Russell Simpson
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1880-06-16
Day of Death
1959-12-12 (79 years old)
Place of Birth
Danville, California, USA
Russell 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.
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.
Known For
Acting
(1959)
The Horse Soldiers
as Henry Goodbody
(1957)
The Tin Star
as Clem Hall
(1957)
(1956)
Friendly Persuasion
as Brother Griffith - Elder (uncredited)
(1956)
The Brass Legend
as Deputy 'Pop' Jackson
(1955)
Oklahoma!
as The Minister (uncredited)
(1955)
The Tall Men
as Emigrant (uncredited)
(1955)
The Last Command
as The Parson
(1954)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
as Fred Bixby
(1954)
Broken Lance
as Judge (uncredited)
(1953)
The Sun Shines Bright
as Lewt Lake
(1953)
Meet Me at the Fair
as Sheriff Evans
(1952)
Lone Star
as Maynard Cole
(1952)
Feudin' Fools
as Grandpa Smith
(1952)
The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon
as Sam Stanton
(1952)
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
as Clem Johnson
(1951)
Comin' Round the Mountain
as Judge
(1950)
Wagon Master
as Adam Perkins
(1950)
The Outriders
as Farmer (uncredited)
(1950)
Saddle Tramp
as Pop
(1950)
Call of the Klondike
as Andy McKay
(1949)
The Gal Who Took the West
as Bartender (as old Timer)
(1949)
Free For All
as Farmer
(1949)
Tuna Clipper
as Capt. Fergus MacLennan
(1948)
Joan of Arc
as Old Man with Pipe (uncredited)
(1948)
Tap Roots
as Big Sam Dabney
(1948)
Coroner Creek
as Walt Hardison
(1948)
Albuquerque
as Abner Huggins
(1948)
The Untamed Breed
as Minister
(1948)
Sundown in Santa Fe
as Sheriff Jim Wyatt
(1947)
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
as Dan Yeary
(1947)
Bowery Buckaroos
as Luke Barlow
(1947)
The Fabulous Texan
as Wade Clayton
(1946)
My Darling Clementine
as John Simpson
(1946)
Bad Bascomb
as Elijah Walker
(1946)
My Dog Shep
as Mathew Hodgkins
(1946)
California Gold Rush
as Colonel Parker
(1946)
Death Valley
as Old Silas Bagley
(1946)
A Boy and His Dog
as Mr. Thornycroft
(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)
Roaring Guns
as Farmer MacKenzie
(1944)
Texas Masquerade
as J.K. Trimble
(1943)
The Woman of the Town
as Sime
(1943)
Colt Comrades
as Sheriff
(1943)
Border Patrol
as Orestes Krebs
(1943)
Riding High
as Frenchy McGuire
(1943)
Moonlight in Vermont
as Uncle Rufus
(1942)
The Spoilers
as Flapjack
(1942)
Nazi Agent
as 2nd Captain (uncredited)
(1942)
Tennessee Johnson
as Kirby
(1942)
Wild Bill Hickok Rides
as Ned Nolan
(1942)
Lone Star Ranger
as Tom Duane
(1942)
Shut My Big Mouth
as Mayor Potter
(1941)
Meet John Doe
as (uncredited)
(1941)
Tobacco Road
as Chief of Police
(1941)
Swamp Water
as Marty McCord
(1941)
Wild Geese Calling
as Marshal Len Baker
(1941)
Bad Men of Missouri
as Hank Younger
(1941)
Last of the Duanes
as Tom Duane
(1941)
Citadel of Crime
as Jess Meekins
(1940)
The Grapes of Wrath
as Pa Joad
(1940)
Santa Fe Trail
as Shubel Morgan
(1940)
Virginia City
as Gaylord
(1940)
Three Faces West
as Minister
(1940)
Brigham Young
as U.S. Army Major
(1940)
Wyoming
as Mr. Bronson
(1939)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
as Kenneth Allen (uncredited)
(1939)
Dodge City
as Orth
(1939)
Young Mr. Lincoln
as Woolridge (uncredited)
(1939)
Drums Along the Mohawk
as Dr. Petry
(1939)
Geronimo
as Scout
(1939)
The Bill of Rights
as Frontiersman
(1939)
Desperate Trails
as Sheriff Big Bill Tanner
(1939)
Western Caravans
as Winchester Thompson
(1938)
The Girl of the Golden West
as Fred - Outrider in Prologue
(1938)
Gold Is Where You Find It
as MacKenzie
(1938)
Valley of the Giants
as McKenzie
(1938)
Heart of the North
as Dave MacMillan
(1937)
Maid of Salem
as Village Marshal (Uncredited)
(1937)
Green Light
as Sheep Man
(1937)
Parnell
as Dead Child's Father
(1937)
Mountain Justice
as Matthew Turnbull
(1937)
Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge
