Russell Simpson
198 movies · 9 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jun 16, 1880
- Died
- Dec 12, 1959 (age 79)
- Place of birth
- Danville, California, USA
- Also known as
- Russell McCaskill Simpson · Russel Simpson
Biography
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.
Read the full biography
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.
Profiles IMDb
Known for
-
★ 7.8 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939 · Film
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★ 7.8 The Grapes of Wrath
1940 · Film
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★ 7.1 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
1954 · Film
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★ 7.5 My Darling Clementine
1946 · Film
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★ 7.3 Meet John Doe
1941 · Film
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★ 6.9 The Horse Soldiers
1959 · Film
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★ 6.6 Oklahoma!
1955 · Film
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★ 7.2 Young Mr. Lincoln
1939 · Film
Russell Simpson: movies and TV shows
Acting (207)
- 1959 The Horse Soldiers
as Henry Goodbody
- 1958
- 1957 The Tin Star
as Clem Hall
- 1957
- 1957
- 1956 The Brass Legend
as Deputy 'Pop' Jackson
- 1956 Friendly Persuasion
as Brother Griffith - Elder (uncredited)
- 1955 Oklahoma!
as The Minister (uncredited)
- 1955
- 1955
- 1955 The Tall Men
as Emigrant (uncredited)
- 1955 The Last Command
as The Parson
- 1954 Broken Lance
as Judge (uncredited)
- 1954 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
as Fred Bixby
- 1954
- 1953 The Sun Shines Bright
as Lewt Lake
- 1953
- 1953 Meet Me at the Fair
as Sheriff Evans
- 1952 The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon
as Sam Stanton
- 1952 Lone Star
as Maynard Cole
- 1952
- 1952 Feudin' Fools
as Grandpa Smith
- 1952 Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
as Clem Johnson
- 1951 Comin' Round the Mountain
as Judge
- 1951
- 1950 Call of the Klondike
as Andy McKay
- 1950 Saddle Tramp
as Pop
- 1950 Wagon Master
as Adam Perkins
- 1950 The Outriders
as Farmer (uncredited)
- 1949 Free For All
as Farmer
- 1949
- 1949 The Gal Who Took the West
as Bartender (as old Timer)
- 1949 Tuna Clipper
as Capt. Fergus MacLennan
- 1948 Joan of Arc
as Old Man with Pipe (uncredited)
- 1948 Sundown in Santa Fe
as Sheriff Jim Wyatt
- 1948 The Untamed Breed
as Minister
- 1948 Tap Roots
as Big Sam Dabney
- 1948 Coroner Creek
as Walt Hardison
- 1948 Albuquerque
as Abner Huggins
- 1947 Bowery Buckaroos
as Luke Barlow
- 1947 The Fabulous Texan
as Wade Clayton
- 1947 The Romance of Rosy Ridge
as Dan Yeary
- 1946 A Boy and His Dog
as Mr. Thornycroft
- 1946 My Dog Shep
as Mathew Hodgkins
- 1946 My Darling Clementine
as John Simpson
- 1946 Death Valley
as Old Silas Bagley
- 1946 Bad Bascomb
as Elijah Walker
- 1946 California Gold Rush
as Colonel Parker
- 1945 They Were Expendable
as 'Dad' Knowland
- 1945 Along Came Jones
as Pop de Longpre
