Rick Vallin
Encyclopedia
Rick Vallin was an actor
who appeared in over 150 film
s between 1938
and 1966
.
Born Eric Efron in Russia
, Vallin came to America while still young. He started his Hollywood career with an uncredited part in the film Freshman Year. He later joined the Pasadena Playhouse
in 1942, and the same year received his first co-star billing in the film The Panther's Claw together with Sidney Blackmer
, and showed promising leading man material in Secrets of a Co-Ed with Otto Kruger
. But what was seeming to be a career pointed to stardom, turned later into secondary roles in several B-movies and cliffhanger serials
. For the most part, Vallin interpreted the hero's dullish sidekick, a secondary villain, or a prominent ethnic figure. In the minds of studio filmmakers, he had a tight B-movie image and found any advance to the "A" ranks almost impossible.
By the mid-1930s Vallin had moved considerably down the credits list, until he became a mainstay in the Columbia Pictures
serials and appeared in a few of the Bowery Boys
1940s capers. His successful union with Columbia also kept him active in minor roles in three Johnny Weissmuller
's Jungle Jim
movies, playing both sinister villains and savage natives. Occasionally he showed up in popular TV-series
as Bat Masterson
, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
, The Lone Ranger
and Wyatt Earp
, and even on The Adventures of Superman
, as well in both Gene Autry
and Roy Rogers
' weekly television shows. His last appearance was a guest role on Daniel Boone
in 1966.
Vallin died in Los Angeles, California
at age 57, and was buried in Eden Memorial Park
in Mission Hills, California
.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who appeared in over 150 film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s between 1938
1938 in film
The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
and 1966
1966 in film
The year 1966 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Animation legend Walter Disney, well known for his creation of Mickey Mouse, died in 15 December 1966 of acute circulatory collapse following a diagnosis of, and surgery for, lung cancer...
.
Born Eric Efron in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Vallin came to America while still young. He started his Hollywood career with an uncredited part in the film Freshman Year. He later joined the Pasadena Playhouse
Pasadena Playhouse
The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engagements each year.-History:...
in 1942, and the same year received his first co-star billing in the film The Panther's Claw together with Sidney Blackmer
Sidney Blackmer
Sidney Alderman Blackmer was an American actor.Blackmer was born and raised in Salisbury, North Carolina. He started off in an insurance and financial business but gave up on it. While working as a builder's laborer on a new building, he saw a Pearl White serial being filmed and immediately...
, and showed promising leading man material in Secrets of a Co-Ed with Otto Kruger
Otto Kruger
Otto Kruger was an American actor who began his career in 1915. His career was most prolific during the 1930s and 1940s.-Career:...
. But what was seeming to be a career pointed to stardom, turned later into secondary roles in several B-movies and cliffhanger serials
Serial (film)
Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...
. For the most part, Vallin interpreted the hero's dullish sidekick, a secondary villain, or a prominent ethnic figure. In the minds of studio filmmakers, he had a tight B-movie image and found any advance to the "A" ranks almost impossible.
By the mid-1930s Vallin had moved considerably down the credits list, until he became a mainstay in the Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
serials and appeared in a few of the Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys
The Bowery Boys were fictional New York City characters who were the subject of feature films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958....
1940s capers. His successful union with Columbia also kept him active in minor roles in three Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven...
's Jungle Jim
Jungle Jim
Jungle Jim is the fictional hero of a series of jungle adventures in various media. The series began in 1934 as an American newspaper comic strip chronicling the adventures of Asia-based hunter Jim Bradley, who was nicknamed Jungle Jim...
movies, playing both sinister villains and savage natives. Occasionally he showed up in popular TV-series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
as Bat Masterson
Bat Masterson (TV series)
Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry and the half-hour black and white shows ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961...
, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok is an American Western television series which ran for eight seasons from 1951 through 1958. The Screen Gems series began in syndication, but ran on CBS from 1955 through 1958, and, at the same time, on ABC from 1957 through 1958.-Synopsis:The Adventures of Wild...
, The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
and Wyatt Earp
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a Western television series loosely based on the adventures of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black and white series ran on ABC-TV from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian as Earp. An off-camera barbershop quartet sang the theme song and hummed...
, and even on The Adventures of Superman
Adventures of Superman (TV series)
Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
, as well in both Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
and Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
' weekly television shows. His last appearance was a guest role on Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone (TV series)
Daniel Boone is an American action/adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Native American friend, for the...
in 1966.
Vallin died in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
at age 57, and was buried in Eden Memorial Park
Eden Memorial Park Cemetery
Eden Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery located at 11500 Sepulveda Boulevard, Mission Hills, California, in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles.-Notable interments:*John Brown , actor*Lenny Bruce , comedian...
in Mission Hills, California
Mission Hills, California
Mission Hills is a census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California, a short distance north of Lompoc on Highway 1. The population was 3,576 at the 2010 census, up from 3,142 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
.
