Rory Calhoun
Active - 1941 - 1992 | Born - Aug 8, 1922 in Los Angeles, CA | Died - Apr 28, 1999 in Los Angeles, CA | Genres - Western, Action, Drama, Adventure, Comedy | Height: 6' 4"
Handsome leading man Rory Calhoun's successful film and television career spanned well over 50 years. In the mid-1940s,after a difficult childhood and adolescence, Calhoun found work as a lumberjack in Santa Cruz, California. It was while there employed that Calhoun was discovered by actor Alan Ladd, who suggested that the rugged young man give movies a try. Billed as "Frank McCown," Calhoun was signed to a brief contract at 20th Century-Fox, but most of his earliest movie scenes (including a sizeable supporting role in the Laurel and Hardy vehicle The Bullfighters) ended up on the cutting room floor.
Free-lancing in the late 1940s, Calhoun first attracted a fan-following with his supporting role as a high-school lothario in 1948's The Red House. He returned to Fox in 1950, enjoying major roles in such films as How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and River of No Return (1955). Established as a western player by the late 1950s, Calhoun starred on the popular TV western The Texan from 1958 through 1960. He spent his spare time writing, publishing at least one novel, The Man From Padeira. From 1949 through 1970, Calhoun was married to actress Lita Baron.
Perpetuating his career into the 1980s and '90s, a more weather-beaten Rory Calhoun was seen in the lead of the satirical horror film Motel Hell (1980), was quite funny as a washed-up macho movie star in Avenging Angel (1985), and stole the show from ostensible leading-man George Strait in Pure Country (1992).
Available Films:
Active - 1941 - 1992 | Born - Aug 8, 1922 in Los Angeles, CA | Died - Apr 28, 1999 in Los Angeles, CA | Genres - Western, Action, Drama, Adventure, Comedy | Height: 6' 4"
Handsome leading man Rory Calhoun's successful film and television career spanned well over 50 years. In the mid-1940s,after a difficult childhood and adolescence, Calhoun found work as a lumberjack in Santa Cruz, California. It was while there employed that Calhoun was discovered by actor Alan Ladd, who suggested that the rugged young man give movies a try. Billed as "Frank McCown," Calhoun was signed to a brief contract at 20th Century-Fox, but most of his earliest movie scenes (including a sizeable supporting role in the Laurel and Hardy vehicle The Bullfighters) ended up on the cutting room floor.
Free-lancing in the late 1940s, Calhoun first attracted a fan-following with his supporting role as a high-school lothario in 1948's The Red House. He returned to Fox in 1950, enjoying major roles in such films as How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and River of No Return (1955). Established as a western player by the late 1950s, Calhoun starred on the popular TV western The Texan from 1958 through 1960. He spent his spare time writing, publishing at least one novel, The Man From Padeira. From 1949 through 1970, Calhoun was married to actress Lita Baron.
Perpetuating his career into the 1980s and '90s, a more weather-beaten Rory Calhoun was seen in the lead of the satirical horror film Motel Hell (1980), was quite funny as a washed-up macho movie star in Avenging Angel (1985), and stole the show from ostensible leading-man George Strait in Pure Country (1992).
Available Films:
Trivia:
As a teenager Calhoun dropped out of high school and drifted into petty crime, becoming a car thief. He was caught and spent three years in a federal reformatory. In the mid-'50s blackmailers threatened to make his prison record public; instead, Calhoun himself revealed it. He died after a ten-day hospitalization for advanced stages of emphysema and diabetes.
In 1955 his agent, Henry Willson, disclosed information about Calhoun's years in prison to "Confidential" magazine in exchange for the tabloid not printing an exposé about the secret homosexual life of Rock Hudson, another Willson client. The disclosure had no negative effect on Calhoun's career and only served to solidify his "bad boy" image.
His young criminal career was rather extensive. A high school dropout, he stole a revolver at age 13, which landed him in the California Youth Authority's Preston School of Industry reformatory at Ione, CA. He escaped while in the adjustment center (jail within the jail). After robbing several jewelry stores, he stole a car and drove it across state lines. This offense sent him to the federal penitentiary in Springfield, MO, for three years. When he finished his sentence he was incarcerated in San Quentin State Penitentiary in California on other charges and remained there until he was paroled just before his 21st birthday.
Guy Madison was one of his closest friends. The two men often went on fishing and hunting trips. Guy and his (second) wife Sheila Connolly named him godfather to their first born Bridget.
[on Susan Hayward] "I learned a lot from that lady. I learned more about my trade, about presence in front of the camera, by watching her. She acted like it was nothing, with no effort."
As a teenager Calhoun dropped out of high school and drifted into petty crime, becoming a car thief. He was caught and spent three years in a federal reformatory. In the mid-'50s blackmailers threatened to make his prison record public; instead, Calhoun himself revealed it. He died after a ten-day hospitalization for advanced stages of emphysema and diabetes.
In 1955 his agent, Henry Willson, disclosed information about Calhoun's years in prison to "Confidential" magazine in exchange for the tabloid not printing an exposé about the secret homosexual life of Rock Hudson, another Willson client. The disclosure had no negative effect on Calhoun's career and only served to solidify his "bad boy" image.
His young criminal career was rather extensive. A high school dropout, he stole a revolver at age 13, which landed him in the California Youth Authority's Preston School of Industry reformatory at Ione, CA. He escaped while in the adjustment center (jail within the jail). After robbing several jewelry stores, he stole a car and drove it across state lines. This offense sent him to the federal penitentiary in Springfield, MO, for three years. When he finished his sentence he was incarcerated in San Quentin State Penitentiary in California on other charges and remained there until he was paroled just before his 21st birthday.
Guy Madison was one of his closest friends. The two men often went on fishing and hunting trips. Guy and his (second) wife Sheila Connolly named him godfather to their first born Bridget.
[on Susan Hayward] "I learned a lot from that lady. I learned more about my trade, about presence in front of the camera, by watching her. She acted like it was nothing, with no effort."
