Paul Hurst
Acting • Born 1888-10-14 – Died 1953-02-27
Biography
Paul Hurst (October 15, 1888 - February 27, 1953) was an American character actor of prodigious output who also directed and wrote silent films. Much of his early work was in low budget western films. A native of central California, Hurst had a first-hand knowledge of Western lore, growing up surrounded by the multi-million acre Lux & Miller ranches which ran cattle throughout the state. Visiting San Francisco as a young man, Hurst became involved in amateur theatricals and thereafter traveled to Los Angeles to join in the emerging film industry there. He began appearing in films as early as 1912, most of them Westerns. By 1916, he was directing them as well (some sources report that he served in the First World War as a member of the French Foreign Legion, but the dates of his film projects make this story highly suspect). In the early 1920s, Hurst wrote several scenarios for films he directed and appeared in. He proved adept at working as a director for some of the cheapest producers along Gower Gulch, where movies were normally shot on location in a week or less and where stunt men were often the highest paid folks on the set. Within a few years, he focused all of his energies into acting, notably becoming one of the few successes to emerge from Hollywood's Poverty Row. Hurst quickly became one of the more prolific and familiar characters in American movies. With his blocky build and squinty demeanor, and with a raspy voice that enhanced his memorability once sound pictures came in, Hurst played villains and cops and comedy sidekicks in more than 250 films. His most famous role was that of the deserter shot dead on the stairway of Tara by Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939). Hurst was the sidekick to Monte Hale in a number of B-Westerns. Former Gower Gulch veteran John Wayne hired Hurst for Big Jim McLain (1952) knowing that Hurst was ill with terminal cancer. In 1953, at the age of 64, due to his health problems, Paul Hurst committed suicide. Date of Death: 27 February 1953, Hollywood, California (suicide)
Filmography
212 credits
The Ox-Bow Incident
Movie • 1943
Monty Smith
Gone with the Wind
Movie • 1939
Yankee Deserter
Island of Lost Souls
Movie • 1932
Capt. Donahue
Paradise Island
Movie • 1930
Beauty
Angel and the Badman
Movie • 1947
Frederick Carson
Steppin' in Society
Movie • 1945
Cookie
Roaring Road
Movie • 1926
Checking Board Tabulator (uncredited)
Petticoat Politics
Movie • 1941
Slats O'Dell
Trouble in Morocco
Movie • 1937
Tiger Malone
The Secret Six
Movie • 1931
Nick Mizoski - the Gouger
The Driver Of The Deadwood Coach
Movie • 1912
Bad Bill - a Desperado
Scared Stiff
Movie • 1945
Sheriff
The Railroad Raiders
Movie • 1917
Steve Arnold (as Paul C. Hurst)
The Hazards of Helen
Movie • 1917
Benton - a Foreman
The Girl Detective
Movie • 1915
Blair / Thompson / Michaels / Snake Henely / Mike Donegal / Bat Dorgan / Kelly / Dalton / Blake
A Lass of the Lumberlands
Movie • 1916
Hi'ya, Chum
Movie • 1943
Archie Billings
The Westerner
Movie • 1940
Chickenfoot
Alexander's Ragtime Band
Movie • 1938
Bill Mulligan
Toughest Man in Arizona
Movie • 1952
Million Dollar Pursuit
Movie • 1951
Ray Harvey
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Movie • 1938
Florabelle's Father
The Big Stampede
Movie • 1932
'Arizona' Frank Bailey
Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring
Movie • 1941
Page
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Movie • 1923
Emeralda's Torturer (uncredited)
Summer Storm
Movie • 1944
Orloff
The Sphinx
Movie • 1933
Detective Terrence Aloysius Hogan
Topper Takes a Trip
Movie • 1938
Charlie - the Bartender
The Gay Deception
Movie • 1935
Bell Captain
Whispering Smith
Movie • 1916
Murray Sinclair
Angel's Holiday
Movie • 1937
Sgt. Murphy
Tall, Dark and Handsome
Movie • 1941
Biff Sage
The Quicksands
Movie • 1914
Captain Lanning - Osborn's Rival
The Thirteenth Guest
Movie • 1932
Detective Grump
Bad Company
Movie • 1931
Paul Hurst
The Chief of Police
Movie • 1914
Daniels
In Old Chicago
Movie • 1938
Mitch
The Racketeer
Movie • 1929
Mehaffy - Policeman
December 7th
Movie • 1943
World War I Ghost Soldier
Rimrock Jones
Movie • 1918
Ike Bray
Stingaree
Movie • 1915
Howie - Stingaree's Partner
The Further Adventures of Stingaree
Movie • 1917
Howie
Terror Aboard
Movie • 1933
Boatswain
Ali Baba Goes to Town
Movie • 1937
Captain
Caught in the Draft
Movie • 1941
Sgt. Burns
The Sun Shines Bright
Movie • 1953
Jimmy Bagby
The Red Signal
Movie • 1915
Chief Dispatcher
The Plot at the Railroad Cut
Movie • 1914
Benton, the Foreman
Sequoia
Movie • 1935
Bergman
Medicine Bend
Movie • 1916
Murray Sinclair
Judith of the Cumberlands
Movie • 1916
Blatchley Turrentine
The Diamond Runners
Movie • 1916
Paul - the Brains of the I.D.B.
