Russell Simpson
Known for: Acting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Russell McCaskill Simpson (June 17, 1880, Danville, California – December 12, 1959, Woodland Hills, California) was an American character actor who appeared in over 500 movies. He is best known for his "grizzled old man" appearances. Gaunt, lanky, and rustic-sounding, Simpson was a familiar character actor for almost forty-five years, particularly as a member of the John Ford Stock Company. At age 18 Simpson prospected for gold in Alaska. He began taking acting classes in Seattle, Washington. In 1910 he married Gertrude Alter from New York City. By 1909, he had gone into the theatre. He appeared in at least two plays on Broadway between 1909 and 1912, and made his motion picture debut in Cecil B. DeMille's 1914 original film version of The Virginian in a bit part. By 1923, when the film was remade, Simpson had progressed to playing the lead villain. Throughout his career, Simpson worked for 12 years in road shows, stock companies, and on Broadway. He didn't usually perform lead roles, but he did star in many movies throughout the silent movie era. He performed a lead role as the grandfather in Out of the Dust (1920). Simpson is best known for his work in the films of John Ford and, in particular, for his portrayal of Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). His final film was The Horse Soldiers, his tenth film for Ford. Simpson worked up to 1959, the year of his death. He was the president of the Overseas Phonograph Accessories Corporation.
Filmography
Series
Wagon Train
Mr. Carr
1957
Series
The Lone Ranger
Jack Brewster
1949
Series
The Texan
Zeb Waters
1958
Series
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Old Man
1955
Series
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Sam
1951
Series
Public Defender
Lundquist
1954
Series
Cavalcade of America
Quatermaster
1952
Series
Cavalcade of America
1952
Series
Cavalcade of America
Judge Grant
1952
Series
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
1955
Film
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Kenneth Allen (uncredited)
1939
Film
The Grapes of Wrath
Pa Joad
1940
Film
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Fred Bixby
1954
Film
The Tin Star
Clem Hall
1957
Film
The Tall Men
Emigrant (uncredited)
1955
Film
My Darling Clementine
John Simpson
1946
Film
Joan of Arc
Old Man with Pipe (uncredited)
1948
Film
Oklahoma!
The Minister (uncredited)
1955
Film
The Horse Soldiers
Henry Goodbody
1959
Film
Friendly Persuasion
Brother Griffith - Elder (uncredited)
1956
Film
Tall in the Saddle
Pat Foster (uncredited)
1944
Film
Tap Roots
Big Sam Dabney
1948
Film
The Barrier
John Gaylord / John Tale
1917
Film
Wagon Master
Adam Perkins
1950
Film
Susan Lenox
Doctor
1931
Film
Meet John Doe
(uncredited)
1941
Film
Dodge City
Orth
1939
Film
Young Mr. Lincoln
Woolridge (uncredited)
1939
Film
Lovely Mary
Peter Nelson
1916
Film
The Spoilers
Flapjack
1942
Film
Santa Fe Trail
Shubel Morgan
1940
Series
General Electric Theater
1953
Film
Broken Lance
Judge (uncredited)
1954
Film
They Were Expendable
'Dad' Knowland
1945
Film
Lone Star
Maynard Cole
1952
Film
Hello Trouble
Jonathan Kenyon
1932
Film
San Francisco
'Red' Kelly
1936
Film
Brigham Young
U.S. Army Major
1940
Film
Along Came Jones
Pop de Longpre
1945
Film
Carolina
Richards
1934
Film
The Sun Shines Bright
Lewt Lake
1953
Film
The Gal Who Took the West
Bartender (as old Timer)
1949
Film
The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon
Sam Stanton
1952
Film
Drums Along the Mohawk
Dr. Petry
1939
Breakers Ahead
Captain Scudder
1918
Film
Snowblind
Hugh Garth
1921
Film
The Lonely Man
1957
Film
Swamp Water
Marty McCord
1941
Defying Destiny
Mr. Wilkens
1923
Film
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
Clem Johnson
1952
Film
The Outriders
Farmer (uncredited)
1950
Film
The Last Command
The Parson
1955
Film
Desire
Patrick Ryan
1923
Film
Tobacco Road
Chief of Police
1941
Film
Parnell
Dead Child's Father
1937
Film
Painted People
Fred Lane
1924
Film
Virginia City
Gaylord
1940
Film
Fighting Cressy
Hiram McKinstry
1919
Film
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln's Employer
1930
Film
Coroner Creek
Walt Hardison
1948
Film
Lahoma
'Brick' Willock
1920
Film
Gold Is Where You Find It
MacKenzie
1938
Film
Call Her Savage
Old Man in Wagon Train
1932
Film
Saddle Tramp
Pop
1950
Film
Comin' Round the Mountain
Judge
1951
Film
Death Valley
Old Silas Bagley
1946
Film
Geronimo
Scout
1939
Film
Noisy Neighbors
Ebenezer
1929
Film
The Girl of the Golden West
Fred - Outrider in Prologue
1938
Film
Law and Order
Judge R.W. Williams
1932
Film
Valley of the Giants
McKenzie
1938
Film
Wild Bill Hickok Rides
Ned Nolan
1942
Film
Oh, Johnny!
