Lon McCallister(1923-2005)
- Actor
Boyish Lon McCallister started his career as a teenage bit actor in such wholesome, folksy
tales as
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
and
Judge Hardy's Children (1938).
As an adult, he found the strength of his career riding on that same
homespun sentiment.
Lon McCallister was born Herbert Alonzo
McCallister, Jr. in Los Angeles on April 17, 1923, but was almost
immediately called "Buddy" to those closest to him. He attended high
school at Marken Professional School, a training ground for Hollywood
hopefuls, and eventually managed to secure unbilled parts, starting
with the plush
Norma Shearer-Leslie Howard
film vehicle Romeo and Juliet (1936).
Lon became close friends with the film's director,
George Cukor, and attributed his biggest
break to Cukor when he earned a supporting role as a pilot in
Winged Victory (1944) after
toiling in obscurity for nearly six years. Lon also stood out in the
film
Stage Door Canteen (1943), as
the unassuming soldier who falls for canteen hostess
Marjorie Riordan, and in the warm and
winning horse-racing tale Home in Indiana (1944), opposite
rising star Jeanne Crain.
Lon's WWII induction into the Army put a direct hit on his career momentum, but he
managed to recover and pick up where he left off. For starters, Lon won
a solid role in the melodramatic thriller The Red House (1947), starring
Edward G. Robinson and
Judith Anderson. The film also
co-starred Allene Roberts, who became a
lifelong friend.
Although he starred in the down-home comedy romance Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948),
along with June Haver, the movie is barely
remembered today except for featuring an unbilled
Marilyn Monroe rowing a canoe. Lead roles
for Lon in the serviceable adventures
The Story of Seabiscuit (1949)
with Shirley Temple,
The Big Cat (1949),
The Boy from Indiana (1950)
and Montana Territory (1952)
also came and went.
Lon ended his film career with the "B" Korean
War drama Combat Squad (1953). Some
reports state he lost interest and sought satisfaction elsewhere;
others claim that his perennially boyish good looks and diminutive
stature hurt his adult career (although it did not seem to hurt the
equally short and youthful-looking
Alan Ladd). In any event, Lon quit the
business in the late 1950s and pursued lucrative ventures in real estate
and property investment.
Never married, Lon had an off-and-on romantic relationship with fellow actor William Eythe until Eythe's untimely death in 1957. Having been in declining health for some time, he was living in the Lake Tahoe area, where he had recently bought some property, when he died on June 11, 2005, of congestive heart failure. The 82-year-old McCallister was survived by his brother Lynn and sister Kathleen.
tales as
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
and
Judge Hardy's Children (1938).
As an adult, he found the strength of his career riding on that same
homespun sentiment.
Lon McCallister was born Herbert Alonzo
McCallister, Jr. in Los Angeles on April 17, 1923, but was almost
immediately called "Buddy" to those closest to him. He attended high
school at Marken Professional School, a training ground for Hollywood
hopefuls, and eventually managed to secure unbilled parts, starting
with the plush
Norma Shearer-Leslie Howard
film vehicle Romeo and Juliet (1936).
Lon became close friends with the film's director,
George Cukor, and attributed his biggest
break to Cukor when he earned a supporting role as a pilot in
Winged Victory (1944) after
toiling in obscurity for nearly six years. Lon also stood out in the
film
Stage Door Canteen (1943), as
the unassuming soldier who falls for canteen hostess
Marjorie Riordan, and in the warm and
winning horse-racing tale Home in Indiana (1944), opposite
rising star Jeanne Crain.
Lon's WWII induction into the Army put a direct hit on his career momentum, but he
managed to recover and pick up where he left off. For starters, Lon won
a solid role in the melodramatic thriller The Red House (1947), starring
Edward G. Robinson and
Judith Anderson. The film also
co-starred Allene Roberts, who became a
lifelong friend.
Although he starred in the down-home comedy romance Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948),
along with June Haver, the movie is barely
remembered today except for featuring an unbilled
Marilyn Monroe rowing a canoe. Lead roles
for Lon in the serviceable adventures
The Story of Seabiscuit (1949)
with Shirley Temple,
The Big Cat (1949),
The Boy from Indiana (1950)
and Montana Territory (1952)
also came and went.
Lon ended his film career with the "B" Korean
War drama Combat Squad (1953). Some
reports state he lost interest and sought satisfaction elsewhere;
others claim that his perennially boyish good looks and diminutive
stature hurt his adult career (although it did not seem to hurt the
equally short and youthful-looking
Alan Ladd). In any event, Lon quit the
business in the late 1950s and pursued lucrative ventures in real estate
and property investment.
Never married, Lon had an off-and-on romantic relationship with fellow actor William Eythe until Eythe's untimely death in 1957. Having been in declining health for some time, he was living in the Lake Tahoe area, where he had recently bought some property, when he died on June 11, 2005, of congestive heart failure. The 82-year-old McCallister was survived by his brother Lynn and sister Kathleen.