Al St. John

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Al St. John (around 1920)

Alfred "Al" St. John (born September 10, 1892 in Santa Ana , California , † January 21, 1963 in Lyons , Georgia ) was a popular American actor and comedian. Slim, looking youthful, with great artistic talent, he usually went to great lengths to hide his actually good looks in front of the camera. Although he starred in his own short silent comedies in the 1920s, he was best known for his role as cowboy Fuzzy Q. Jones in many B- Westerns . Between 1912 and 1952 he worked in a total of 346 films.

Silent film comedian

Al St. John (right) with Buster Keaton and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle in Out West (1918)

Al St. John performed early with his parents in Vaudeville , California , for which he had specialized in an acrobatic bike number. He was the nephew of the budding silent movie - Stars Fatty Arbuckle and followed his only five years older uncle in 1912 in the movie business.

From 1913 he worked as a comedic supporting actor for Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios . He starred in numerous short films there alongside Arbuckle, Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin : In 1914 he was present in the extra role of a bellboy in the very first scene that was shot with Chaplin's Tramp (the beginning of Mabel's Strange Predicament ). In the same year he was Keystone Kop in the first full-length comedy film in the United States, Tillie's Troubled Romance . His garish villain caricatures were particularly effective in the films of his uncle, with whom he mostly fought for Mabel.

When Paramount made it possible for Arbuckle to produce his own films through the specially founded Comique Film Corporation in 1917, he took St. John with him and also hired the newcomer Buster Keaton . St. John continued to act as the adversary who tried to steal his mistress from Fatty, but gradually took a back seat to Keaton. The trio of comedians, who incited each other to excel, starred in a dozen short films between 1917 and 1919, one of which has been lost.

Reminiscent of St. John's time with Arbuckle include his portrayal of the shameful waiter in The Waiters' Ball (1916), his appearance as the ugly "girl" in The Butcher Boy (1917), his embodiment of the superhuman western outlaw, who is tickled by Arbuckle and Keaton in Out West (1918), and his wild acrobatics in films such as B. He Did and He Didn't (1916).

From the 1920s to the early sound film era, St. John Star was a number of his own short film comedies, for which he probably also wrote and directed, including for Fox Film Corporation and Educational Pictures . He also made short appearances for Buster Keaton in the short films Buster Keaton's Wedding with Obstacles (1920) and The High Sign (1921) as well as the classic The General (1926).

The best-known silent St. John's vehicle is probably the short film The Iron Mule (1925), in which he plays the driver of the train known from Keaton's Darn Hospitality . Directed by Fatty Arbuckle under the pseudonym William Goodrich, Keaton himself had a supporting role as malevolent redskin. Similar successful collaborations with Arbuckle as a director were the successor Curses (1925) , which was also located in the western milieu, and the sound short film Bridge Wives (1932). During the sound film era, St. John appeared one last time at the side of his two former partners, with Arbuckle in Buzzin 'Around (1933) and with Keaton in Love Nest on Wheels (1937).

Other notable comedians whose films St. John starred included Harold Lloyd in At the Old Stage Door (1919) and Larry Semon in The Stunt Man (1927). A scene from his own Racing Mad (1928) was used for the end credits of the ZDF television series Men without Nerves : racing driver St. John climbs out of his wrecked car and throws the audience kisses.

Fuzzy

After the introduction of talkies, St. John quickly became a character actor in westerns. In 1935 he created the character Stoney for one of the first western series, The Three Mesquiteers , who was later played by John Wayne in 1938/39 .

St. John played the character of Fuzzy from 1937, first for Spectrum Pictures at the side of the singing cowboy actor Fred Scott (1937/38, 7 films) and then in three film series for Studio PRC . The first and longest-lived of them was Billy the Kid (later title: Billy Carson , 1940-46, 42 films) with leading actor Bob Steele and especially his successor Buster Crabbe , who became famous as the first science fiction hero Flash Gordon . This series made up about half of all fuzzy films, and Crabbe and St. John formed a compelling duo in 36 films. Synchronized with this was the series about the Lone Rider (1941–43, 17 films) with the former opera singer George Houston , who was later replaced in the title role by Robert Livingston . When Crabbe got tired of cheap westerns, the series about sinister Cheyenne was launched as a replacement (later title: Lash La Rue , 1947–52, 20 films). Pro forma leading actor Lash La Rue was actually called Alfred LaRue, but was nicknamed Lash because of his artistic use of the whip . The last dozen of these films were no longer made for PRC but for producer Ron Ormond, and increasingly contained recycled material.

