Richard Arlen
Known for Acting · 172 credits
- Born
- 1899-08-30
- Died
- 1976-03-28
- Place of birth
- Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
- Also known as
- Van Mattimore · Dick Arlen · Sylvanus Richard Mattimore
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
TV Shows (18)
Perry Mason
1957
as Dr. Harrison
Matinee Theater
1955
Petticoat Junction
1963
as Self
Climax!
1954
as Nevers
The Lucy Show
1962
as Richard
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
as Self
Bat Masterson
1958
as John Minor / Sheriff Dan Rainey
This Is Your Life
1952
as Self
Wanted: Dead or Alive
1958
as Damon Ring, Sr.
Lock-Up
1959
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
Yancy Derringer
1958
as General Hugh Morgan
Branded
1965
The Whistler
1954
Your Show of Shows
1950
Letter to Loretta
1953
as Christopher Waring
Coronado 9
1960
The New Breed
1961
as Willits
Movies (154)
Tropic Fury
1939
as Dan Burton
Wings
1927
as David Armstrong
Rolled Stockings
1927
as Ralph Treadway
Warlock
1959
as Bacon
Island of Lost Souls
1932
as Edward Parker
Beggars of Life
1928
as The Boy (Jim)
Hollywood Hobbies
1935
as Himself
Thunderbolt
1929
as Bob Moran
Buckskin
1968
as Townsman
Kansas Raiders
1950
as Union Captain
Hollywood on Parade No. B-10
1934
as Self
Wayward
1932
as David Frost
Alice in Wonderland
1933
as Cheshire Cat
The Human Duplicators
1965
as National Intelligence
Soaring Stars
1942
as Himself
The Mountain
1956
as C. W. Rivial
Paramount on Parade
1930
as Hunter (Dream Girl)
Ladies of the Mob
1928
as Red
She Made Her Bed
1934
as Wild Bill Smith
The Last Time I Saw Archie
1961
as Col. Edwin Martin
Young Fury
1964
as Sheriff Jenkins
You'd Be Surprised
1926
as Reporter (uncredited)
Johnny Reno
1966
as Ned Duggan
Hell and High Water
1933
as Capt J.J. Jericho
Storm Over Lisbon
1944
as John Craig
Hot Steel
1940
as Frank Stewart
The Lady and the Monster
1944
as Dr. Patrick Cory
Blonde Blackmailer
1955
as Tony Pelassier
The Sea God
1930
as Phillip 'Pink' Barker
Waco
1966
as Billy Kelly
The All-American
1932
as Gary King
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
1976
as Silent Film Star 2
The Four Feathers
1929
as Lt. Harry Faversham
Aerial Gunner
1943
as Jon Davis
The Crawling Hand
1963
as Lee Barrenger
The Lawyer's Secret
1931
as Joe Hart
Black Spurs
1965
as Pete
Law of the Lawless
1964
as Ben the Bartender
Red Tomahawk
1967
as Deadwood Telegrapher
Town Tamer
1965
as Doctor Kent
Danger On Wheels
1940
as "Lucky" Larry Taylor
Flaming Feather
1952
as Showdown Calhoun
The Great Barrier
1937
as Hickey
Missing Daughters
1939
as Wally King
Artists & Models
1937
as Alan Townsend
Child of Trouble
1957
as Louis Contino
Hurricane Smith
1952
as Brundage
Three Cornered Moon
1933
as Dr. Alan Stevens
Minesweeper
1943
as Richard Houston
Apache Uprising
1965
as Captain Gannon
Sex and the College Girl
1964
as Charles Devon
Road to Nashville
1966
as Studio Boss
The Bounty Killer
1965
as Matthew Ridgeway
Guilty as Hell
1932
as Frank C. Marsh
Tiger Shark
1932
as Pipes Boley
Torpedo Boat
1942
as Skinner Barnes
A Whale of a Tale
1976
