1891-04-10 ( 133 years old ) in Saginaw, Michigan, USA
One of the great stars of early American Westerns. McCoy was the son of an Irish soldier who later became police chief of Saginaw, Michigan, where McCoy was born. He attended St. Ignatius College in Chicago and after seeing a Wild West show there, left school and found work on a Wyoming ranch. He became an expert horseman and roper and developed a keen knowledge of the ways and languages of the Indian tribes in the area. He competed in numerous rodeos, then enlisted in the U.S. Army when America entered the First World War. He was commissioned and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. At the end of World War I, he returned to his ranch in Wyoming, only to be called by Governor Bob Carry to the post of Adjutant General of Wyoming, a position he held until 1921. The position carried with it the rank of Brigadier General (a brevet promotion) and it has been reported that this made him the youngest general officer in the U.S. Army. His reputation as a friend to the Wind River Reservation Indians, both Arapahoe and Shoshone, preceded him and in 1922, he was asked by the head of Famous Players-Lasky, Jesse L. Lasky, to provide Indian extras for the Western extravaganza, The Covered Wagon (1923). He resigned from the state position and recruited several hundred Indians to the Utah movie location. When the film wrapped, he was asked to choose several Indians to accompany him to Hollywood. There the production company developed a live 'prologue' to be presented just prior to the movie showing. The idea was a success and McCoy and his Indian group toured the U.S. and eventually, Europe as well. After touring this country and Europe with the Indians as publicity, McCoy returned to Hollywood and used his connections to obtain further work in the movies, both as a technical advisor and eventually as an actor. MGM speedily signed him to a contract to star in a series of Westerns and McCoy rapidly rose to stardom, making scores of Westerns and occasional non-Westerns. He retired from the army and from films after the war, but emerged in the late 1940s for a few more films and some television work. In 1942 he ran for the Republican Nomination for the U.S. Senate in Wyoming. He was defeated and returned to Hollywood and an uncertain future. In 1946 he sold his Wyoming ranch and moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania and the life of the gentleman farmer. While living there, he met and married Danish writer Inga Arvad. He later built a home in Nogales, Arizona where Inga subsequently died in 1973. He spent his later years as a retired rancher. He died at the U.A. Army hospital at Ft. Hauchuca, Arizona on January 29 1978 at the age of 86.
Inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1974.
During World War I, he served as an artillery officer in the US Army in France.
Spouse Inga Arvad (1945 - 1973) (her death)
Alice Miller (? - 1931) (divorced) (3 children)
Movies
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
1976-05-01
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972-01-10
Requiem for a Gunfighter
1965-06-30
Run of the Arrow
1957-09-05
Around the World in Eighty Days
1956-10-17
Injun Talk
1946-09-16
West of the Law
1942-10-02
Riders of the West
1942-08-21
Down Texas Way
1942-05-22
Ghost Town Law
1942-03-27
Below the Border
1942-01-30
Forbidden Trails
1941-12-25
The Gunman From Bodie
1941-09-19
Arizona Bound
1941-07-19
The Texas Marshal
1941-07-12
Outlaws of the Rio Grande
1941-02-26
Riders of Black Mountain
1940-11-11
Arizona Gang Busters
1940-09-16
Gun Code
1940-08-03
Frontier Crusader
1940-06-14
Texas Renegades
1940-01-17
Trigger Fingers
1939-11-01
The Fighting Renegade
1939-08-31
Straight Shooter
1939-08-12
Outlaws' Paradise
1939-04-18
Texas Wildcats
1939-04-09
Code of the Cactus
1939-02-25
Six-Gun Trail
1938-11-25
Lightning Carson Rides Again
1938-10-09
Phantom Ranger
1938-05-27
Two Gun Justice
1938-04-29
Code of the Rangers
1938-04-07
West of Rainbow's End
1938-01-12
The Traitor
1936-08-29
Ghost Patrol
1936-08-02
The Lion's Den
1936-07-07
Aces and Eights
1936-06-06
Lightnin' Bill Carson
1936-04-14
Border Caballero
1936-03-01
Roarin' Guns
1936-01-29
Bulldog Courage
1935-12-30
The Man from Guntown
1935-08-15
Riding Wild
1935-06-28
The Outlaw Deputy
1935-06-20
Justice of the Range
1935-05-25
Fighting Shadows
1935-04-18
The Revenge Rider
1935-03-18
Law Beyond the Range
1935-02-15
Square Shooter
1935-01-21
The Westerner
1934-12-10
Prescott Kid
1934-11-08
Beyond the Law
1934-07-31
A Man's Game
1934-06-16
Hell Bent for Love
1934-05-19
Voice in the Night
1934-04-06
Speed Wings
1934-02-05
Straightaway
1933-12-22
Hold the Press
1933-10-25
Police Car 17
1933-09-30
Rusty Rides Alone
1933-05-25
The Whirlwind
1933-04-13
Silent Men
1933-03-03
Man Of Action
1933-01-20
End of the Trail
1932-12-19
The Western Code
1932-09-15
Fighting for Justice
1932-08-28
Cornered
1932-08-05
Daring Danger
1932-06-22
Two-Fisted Law
1932-06-08
Hollywood on Parade
1932-06-05
The Riding Tornado
1932-05-04
Texas Cyclone
1932-02-24
The Fighting Fool
1932-01-20
The Fighting Marshal
1931-11-25
Shotgun Pass
1931-11-01
The One Way Trail
1931-10-15
The Indians Are Coming
1930-10-09
The Desert Rider
1929-05-11
Sioux Blood
1929-04-20
The Overland Telegraph
1929-03-02
Morgan's Last Raid
1929-01-05
Beyond the Sierras
1928-09-15
The Adventurer
1928-07-14
The Law of the Range
1928-01-21
Spoilers of the West
1927-12-10
Foreign Devils
1927-09-03
The Frontiersman
1927-06-11
California
1927-05-07
Winners Of The Wilderness
1927-01-15
War Paint
1926-10-09
The Thundering Herd
1925-03-01
Powered by Powerxsoft Ltd using the TMDB API