From 1941 the character of Fuzzy was so popular that all films in the opening credits contained the note "with Al (Fuzzy) St. John" under the respective film title. Later there were even at least three films with Fuzzy at the center of the plot: Fuzzy Settles Down (1944), His Brother's Ghost (1945) and Outlaws of the Plains (1946). Ultimately, the "sidekick" for the marketing of the films, especially in Europe, became more important than the actual leading actors. In Germany, the low-budget films , the production of which rarely took more than a week, only came into the cinemas under the title “Fuzzy”. By 1952, St. John had embodied Fuzzy over 80 times.

In the films, Fuzzy is a stubborn, old cowboy, a kind of village idiot who lives up to all clichés, including a scratchy voice (in the German TV synchronization by Hans Jürgen Diedrich, however, far more than in the original); he also always has a good saying in store. In the early films, Fuzzy looked even younger, not until The Kid Rides Again (1943) - St. John was 49 years old at the time - the figure visibly aged, the beard length increased and now the hat with the upturned front brim was also right. In His Brother's Ghost , Fuzzy's real first name is mentioned: Jonathan.

With his role, St. John became the epitome of the comical sidekick in the 1930s to 1950s, the heyday of cowboy and western films: the cool, masculine and - due to his outstanding skills with the six-shoter - practically invincible hero becomes a Somewhat cranky, but funny partner, who loosens up the action and creates unpredictable twists and turns.

The nickname Fuzzy goes back to another actor, John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight , who played the role of the cowboy sidekick before St. John. Apparently the producers originally wanted to hire Knight for a western, but then the role was given to St. John, who took on the nickname of his rival.

When television began to establish itself in the early 1950s, the great era of series films and with it Fuzzy's career came to an end. For the last ten years of his life, Al St. John performed at popular festivals and rodeos, and was on the Tommy Scott Wild West Show when he died of a fatal heart attack in his hotel room.

In Germany the figure of was fuzzy by the ZDF - TV Series Western yesterday in the 1980s, also a younger crowd known. The Germanized term Fuzzi for a "not to be taken very seriously" found its way into everyday language .

Filmography (selection)

Keystone short films (selection)

  • 1913: Bangville Police (Mabel Normand / Fred Mace)
  • 1914: Mabel's Strange Predicament (Normand / Charlie Chaplin / Chester Conklin)
  • 1914: Tango Tangles (Chaplin / Ford Sterling / Fatty Arbuckle)
  • 1914: The Star Boarder (Chaplin)
  • 1914: Caught in a Cabaret (Chaplin / Normand)
  • 1914: The Knockout (Arbuckle / Chaplin)
  • 1914: Mabel's Busy Day (Normand / Chaplin)
  • 1914: Mabel's Married Life (Chaplin / Normand)
  • 1914: Those Country Kids (Arbuckle / Normand)
  • 1914: The Rounders (Chaplin / Arbuckle)
  • 1914: Mabel's Blunder (Normand)
  • 1914: The New Janitor (Chaplin)
  • 1914: Shot in the Excitement (Alice Howell / St. John)
  • 1914: Tillie's punctured romance ( Tillie's Punctured Romance , feature film with Marie Dressler / Chaplin / Normand)
  • 1914: His Prehistoric Past (Chaplin)
  • 1915: Fatty and Mabel's Simple Life (Arbuckle / Normand)
  • 1915: Mabel, Fatty and the Law (Arbuckle / Normand)
  • 1915: Mabel and Fatty's Married Life (Arbuckle / Normand)
  • 1915: Fatty's Faithful Fido (Arbuckle)
  • 1915: Mabel's Wilful Way (Arbuckle / Normand)
  • 1915: Fatty's Plucky Pup (Arbuckle)
  • 1916: Fatty and Mabel Adrift (Arbuckle / Normand)
  • 1916: He Did and He Didn't (Arbuckle / Normand)
  • 1916: His Wife's Mistakes (Arbuckle)
  • 1916: The Waiters' Ball (Arbuckle)
  • 1916: Bombs! (Charles Murray, Louise Fazenda)

Comique shorts with Arbuckle and Keaton (complete)

Lost films are marked (*).