Films
- Freshman Year (film) (1938)
- Dramatic School (1938)
- Desperate CargoDesperate CargoDesperate Cargo is a 1941 American film directed by William Beaudine based on the 1937 magazine story Loot Below by Eustace Lane Adams.-Plot:...
(1941) - The Corsican BrothersThe Corsican Brothers (1941 film)The Corsican Brothers is a 1941 swashbuckler film starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in a dual role as the title Siamese twins, separated at birth and raised in completely different circumstances. Both thirst for revenge against the man who killed their parents, both fall in love with the same woman,...
(1941) - The Panther's ClawThe Panther's ClawThe Panther's Claw is a 1942 American film directed by William Beaudine. A Producer’s Releasing Corporation picture.- Plot summary :Police see Digberry climbing over a wall, out of a graveyard at one a.m. He has left a thousand dollars inside on a grave, as ordered in a letter he received. The...
(1942) - Sleepytime Gal (1942)
- Flying with Music (1942)
- King of the Stallions (1942)
- Secrets of a Co-Ed (1942)
- Lady from ChungkingLady from ChungkingThe Lady from Chungking is a 1942 American War film.-Synopsis:The film tells the story of an aristocratic Chinese woman leading a group of Chinese fighters against Japan during World War II.-Cast:* Anna May Wong... Kwan Mei...
(1942) - Riders of the Rio GrandeRiders of the Rio GrandeRiders of the Rio Grande is a 1943 American Western "Three Mesquiteers" B-movie directed by Howard Bretherton.- Cast :* Bob Steele as Tucson Smith* Tom Tyler as Stony Brooke* Jimmie Dodd as Lullaby Joslin* Lorraine Miller as Janet Owens...
(1943) - The East Side Kids Meet Bela Lugosi (1943)
- Isle of Forgotten Sins (1943)
- Smart Guy (1943)
- Charlie Chan in Dangerous Money (1946)
- Last of the Redmen (1947)
- Trail Blazers (1953)
- Jungle JimJungle Jim (film)Jungle Jim is a black and white 1948 Adventure film directed by William Berke and written by Samuel Newman. was based on Alex Raymond's Jungle Jim comic strip and distributed by Columbia Pictures.-Main cast:* Johnny Weissmuller - Jungle Jim...
(1948) - Tarzan's Magic FountainTarzan's Magic FountainTarzan's Magic Fountain is a 1949 Tarzan film starring Lex Barker as Tarzan and Brenda Joyce as his companion Jane. The film also features Albert Dekker and Evelyn Ankers, was co-written by Curt Siodmak, and directed by Lee Sholem....
(1949) - Comanche Territory (1950)
- Jungle Jim: Captive Girl (1950)
- Son of Geronimo: Apache AvengerSon of Geronimo: Apache AvengerSon of Geronimo was the 50th film serial released by Columbia Pictures. It is based in the historical figure of Geronimo, prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache, who defended his people against the encroachment of the United States on their tribal lands for over 25...
(1952) - Woman in the Dark (1952)
- SalomeSalome (1953 film)Salome is a Biblical epic film made in Technicolor by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by William Dieterle and produced by Buddy Adler from a screenplay by Harry Kleiner and Jesse Lasky Jr. The music score was by George Duning, the dance music by Daniele Amfitheatrof and the cinematography by...
(1953)
Serials
- Perils of the Royal MountedPerils of the Royal MountedPerils of the Royal Mounted was the 18th serial released by Columbia Pictures.-Plot:This serial shows as the trading post of Sitkawan, Canada is taken by surprise when an Indian tribe attack and massacre the settlers aboard a fur-bearing wagon train. Sergeant MacLane of the Royal Canadian Mounted...
(1942) - The Desert HawkThe Desert HawkThe Desert Hawk is a Columbia film serial. It was the 23rd serial produced by Columbia.-Cast:* Gilbert Roland - Kasim, The Desert Hawk and Hassan, his Evil Twin Brother...
(1944) - The Sea HoundThe Sea Hound (serial)The Sea Hound is a Columbia movie serial starring Buster Crabbe based on the radio show The Sea Hound. It was the thirty-fourth of the fifty seven serials produced by Columbia.-Synopsis:...
(1947) - Brick BradfordBrick Bradford (serial)Brick Bradford was the 35th serial released by Columbia Pictures. It was based on the comic strip Brick Bradford, which was created by Clarence Gray and William Ritt.-Plot:...
(1947) - Batman and RobinBatman and Robin (serial)Batman and Robin is a 15-chapter serial released in 1949 by Columbia Pictures. Robert Lowery played Batman, while Johnny Duncan played Robin...
(1949) - Adventures of Sir GalahadAdventures of Sir GalahadAdventures of Sir Galahad is the 41st serial released by Columbia Pictures. It was based on Arthurian legend and, notably, was one of the very few serials of the time with a period setting that was not a western.-Plot:...
