Russell Simpson
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Russell McCaskill Simpson (June 17, 1880, Danville, California – December 12, 1959, Woodland Hills, California) was an American character actor who appeared in over 500 movies. He is best known for his "grizzled old man" appearances. Gaunt, lanky, and rustic-sounding, Simpson was a familiar character actor for almost forty-five years, particularly as a member of the John Ford Stock Company.
At age 18 Simpson prospected for gold in Alaska. He began taking acting classes in Seattle, Washington. In 1910 he married Gertrude Alter from New York City.
By 1909, he had gone into the theatre. He appeared in at least two plays on Broadway between 1909 and 1912, and made his motion picture debut in Cecil B. DeMille's 1914 original film version of The Virginian in a bit part. By 1923, when the film was remade, Simpson had progressed to playing the lead villain.
Throughout his career, Simpson worked for 12 years in road shows, stock companies, and on Broadway. He didn't usually perform lead roles, but he did star in many movies throughout the silent movie era. He performed a lead role as the grandfather in Out of the Dust (1920).
Simpson is best known for his work in the films of John Ford and, in particular, for his portrayal of Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). His final film was The Horse Soldiers, his tenth film for Ford. Simpson worked up to 1959, the year of his death.
He was the president of the Overseas Phonograph Accessories Corporation.
Movies
The Horse Soldiers
Henry Goodbody
The Tin Star
Clem Hall
The Lonely Man
The Brass Legend
Deputy 'Pop' Jackson
Friendly Persuasion
Brother Griffith - Elder (uncredited)
Oklahoma!
The Minister (uncredited)
The Tall Men
Emigrant (uncredited)
The Last Command
The Parson
Broken Lance
Judge (uncredited)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Fred Bixby
The Sun Shines Bright
Lewt Lake
Meet Me at the Fair
Sheriff Evans
The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon
Sam Stanton
Lone Star
Maynard Cole
Feudin' Fools
Grandpa Smith
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
Clem Johnson
Comin' Round the Mountain
Judge
Call of the Klondike
Andy McKay
Saddle Tramp
Pop
Wagon Master
Adam Perkins
The Outriders
Farmer (uncredited)
Free For All
Farmer
The Gal Who Took the West
Bartender (as old Timer)
Tuna Clipper
Capt. Fergus MacLennan
Joan of Arc
Old Man with Pipe (uncredited)
Sundown in Santa Fe
Sheriff Jim Wyatt
The Untamed Breed
Minister
Tap Roots
Big Sam Dabney
Coroner Creek
Walt Hardison
Albuquerque
Abner Huggins
Bowery Buckaroos
Luke Barlow
The Fabulous Texan
Wade Clayton
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
Dan Yeary
A Boy and His Dog
Mr. Thornycroft
My Dog Shep
Mathew Hodgkins
My Darling Clementine
John Simpson
Death Valley
Old Silas Bagley
Bad Bascomb
Elijah Walker
California Gold Rush
Colonel Parker
They Were Expendable
'Dad' Knowland
Along Came Jones
Pop de Longpre
Roughly Speaking
The Colonel - Drill Instructor (uncredited)
The Big Bonanza
Adam Parker
Tall in the Saddle
Pat Foster (uncredited)
Roaring Guns
Farmer MacKenzie
Texas Masquerade
J.K. Trimble
The Woman of the Town
Sime
Moonlight in Vermont
Uncle Rufus
Riding High
Frenchy McGuire
Colt Comrades
Sheriff
Border Patrol
Orestes Krebs
Tennessee Johnson
Kirby
The Spoilers
Flapjack
Lone Star Ranger
Tom Duane
Nazi Agent
2nd Captain (uncredited)
Shut My Big Mouth
Mayor Potter
Wild Bill Hickok Rides
Ned Nolan
Swamp Water
Marty McCord
Last of the Duanes
Tom Duane
Wild Geese Calling
Marshal Len Baker
Bad Men of Missouri
Hank Younger
Citadel of Crime
Jess Meekins
Meet John Doe
(uncredited)
Tobacco Road
Chief of Police
Santa Fe Trail
Shubel Morgan
Brigham Young
U.S. Army Major
Wyoming
Mr. Bronson
Three Faces West
Minister
Virginia City
Gaylord
The Grapes of Wrath
Pa Joad
Geronimo
Scout
Drums Along the Mohawk
Dr. Petry
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Kenneth Allen (uncredited)
Desperate Trails
Sheriff Big Bill Tanner
The Bill of Rights
Frontiersman
Western Caravans
