Paul Hurst
Born on October 14th, 1888
Traver, California, USA
Died on February 27th, 1953
Biography Paul Hurst (October 15, 1888 - February 27, 1953) was an American character actor of prodigious output who also directed and wrote silent films. Much of his early work was in low budget western films. A native of central California, Hurst had a first-hand knowledge of Western lore, growing up surrounded by the multi-million acre Lux & Miller ranches which ran cattle throughout the state. Visiting San Francisco as a young man, Hurst became involved in amateur theatricals and thereafter traveled to Los Angeles to join in the emerging film industry there. He began appearing in films as early as 1912, most of them Westerns. By 1916, he was directing them as well (some sources report that he served in the First World War as a member of the French Foreign Legion, but the dates of his film projects make this story highly suspect).
In the early 1920s, Hurst wrote several scenarios for films he directed and appeared in. He proved adept at working as a director for some of the cheapest producers along Gower Gulch, where movies were normally shot on location in a week or less and where stunt men were often the highest paid folks on the set. Within a few years, he focused all of his energies into acting, notably becoming one of the few successes to emerge from Hollywood's Poverty Row. Hurst quickly became one of the more prolific and familiar characters in American movies. With his blocky build and squinty demeanor, and with a raspy voice that enhanced his memorability once sound pictures came in, Hurst played villains and cops and comedy sidekicks in more than 250 films. His most famous role was that of the deserter shot dead on the stairway of Tara by Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939). Hurst was the sidekick to Monte Hale in a number of B-Westerns. Former Gower Gulch veteran John Wayne hired Hurst for Big Jim McLain (1952) knowing that Hurst was ill with terminal cancer. In 1953, at the age of 64, due to his health problems, Paul Hurst committed suicide.
Date of Death: 27 February 1953, Hollywood, California (suicide)
Filmography The Sun Shines Bright
1953
Jimmy Bagby
Details Toughest Man in Arizona
1952
Character TBA
Details Big Jim McLain
1952
Mr. Lexiter
Details Million Dollar Pursuit
1951
Ray Harvey
Details The Missourians
1950
John X. Finn
Details The Old Frontier
1950
Skipper Horton
Details The Vanishing Westerner
1950
Waldorf Worthington
Details Pioneer Marshal
1949
Huck Homer
Details Ranger of Cherokee Strip
1949
Sheriff Jug Mason
Details San Antone Ambush
1949
Happy Daniels
Details Outcasts of the Trail
1949
Doc Meadowlark
Details Law of the Golden West
1949
Otis Ellis
Details Prince of the Plains
1949
Sheriff Hank Hartley
Details Gun Smugglers
1948
Sergeant Hasty Jones
Details Yellow Sky
1948
Drunk (uncredited)
Details Son of God’s Country
1948
Eli Walker
Details The Arizona Ranger
1948
Ben Riddle
Details Heart of Virginia
1948
Whit Galtry
Details Who Killed Doc Robbin?
1948
Jailer
Details California Firebrand
1948
Chuck Waggoner
Details Madonna of the Desert
1948
Pete Connors
Details Under Colorado Skies
1947
Lucky John Hawkins
Details Angel and the Badman
1947
Frederick Carson
Details The Plainsman and the Lady
1946
Al
Details Death Valley
1946
Sergeant Dailey
Details In Old Sacramento
1946
Stagecoach Driver
Details The Virginian
1946
Character TBA
Details Murder in the Music Hall
1946
Hobarth
Details Steppin' in Society
1945
Cookie
Details The Big Show-Off
1945
Herbert Trafagan, aka "The Devil", a wrestler
Details Something for the Boys
1944
Defense Plant Foreman (uncredited)
Details Barbary Coast Gent
1944
Jake Compton
Details The Ghost That Walks Alone
1944
Sheriff Slim Carson
Details The Sky's the Limit
1943
Dock Foreman (uncredited)
Details The Ox-Bow Incident
1943
Monty Smith
Details December 7th
1943
World War I Ghost Soldier
Details Hi'ya, Chum
1943
Archie Billings
Details Calaboose
1943
Ed the bartender
Details Night in New Orleans
1942
Sergeant Casper Riordan
Details Dudes Are Pretty People
1942
Two-Gun
Details Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring
1941
Page
Details This Woman Is Mine
1941
Second Mate Mumford
Details The Parson of Panamint
1941
Jake Waldren
Details Caught in the Draft
1941
Sgt. Burns
Details The Great Mr. Nobody
1941
Michael O'Connor
Details Petticoat Politics
1941
Slats O'Dell
Details Tall, Dark and Handsome
1941
Biff Sage
Details Tugboat Annie Sails Again
1940
Pete
Details Goin' Fishin'
1940
Character TBA
Details Spring Parade
1940
Headwaiter
Details The Westerner
1940
Chickenfoot
Details They Drive by Night
1940
Pete Haig (uncredited)
Details Star Dust
1940
Mac, Amalgamated Lab Tech
Details Castle on the Hudson
1940
Guard (uncredited)
Details Gone with the Wind
1939
Yankee Deserter
Details Glove Slingers
1939
Chuck Brenner
Details Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence
1939
Empire State Building Guard
Details On Your Toes
1939
Variety Club Bartender
Details It Could Happen to You
1939
Sandy
Details Broadway Serenade
1939
Reynolds, a Drunk