- 1945 Roughly Speaking
as The Colonel - Drill Instructor (uncredited)
- 1944 The Big Bonanza
as Adam Parker
- 1944 Tall in the Saddle
as Pat Foster (uncredited)
- 1944 Roaring Guns
as Farmer MacKenzie
- 1944 Texas Masquerade
as J.K. Trimble
- 1943 The Woman of the Town
as Sime
- 1943 Moonlight in Vermont
as Uncle Rufus
- 1943 Riding High
as Frenchy McGuire
- 1943 Colt Comrades
as Sheriff
- 1943 Border Patrol
as Orestes Krebs
- 1942 Tennessee Johnson
as Kirby
- 1942 The Spoilers
as Flapjack
- 1942 Lone Star Ranger
as Tom Duane
- 1942 Nazi Agent
as 2nd Captain (uncredited)
- 1942 Shut My Big Mouth
as Mayor Potter
- 1942 Wild Bill Hickok Rides
as Ned Nolan
- 1941 Swamp Water
as Marty McCord
- 1941 Last of the Duanes
as Tom Duane
- 1941 Wild Geese Calling
as Marshal Len Baker
- 1941 Bad Men of Missouri
as Hank Younger
- 1941 Citadel of Crime
as Jess Meekins
- 1941 Meet John Doe
as (uncredited)
- 1941 Tobacco Road
as Chief of Police
- 1940 Santa Fe Trail
as Shubel Morgan
- 1940 Brigham Young
as U.S. Army Major
- 1940 Wyoming
as Mr. Bronson
- 1940 Three Faces West
as Minister
- 1940 Virginia City
as Gaylord
- 1940 The Grapes of Wrath
as Pa Joad
- 1939 Geronimo
as Scout
- 1939 Drums Along the Mohawk
as Dr. Petry
- 1939 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
as Kenneth Allen (uncredited)
- 1939 Desperate Trails
as Sheriff Big Bill Tanner
- 1939 The Bill of Rights
as Frontiersman
- 1939 Western Caravans
as Winchester Thompson
- 1939 Young Mr. Lincoln
as Woolridge (uncredited)
- 1939 Dodge City
as Orth
- 1938 Heart of the North
as Dave MacMillan
- 1938 Valley of the Giants
as McKenzie
- 1938 The Girl of the Golden West
as Fred - Outrider in Prologue
- 1938 Gold Is Where You Find It
as MacKenzie
- 1937 That I May Live
as Bish Plivens
- 1937 Paradise Isle
as Baxter
- 1937 Wild West Days
as Matt Keeler
- 1937 Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge
as Bayliss Baynum
- 1937 Parnell
as Dead Child's Father
- 1937 Mountain Justice
as Matthew Turnbull
- 1937 Green Light
as Sheep Man
- 1937 Maid of Salem
as Village Marshal (Uncredited)
- 1936 Ramona
as Scroggs
- 1936 Back to Nature
as Sheriff
- 1936 San Francisco
as 'Red' Kelly
- 1936 Girl of the Ozarks
as Bascomb Rogers
- 1936 The Harvester
as Abner Prewett
- 1936 Man Hunt
as Jeff Parkington
- 1936 Paddy O'Day
as Benton
- 1935 Way Down East
as Squire Amasa Bartlett
- 1935 Motive for Revenge
as McAllister
- 1935 The Hoosier Schoolmaster
as Doc Small
- 1934 West of the Pecos
as Roy Neal
- 1934 Radio Scout
as Pappy Tolliver
- 1934 The World Moves On
as Notary (1825)
- 1934 Ever Since Eve
as Jim Wood
- 1934 Three on a Honeymoon
as Ezra MacDuff
- 1934 Carolina
as Richards
- 1934 Frontier Marshal
as Editor Pickett
- 1934 Sixteen Fathoms Deep
as A.B. Crockett
- 1933 The Power and the Glory
as Professor (uncredited)
- 1933 Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles
as Speaker
- 1933 Secrets
as Doctor (uncredited)
- 1933 Face in the Sky
as Pa Nathan Brown
- 1932 Silver Dollar
as Hamlin
- 1932 Call Her Savage
as Old Man in Wagon Train
