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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
August 30, 1899
Died
March 28, 1976
Place of Birth
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
Also Known As
- Van Mattimore
- Dick Arlen
- Sylvanus Richard Mattimore
Richard Arlen
0.5 Popularity
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
0.0
Clara Bow: Hollywood's Lost Screen Goddess
2012
3.8
(archive footage)
The Horror Show
1979
4.0
Mr. Monahan
A Whale of a Tale
1976
4.1
Silent Film Star 2
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
1976
0.0
Grimes
The Sky's the Limit
1975
5.4
Townsman
Buckskin
1968
6.0
Man in Club
Rogue's Gallery
1968
3.6
Sam Tyler
Fort Utah
1967
5.1
Sheriff Travis
Hostile Guns
1967
6.4
Deadwood Telegrapher
Red Tomahawk
1967
Credits
Clara Bow: Hollywood's Lost Screen Goddess
2012
0.0
The Horror Show
as (archive footage)
1979
3.8
A Whale of a Tale
as Mr. Monahan
1976
4.0
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
as Silent Film Star 2
1976
4.1
The Sky's the Limit
as Grimes
1975
0.0
Buckskin
as Townsman
1968
5.4
Rogue's Gallery
as Man in Club
1968
6.0
Fort Utah
as Sam Tyler
1967
3.6
Hostile Guns
as Sheriff Travis
1967
5.1
Red Tomahawk
as Deadwood Telegrapher
1967
6.4
Waco
as Billy Kelly
1966
6.4
To the Shores of Hell
as Brig. Gen. F.W. Ramsgate
1966
5.0
Johnny Reno
as Ned Duggan
1966
6.4
Apache Uprising
as Captain Gannon
1965
6.2
The Bounty Killer
as Matthew Ridgeway
1965
5.8
Town Tamer
as Doctor Kent
1965
6.5
Black Spurs
as Pete
1965
6.1
The Human Duplicators
as National Intelligence
1965
3.3
Branded
1965
6.6
Young Fury
as Sheriff Jenkins
1964
5.3
Sex and the College Girl
as Charles Devon
1964
4.0
Law of the Lawless
as Ben the Bartender
1964
6.1
The Best Man
as Sen. Oscar Anderson
1964
7.2
Petticoat Junction
as Self
1963
5.7
The Crawling Hand
as Lee Barrenger
1963
3.0
The Young and the Brave
as Col. Ralph Holbein
1963
5.9
The Lucy Show
as Richard
1962
7.0
The New Breed
as Willits
1961
7.0
The Last Time I Saw Archie
as Col. Edwin Martin
1961
5.7
Coronado 9
1960
6.0
Raymie
as Chris Garber
1960
0.0
Lock-Up
1959
6.2
Warlock
as Bacon
1959
6.7
Bat Masterson
as John Minor
1958
6.1
Bat Masterson
as Sheriff Dan Rainey
1958
6.1
Yancy Derringer
as General Hugh Morgan
1958
6.0
Wanted: Dead or Alive
as Damon Ring, Sr.
1958
6.8
The Day of the Trumpet
as Sgt. Jim Heisler
1958
5.0
Perry Mason
as Dr. Harrison
1957
7.7
Child of Trouble
as Louis Contino
1957
0.0
The Mountain
as C. W. Rivial
1956
6.9
Hidden Guns
as Sheriff Ward Young
1956
5.0
Matinee Theater
1955
5.0
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
5.4
Blonde Blackmailer
as Tony Pelassier
1955
0.0
Devil's Point
as John 'Captain' Martin
1954
0.0
Climax!
as Nevers
1954
3.3
🎬
The Whistler
1954
0.0
Letter to Loretta
as Christopher Waring
1953
6.5
Sabre Jet
as Gen. Robert E 'Bob' Hale
1953
6.7
The Blazing Forest
as Joe Morgan
1952
6.0
Hurricane Smith
as Brundage
1952
6.2
This Is Your Life
as Self
1952
6.4
Flaming Feather
as Showdown Calhoun
1952
5.8
Silver City
as Charles Storrs
1951
6.3
Kansas Raiders
as Union Captain
1950
5.8
The Colgate Comedy Hour
as Self
1950
6.8
Your Show of Shows
1950
6.3
Grand Canyon
as Mike Adams
1949
0.0
When My Baby Smiles at Me
as Harvey Howell
1948
4.8
The Return of Wildfire
as Dobe Williams
1948
0.0
Speed to Spare
as Cliff Jordan
1948
5.0
Buffalo Bill Rides Again
as Buffalo Bill
1947
5.0
Accomplice
as Simon Lash
1946
5.4
The French Key
as Himself (uncredited)
1946
5.0
The Phantom Speaks
as Matt Fraser
1945
5.4
Identity Unknown
as Johnny March
1945
5.0
The Big Bonanza
as Capt. Jed Kilton
1944
5.5
Storm Over Lisbon
as John Craig
1944
4.8
That's My Baby!
