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Rand Brooks

Known for: Acting

Born 21/09/1918

Died 2003-09-01

Place of birth Wright City, Missouri, USA

Arlington Rand Brooks Jr. (September 21, 1918 – September 1, 2003) was an American film and television actor. Brooks was born in Wright City, Missouri. He was the son of Arlington Rand Brooks, a farmer. His mother and he moved to Los Angeles when he was four, though he continued to spend summers in Wright City. Brooks continued to make visits to his hometown of Wright City into the 1950s, up to and following the death of his father in 1950. His mother and his grandfather were actors. After leaving school, Brooks got a screen test at MGM and was given a bit part in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938). His big fame came with his part as Charles Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939), a role which he later admitted he despised; he wanted to play more macho parts. He made $100 per week under contract at MGM, but when he was on loan to Selznick International Pictures for Gone with the Wind, he made $500 per week. After Gone With the Wind, he had relatively small parts in other movies including Babes in Arms, then a regular role as Lucky in the Hopalong Cassidy series of Westerns in the mid-1940s; Brooks succeeded Russell Hayden in the role. Among the films, which starred William Boyd as Hopalong, were Hoppy's Holiday, The Dead Don't Dream, and Borrowed Trouble. He received positive notice for his work in Fool's Gold, with Variety reporting that he did "an excellent job." In edited, half-hour versions of some of the films, he appeared in 12 of the 52 episodes of the Hopalong Cassidy television series. In 1948, he co-starred with Adele Jergens and Marilyn Monroe in the low-budget, black-and-white Columbia Pictures film, Ladies of the Chorus. Brooks became the first actor to share an on-screen kiss with Monroe, who in a few years was one of the world's biggest movie stars. Filmed in just 10 days, the film was released soon after its completion. Variety called his performance in the 1952 film The Steel Fist "capable." Television brought new opportunities, again often in Westerns. He played Cpl. Randy Boone in the 1950s television series, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. Brooks had guest roles in 1950s Western series, including Mackenzie's Raiders, The Lone Ranger, Maverick, Gunsmoke, and Bonanza. He appeared twice on the syndicated adventure series, Rescue 8, as well as on CBS's Perry Mason courtroom drama series. In 1962, he directed and produced a movie about brave dogs, Bearheart, but the film was entangled in legal troubles due to his business manager's involvement in crimes such as forgery and graft. The film was finally released in 1978, under the title Legend of the Northwest. After he left show business, Brooks ran a private ambulance company in Glendale, California. He commented that he "died in more pictures than almost anyone" and that though he was never very big in show business, he was willing to return to it. Brooks sold the ambulance company in 1994, and retired to his ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, where he bred champion Andalusian horses. He attended a Gone with the Wind reunion for Clark Gable's birthday, along with Ann Rutherford and Fred Crane, in Cadiz, Ohio, in 1992. On September 1, 2003, Brooks died in Santa Ynez, California.

Filmography

Series ★ 7,7

Perry Mason

Trainer

1957

Series ★ 7,7

Perry Mason

Ted Richert

1957

Series ★ 8,1

Columbo

Jerry - Wine Lab Assistant (uncredited)

1971

Series ★ 6,3

Lassie

Bulldozer Operator

1954

Series ★ 7,5

Bonanza

Cowboy

1959

Series ★ 6,9

Maverick

Second at Duel (uncredited)

1957

Series ★ 6,9

Maverick

Jack Blair

1957

Series ★ 6,6

Wagon Train

Thomas Pope

1957

Series ★ 7,1

Adam-12

Mr. Edwards

1968

Series ★ 7,1

Adam-12

Bus Driver

1968

Series ★ 7,1

Adam-12

Mr. Marshall

1968

Series ★ 6,5

The Virginian

Henry

1962

Series ★ 5,8

Petticoat Junction

Ernest Belden

1963

Series ★ 6,2

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre

Banker Wilson

1956

Series ★ 6,6

My Three Sons

Frank Walker

1960

Series ★ 6,6

My Three Sons

Ed Henson

1960

Series ★ 6,6

Peter Gunn

1958

Series ★ 6,7

Gunsmoke

Rand

1955

Series ★ 6,7

Gunsmoke

Man

1955

Series ★ 7,8

Combat!

G.I. Lieutenant

1962

Series ★ 6,1

Highway Patrol

Bill Rinker

1955

Series ★ 6,8

The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

Sheriff Del Mathey

1955

Series ★ 6,1

Bat Masterson

Willard Wynant

1958

Series ★ 7,9

The Munsters

The Man

1964

Series ★ 6,8

The Lone Ranger

Dick Larrabee

1949

Series ★ 6,8

The Lone Ranger

Deputy Jim Tyler

1949

Series ★ 6,8

The Lone Ranger

Marshal Roy Bell

1949

Series ★ 6,8

The Lone Ranger

Private Phillips

1949

Series ★ 6,8

The Lone Ranger

Private Jack Carey

1949

Series ★ 6,8

The Lone Ranger

Al Sommers

1949

Series ★ 6,8

The Lone Ranger

Express Rider

1949

Series ★ 6,8

The Lone Ranger

Lieutenant Tipton

1949

Series ★ 6,8

The Lone Ranger

Ben

1949

Film ★ 7,9

Gone with the Wind

Charles Hamilton

1939

Series ★ 5,6

Hawaiian Eye

Agent

1959

Series ★ 5,9

The Real McCoys

Mr. Foster

1957

Series ★ 5,8

The Millionaire

Allan Carter

1955

Series ★ 7,2

12 O'Clock High

Finance Officer

1964

Series ★ 6,8

Tombstone Territory

1957

Series ★ 7,5

Studio 57

1954

Series ★ 5,4

M Squad

Purser

1957

Series ★ 7,4

The Green Hornet

Conway

1966

Series ★ 4,7

The Gene Autry Show

Jeff Elwood

1950

Series ★ 4,7

The Gene Autry Show

Young Deputy

1950