as Mr. Monahan
Sally in Our Alley
1927
as Jimmie Adams
The Virginian
1929
as Steven 'Steve'
The Shepherd of the Hills
1964
as Old Matt
To the Shores of Hell
1966
as Brig. Gen. F.W. Ramsgate
Let 'em Have It
1935
as Mal Stevens
Fort Utah
1967
as Sam Tyler
Identity Unknown
1945
as Johnny March
The Sky's the Limit
1975
as Grimes
College Humor
1933
as Mondrake
Hidden Guns
1956
as Sheriff Ward Young
The Big Bonanza
1944
as Capt. Jed Kilton
Silver City
1951
as Charles Storrs
Submarine Alert
1943
as Lewis J. 'Lee' Deerhold
The Return of Wildfire
1948
as Dobe Williams
The Man I Love
1929
as Joe "Dum-Dum" Brooks
Sabre Jet
1953
as Gen. Robert E 'Bob' Hale
Golden Harvest
1933
as Walt Martin
The Best Man
1964
as Sen. Oscar Anderson
Grand Canyon
1949
as Mike Adams
The Horror Show
1979
as (archive footage)
Mutiny in the Arctic
1941
as Dick Barclay
The Light of Western Stars
1930
as Dick Bailey
Dangerous Curves
1929
as Larry Lee
Cavalry Command
1958
as Sgt. Jim Heisler
Feel My Pulse
1928
as Her Problem
No Time to Marry
1938
as Perry Brown
Song of the Eagle
1933
as Bill Hoffman
The French Key
1946
as Himself (uncredited)
Dangerous Paradise
1930
as Heyst
Rogue's Gallery
1968
as Man in Club
The Enchanted Hill
1926
as Link Halliwell
Timber Queen
1944
as Russell Evans
Burning Up
1930
as Lou Larrigan
Murder in Greenwich Village
1937
as Steve Havens Jackson Jr.
Legion of Lost Flyers
1939
as Gene 'Loop' Gillan
The Border Legion
1930
as Jim Cleve
In the Name of Love
1925
as Dumas Dufrayne
The Young and the Brave
1963
as Col. Ralph Holbein
Hostile Guns
1967
as Sheriff Travis
The Secret Call
1931
as Tom Blake
Three Live Ghosts
1936
as William 'Bill' Jones, an alias of William Foster
Old Ironsides
1926
as Seaman (uncredited)
Gun Smoke
1931
as Brad Farley
The Leather Pushers
1940
as Dick 'Kid' Roberts
Straight, Place and Show
1938
as Denny Paine
A Letter From Bataan
1942
as Pvt. John W. Lewis
Accomplice
1946
as Simon Lash
The Blazing Forest
1952
as Joe Morgan
Helldorado
1935
as Art Ryan
Only Saps Work
1930
as Larry Payne
Call of The Yukon
1938
as Gaston Rogers
Sky Bride
1932
as Bert 'Speed' Condon
Caught
1931
as Lt. Tom Colton
Hollywood on Parade No. A-6
1933
as Self / Arlen the Great
The Conquering Horde
1931
as Dan McMasters
Swing with Bing
1940
as Himself
The Blood Ship
1927
as John Shreve
A Dangerous Game
1941
as Dick Williams
That's My Baby!
1944
as Tim Jones
She's a Sheik
1927
as Capt. Colton
Padlocked
1926
as 'Tubby' Clark
The Phantom Speaks
1945
as Matt Fraser
Alaska Highway
1943
as Woody Ormsby
About Richard Arlen
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 sympat… With 172 credits spanning from 1923 to 2012, Richard Arlen has appeared in 154 films and 18 TV shows.
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Most Popular Richard Arlen Movies
- Tropic Fury (1939) — as Dan Burton
- Wings (1927) — as David Armstrong
- Rolled Stockings (1927) — as Ralph Treadway
- Warlock (1959) — as Bacon
- Island of Lost Souls (1932) — as Edward Parker
Where to Watch Richard Arlen Films
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