as Tim Jones
1944
5.0
The Lady and the Monster
as Dr. Patrick Cory
1944
5.9
Timber Queen
as Russell Evans
1944
5.7
Minesweeper
as Richard Houston
1943
5.0
Submarine Alert
as Lewis J. 'Lee' Deerhold
1943
4.3
Alaska Highway
as Woody Ormsby
1943
5.0
Aerial Gunner
as Jon Davis
1943
4.4
Wrecking Crew
as Matt Carney
1942
5.5
A Letter From Bataan
as Pvt. John W. Lewis
1942
4.5
Wildcat
as Johnny Maverick
1942
3.5
🎬
Soaring Stars
as Himself
1942
0.0
Torpedo Boat
as Skinner Barnes
1942
6.0
Flying Blind
as Jim Clark
1941
2.7
A Dangerous Game
as Dick Williams
1941
5.0
Raiders of the Desert
as Dick Manning
1941
0.0
Forced Landing
as Dan Kendall
1941
4.0
Power Dive
as Brad Farrell
1941
3.9
Men of the Timberland
as Dick O'Hara
1941
0.0
Mutiny in the Arctic
as Dick Barclay
1941
0.0
Lucky Devils
as Dick McManus
1941
1.0
The Devil's Pipeline
as Dick Talbot
1940
6.0
The Leather Pushers
as Dick 'Kid' Roberts
1940
0.0
Black Diamonds
as Walter Norton
1940
0.0
🎬
Swing with Bing
as Himself
1940
4.0
Hot Steel
as Frank Stewart
1940
0.0
Danger On Wheels
as "Lucky" Larry Taylor
1940
3.8
The Man from Montreal
as Clark Manning
1939
3.8
Legion of Lost Flyers
as Gene 'Loop' Gillan
1939
3.7
Tropic Fury
as Dan Burton
1939
0.0
Mutiny on the Blackhawk
as Capt. Robert Lawrence
1939
0.0
Missing Daughters
as Wally King
1939
3.0
Straight, Place and Show
as Denny Paine
1938
6.0
Call of The Yukon
as Gaston Rogers
1938
4.7
No Time to Marry
as Perry Brown
1938
6.0
Murder in Greenwich Village
as Steve Havens Jackson Jr.
1937
5.6
Artists & Models
as Alan Townsend
1937
6.0
Secret Valley
as Lee Rogers
1937
4.0
The Great Barrier
as Hickey
1937
5.0
The Mine with the Iron Door
as Bob Harvey
1936
0.0
Three Live Ghosts
as William 'Bill' Jones, an alias of William Foster
1936
5.0
The Calling of Dan Matthews
as Dan Matthews
1935
3.0
🎬
Hollywood Hobbies
as Himself
1935
6.0
Let 'em Have It
as Mal Stevens
1935
7.0
Helldorado
as Art Ryan
1935
0.0
Ready for Love
as Julian Barrow
1934
4.8
She Made Her Bed
as Wild Bill Smith
1934
2.7
Come On, Marines!
as Lucky Davis
1934
4.5
Alice in Wonderland
as Cheshire Cat
1933
6.1
🎬
Hell and High Water
as Capt J.J. Jericho
1933
0.0
Golden Harvest
as Walt Martin
1933
5.0
Three Cornered Moon
as Dr. Alan Stevens
1933
5.7
🎬
How to Break 90 #4: Downswing
1933
0.0
College Humor
as Mondrake
1933
5.3
Song of the Eagle
as Bill Hoffman
1933
0.0
Hollywood on Parade No. A-6
as Self
1933
4.5
Island of Lost Souls
as Edward Parker
1932
6.9
The All-American
as Gary King
1932
5.0
Tiger Shark
as Pipes Boley
1932
6.3
Guilty as Hell
as Frank C. Marsh
1932
5.8
Sky Bride
as Bert 'Speed' Condon
1932
0.0
Hollywood on Parade No. A-4
as Self (uncredited)
1932
0.0
Wayward
as David Frost
1932
6.0
Touchdown!
as Dan Curtis
1931
0.0
Caught
as Lt. Tom Colton
1931
6.0
The Secret Call
as Tom Blake
1931
7.0
The Lawyer's Secret
as Joe Hart
1931
5.8
Gun Smoke
as Brad Farley
1931
5.5
The Conquering Horde
as Dan McMasters
1931
5.0
Only Saps Work
as Larry Payne
1930
5.5
The Santa Fe Trail
as Stan Hollister
1930
5.2
The Sea God
as Phillip 'Pink' Barker
1930
4.7
The Border Legion
as Jim Cleve
1930
0.0
Paramount on Parade
as Hunter (Dream Girl)
1930
6.1
The Light of Western Stars
as Dick Bailey
1930
2.8
Dangerous Paradise
as Heyst
1930
3.4
Burning Up
as Lou Larrigan
1930
3.5
The Virginian
as Steven 'Steve'
1929
5.8
Dangerous Curves
as Larry Lee
1929
6.0
Thunderbolt
as Bob Moran
1929
5.6
The Four Feathers
as Lt. Harry Faversham
1929
4.4
The Man I Love
as Joe "Dum-Dum" Brooks
1929
4.0
Manhattan Cocktail
as Fred Tilden
1928
0.0
Beggars of Life
as The Boy (Jim)
1928
7.1
Ladies of the Mob
as Red
1928
0.0
Feel My Pulse
as Her Problem
1928
6.0
Under the Tonto Rim
as Edd Denmeade
1928
0.0
She's a Sheik
as Capt. Colton
1927
0.0
Figures Don't Lie
as Bob Blewe
1927
0.0
Sally in Our Alley
as Jimmie Adams
1927
0.0
Wings
as David Armstrong
1927
7.2
The Blood Ship
as John Shreve
1927
7.0
Rolled Stockings
as Ralph Treadway
1927
0.0
Old Ironsides
as Seaman (uncredited)
1926
6.2
You'd Be Surprised
as Reporter (uncredited)
1926
6.5
Padlocked
as 'Tubby' Clark
1926
6.0
Behind the Front
as Percy Brown
1926
6.0
The Enchanted Hill
as Link Halliwell
1926
0.0
The Coast of Folly
as Bather
1925
0.0
In the Name of Love
as Dumas Dufrayne
1925
0.0
Hollywood
as Richard Arlen
1923
8.5