Adele's Father
1918
Film
Wild Geese Calling
Marshal Len Baker
1941
Film
The Brand
Dan McGill
1919
Film
The Eagle
The Eagle's Lieutenant / Coach Driver (uncredited)
1925
Film
Maid of Salem
Village Marshal (Uncredited)
1937
Film
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
Dan Yeary
1947
Film
Shut My Big Mouth
Mayor Potter
1942
Film
Meet Me at the Fair
Sheriff Evans
1953
Film
The Lone Star Ranger
Colonel John Aldridge
1930
Film
Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge
Bayliss Baynum
1937
Film
Albuquerque
Abner Huggins
1948
Film
Nazi Agent
2nd Captain (uncredited)
1942
Film
Way Down East
Squire Amasa Bartlett
1935
Film
The Narrow Street
Garvey
1925
Film
The World Moves On
Notary (1825)
1934
Film
Sundown in Santa Fe
Sheriff Jim Wyatt
1948
Film
Man Hunt
Jeff Parkington
1936
Film
Secrets
Doctor (uncredited)
1933
Film
Green Light
Sheep Man
1937
Old Shoes
1925
Film
Colt Comrades
Sheriff
1943
Film
Three on a Honeymoon
Ezra MacDuff
1934
Film
Wild West Days
Matt Keeler
1937
Film
Mountain Justice
Matthew Turnbull
1937
Film
Annie Laurie
Sandy
1927
Film
Peg o' My Heart
Jim O'Connell
1922
Film
A Boy and His Dog
Mr. Thornycroft
1946
Film
The Social Highwayman
The Mayor's Partner
1926
Film
Bad Bascomb
Elijah Walker
1946
Film
Border Patrol
Orestes Krebs
1943
Film
Three Faces West
Minister
1940
Film
Sixteen Fathoms Deep
A.B. Crockett
1934
Film
Tennessee Johnson
Kirby
1942
Film
Riding High
Frenchy McGuire
1943
Film
Man to Man
Uncle Cal
1930
Film
The Woman of the Town
Sime
1943
Film
The Branding Iron
John Carver
1920
Film
The Untamed Breed
Minister
1948
Film
Bad Men of Missouri
Hank Younger
1941
Film
Paddy O'Day
Benton
1936
Film
Feudin' Fools
Grandpa Smith
1952
Film
Under the Lash
Simeon Krillet
1921
Film
Wyoming
Mr. Bronson
1940
Film
The Frontiersman
Andrew Jackson
1927
Film
Motive for Revenge
McAllister
1935
Film
Citadel of Crime
Jess Meekins
1941
Film
Billy the Kid
Angus McSween
1930
Film
Flames
Jake
1932
Film
Godless Men
'Black' Pawl
1920
Film
The Great Meadow
Thomas Hall
1931
Film
Blue Jeans
Jacob Tutwiler
1917
The Kingdom Within
Caleb Deming
1922
Film
The Bill of Rights
Frontiersman
1939
Film
Now We're in the Air
Lord Abercrombie McTavish
1927
Film
Texas Masquerade
J.K. Trimble
1944
Film
Girl of the Ozarks
Bascomb Rogers
1936
Film
The Brass Legend
Deputy 'Pop' Jackson
1956
Film
The Virginian
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
1914
Film
Face in the Sky
Pa Nathan Brown
1933
Film
Desperate Trails
Sheriff Big Bill Tanner
1939
Film
Heart of the North
Dave MacMillan
1938
Film
The Big Bonanza
Adam Parker
1944
Film
Bowery Buckaroos
Luke Barlow
1947
Film
The Huntress
Big Jack Skinner
1923
Film
Beauty and the Bad Man
Chuckwalla Bill
1925
Film
The Cabin in the Cotton
Uncle Joe
1932
Film
Bill Apperson's Boy
Bill Apperson
1919
Film
Free For All