Night in New Orleans
Movie • 1942
Sergeant Casper Riordan
Broadway Serenade
Movie • 1939
Reynolds, a Drunk
Swellhead
Movie • 1930
Mugsy
Danger – Love at Work
Movie • 1937
NYC policeman
Island in the Sky
Movie • 1938
Happy
It Could Happen to You
Movie • 1939
Sandy
Borrowed Wives
Movie • 1930
Bull Morgan
Ranger of Cherokee Strip
Movie • 1949
Sheriff Jug Mason
That's My Line
Movie • 1931
Mexican Bandit
Second Honeymoon
Movie • 1937
Dennis Huggins
Midnight Alibi
Movie • 1934
Babe the Butcher
I'd Give My Life
Movie • 1936
"Sport" Conly
The Cossacks
Movie • 1928
Sitchi
Calaboose
Movie • 1943
Ed the bartender
Sweepstakes
Movie • 1931
Bartender
Hot Curves
Movie • 1930
'Slug', Baseball Player
Shadow of Doubt
Movie • 1935
Lt. Sackville
Secrets of a Nurse
Movie • 1938
Arlington Bysshe 'Slice' Cavanaugh
The Big Show-Off
Movie • 1945
Herbert Trafagan, aka "The Devil", a wrestler
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
Movie • 1940
Pete
Remember?
Movie • 1939
Policeman
Bad Lands
Movie • 1939
Curly Tom
The Plainsman and the Lady
Movie • 1946
Al
The Legion of Missing Men
Movie • 1937
Muggsy
Wake Up and Live
Movie • 1937
McCabe
Girl Rush
Movie • 1944
Muley
Virginia
Movie • 1941
Thomas
Prison Break
Movie • 1938
Soapy
Hold That Co-ed
Movie • 1938
Slapsy
The Sky's the Limit
Movie • 1943
Dock Foreman (uncredited)
Something for the Boys
Movie • 1944
Defense Plant Foreman (uncredited)
The Runaway Bride
Movie • 1930
Sergeant Daly
My Lucky Star
Movie • 1938
Louie
Officer O'Brien
Movie • 1930
Captain Antrim
State's Attorney
Movie • 1932
Police Captain Morgan
The Devil's Saddle
Movie • 1927
'Swig' Moran
The Single Sin
Movie • 1931
Slug
The California Mail
Movie • 1929
Rowdy Ryan
Men Are Such Fools
Movie • 1932
Stiles
The Red Raiders
Movie • 1927
Sergeant Murphy
The Lawless Legion
Movie • 1929
Ramirez
Lucky Larkin
Movie • 1930
Pete Brierson
Mountain Justice
Movie • 1930
Lem Harland
The Cave Men's War
Movie • 1913
Red Axe
She's No Lady
Movie • 1937
Cop
The Lady Fights Back
Movie • 1937
Maloney
My Pal, the King
Movie • 1932
Red
Tide of Empire
Movie • 1929
Poppy
Shadow of the Law
Movie • 1930
Pete Shore
Slave Ship
Movie • 1937
Drunk
Josette
Movie • 1938
A. Adolphus Heyman
Lightning Bryce
Movie • 1919
Powder Solvang
Public Hero Number 1
Movie • 1935
Rufe Parker
The Hazards of Helen: Episode13, The Escape on the Fast Freight
Movie • 1915
A Trainman
Sailor's Holiday
Movie • 1929
Jimmylegs
We Who Are About to Die
Movie • 1937
Tip Fuller
Blue Streak O'Neil
Movie • 1926
You Can't Have Everything
Movie • 1937
Truck Driver (uncredited)
Robin Hood of El Dorado
Movie • 1936
Wilson
A Very Honorable Guy
Movie • 1934
Butler
Cafe Society
Movie • 1939
Bartender
Lilac Time
Movie • 1928
(uncredited)
The Secret Witness
Movie • 1931
Officer Brannigan
Who Killed Doc Robbin?
Movie • 1948
Jailer
The Virginian
Movie • 1946
Tomorrow's Youth
Movie • 1934
Detective
The Public Defender
Movie • 1931
Doc
Maybe It's Love
Movie • 1935
Expressman (uncredited)
On Your Toes
Movie • 1939
Variety Club Bartender
Each Dawn I Die
Movie • 1939
Garsky
Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence
Movie • 1939
Empire State Building Guard
Take the Stand
Movie • 1934
Denny O'Brien
Dudes Are Pretty People
Movie • 1942
Two-Gun
Prince of the Plains
Movie • 1949
Sheriff Hank Hartley
Glove Slingers
Movie • 1939
Chuck Brenner
Pioneer Marshal
Movie • 1949
Huck Homer
Spring Parade
Movie • 1940
Headwaiter
The Valley of the Giants
Movie • 1927
Randeau
San Antone Ambush
Movie • 1949
Happy Daniels
The Phantom President
Movie • 1932
Sailor (uncredited)
Among the Missing
Movie • 1934
Capt. W.F. 'Big Bill' Connors
The Arizona Ranger
Movie • 1948
Ben Riddle
Tugboat Annie
Movie • 1933
Sam
Oh, Yeah!
