Tim McCoy
Acting • Born 1891-04-10 – Died 1978-01-29
Biography
One of the great stars of early American Westerns. McCoy was the son of an Irish soldier who later became police chief of Saginaw, Michigan, where McCoy was born. He attended St. Ignatius College in Chicago and after seeing a Wild West show there, left school and found work on a Wyoming ranch. He became an expert horseman and roper and developed a keen knowledge of the ways and languages of the Indian tribes in the area. He competed in numerous rodeos, then enlisted in the U.S. Army when America entered the First World War. He was commissioned and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. At the end of World War I, he returned to his ranch in Wyoming, only to be called by Governor Bob Carry to the post of Adjutant General of Wyoming, a position he held until 1921. The position carried with it the rank of Brigadier General (a brevet promotion) and it has been reported that this made him the youngest general officer in the U.S. Army. His reputation as a friend to the Wind River Reservation Indians, both Arapahoe and Shoshone, preceded him and in 1922, he was asked by the head of Famous Players-Lasky, Jesse L. Lasky, to provide Indian extras for the Western extravaganza, The Covered Wagon (1923). He resigned from the state position and recruited several hundred Indians to the Utah movie location. When the film wrapped, he was asked to choose several Indians to accompany him to Hollywood. There the production company developed a live 'prologue' to be presented just prior to the movie showing. The idea was a success and McCoy and his Indian group toured the U.S. and eventually, Europe as well. After touring this country and Europe with the Indians as publicity, McCoy returned to Hollywood and used his connections to obtain further work in the movies, both as a technical advisor and eventually as an actor. MGM speedily signed him to a contract to star in a series of Westerns and McCoy rapidly rose to stardom, making scores of Westerns and occasional non-Westerns. He retired from the army and from films after the war, but emerged in the late 1940s for a few more films and some television work. In 1942 he ran for the Republican Nomination for the U.S. Senate in Wyoming. He was defeated and returned to Hollywood and an uncertain future. In 1946 he sold his Wyoming ranch and moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania and the life of the gentleman farmer. While living there, he met and married Danish writer Inga Arvad. He later built a home in Nogales, Arizona where Inga subsequently died in 1973. He spent his later years as a retired rancher. He died at the U.A. Army hospital at Ft. Hauchuca, Arizona on January 29 1978 at the age of 86. Inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1974. During World War I, he served as an artillery officer in the US Army in France. Spouse Inga Arvad (1945 - 1973) (her death) Alice Miller (? - 1931) (divorced) (3 children)
Filmography
95 credits
Around the World in 80 Days
Movie • 1956
Colonel
Voice in the Night
Movie • 1934
Tim Dale
The Thundering Herd
Movie • 1925
Burn Hudnall
Sioux Blood
Movie • 1929
Flood
The Overland Telegraph
Movie • 1929
Captain Allen
Two-Fisted Law
Movie • 1932
Tim Clark
Texas Cyclone
Movie • 1932
Texas Grant
Aces and Eights
Movie • 1936
Tim Madigan
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Movie • 1972
Self (archive footage)
Below the Border
Movie • 1942
Marshal Tim McCall
Forbidden Trails
Movie • 1941
Marshal Tim McCall
Roarin' Guns
Movie • 1936
Tim Corwin
Arizona Bound
Movie • 1941
Tim McCall
Riders of the West
Movie • 1942
Marshal Tim McCall
Bulldog Courage
Movie • 1935
Slim Braddock / Tim Braddock
Ghost Town Law