Farmer
1949
Film
Lena Rivers
Grandfather Nichols
1932
Film
Ramona
Scroggs
1936
Film
Roughly Speaking
The Colonel - Drill Instructor (uncredited)
1945
Film
Roaring Guns
Farmer MacKenzie
1944
Film
Moonlight in Vermont
Uncle Rufus
1943
Film
The Earth Woman
Ezra Tilden
1926
Film
The Honor of the Press
Dan Perkins
1932
Film
The Deadlier Sex
Jim Willis
1920
Film
The Famous Ferguson Case
Banker Craig
1932
The Heart of the Yukon
'Cash' Cynon
1927
The Old Homestead
Sheriff
1915
Film
Paint and Powder
Riley
1925
Film
After the Fog
Joshua Barker
1929
Film
My Dog Shep
Mathew Hodgkins
1946
Film
Alexander Hamilton
Harvey Taylor - First Ex-Soldier
1931
Film
The Challenge Accepted
Uncle Zeke Sawyer
1918
Film
Call of the Klondike
Andy McKay
1950
Life's Mockery
Wolf Miller
1928
Film
Back to Nature
Sheriff
1936
Film
The Sap
The Banker
1929
Film
The Girl of the Golden West
Jack Rance
1923
Film
Rags to Riches
The Sheriff
1922
Film
Human Hearts
Paul Logan
1922
Film
Tuna Clipper
Capt. Fergus MacLennan
1949
Film
Tropical Nights
Singapore Joe
1928
Film
The Power and the Glory
Professor (uncredited)
1933
Film
The Fabulous Texan
Wade Clayton
1947
Film
Wild Geese
Caleb Gare
1927
Film
West of the Pecos
Roy Neal
1934
Film
Innocents of Paris
Emile Leval
1929
Film
The Hoosier Schoolmaster
Doc Small
1935
Film
Circus Days
Eben Holt
1923
Film
The First Auto
Hank Armstrong
1927
Film
The Border Legion
Overland Bradley
1918
Film
Silver Dollar
Hamlin
1932
Film
Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles
Speaker
1933
Film
Thunder Mountain
Si Pace
1925
Film
Faint Perfume
Grandpa Crumb
1925
The Harvester
Abner Prewett
1936
Film
Frontier Marshal
Editor Pickett
1934
Film
California Gold Rush
Colonel Parker
1946
Film
My Lady's Past
1929
Film
Lone Star Ranger
Tom Duane
1942
Film
Bunty Pulls the Strings
Tammas Biggar
1921
Film
Western Caravans
Winchester Thompson
1939
Film
Last of the Duanes
Tom Duane
1941
Film
Why Women Love
Silas Martin
1925
Film
Desert Gold
Ladd
1919
Film
Ever Since Eve
Jim Wood
1934
Film
The Food Gamblers
Samuel Sloane
1917
The Bushranger
Sir Eric
1928
Film
The Blue Bandanna
Jim Yancy
1919
Film
That I May Live
Bish Plivens
1937
Film
The Riding Tornado
Sheriff
1932
Film
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
Jap Taylor
1925
Film
Across the Dead-Line
Enoch Kidder
1922
Film
Ridin' for Justice
Marshal Joseph Slyde
1932
Film
A Weaver of Dreams
Martin Chandler
1918
Film
Rustlin' for Cupid
Hank Blatchford
1926
Film
The Virginian
Trampas
1923
Film
Paradise Isle
Baxter
1937
Film
Lovey Mary
Stubbins
1926
Film
All Faces West
Gunner Bill
1929
Film
Riders of the Night
Sally's Grandfather
1918
Film
The Splendid Road
Capt. Lightfoot
1925
Film
Radio Scout
Pappy Tolliver
1934
The Uphill Path
James Lawton
1918
Film
Hearts Aflame
Black Joe
1923
Ship of Souls
Angus Garth
1925