Details Topper Takes a Trip
1938
Charlie - the Bartender
Details Secrets of a Nurse
1938
Arlington Bysshe 'Slice' Cavanaugh
Details The Last Express
1938
Asst. Dist. Atty. Springer
Details Josette
1938
A. Adolphus Heyman
Details Alexander's Ragtime Band
1938
Bill Mulligan
Details Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
1938
Florabelle's Father
Details No Time to Marry
1938
Sergeant
Details Second Honeymoon
1937
Dennis Huggins
Details Ali Baba Goes to Town
1937
Captain
Details The Lady Fights Back
1937
Maloney
Details Danger – Love at Work
1937
NYC policeman
Details Wife, Doctor and Nurse
1937
Bill
Details You Can't Have Everything
1937
Truck Driver (uncredited)
Details The Legion of Missing Men
1937
Muggsy
Details Super-Sleuth
1937
Motorcycle Cop
Details You Can't Beat Love
1937
Foreman Butch Mehaffey
Details Angel's Holiday
1937
Sgt. Murphy
Details This Is My Affair
1937
Bowler
Details Trouble in Morocco
1937
Tiger Malone
Details We Who Are About to Die
1937
Tip Fuller
Details The Gay Desperado
1936
American Detective
Details I'd Give My Life
1936
"Sport" Conly
Details To Mary - with Love
1936
Drunk
Details Blackmailer
1936
Inspector Killian
Details Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
1936
1st Deputy (uncredited)
Details Robin Hood of El Dorado
1936
Wilson
Details The Gay Deception
1935
Bell Captain
Details The Daring Young Man
1935
Prison Guard
Details Calm Yourself
1935
Detective Roscoe
Details Public Hero Number 1
1935
Rufe Parker
Details Shadow of Doubt
1935
Lt. Sackville
Details Maybe It's Love
1935
Expressman (uncredited)
Details The Ballad of Paducah Jail
1934
Escaped Felon
Details Tomorrow's Youth
1934
Detective
Details Among the Missing
1934
Capt. W.F. 'Big Bill' Connors
Details Take the Stand
1934
Denny O'Brien
Details Midnight Alibi
1934
Babe the Butcher
Details Charlie Chan's Courage
1934
Undetermined Role
Details A Very Honorable Guy
1934
Butler
Details The Big Race
1934
Skipper O'Neal
Details Queen Christina
1933
Swedish Soldier Betting on 6 (uncredited)
Details The Women in His Life
1933
Paul, Perez's Second Bodyguard
Details Saturday's Millions
1933
Doc Maloney, Trainer
Details Hold Your Man
1933
Aubrey C. Mitchell (uncredited)
Details The Sphinx
1933
Detective Terrence Aloysius Hogan
Details Grand Slam
1933
Man Who Speaks Final Line of the Film
Details Island of Lost Souls
1932
Capt. Donahue
Details Men Are Such Fools
1932
Stiles
Details The Big Stampede
1932
'Arizona' Frank Bailey
Details The Phantom President
1932
Sailor (uncredited)
Details The Thirteenth Guest
1932
Detective Grump
Details State's Attorney
1932
Police Captain Morgan
Details The Secret Witness
1931
Officer Brannigan
Details That's My Line
1931
Mexican Bandit
Details Kick In
1931
Detective Whip Fogarty
Details The Secret Six
1931
Nick Mizoski - the Gouger
Details The Third Alarm
1930
'Beauty' Johnson
Details Borrowed Wives
1930
Bull Morgan
Details Hot Curves
1930
'Slug', Baseball Player
Details Shadow of the Law
1930
Pete Shore
Details The Runaway Bride
1930
Sergeant Daly
Details Mountain Justice
1930
Lem Harland
Details Officer O'Brien
1930
Captain Antrim
Details Lucky Larkin
1930
Pete Brierson
Details His First Command
1929
Sgt. Westbrook
Details The Racketeer
1929
Mehaffy - Policeman
Details Oh, Yeah!
1929
Railroad-Yard Superintendent
Details Sailor's Holiday
1929
Jimmylegs
Details The California Mail
1929
Rowdy Ryan
Details The Lawless Legion
1929
Ramirez
Details The Valley of the Giants
1927
Randeau
Details The Red Raiders
1927
Sergeant Murphy
Details The Devil's Saddle
1927
'Swig' Moran
Details Outlaw's Paradise
1927
McDonald
Details Blue Streak O'Neil
1926
Character TBA
Details The Fighting Ranger
1926
Character TBA
Details Roaring Road
1926
Checking Board Tabulator (uncredited)
Details The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1923
Emeralda's Torturer (uncredited)
Details Lightning Bryce
1919
Powder Solvang
Details Smashing Through
1918
Stevens
Details The Further Adventures of Stingaree
1917
Howie
Details The Railroad Raiders
1917
Steve Arnold (as Paul C. Hurst)
Details The Hazards of Helen
1917
Benton - a Foreman
Details The Manager of the B & A
1916
Roger Oakley (as Paul C. Hurst)
Details The Diamond Runners
1916
Paul - the Brains of the I.D.B.
Details Judith of the Cumberlands
1916
Blatchley Turrentine
Details Medicine Bend
1916
Murray Sinclair
Details Whispering Smith
1916
Murray Sinclair
Details A Lass of the Lumberlands
1916
Character TBA
Details Stingaree
1915
Howie - Stingaree's Partner
Details The Vivisectionist
1915
Bart - Jardine's Servant
Details The Red Signal
1915
Chief Dispatcher
Details The Hazards of Helen: Episode13, The Escape on the Fast Freight
1915
A Trainman
Details The Girl Detective
1915
Blair / Thompson / Michaels / Snake Henely / Mike Donegal / Bat Dorgan / Kelly / Dalton / Blake
Details The Plot at the Railroad Cut
1914
Benton, the Foreman
Details The Chief of Police
1914
Daniels
Details The Quicksands
1914
Captain Lanning - Osborn's Rival
Details The Cave Men's War
1913
Red Axe
Details The Driver Of The Deadwood Coach
1912
Bad Bill - a Desperado
Details