
1961
- The Comancheros as Pa Schofield (uncredited)
1960
- National Velvet as Clive
- Hell Bent for Leather as Jared
- Texas John Slaughter: Geronimo's Revenge as Ben
1959
- Rawhide as Deputy Art Gray
- The Rebel as Will Randall
- Rio Bravo as Matt Harris (uncredited)
- Pork Chop Hill as Col. Kern
- No Name on the Bullet as Poker Player (uncredited)
- The Atomic Submarine as "Grif" Griffin
1958
- Lawman as Telegraph Operator (uncredited)
- The Texan as Luke Short
- Ride a Crooked Trail as Jud Blunt (uncredited)
- Once Upon a Horse... as Bob Steele
- Giant from the Unknown as Sheriff Parker
- The Bonnie Parker Story as Armored Truck Guard (uncredited)
1957
- Maverick as Walter Jackson
- Have Gun, Will Travel as Jockey
- Sugarfoot as Sam Shoulders
- Decision at Sundown as Irv (uncredited)
- The Parson and the Outlaw as Ace Jardine
- Duel at Apache Wells as Joe Dunn
1956
- Pardners as Shorty
- Gun for a Coward as Durkee
- The Steel Jungle as Dan Bucci
1955
- Cheyenne as Dugan
- The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp as Deputy Marshal Sam (uncredited)
- Gunsmoke as Sam Gordon
- Screen Director's Playhouse as Deputy Sheriff Dodd
- The Spoilers as Miner
- Last of the Desperados as Charlie Bowdre
- The Fighting Chance as Curly
1954
- The Wonderful World of Disney as Ben
- The Outcast as Dude Rankin
- Drums Across the River as Billy Costa
1953
- Island in the Sky as Wilson
- Column South as McAfee
- San Antone as Bob Coolidge
- Savage Frontier as Sam Webb
1952
- Bugles in the Afternoon as Rider Who Announces Custer Is Dead
- The Lion and the Horse as Matt Jennings
- Rose of Cimarron as Rio
1951
- The Enforcer as Herman
- Cattle Drive as Charlie "Careless" Morgan
- Fort Worth as Shorty
- Silver Canyon as Walt Middler
1950
- The Savage Horde as Dancer
1949
- South of St. Louis as Slim Hansen
1947
- Cheyenne as Bucky
- Killer McCoy as Sailor Graves
- Bandits of Dark Canyon as Ed Archer
- Twilight on the Rio Grande as Dusty Morgan
- Exposed as Chicago
1946
- The Big Sleep as Lash Canino
- Ambush Trail as Curley Thompson
- Thunder Town as Jim Brandon
- Rio Grande Raiders as Jeff Carson
- Sheriff of Redwood Valley as Reno Kid
- Six Gun Man as Stormy Storm
1945
- Northwest Trail as RCMP Matt O'Brien
- Navajo Kid as Tom "The Navajo Kid" Kirk
- Wildfire as Happy Haye
1944
- Marked Trails as Bob Stevens
- Westward Bound as Bob Steele
- Outlaw Trail as Bob
- Trigger Law as Bob Steele
- Arizona Whirlwind as Bob Steele
- Sonora Stagecoach as Bob Steele
- The Utah Kid as Bob Roberts
1943
- The Blocked Trail as Tucson Smith
- Thundering Trails as Tucson Smith
- Revenge of the Zombies as Sheriff
- Death Valley Rangers as Bob Steele
- Santa Fe Scouts as Tucson Smith
- Riders of the Rio Grande as Tucson Smith
1942
- Westward Ho as Tucson Smith
- Shadows on the Sage as 'Tucson' Smith / Curly Joe
- Raiders of the Range as Tucson Smith
- Valley of Hunted Men as Tucson Smith
- Code of the Outlaw as Tucson Smith
- The Phantom Plainsmen as Tucson Smith
1941
- Outlaws of Cherokee Trail as 'Tucson' Smith
- West of Cimarron as Tucson Smith
- Billy the Kid in Santa Fe as Billy the Kid
- Gauchos of El Dorado as 'Tucson' Smith
- Pals of the Pecos as Tucson Smith
- Prairie Pioneers as Tucson Smith
- Billy the Kid's Range War as Billy the Kid
- The Great Train Robbery as Tom Logan
- Gangs of Sonora as 'Tucson' Smith
- Billy The Kid's Fighting Pals as Billy the Kid
- Saddlemates as Tucson Smith
1940
- City for Conquest as Kid Callahan (uncredited)
- The Carson City Kid as Lee Jessup, aka Morgan Reynolds
- The Trail Blazers as Tucson Smith
- Billy the Kid in Texas as Billy the Kid
- Under Texas Skies as Tucson Smith
- Lone Star Raiders as Tucson Smith
- Billy the Kid's Gun Justice as Billy the Kid
- Pinto Canyon as Bob Hall
- Wild Horse Valley as Bob Evans
- Billy the Kid Outlawed as Billy the Kid
1939
