Glenn Strange(1899-1973)
- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
At various times in his life a rancher, deputy sheriff and rodeo
performer, this huge, towering (6' 5") beast of a man was born George
Glenn Strange in Weed, New Mexico, on August 16, 1899, but grew up a
real-life cowboy in Cross Cut, Texas. He taught himself (by ear) the fiddle and guitar at a young
age and started performing at local functions as a teen. In the late
1920s, Glenn and his cousin, Taylor McPeters, better known later as the
western character actor Cactus Mack, joined
a radio singing group known as the "The Arizona Wranglers" that toured
throughout the country.
They both started providing singing fillers in film westerns in the
early 1930s. Glenn would play extra or bit roles for a number of years
B Western and serials. One of his first roles was uncredited as a
soldier, in tin armor, as part of "Ming's Army", in the science fiction classic
serial "Flash Gordon"(1936/I). He would perform as a cowhand, rustler,
accomplice, sidekick, or plain old warbling, harmonica-blowing cowboy.
Eventually in the late 30s, his billing improved and he evolved into a
full-time bad guy in hundreds of "B" westerns. He was seen (or
glimpsed) in many of the popular serials of the day, including
The Hurricane Express (1932),
Law of the Wild (1934),
The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939),
and
Riders of Death Valley (1941).
It was his massive build that helped him break into the Universal
horror picture genre of the 1940s. Horror star
Boris Karloff had grown weary and fearful
of his Frankenstein Creature typecast and abandoned the role. Glenn was
the perfect replacement for the job and made his monstrous debut with
House of Frankenstein (1944),
quickly followed by
House of Dracula (1945). It was
he who played the Creature in the cult horror/comedy classic
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
as part of the monstrous trio of
Bela Lugosi's Dracula and
Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolf Man.
As the "B" western started faded off into the sunset in the 1950s,
Strange moseyed on over to TV work. He played the nemesis "Butch
Cavendish" and later reprised the role, after a prison escape, on "The
Lone Ranger" (1949). Among other TV roles, he capped off his career
with a steady (12 years) role as Sam the bartender on the classic
Gunsmoke (1955) series from 1962
until shortly before his death from lung cancer in 1973.
performer, this huge, towering (6' 5") beast of a man was born George
Glenn Strange in Weed, New Mexico, on August 16, 1899, but grew up a
real-life cowboy in Cross Cut, Texas. He taught himself (by ear) the fiddle and guitar at a young
age and started performing at local functions as a teen. In the late
1920s, Glenn and his cousin, Taylor McPeters, better known later as the
western character actor Cactus Mack, joined
a radio singing group known as the "The Arizona Wranglers" that toured
throughout the country.
They both started providing singing fillers in film westerns in the
early 1930s. Glenn would play extra or bit roles for a number of years
B Western and serials. One of his first roles was uncredited as a
soldier, in tin armor, as part of "Ming's Army", in the science fiction classic
serial "Flash Gordon"(1936/I). He would perform as a cowhand, rustler,
accomplice, sidekick, or plain old warbling, harmonica-blowing cowboy.
Eventually in the late 30s, his billing improved and he evolved into a
full-time bad guy in hundreds of "B" westerns. He was seen (or
glimpsed) in many of the popular serials of the day, including
The Hurricane Express (1932),
Law of the Wild (1934),
The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939),
and
Riders of Death Valley (1941).
It was his massive build that helped him break into the Universal
horror picture genre of the 1940s. Horror star
Boris Karloff had grown weary and fearful
of his Frankenstein Creature typecast and abandoned the role. Glenn was
the perfect replacement for the job and made his monstrous debut with
House of Frankenstein (1944),
quickly followed by
House of Dracula (1945). It was
he who played the Creature in the cult horror/comedy classic
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
as part of the monstrous trio of
Bela Lugosi's Dracula and
Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolf Man.
As the "B" western started faded off into the sunset in the 1950s,
Strange moseyed on over to TV work. He played the nemesis "Butch
Cavendish" and later reprised the role, after a prison escape, on "The
Lone Ranger" (1949). Among other TV roles, he capped off his career
with a steady (12 years) role as Sam the bartender on the classic
Gunsmoke (1955) series from 1962
until shortly before his death from lung cancer in 1973.