Movie • 1942
Marshal Tim McCall
Down Texas Way
Movie • 1942
U. S. Marshal Tim McCall
Hell Bent for Love
Movie • 1934
Police Captain Tim Daley
Ghost Patrol
Movie • 1936
Tim Caverly
Lightnin' Bill Carson
Movie • 1936
Marshal Lightnin' Bill Carson
Border Caballero
Movie • 1936
Tim Ross
The Man from Guntown
Movie • 1935
Tim Hanlon
The Traitor
Movie • 1936
Tim McCoy: Sergeant Tim Vallance - Texas Ranger
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
Movie • 1976
(archive footage)
The Gunman From Bodie
Movie • 1941
Marshal Tim McCall
Straight Shooter
Movie • 1939
"Lightning" Bill Carson
The Outlaw Deputy
Movie • 1935
Tim Mallory
West of Rainbow's End
Movie • 1938
Tim Hart
Justice of the Range
Movie • 1935
Tim Condon
Phantom Ranger
Movie • 1938
Tim Hayes
Straightaway
Movie • 1933
Tim Dawson
Six-Gun Trail
Movie • 1938
Captain William Carson
Lightning Carson Rides Again
Movie • 1938
Lightning Bill Carson / Jose
Speed Wings
Movie • 1934
Tim
A Man's Game
Movie • 1934
Tim Bradley
Fighting Shadows
Movie • 1935
Constable Tim O'Hara
Outlaws' Paradise
Movie • 1939
William Carson / Trigger Mallory
Code of the Cactus
Movie • 1939
Bill Carson
Hold the Press
Movie • 1933
Tim Collins
The Law of the Range
Movie • 1928
Jim Lockhart
Hollywood on Parade
Movie • 1932
Self
The Western Code
Movie • 1932
Tim Barrett
Trigger Fingers
Movie • 1939
'Lightning' Bill Carson
West of the Law
Movie • 1942
Marshal Tim McCall
Code of the Rangers
Movie • 1938
Tim Strong
The Fighting Renegade
Movie • 1939
Bill Carson posing as El Puma
Square Shooter
Movie • 1935
Tim Baxter
The Whirlwind
Movie • 1933
Tim Reynolds
Silent Men
Movie • 1933
Tim Richards
Frontier Crusader
Movie • 1940
Trigger Tim Rand
Rusty Rides Alone
Movie • 1933
Tim Burke
Prescott Kid
Movie • 1934
Tim Hamlin
Winners Of The Wilderness
Movie • 1927
Col. Sir Dennis O'Hara
Man Of Action
Movie • 1933
Ranger Tim Barlow
Texas Wildcats
Movie • 1939
'Lightning' Bill Carson
The Texas Marshal
Movie • 1941
Marshal Trigger Tim Rand
The Revenge Rider
Movie • 1935
Tim O'Neil
Two Gun Justice
Movie • 1938
Tim
The Lion's Den
Movie • 1936
Tim Barton
Beyond the Law
Movie • 1934
Tim Weston
The Adventurer
Movie • 1928
Jim McClellan
War Paint
Movie • 1926
Lt. Tim Marshall
Foreign Devils
Movie • 1927
Capt. Robert Kelly
The Frontiersman
Movie • 1927
John Dale
Law Beyond the Range
Movie • 1935
Tim McDonald
The Fighting Marshal
Movie • 1931
Tim Benton
Riders of Black Mountain
Movie • 1940
Marshal Tim Donovan
Gun Code
Movie • 1940
Marshal Tim Hammond posing as Tim Hays
Requiem for a Gunfighter
Movie • 1965
Judge Irving Short
The Indians Are Coming
Movie • 1930
Jack Manning
Beyond the Sierras
Movie • 1928
The Masked Stranger
Cornered
Movie • 1932
Sheriff Tim Laramie
Outlaws of the Rio Grande
Movie • 1941
Tim Barton
Arizona Gang Busters
Movie • 1940
Trigger Tim Rand
Run of the Arrow
Movie • 1957
Gen. Allen (as Colonel Tim McCoy)
Spoilers of the West
Movie • 1927
Lieutenant Lang
The Desert Rider
Movie • 1929
Jed Tyler
Morgan's Last Raid
Movie • 1929
Capt. Daniel Clairbourne
Police Car 17
Movie • 1933
Tim Conlon
The Riding Tornado
Movie • 1932
Tim Torrant
End of the Trail
Movie • 1932
Captain Tim Travers
Fighting for Justice
Movie • 1932
Tim Keene
Daring Danger
Movie • 1932
Tim Madigan
The Fighting Fool
Movie • 1932
Sheriff Tim Collins
The One Way Trail
Movie • 1931
Tim Allen
California
Movie • 1927
Capt. Archibald Gillespie
Injun Talk
Movie • 1946
Himself
Riding Wild
Movie • 1935
Tim Malloy / Tex Ravelle
Texas Renegades
Movie • 1940
'Silent' Tim Smith
Shotgun Pass
Movie • 1931
Tim Walker
The Westerner
Movie • 1934
Tim Addison
The Bushranger
Movie • 1928
Edward
Riders of the Dark
Movie • 1928
Lt. Crane
Wyoming
Movie • 1928
Lt. Jack Colton
The Man Who Would Not Die
Movie • 1924