(1949) - Cody of the Pony ExpressCody of the Pony ExpressCody of the Pony Express is the 42nd serial released by Columbia Pictures.-Plot:Widely known as Buffalo Bill, William Cody helped define the image of the Old West and became one of the best-known celebrities of the 19th and early 20th centuries. As a teenager, he herded cattle and rode vast...
(1950) - Captain Video: Master of the StratosphereCaptain Video: Master of the StratosphereCaptain Video: Master of the Stratosphere is a 15-chapter serial released by Columbia Pictures in 1951. It was directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and Wallace A. Grissel with a screenplay by Royal G. Cole, Sherman I. Lowe and Joseph F. Poland, based on a treatment by George H. Plympton...
(1951) - King of the CongoKing of the CongoKing of the Congo was the 48th serial released by Columbia Pictures. It was based on the comic book character "Thun'da", created by Frank Frazetta.-Plot:...
(1952) - BlackhawkBlackhawk (serial)Blackhawk is a Columbia movie serial based on the comic book Blackhawk published by Quality Comics at the time. The serial's subtitle was "Fearless Champion of Freedom". It was the studio's 49th serial....
(1952) - Son of Geronimo (1952)
- The Adventures of Captain AfricaThe Adventures of Captain AfricaThe Adventures of Captain Africa is a Columbia serial starring John Hart. It was the third to last serial to be produced by Columbia.-Plot:Trapper Nat Coleman and government agent Ted Arnold come upon a plot to take over an African nation...
(1955) - Perils of the WildernessPerils of the WildernessPerils of the Wilderness was the 55th serial released by Columbia Pictures. It was the penultimate serial produced by Columbia who were at this time the only studio still producing serials.-Plot:...
(1956)
TV-shows
- Annie OakleyAnnie Oakley (TV series)Annie Oakley is an American Western television series which fictionalized the life of famous sharpshooter Annie Oakley. It ran from January 1954 to February 1957 in syndication. ABC showed reruns on Saturday and Sunday daytime from 1959–1960 and from 1964-1965...
(1954–56) - The Adventures of Wild Bill HickokThe Adventures of Wild Bill HickokThe Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok is an American Western television series which ran for eight seasons from 1951 through 1958. The Screen Gems series began in syndication, but ran on CBS from 1955 through 1958, and, at the same time, on ABC from 1957 through 1958.-Synopsis:The Adventures of Wild...
(1952–56) - The Gene Autry ShowGene AutryOrvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
(1953–54) - The Roy Rogers ShowRoy RogersRoy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
(1953–57) - The Adventures of Kit CarsonKit Carson (disambiguation)Kit Carson was an American frontiersman..Kit Carson may also refer to:- People :*Kit Carson , American baseball player*L. M...
(1952–53) - Hopalong Cassidy (1952–54)
- The Lone RangerThe Lone RangerThe Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
(1955–57) - Four Star PlayhouseFour Star PlayhouseFour Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953...
(1956) - Highway PatrolHighway Patrol (TV series)Highway Patrol is a syndicated action crime drama series produced 1955-1959.-Overview:Highway Patrol stars Broderick Crawford as Dan Mathews, the gruff and dedicated head of a police force in an unidentified Western state...
(1957) - The Adventures of Rin Tin TinThe Adventures of Rin Tin TinThe Adventures of Rin Tin Tin is an American children's television program which originally aired in 166 episodes on ABC from October 1954 until August 1959. It starred child actor Lee Aaker as Rusty, a boy orphaned in an Indian raid, who was being raised by the soldiers at a US Cavalry post known...
(1957) - Adventures of SupermanAdventures of Superman (TV series)Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
(1955–57) - M SquadM SquadM Squad is an American police drama television series that ran from 1957 to 1960 on NBC. Its format would later inspire the creation of spoof TV show Police Squad! Its sponsor was the Pall Mall cigarette brand; Lee Marvin, the program's star, appeared in its commercials during the...
(1958) - Wyatt EarpThe Life and Legend of Wyatt EarpThe Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp is a Western television series loosely based on the adventures of frontier marshal Wyatt Earp. The half-hour black and white series ran on ABC-TV from 1955 to 1961 and featured Hugh O'Brian as Earp. An off-camera barbershop quartet sang the theme song and hummed...
(1955–60) - Bat MastersonBat Masterson (TV series)Bat Masterson is an American Western television series which showed a fictionalized account of the life of real-life marshal/gambler/dandy Bat Masterson. The title character was played by Gene Barry and the half-hour black and white shows ran on NBC from 1958 to 1961...
(1961) - The PrisonerThe PrisonerThe Prisoner is a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory and psychological drama.The series follows a British former...
(1966) - Daniel BooneDaniel Boone (TV series)Daniel Boone is an American action/adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel Boone that aired from September 24, 1964 to September 10, 1970 on NBC for 165 episodes, and was made by 20th Century Fox Television. Ed Ames co-starred as Mingo, Boone's Native American friend, for the...
(1966)