1910-05-04 ( 114 years old ) in Guthrie Center, Iowa, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
James Ellison (May 4, 1910 - December 23, 1993) was an American actor, born James Ellison Smith in Guthrie Center, Iowa, son of Edward James Smith and Ona Mary Ellis.
Ellison appeared in nearly seventy films between 1932 and 1962.
Ellison worked for a time in a film laboratory and while there was offered a screen test. He developed it himself and when he saw it, decided it was not satisfactory so he would not show it to the director. But he saw it anyway and Ellison got a contract.
Despite his rugged good looks and height of 6 feet 3 inches, Ellison's limited range and somewhat wooden screen presence kept him from the first (or even second) ranks of stardom. He spent much of his career in Westerns, including a stint in the mid-thirties as the sidekick of Hopalong Cassidy in Paramount's successful series. In 1938, he played a charming, romantic character opposite 26 year old Lucille Ball in the comedy, "Next Time I Marry", a film where Ball had her first top billing on screen credits. Before that, in 1936, he played his highest-profile role, as Buffalo Bill in Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman, which also starred Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur.
Despite that film's success, Ellison spent most of the remainder of his career shuttling between cowboy pictures and more varied roles, primarily in B movies with titles like Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case and The Undying Monster. He had a supporting role in 1941's Charley's Aunt (which starred Jack Benny) and played the romantic lead in 1943's The Gang's All Here, a Twentieth Century Fox musical in which he seemed somewhat lost among the vivid antics of Carmen Miranda, Charlotte Greenwood, and Edward Everett Horton (and was the only principal not to sing a note). He also co-starred with Tom Conway and Frances Dee in Val Lewton's production of I Walked with a Zombie, directed by Jacques Tourneur.
Ellison landed another romantic lead role as 'Jerry Gibson' in the musical film Lady, Let's Dance (1944) which starred ice skating sensation 'Belita'.
In the early 1950s, Ellison moved from acting to real estate. Joining fellow veteran Jackie Coogan, Ellison returned to the screen only once to play Axel 'Longhorn' Gates in a picture called When the Girls Take Over (1962).
James Ellison died at age 83 in Monterey, California after suffering a broken neck as the result of a fall.
Description above from the Wikipedia article James Ellison (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movies
When the Girls Take Over
1962-04-30
Dead Man's Trail
1952-07-19
Man from the Black Hills
1952-03-29
Texas City
1952-01-27
Texas Lawmen
1951-12-02
Whistling Hills
1951-10-06
Oklahoma Justice
1951-08-18
Kentucky Jubilee
1951-05-18
The Texan Meets Calamity Jane
1950-11-15
I Killed Geronimo
1950-08-08
Fast on the Draw
1950-06-30
Crooked River
1950-06-09
West of the Brazos
1950-06-02
Colorado Ranger
1950-05-12
Marshal of Heldorado
1950-04-21
Everybody's Dancin'
1950-03-31
Hostile Country
1950-03-24
Last of the Wild Horses
1948-12-27
The Ghost Goes Wild
1947-08-08
Calendar Girl
1947-01-31
G.I. War Brides
1946-08-12
Hollywood and Vine
1945-04-25
Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore
1944-07-07
Lady, Let's Dance
1944-04-11
The Gang's All Here
1943-12-24
Best Foot Forward
1943-10-08
I Walked with a Zombie
1943-04-21
Dixie Dugan
1943-03-12
Army Surgeon
1942-12-04
The Undying Monster
1942-11-27
That Other Woman
1942-11-13
Careful, Soft Shoulders
1942-09-18
Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case
1941-12-18
Ice-Capades
1941-08-19
Charley's Aunt
1941-08-01
They Met in Argentina
1941-04-25
Play Girl
1941-01-29
Anne of Windy Poplars
1940-06-28
You Can't Fool Your Wife
1940-05-21
Fifth Avenue Girl
1939-09-22
Hotel for Women
1939-08-03
Sorority House
1939-05-05
Zenobia
1939-04-21
Almost a Gentleman
1939-03-31
Next Time I Marry
1938-12-09
Mother Carey's Chickens
1938-07-29
Vivacious Lady
1938-05-13
The Barrier
1937-12-10
Annapolis Salute
1937-09-10
23 1/2 Hours Leave
1937-03-21
Borderland
1937-02-26
Trail Dust
1936-12-11
The Plainsman
1936-11-16
Three on the Trail
1936-04-14
Call of the Prairie
1936-03-06
Heart of the West
1936-02-24
The Leathernecks Have Landed
1936-02-17
Hitch Hike Lady
1935-12-28
Bar 20 Rides Again
1935-12-06
The Eagle's Brood
1935-10-25
Hop-a-long Cassidy
1935-08-23
Reckless
1935-04-19
The Winning Ticket
1935-02-08
Buried Loot
1935-01-19
The Famous Ferguson Case
1932-04-19
Play Girl
1932-03-12
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