Winchester Thompson
Young Mr. Lincoln
Woolridge (uncredited)
Dodge City
Orth
Heart of the North
Dave MacMillan
Valley of the Giants
McKenzie
The Girl of the Golden West
Fred - Outrider in Prologue
Gold Is Where You Find It
MacKenzie
That I May Live
Bish Plivens
Paradise Isle
Baxter
Wild West Days
Matt Keeler
Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge
Bayliss Baynum
Parnell
Dead Child's Father
Mountain Justice
Matthew Turnbull
Green Light
Sheep Man
Maid of Salem
Village Marshal (Uncredited)
Ramona
Scroggs
Back to Nature
Sheriff
San Francisco
'Red' Kelly
Girl of the Ozarks
Bascomb Rogers
The Harvester
Abner Prewett
Man Hunt
Jeff Parkington
Paddy O'Day
Benton
Way Down East
Squire Amasa Bartlett
Motive for Revenge
McAllister
The Hoosier Schoolmaster
Doc Small
West of the Pecos
Roy Neal
Radio Scout
Pappy Tolliver
The World Moves On
Notary (1825)
Ever Since Eve
Jim Wood
Three on a Honeymoon
Ezra MacDuff
Carolina
Richards
Frontier Marshal
Editor Pickett
Sixteen Fathoms Deep
A.B. Crockett
The Power and the Glory
Professor (uncredited)
Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles
Speaker
Face in the Sky
Pa Nathan Brown
Silver Dollar
Hamlin
Call Her Savage
Old Man in Wagon Train
The Cabin in the Cotton
Uncle Joe
Hello Trouble
Jonathan Kenyon
The Honor of the Press
Dan Perkins
Flames
Jake
The Riding Tornado
Sheriff
The Famous Ferguson Case
Banker Craig
Lena Rivers
Grandfather Nichols
Law and Order
Judge R.W. Williams
Ridin' for Justice
Marshal Joseph Slyde
Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise)
Doctor
Alexander Hamilton
Harvey Taylor - First Ex-Soldier
The Great Meadow
Thomas Hall
Man to Man
Uncle Cal
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln's Employer
Billy the Kid
Angus McSween
The Lone Star Ranger
Colonel John Aldridge
After the Fog
Joshua Barker
The Sap
The Banker
My Lady's Past
All Faces West
Gunner Bill
Innocents of Paris
Emile Leval
Tropical Nights
Singapore Joe
The Bushranger
Sir Eric
Wild Geese
Caleb Gare
Now We're in the Air
Lord Abercrombie McTavish
The First Auto
Hank Armstrong
The Frontiersman
Andrew Jackson
Annie Laurie
Sandy
Lovey Mary
Stubbins
Rustlin' for Cupid
Hank Blatchford
The Earth Woman
Ezra Tilden
Ship of Souls
Angus Garth
The Splendid Road
Capt. Lightfoot
The Eagle
The Eagle's Lieutenant / Coach Driver (uncredited)
Why Women Love
Silas Martin
Thunder Mountain
Si Pace
Paint and Powder
Riley
Faint Perfume
Grandpa Crumb
Old Shoes
Beauty and the Bad Man
Chuckwalla Bill
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
Jap Taylor
The Narrow Street
Garvey
Painted People
Fred Lane
Desire
Patrick Ryan
Defying Destiny
Mr. Wilkens
The Virginian
Trampas
The Huntress
Big Jack Skinner
Circus Days
Eben Holt
The Girl of the Golden West
Jack Rance
Hearts Aflame
Black Joe
The Kingdom Within
Caleb Deming
Peg o' My Heart
Jim O'Connell
Rags to Riches
The Sheriff
Human Hearts
Paul Logan
Across the Dead-Line
Enoch Kidder
Under the Lash
Simeon Krillet
Snowblind
Hugh Garth
Bunty Pulls the Strings
Tammas Biggar
Godless Men
'Black' Pawl
The Branding Iron
John Carver
Lahoma
'Brick' Willock
The Deadlier Sex
Jim Willis
Fighting Cressy
Hiram McKinstry
Desert Gold
Ladd
The Blue Bandanna
Jim Yancy
Bill Apperson's Boy
Bill Apperson
The Brand
Dan McGill
The Challenge Accepted
Uncle Zeke Sawyer
Riders of the Night
Sally's Grandfather
The Uphill Path
James Lawton
The Border Legion
Overland Bradley
Breakers Ahead
Captain Scudder
A Weaver of Dreams
Martin Chandler
Blue Jeans
Jacob Tutwiler
The Barrier
John Gaylord / John Tale
Lovely Mary
Peter Nelson
The Old Homestead
Sheriff
The Virginian
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
TV Series
The Texan
Zeb Waters
1 Episode
Wagon Train
Mr. Carr
1 Episode
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Old Man
1 Episode
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
1 Episode
Public Defender
Lundquist
1 Episode
General Electric Theater
1 Episode
Cavalcade of America
Quatermaster
1 Episode
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Sam
1 Episode
The Lone Ranger
Jack Brewster
1 Episode