Richard Arlen
Acting
🎂 1899-08-30
Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore) was an American film and television actor. He served as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Flying Corps during World War I. After the war, he went to the oilfields of Texas and Oklahoma and found work as a tool boy. He was thereafter a messenger and sporting editor of a newspaper before going to Los Angeles to act in films, but no producer wanted him. He was a delivery boy for a film laboratory when the motorcycle which he was riding landed him a broken leg outside the Paramount Pictures lot. A sympathetic film director gave him his start as an extra. He appeared at first in silent films before making the transition to talkies. His first important film role was in Vengeance of the Deep. He took time out from his Hollywood career to teach as a United States Army Air Forces flight instructor in World War II. Arlen is best known for his role as a pilot in the Academy Award-winning Wings with Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Gary Cooper, El Brendel, and his second wife, Jobyna Ralston, whom he married in 1927. He was among the more famous residents of the celebrity enclave, Toluca Lake, California. He married New York socialite, Margaret Kinsella, in 1946. In 1939, Universal teamed him with Andy Devine for a series of 14 B-pictures, mostly action-comedies with heavy reliance on stock footage from larger-scale films. They are informally known as the "Aces of Action" series, which is how the stars were billed in the trailers. When Arlen left the studio in 1941, the series continued with Devine teamed with a variety of other actors. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Arlen was active in television, having guest starred in several anthology series, including Playhouse 90, The Loretta Young Show, The 20th Century Fox Hour, and in three episodes of the series about clergymen, Crossroads. In 1960, Arlen was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star at 6755 Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the film industry. In 1968, he appeared on Petticoat Junction playing himself. The episode was called "Wings" and it was in direct reference to the 1927 silent movie Wings. Arlen appeared in westerns, such as Lawman, Branded, Bat Masterson, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Wagon Train, and Yancy Derringer, and in such drama/adventure programs as Ripcord, Whirlybirds, Perry Mason, The New Breed, Coronado 9, and Michael Shayne.
Cast credits(168)
1955
Dr. Harrison
1957
Self
1950
Self
1952
1950
Damon Ring, Sr.
1958
Willits
1961
Richard
1962
John Minor
1958
Sheriff Dan Rainey
1958
Nevers
1954
1959
1955
Christopher Waring
1953
Self
1963
1954
General Hugh Morgan
1958
1965
1960
Richard Arlen
1923
The Boy (Jim)
1928
Jon Davis
1943
Bob Moran
1929
Bacon
1959
David Armstrong
1927
Cheshire Cat
1933
Matthew Ridgeway
1965
National Intelligence
1965
Russell Evans
1944
Ben the Bartender
1964
Silent Film Star 2
1976
Sen. Oscar Anderson
1964
C. W. Rivial
1956
Ned Duggan
1966
Edward Parker
1932
Captain Gannon
1965
Woody Ormsby
1943
Doctor Kent
1965
Steve Havens Jackson Jr.
1937
Charles Storrs
1951
Chris Garber
1960
Sheriff Travis
1967
Sgt. Jim Heisler
1958
Sam Tyler
1967
Dan Matthews
1935
Dan McMasters
1931
Harvey Howell
1948
Showdown Calhoun
1952
Townsman
1968
"Lucky" Larry Taylor
1940
Pete
1965
Mr. Monahan
1976
Lewis J. 'Lee' Deerhold
1943
Union Captain
1950
Brundage
1952
Johnny Maverick
1942
Dr. Patrick Cory
1944
Dan Curtis
1931
Mike Adams
1949
Dick Talbot
1940
Seaman (uncredited)
1926
Billy Kelly
1966
Alan Townsend
1937
(archive footage)
1979
Jimmie Adams
1927
Mal Stevens
1935
Dr. Alan Stevens
1933
Percy Brown
1926
Sheriff Jenkins
1964
Bert 'Speed' Condon
1932
Frank C. Marsh
1932
Lucky Davis
1934
Gen. Robert E 'Bob' Hale
1953
Art Ryan
1935
Lt. Tom Colton
1931
Reporter (uncredited)
1926
Denny Paine
1938
Dick O'Hara
1941
Clark Manning
1939
Richard Houston
1943
Matt Fraser
1945
'Tubby' Clark
1926
Pipes Boley
1932
Wild Bill Smith
1934
Mondrake
1933
Hunter (Dream Girl)
1930
Sheriff Ward Young
1956
Gary King
1932
'Four Feathers' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1961
Frank Stewart
1940
Lt. Harry Faversham
1929
Lee Rogers
1937
Larry Lee
1929
Lee Barrenger
1963
Johnny March
1945
Steven 'Steve'
1929
Perry Brown
1938
Edd Denmeade
1928
Phillip 'Pink' Barker
1930
John Shreve
1927
Bob Blewe
1927
Red
1928
Brad Farrell
1941
Dick McManus
1941
Capt. Jed Kilton
1944
Col. Edwin Martin
1961
Grimes
1975
Joe Hart
1931
Jim Clark
1941
Charles Devon
1964
Buffalo Bill
1947
Deadwood Telegrapher
1967
Dobe Williams
1948
Capt. Colton
1927
Skinner Barnes
1942
Himself (uncredited)
1946
Brad Farley
1931
Julian Barrow
1934
Larry Payne
1930
Himself
1942
Dick Barclay
1941
Gene 'Loop' Gillan
1939
Joe Morgan
1952
Cliff Jordan
1948
Tom Blake
1931
John Craig
1944
Stan Hollister
1930
Hickey
1937
Walter Norton
1940
Wally King
1939
William 'Bill' Jones, an alias of William Foster
1936
Dick 'Kid' Roberts
1940
Walt Martin
1933
Capt. Robert Lawrence
1939
Gaston Rogers
1938
Man in Club
1968
Dick Williams
1941
Dan Burton
1939
Col. Ralph Holbein
1963
Joe "Dum-Dum" Brooks
1929
Dan Kendall
1941
Heyst
1930
Tim Jones
1944
Tony Pelassier
1955
David Frost
1932
Brig. Gen. F.W. Ramsgate
1966
Her Problem
1928
Dick Manning
1941
Self (uncredited)
1932
Simon Lash
1946
Bather
1925
Pvt. John W. Lewis
1942
Bob Harvey
1936
Matt Carney
1942
Jim Cleve
1930
Ralph Treadway
1927
Lou Larrigan
1930
Link Halliwell
1926
Bill Hoffman
1933
Himself
1935
1933
Fred Tilden
1928
John 'Captain' Martin
1954
Dick Bailey
1930
Himself
1940
Self
1933
Capt J.J. Jericho
1933
Dumas Dufrayne
1925