Richard Arlen
Biography
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.
Known For
Acting
1932
asEdward Parker
1932
asSelf (uncredited)
1933
asSelf
1933
asCheshire Cat
1929
asBob Moran
1979
as(archive footage)
1923
asRichard Arlen
1927
asDavid Armstrong
1929
asSteven 'Steve'
1959
asBacon
1925
asBather
1925
asDumas Dufrayne
1946
asSimon Lash
1943
asLewis J. 'Lee' Deerhold
1963
asLee Barrenger
1928
asHer Problem
1933
asDr. Alan Stevens
1943
asRichard Houston
1927
asRalph Treadway
1928
asThe Boy (Jim)
1935
asArt Ryan
1945
asJohnny March
1953
asGen. Robert E 'Bob' Hale
1966
asNed Duggan
1967
asDeadwood Telegrapher
1929
asLt. Harry Faversham
1929
asJoe "Dum-Dum" Brooks
1944
asJohn Craig
1932
asPipes Boley
1944
asCapt. Jed Kilton
1930
asDick Bailey
1932
asFrank C. Marsh
1955
asTony Pelassier
1929
asLarry Lee
1944
asDr. Patrick Cory
1937
asAlan Townsend
1968
asMan in Club
1935
asMal Stevens
1948
asHarvey Howell
1930
asLarry Payne
1964
asSheriff Jenkins
1933
asMondrake
1968
asTownsman
1938
asGaston Rogers
1965
asCaptain Gannon
1936
asWilliam 'Bill' Jones, an alias of William Foster
1964
asBen the Bartender
1965
asPete
1948
asCliff Jordan
1944
asTim Jones
1939
asClark Manning
1928
asRed
1937
asLee Rogers
1931
asJoe Hart
1938
asDenny Paine
1930
asHeyst
1952
asJoe Morgan
1943
asJon Davis
1961
as'Four Feathers' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1942
asJohnny Maverick
1967
asSheriff Travis
1941
asDick Williams
1930
asLou Larrigan
1937
asHickey
1965
asNational Intelligence
1952
asBrundage
1944
asRussell Evans
1965
asDoctor Kent
1945
asMatt Fraser
1928
asFred Tilden
1961
asCol. Edwin Martin
1941
asDick McManus
1940
asDick Talbot
1926
asPercy Brown
1930
asJim Cleve
1966
asBrig. Gen. F.W. Ramsgate
1952
asShowdown Calhoun
1956
asSheriff Ward Young
1943
asWoody Ormsby
1941
asBrad Farrell
1941
asDan Kendall
1951
asCharles Storrs
1942
asPvt. John W. Lewis
1939
asCapt. Robert Lawrence
1926
asSeaman (uncredited)
1958
asSgt. Jim Heisler
1934
asJulian Barrow
1947
asBuffalo Bill
1940
asHimself
1933
asCapt J.J. Jericho
1960
asChris Garber
1926
asReporter (uncredited)
1956
asC. W. Rivial
1963
asCol. Ralph Holbein
1941
asDick Barclay
1941
asDick Manning
1938
asPerry Brown
1939
asWally King
1939
asDan Burton
1939
asGene 'Loop' Gillan
1940
as"Lucky" Larry Taylor
1940
asDick 'Kid' Roberts
1933
asBill Hoffman
1934
asWild Bill Smith
1941
asJim Clark
1942
asSkinner Barnes
1965
asMatthew Ridgeway
1942
asHimself
1936
asBob Harvey
1931
asLt. Tom Colton
1930
asPhillip 'Pink' Barker
1937
asSteve Havens Jackson Jr.
1948
asDobe Williams
1932
asDavid Frost
1964
asCharles Devon
1967
asSam Tyler
1940
asWalter Norton
1930
asHunter (Dream Girl)
1940
asFrank Stewart
1935
asDan Matthews
1950
asUnion Captain
1933
asWalt Martin
1931
asTom Blake
1931
asBrad Farley
1927
asCapt. Colton
1932
asBert 'Speed' Condon
1966
asBilly Kelly
1934
asLucky Davis
1942
asMatt Carney
1954
asJohn 'Captain' Martin
1933
as
1930
asStan Hollister
1932
asGary King
1931
asDan McMasters
1927
asJimmie Adams
1927
asJohn Shreve
1927
asBob Blewe
1941
asDick O'Hara
1935
asHimself
1926
asLink Halliwell
1964
asSen. Oscar Anderson
1931
asDan Curtis
1928
asEdd Denmeade
1976
asMr. Monahan
1926
as'Tubby' Clark
1975
asGrimes
1949
asMike Adams
1976
asSilent Film Star 2
1946
asHimself (uncredited)
asSelf
asRichard
asSelf
asDr. Harrison
asGeneral Hugh Morgan
asSelf
as
asNevers
as
as
as
asDamon Ring, Sr.
as
asJohn Minor
asWillits
as 
as
asChristopher Waring
asSheriff Dan Rainey
Production
Crew
Directing