- Of Mice and Men as Curley
- Riders of the Sage as Bob Burke
- The Pal from Texas as Bob Barton
- Smoky Trails as Bob Archer
- El Diablo Rides as Bob
- Feud of the Range as Bob Gray
- Mesquite Buckaroo as Bob Allen
1938
- Desert Patrol as Dave Austin
- Durango Valley Raiders as Keene Cordner
- The Feud Maker as Tex Ryan aka Wind River Kid
- Thunder in the Desert as Bob Radford
- Paroled - To Die as Doug Redfern
1937
- Colorado Kid as Colorado Kid
- Doomed at Sundown as Dave Austin
- Border Phantom as Larry O'Day
- Gun Lords of Stirrup Basin as Dan Stockton
- Ridin' the Lone Trail as Bob McArthur
- Lightnin' Crandall as Bob Crandall, aka Lightnin' Crandall
- Arizona Gunfighter as Colt Ferron
- The Red Rope as Tom Shaw
- The Trusted Outlaw as Dan Ward
1936
- Last of the Warrens as Ted Warren
- The Gun Ranger as Dan Larson
- Cavalry as Ted Thorne
- The Kid Ranger as Ray Burton
- Brand of the Outlaws as Gary Gray
- The Law Rides as Bruce Conway
1935
- Tombstone Terror as Jimmy Dixon / Duke Dixon
- Kid Courageous as Bob Bannister
- The Rider of the Law as Bob Marlow
- Big Calibre as Bob Neal
- Alias John Law as Everett Tarkington 'John' Clark
- Powdersmoke Range as Jeff Ferguson aka Guadalupe Kid
- Smokey Smith as Smokey Smith
- Sundown Saunders as Jim Sundown Saunders
- No Man's Range as Jim Hale
- Trail of Terror as Spike Manning
1934
- The Brand of Hate as Rod Camp
- A Demon for Trouble as Bob Worth
- Western Justice as Jim / Ace
1933
- The Mystery Squadron as Fred Cromwell
- Trailing North as Lee Evans aka Curly the Kid
- Galloping Romeo as Bob Rivers
- The Gallant Fool as Kit Denton
- Ranger's Code as Bob Baxter
- Breed of the Border as Speed Brent
1932
- Riders of the Desert as Bob Houston
- South of Santa Fe as Tom Keene
- Young Blood as Nick aka The Kid
- The Fighting Champ as Brick Loring
- Law of the West as Bob Carruthers, alias Bob Morgan
- Son of Oklahoma as Dan Clayton
- Hidden Valley as Bob Harding
- The Man from Hell's Edges as Bob Williams aka 'Flash' Manning
- Texas Buddies as Ted Garner
1931
- The Nevada Buckaroo as Buck Hurley, aka The Nevada Kid
- The Sunrise Trail as Texas, aka Tex
- Near the Trail's End as Marshal Johnny Day
- The Ridin' Fool as Steve Kendall
1930
- The Oklahoma Cyclone as Jim Smith aka The Oklahoma Cyclone
- Near the Rainbow's End as Jim Bledsoe
- The Man from Nowhere as Terry Norton
- Headin' North as Jim Curtis
- The Land of Missing Men as Steve O'Neil
- The Oklahoma Sheriff
- Breezy Bill as Breezy Bill
- Western Honor as Bob
- The Hunted Men as Dick Stockdale
1929
- The Cowboy and the Outlaw as George Hardcastle
- A Texas Cowboy as Dick Carlysle
- Come and Get It! as Breezy Smith
- Laughing at Death as Bob Thornton
- The Amazing Vagabond as Jimmy Hobbs
- The Invaders
1928
- Captain Careless as Bob Gordon
- Headin' for Danger as Jimmy Marshall
- Lightning Speed as Jack Pemberton
- The Riding Renegade as Bob Taylor
- Man in the Rough as Bruce Sherwood
- Breed of the Sunsets as Jim Collins
- Driftin' Sands as 'Driftin' Sands
- Sliding Home as Student (as Robert Bradbury Jr.)
- Trail of Courage as Tex Reeves
1927
- With Sitting Bull at the Spirit Lake Massacre as Bob Keefe (as Bob Bradbury Jr.)
- The Bandit's Son as Bob McCall
- The Mojave Kid as Bob Saunders
1926
- With Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo as 'Pinky' Smith
- With Daniel Boone Thru the Wilderness as Jim Bryan
- The College Boob as Shorty Buzelle (as Bob Bradbury Jr.)
1925
1922
1921
- Catching a Fox as Bob
- The Skunk as Bob
- A Day in the Wilds as Bob
- Trapping The Bob Cat as Bob
- The American Badger as Bob
- The Civet Cat as Bob
- Trapping the Mountain Lion as Bob
- Capturing a Canadian Lynx as Bob
- Catching a Koala Bear as Bob
- Outwitting the Timber Wolf
- Trapping the Coyote as Bob
- Trapping the Wildcat as Bob
- Trailing the Coyote as Bob
- Catching a Coon as Bob