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Monte Blue

Monte Blue

Birthday: 1887-01-11 | Place of Birth: Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Monte Blue (January 11, 1887 – February 18, 1963) was a movie actor who began his career as a romantic leading man in the silent film era, and later progressed to character roles. Blue was born as Gerard Montgomery Bluefeather in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father was half French, half Cherokee Indian. One of five children, his father died and his mother could not raise five children alone. Along with another brother, they both admitted to the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home. This did not stop him working his way through to Purdue University. When growing up, Blue built up his physique to become a football player (he grew to six feet three inches tall). He not only played football, but he was also a fireman, railroad worker, coal miner, cowpuncher, ranch hand, circus rider, lumberjack, and finally, a day laborer at the studios of D. W. Griffith. He had no theatrical experience when he came to the screen. In his first movie, The Birth of a Nation (1915), he was a stuntman and an extra in the movie. In his next movie, he starred in another small part in the movie, Intolerance (1916). Gradually moving to supporting roles for both D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, Blue earned his breakthrough role as Danton in Orphans of the Storm, starring sisters, Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish. Then he rose to stardom as a rugged romantic lead along with top leading actresses such as Clara Bow, Gloria Swanson, and Norma Shearer. His most prolific female screen partner was Marie Prevost with whom he made several films in the mid 20s at Warner Brothers. Blue's finest silent screen performance was as the alcoholic doctor who finds paradise in MGM's White Shadows in the South Seas (1928). Blue became one of the few silent stars to survive the talkie revolution. However, he lost his investments in the stock market crash of 1929. He rebuilt his career as a character actor, working until his retirement in 1954. One of his more memorable roles was the sheriff in Key Largo. He divorced his first wife in 1923 and married Tova Jansen in 1924. He had two children, Barbara Ann and Richard Monte. During the later part of his life, Monte Blue was an active Mason and the advance man for the Hamid-Morton Shrine Circus; while on business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he had a heart attack because of complications from influenza, dying at age 76. Monte Blue has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6286 Hollywood Blvd. Description above from the Wikipedia article Monte Blue, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1954
Apache

as    Geronimo

1952
Trail of the Arrow

as    (archive footage)

1951
Gold Raiders

as    John Sawyer

1950
The Iroquois Trail

as    Chief Sagamore

1950
This Side of the Law

as    The Sheriff

1949
The Big Wheel

as    Deacon Jones

1948
Silver River

as    'Buck' Chevigee

1946
The Time, The Place and The Girl

as    Stage Manager (uncredited)

1945
San Antonio

as    Cleve Andrews

1943
1942
North to the Klondike

as    John Burke

1941
King of the Texas Rangers

as    Capt. Tom King Sr.

1941
Sunset in Wyoming

as    Jim Hayes

1941
Riders of Death Valley

as    Rance Davis

1941
Bad Man of Deadwood

as    Sheriff Jordan

1941
The Great Train Robbery

as    The Super

1940
Young Bill Hickok

as    Marshal Evans

1939
Frontier Pony Express

as    Cherokee

1938
The Mysterious Rider

as    Cap Folsom

1938
1938
Hawk of the Wilderness

as    Yellow Weasel

1937
Secret Agent X-9

as    Baron Michael Karsten

1937
Born to the West

as    Bart Hammond

1937
Sky Racket

as    Benjamin Arnold

1937
Rootin' Tootin' Rhythm

as    Joe Stafford

1936
Ride, Ranger, Ride

as    Duval, aka Chief Tavibo

1936
A Million to One

as    John Kent Sr.

1936
Song of the Gringo

as    Sheriff