Movie • 1929
Railroad-Yard Superintendent
Hold 'Em Jail
Movie • 1932
Butch
The Great Mr. Nobody
Movie • 1941
Michael O'Connor
The Daring Young Man
Movie • 1935
Prison Guard
South of Rio
Movie • 1949
Andy Weems
The Vivisectionist
Movie • 1915
Bart - Jardine's Servant
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Movie • 1936
1st Deputy (uncredited)
Dakota
Movie • 1945
Captain Spotts
Edison, the Man
Movie • 1940
Sheriff
You Can't Beat Love
Movie • 1937
Foreman Butch Mehaffey
Death Valley
Movie • 1946
Sergeant Dailey
Madonna of the Desert
Movie • 1948
Pete Connors
Coney Island
Movie • 1943
Louie
Maker of Men
Movie • 1931
Gabby
North of Nome
Movie • 1936
Carlson
No Time to Marry
Movie • 1938
Sergeant
The Parson of Panamint
Movie • 1941
Jake Waldren
Son of God’s Country
Movie • 1948
Eli Walker
The Last Express
Movie • 1938
Asst. Dist. Atty. Springer
Gun Smugglers
Movie • 1948
Sergeant Hasty Jones
This Is My Affair
Movie • 1937
Bowler
In Old Sacramento
Movie • 1946
Stagecoach Driver
Midnight Manhunt
Movie • 1945
Murphy
California Firebrand
Movie • 1948
Chuck Waggoner
Smashing Through
Movie • 1918
Stevens
Queen Christina
Movie • 1934
Swedish Soldier Betting on 6 (uncredited)
To Mary - with Love
Movie • 1936
Drunk
Wife, Doctor and Nurse
Movie • 1937
Bill
Castle on the Hudson
Movie • 1940
Guard (uncredited)
They Drive by Night
Movie • 1940
Pete Haig (uncredited)
Torrid Zone
Movie • 1940
Daniels
Panama Flo
Movie • 1932
Al
The Missourians
Movie • 1950
John X. Finn
The Old Frontier
Movie • 1950
Skipper Horton
This Woman Is Mine
Movie • 1941
Second Mate Mumford
Sundown Jim
Movie • 1942
Broderick
Big Jim McLain
Movie • 1952
Mr. Lexiter
Kick In
Movie • 1931
Detective Whip Fogarty
Goin' Fishin'
Movie • 1940
Under Colorado Skies
Movie • 1947
Lucky John Hawkins
Carnival
Movie • 1935
Policeman
The Vanishing Westerner
Movie • 1950
Waldorf Worthington
Law of the Golden West
Movie • 1949
Otis Ellis
Outcasts of the Trail
Movie • 1949
Doc Meadowlark
The Gay Desperado
Movie • 1936
American Detective
Yellow Sky
Movie • 1948
Drunk (uncredited)
Barbary Coast Gent
Movie • 1944
Jake Compton
Saturday's Millions
Movie • 1933
Doc Maloney, Trainer
Heart of Virginia
Movie • 1948
Whit Galtry
Super-Sleuth
Movie • 1937
Motorcycle Cop
Fifty Roads to Town
Movie • 1937
Tom
Star Dust
Movie • 1940
Mac, Amalgamated Lab Tech
Day of Reckoning
Movie • 1933
Harry
Murder in the Music Hall
Movie • 1946
Hobarth
The Big Race
Movie • 1934
Skipper O'Neal
The Women in His Life
Movie • 1933
Paul, Perez's Second Bodyguard
Grand Slam
Movie • 1933
Man Who Speaks Final Line of the Film
Outlaw's Paradise
Movie • 1927
McDonald
Pardon My Stripes
Movie • 1942
Feets
The Fighting Ranger
Movie • 1926
The Ghost That Walks Alone
Movie • 1944
Sheriff Slim Carson
Blackmailer
Movie • 1936
Inspector Killian
South to Karanga
Movie • 1940
Slats
Buttons
Movie • 1927
Slugger McGlue
The Manager of the B & A
Movie • 1916
Roger Oakley (as Paul C. Hurst)
The Third Alarm
Movie • 1930
'Beauty' Johnson
Quick Millions
Movie • 1939
Sheriff
Mississippi
Movie • 1935
Hefty
His First Command
Movie • 1929
Sgt. Westbrook
Riffraff
Movie • 1936
Belcher
The Ballad of Paducah Jail
Movie • 1934
Escaped Felon
Charlie Chan's Courage
Movie • 1934
Undetermined Role
Calm Yourself
Movie • 1935
Detective Roscoe
Hold Your Man
Movie • 1933
Aubrey C. Mitchell (uncredited)
The Case of the Curious Bride
Movie • 1935
Fibo Morgan (uncredited)
The Man Who Would Not Die
Movie • 1924
The Line-Up
Movie • 1934
Detective Sgt. Doyle