- 1932 The Cabin in the Cotton
as Uncle Joe
- 1932 Hello Trouble
as Jonathan Kenyon
- 1932 The Honor of the Press
as Dan Perkins
- 1932 Flames
as Jake
- 1932 The Riding Tornado
as Sheriff
- 1932 The Famous Ferguson Case
as Banker Craig
- 1932 Lena Rivers
as Grandfather Nichols
- 1932 Law and Order
as Judge R.W. Williams
- 1932 Ridin' for Justice
as Marshal Joseph Slyde
- 1931 Susan Lenox
as Doctor
- 1931 Alexander Hamilton
as Harvey Taylor - First Ex-Soldier
- 1931 The Great Meadow
as Thomas Hall
- 1930 Man to Man
as Uncle Cal
- 1930 Abraham Lincoln
as Lincoln's Employer
- 1930 Billy the Kid
as Angus McSween
- 1930 The Lone Star Ranger
as Colonel John Aldridge
- 1929 After the Fog
as Joshua Barker
- 1929 The Sap
as The Banker
- 1929
- 1929 All Faces West
as Gunner Bill
- 1929 Noisy Neighbors
as Ebenezer
- 1929 Innocents of Paris
as Emile Leval
- 1928 Tropical Nights
as Singapore Joe
- 1928 The Bushranger
as Sir Eric
- 1928 Life's Mockery
as Wolf Miller
- 1927 Wild Geese
as Caleb Gare
- 1927 Now We're in the Air
as Lord Abercrombie McTavish
- 1927 The First Auto
as Hank Armstrong
- 1927 The Frontiersman
as Andrew Jackson
- 1927 The Heart of the Yukon
as 'Cash' Cynon
- 1927 Annie Laurie
as Sandy
- 1926 Lovey Mary
as Stubbins
- 1926 The Social Highwayman
as The Mayor's Partner
- 1926 Rustlin' for Cupid
as Hank Blatchford
- 1926 The Earth Woman
as Ezra Tilden
- 1925 Ship of Souls
as Angus Garth
- 1925 The Splendid Road
as Capt. Lightfoot
- 1925 The Eagle
as The Eagle's Lieutenant / Coach Driver (uncredited)
- 1925 Why Women Love
as Silas Martin
- 1925 Thunder Mountain
as Si Pace
- 1925 Paint and Powder
as Riley
- 1925 Faint Perfume
as Grandpa Crumb
- 1925
- 1925 Beauty and the Bad Man
as Chuckwalla Bill
- 1925 The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
as Jap Taylor
- 1925 The Narrow Street
as Garvey
- 1924 Painted People
as Fred Lane
- 1923 Desire
as Patrick Ryan
- 1923 Defying Destiny
as Mr. Wilkens
- 1923 The Virginian
as Trampas
- 1923 The Huntress
as Big Jack Skinner
- 1923 Circus Days
as Eben Holt
- 1923 The Girl of the Golden West
as Jack Rance
- 1923 Hearts Aflame
as Black Joe
- 1922 The Kingdom Within
as Caleb Deming
- 1922 Peg o' My Heart
as Jim O'Connell
- 1922 Rags to Riches
as The Sheriff
- 1922 Human Hearts
as Paul Logan
- 1922 Across the Dead-Line
as Enoch Kidder
- 1921 Under the Lash
as Simeon Krillet
- 1921 Snowblind
as Hugh Garth
- 1921 Bunty Pulls the Strings
as Tammas Biggar
- 1920 Godless Men
as 'Black' Pawl
- 1920 The Branding Iron
as John Carver
- 1920 Lahoma
as 'Brick' Willock
- 1920 The Deadlier Sex
as Jim Willis
- 1919 Fighting Cressy
as Hiram McKinstry
- 1919 Desert Gold
as Ladd
- 1919 The Blue Bandanna
as Jim Yancy
- 1919 Bill Apperson's Boy
as Bill Apperson
- 1919 The Brand
as Dan McGill
- 1918 The Challenge Accepted
as Uncle Zeke Sawyer
- 1918 Oh, Johnny!
as Adele's Father
- 1918 Riders of the Night
as Sally's Grandfather
- 1918 The Uphill Path
as James Lawton
- 1918 The Border Legion
as Overland Bradley
- 1918 Breakers Ahead
as Captain Scudder
+ 7 more credits