Rory Calhoun

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Rory Calhoun (* 8. August 1922 in Los Angeles as Francis Timothy McCown ; † 28. April 1999 in Burbank , California ) was an American actor .

youth

Francis Timothy McCown lost his father at a young age. After dropping out of school, he repeatedly came into conflict with the law and was sentenced to three years in an Oklahoma juvenile detention center for car theft. In the 1950s, attempts were made to blackmail the then famous B-movie actor Calhoun with a threat of disclosure. He then decided to inform the public about his criminal past - which did not detract from his career.

Way to the movie

After serving his juvenile sentence, he worked for some time as a boxer , lumberjack and truck driver before he was discovered by Alan Ladd's wife, acting agent Sue Carol , to star in the film. In 1944 he got his first film role in the musical Something for the Boys at the production company 20th Century Fox .

The tall Calhoun - the pseudonym is said to have been suggested to him by the producer David O. Selznick - achieved international fame through numerous appearances in westerns . He embodied mostly dark and shady characters, and he regularly wore black hats. His best-known productions include River of No Return (with Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe ) and With Brute Force (as an opponent of Jeff Chandler ), the comedy How do you fish for a millionaire? (also with Marilyn Monroe) as well as the western duel in Socorro and King of the Gauchos (next to Gene Tierney ), in which Calhoun played positively drawn main characters. In addition, he also acted temporarily as a producer and wrote the script for the film The Domino Kid .

In addition, he worked as a leading actor in several European film productions. In Hugo Fregoneses historical film Marco Polo he played the eponymous explorer , in the sandal film The Colossus of Rhodes an upright Greek who overthrew the tyrant of the Mediterranean island.

watch TV

In the mid-1950s, Calhoun increasingly turned to television . Between 1958 and 1960 he played the leading role in the western series The Texaner . He also made numerous guest appearances in well-known series such as Bonanza , Smoking Colts , The People of the Shiloh Ranch , A Thousand Miles of Dust and Lancer . He played his last major series role between 1982 and 1987 in the soap opera Capitol .

During his 50-year career, Calhoun appeared in over 80 films and nearly 1,000 television shows. For his acting performance, he was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (one for film, one for television work). Calhoun also worked as a writer and wrote the novel The Man from Padera .

Rory Calhoun was married twice: from 1948-1970 with the actress Lita Baron and from 1971 until his death with Sue Rhodes. The first marriage had three daughters and the second one more. Calhoun died on April 28, 1999 in California of complications from diabetes mellitus and pulmonary emphysema .

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Gregor Hauser: Muzzle flashes: The 50 best B-Westerns of the 50s and their stars . Verlag Reinhard Marheinecke 2015, ISBN 978-3-932053-85-6 .
  • Peter Kranzpiller: Stars of the Cinema Scene , Vol. 14: Rory Calhoun. Vogt: Verlag für Filmliteratur 1998, ISBN 3-89089-684-7 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Calhoun, Rory
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McCown, Francis Timothy (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH August 8, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH los Angeles
DATE OF DEATH April 28, 1999
Place of death Burbank , California