  • 1917: The Butcher Boy
  • 1917: A Reckless Romeo (without Keaton, because shot in front of Butcher )
  • 1917: The Rough House
  • 1917: His Wedding Night
  • 1917: Oh Doctor!
  • 1917: Coney Island
  • 1917: A Country Hero *
  • 1918: A Scrap of Paper (without Keaton, propaganda à la The Bond )
  • 1918: Out West
  • 1918: The Bell Boy
  • 1918: Moonshine
  • 1918: Good Night, Nurse!
  • 1918: The chef (The Cook)
  • 1919: Camping Out (excluding Keaton, who was doing his military service)
  • 1919: The Pullman Porter * (without Keaton)
  • 1919: Love (without Keaton)
  • 1919: A Desert Hero * (without Keaton)
  • 1919: Back Stage

Solo short films (selection)

  • 1922: Special Delivery (Director: Arbuckle)
  • 1922: Out Of Place (Direction: Arbuckle)
  • 1924: His First Car (Director: Arbuckle)
  • 1925: The Iron Mule (Director: Arbuckle)
  • 1925: Curses (Director: Arbuckle)
  • 1927: Lena Lena
  • 1928: Racing Mad
  • 1931: Bridge Wives (Director: Arbuckle)

Other appearances in comedies and westerns (selection)

Feature films as fuzzy

  • 1940: Fuzzy out of control ( Billy the Kid's Gun Justice )
  • 1941: Fuzzy the Master Cowboy ( Billy the Kid Wanted )
  • 1941: Fuzzy the Immortal ( Billy the Kid in Santa Fe )
  • 1941: Fuzzy Breaks Terror ( Billy the Kid's Fighting Pals )
  • 1941: Fuzzy Breaks Terror ( Billy the Kid's Range War )
  • 1942: Fuzzy gets energetic ( Border Roundup )
  • 1942: Fuzzy Chases Herself ( Billy the Kid Trapped )
  • 1942: Fuzzy intervenes ( The Lone Rider and the Bandit )
  • 1944: Fuzzy the Daredevil ( Valley of Vengeance )
  • 1944: Fuzzy lives dangerously ( Oath of Vengeance )
  • 1946: Fuzzy won't stop at anything ( Gentlemen with Guns )
  • 1946: Fuzzy the Daredevil ( Ghost of Hidden Valley )
  • 1947: Fuzzy cleans up ( Ghost Town Renegades )
  • 1947: Fuzzy, Robbers and Bandits ( Law of the Lash )
  • 1947: Fuzzy the Bandit Killer ( Border Feud )
  • 1947: Fuzzy and the Crooked Thing ( Cheyenne Takes Over )
  • 1947: Fuzzy accounts ( The Fighting Vigilantes )
  • 1947: Fuzzy sees ghosts ( Pioneer Justice )
  • 1947: Fuzzy against Death and the Devil ( Return of the Lash )
  • 1948: Fuzzy and the Bad Boys ( Frontier Revenge )
  • 1949: Fuzzy and the Wisdom Tooth ( Son of a Badman )
  • 1950: Fuzzy und der Leitschenheini ( King of the Bullwhip )
  • 1951: Fuzzy and the Carriage Trick ( The Thundering Trail )

literature

  • David Rothel: Those Great Cowboy Sidekicks. Scarecrow Press, Metuchen NJ 1984, ISBN 0-8108-1707-1 (Revised and updated edition. Empire Publishing, Madison NC 2001, ISBN 0-944019-35-8 ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. This date is given during registration by the army in 1942
  2. Duden.de . Retrieved April 22, 2013.