as Bayliss Baynum
(1937)
Paradise Isle
as Baxter
(1937)
Wild West Days
as Matt Keeler
(1937)
That I May Live
as Bish Plivens
(1936)
San Francisco
as 'Red' Kelly
(1936)
Man Hunt
as Jeff Parkington
(1936)
Ramona
as Scroggs
(1936)
The Harvester
as Abner Prewett
(1936)
Back to Nature
as Sheriff
(1936)
Paddy O'Day
as Benton
(1936)
Girl of the Ozarks
as Bascomb Rogers
(1935)
Way Down East
as Squire Amasa Bartlett
(1935)
The Hoosier Schoolmaster
as Doc Small
(1935)
Motive for Revenge
as McAllister
(1934)
Sixteen Fathoms Deep
as A.B. Crockett
(1934)
Carolina
as Richards
(1934)
The World Moves On
as Notary (1825)
(1934)
Frontier Marshal
as Editor Pickett
(1934)
Three on a Honeymoon
as Ezra MacDuff
(1934)
Ever Since Eve
as Jim Wood
(1934)
West of the Pecos
as Roy Neal
(1934)
Radio Scout
as Pappy Tolliver
(1933)
Face in the Sky
as Pa Nathan Brown
(1933)
Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles
as Speaker
(1933)
The Power and the Glory
as Professor (uncredited)
(1932)
The Cabin in the Cotton
as Uncle Joe
(1932)
Silver Dollar
as Hamlin
(1932)
The Famous Ferguson Case
as Banker Craig
(1932)
The Riding Tornado
as Sheriff
(1932)
Lena Rivers
as Grandfather Nichols
(1932)
Law and Order
as Judge R.W. Williams
(1932)
Hello Trouble
as Jonathan Kenyon
(1932)
The Honor of the Press
as Dan Perkins
(1932)
Call Her Savage
as Old Man in Wagon Train
(1932)
Ridin' for Justice
as Marshal Joseph Slyde
(1932)
Flames
as Jake
(1931)
The Great Meadow
as Thomas Hall
(1931)
Alexander Hamilton
as Harvey Taylor - First Ex-Soldier
(1931)
Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise)
as Doctor
(1930)
Abraham Lincoln
as Lincoln's Employer
(1930)
Billy the Kid
as Angus McSween
(1930)
Man to Man
as Uncle Cal
(1930)
The Lone Star Ranger
as Colonel John Aldridge
(1929)
Innocents of Paris
as Emile Leval
(1929)
After the Fog
as Joshua Barker
(1929)
All Faces West
as Gunner Bill
(1929)
The Sap
as The Banker
(1929)
(1928)
Tropical Nights
as Singapore Joe
(1927)
Annie Laurie
as Sandy
(1927)
The First Auto
as Hank Armstrong
(1927)
Wild Geese
as Caleb Gare
(1927)
Now We're in the Air
as Lord Abercrombie McTavish
(1927)
The Frontiersman
as Andrew Jackson
(1926)
The Earth Woman
as Ezra Tilden
(1926)
Lovey Mary
as Stubbins
(1926)
Rustlin' for Cupid
as Hank Blatchford
(1925)
The Eagle
as The Eagle's Lieutenant / Coach Driver (uncredited)
(1925)
The Narrow Street
as Garvey
(1925)
The Splendid Road
as Capt. Lightfoot
(1925)
Faint Perfume
as Grandpa Crumb
(1925)
Why Women Love
as Silas Martin
(1925)
Paint and Powder
as Riley
(1925)
Ship of Souls
as Angus Garth
(1925)
(1925)
Thunder Mountain
as Si Pace
(1924)
Painted People
as Fred Lane
(1923)
The Huntress
as Big Jack Skinner
(1923)
The Virginian
as Trampas
(1923)
Circus Days
as Eben Holt
(1923)
Defying Destiny
as Mr. Wilkens
(1923)
The Girl of the Golden West
as Jack Rance
(1922)
Peg o' My Heart
as Jim O'Connell
(1922)
Human Hearts
as Paul Logan
(1922)
Across the Dead-Line
as Enoch Kidder
(1922)
The Kingdom Within
as Caleb Deming
(1922)
Rags to Riches
as The Sheriff
(1921)
Bunty Pulls the Strings
as Tammas Biggar
(1921)
Snowblind
as Hugh Garth
(1921)
Under the Lash
as Simeon Krillet
(1920)
The Branding Iron
as John Carver
(1920)
Godless Men
as 'Black' Pawl
(1920)
Lahoma
as 'Brick' Willock
(1920)
The Deadlier Sex
as Jim Willis
(1919)
The Brand
as Dan McGill
(1919)
Bill Apperson's Boy
as Bill Apperson
(1919)
Desert Gold
as Ladd
(1918)
The Uphill Path
as James Lawton
(1918)
Breakers Ahead
as Captain Scudder
(1918)
The Challenge Accepted
as Uncle Zeke Sawyer
(1918)
A Weaver of Dreams
as Martin Chandler
(1918)
The Border Legion
as Overland Bradley
(1918)
Riders of the Night
as Sally's Grandfather
(1917)
Blue Jeans
as Jacob Tutwiler
(1915)
The Old Homestead
as Sheriff
(1914)
The Virginian
as Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)