Russell Simpson
Acting • Born 1880-06-16 – Died 1959-12-12
Biography
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
207 credits
The Grapes of Wrath
Movie • 1940
Pa Joad
Santa Fe Trail
Movie • 1940
Shubel Morgan
My Darling Clementine
Movie • 1946
John Simpson
The Tin Star
Movie • 1957
Clem Hall
The Earth Woman
Movie • 1926
Ezra Tilden
Bunty Pulls the Strings
Movie • 1921
Tammas Biggar
Carolina
Movie • 1934
Richards
Desert Gold
Movie • 1919
Ladd
Now We're in the Air
Movie • 1927
Lord Abercrombie McTavish
Wagon Master
Movie • 1950
Adam Perkins
Coroner Creek
Movie • 1948
Walt Hardison
The Girl of the Golden West
Movie • 1938
Fred - Outrider in Prologue
The Border Legion
Movie • 1918
Overland Bradley
The Hoosier Schoolmaster
Movie • 1935
Doc Small
Hello Trouble
Movie • 1932
Jonathan Kenyon
Border Patrol
Movie • 1943
Orestes Krebs
Along Came Jones
Movie • 1945
Pop de Longpre
Silver Dollar
Movie • 1932
Hamlin
Joan of Arc
Movie • 1948
Old Man with Pipe (uncredited)
The Power and the Glory
Movie • 1933
Professor (uncredited)
Broken Lance
Movie • 1954
Judge (uncredited)
Law and Order
Movie • 1932
Judge R.W. Williams
The Sun Shines Bright
Movie • 1953
Lewt Lake
Feudin' Fools
Movie • 1952
Grandpa Smith
The Big Bonanza
Movie • 1944
Adam Parker
Friendly Persuasion
Movie • 1956
Brother Griffith - Elder (uncredited)
Saddle Tramp
Movie • 1950
Pop
Ramona
Movie • 1936
Scroggs
Paradise Isle
Movie • 1937
Baxter
Motive for Revenge
Movie • 1935
McAllister
Lena Rivers
Movie • 1932
Grandfather Nichols
The Splendid Road
Movie • 1925
Capt. Lightfoot
Blue Jeans
Movie • 1917
Jacob Tutwiler
That I May Live
Movie • 1937
Bish Plivens
Billy the Kid
Movie • 1930
Angus McSween
Sundown in Santa Fe
Movie • 1948
Sheriff Jim Wyatt
Snowblind
Movie • 1921
Hugh Garth
Way Down East
Movie • 1935
Squire Amasa Bartlett
The Harvester
Movie • 1936
Abner Prewett
Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge
Movie • 1937
Bayliss Baynum
Tuna Clipper
Movie • 1949
Capt. Fergus MacLennan
Mountain Justice
Movie • 1937
Matthew Turnbull
The Great Meadow
Movie • 1931
Thomas Hall
Comin' Round the Mountain
Movie • 1951
Judge
The First Auto
Movie • 1927
Hank Armstrong
The Brand
Movie • 1919
Dan McGill
The Horse Soldiers
Movie • 1959
Henry Goodbody
Face in the Sky
Movie • 1933
Pa Nathan Brown
After the Fog
Movie • 1929
Joshua Barker
Gold Is Where You Find It
Movie • 1938
MacKenzie
Thunder Mountain
Movie • 1925
Si Pace
Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise)
Movie • 1931
Doctor
Man to Man
Movie • 1930
Uncle Cal
The Old Homestead
Movie • 1915
Sheriff
Innocents of Paris
Movie • 1929
Emile Leval
Abraham Lincoln
Movie • 1930
Lincoln's Employer
The Cabin in the Cotton
Movie • 1932
Uncle Joe
Wild West Days
Movie • 1937
Matt Keeler
Tobacco Road
Movie • 1941
Chief of Police
Wild Geese Calling
Movie • 1941
Marshal Len Baker
Defying Destiny
Movie • 1923
Mr. Wilkens
Lone Star
Movie • 1952
Maynard Cole
The Branding Iron
Movie • 1920
John Carver
Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles
Movie • 1933
Speaker
The Sap
Movie • 1929
The Banker
Roughly Speaking
Movie • 1945
The Colonel - Drill Instructor (uncredited)
Last of the Duanes
Movie • 1941
Tom Duane
The Honor of the Press
Movie • 1932
Dan Perkins
The Kingdom Within
Movie • 1922
Caleb Deming
Breakers Ahead
Movie • 1918
Captain Scudder
The Lonely Man
Movie • 1957
The Eagle
Movie • 1925
The Eagle's Lieutenant / Coach Driver (uncredited)
Paddy O'Day
Movie • 1936
Benton
Virginia City
Movie • 1940
Gaylord
The Famous Ferguson Case
Movie • 1932
Banker Craig
Ever Since Eve
Movie • 1934
Jim Wood
Dodge City
Movie • 1939
Orth
Young Mr. Lincoln
Movie • 1939
Woolridge (uncredited)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Movie • 1939
Kenneth Allen (uncredited)
Nazi Agent
Movie • 1942
2nd Captain (uncredited)
Drums Along the Mohawk
Movie • 1939
Dr. Petry
The Fabulous Texan
Movie • 1947
Wade Clayton
Heart of the North
Movie • 1938
Dave MacMillan
Western Caravans
Movie • 1939
Winchester Thompson
Free For All
Movie • 1949
Farmer
The Last Command
Movie • 1955
The Parson
The Untamed Breed
Movie • 1948
Minister
Alexander Hamilton
Movie • 1931
Harvey Taylor - First Ex-Soldier
The Frontiersman
Movie • 1927
Andrew Jackson
Call Her Savage
Movie • 1932
Old Man in Wagon Train
Man Hunt
Movie • 1936
Jeff Parkington
Valley of the Giants
Movie • 1938
McKenzie
Death Valley
Movie • 1946
Old Silas Bagley
Bowery Buckaroos
Movie • 1947
Luke Barlow
Shut My Big Mouth
Movie • 1942
Mayor Potter
Citadel of Crime
Movie • 1941
Jess Meekins
Wyoming
Movie • 1940
Mr. Bronson
Annie Laurie
Movie • 1927
Sandy
Brigham Young
Movie • 1940
U.S. Army Major
Desperate Trails
Movie • 1939
Sheriff Big Bill Tanner
Frontier Marshal
Movie • 1934
Editor Pickett
Bad Bascomb
Movie • 1946
Elijah Walker
The Virginian
Movie • 1914
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
Human Hearts
Movie • 1922
Paul Logan
Ridin' for Justice
Movie • 1932
Marshal Joseph Slyde
Texas Masquerade
Movie • 1944
J.K. Trimble
Swamp Water
Movie • 1941
Marty McCord
Three Faces West
Movie • 1940
Minister
The Virginian
Movie • 1923
Trampas
Rags to Riches
Movie • 1922
The Sheriff
Rustlin' for Cupid
Movie • 1926
Hank Blatchford
Geronimo
Movie • 1939
Scout
Meet John Doe
Movie • 1941
(uncredited)
West of the Pecos
Movie • 1934
Roy Neal
Lovey Mary
Movie • 1926
Stubbins
Call of the Klondike
Movie • 1950
Andy McKay
California Gold Rush
Movie • 1946
Colonel Parker
Lahoma
Movie • 1920
'Brick' Willock
The Gal Who Took the West
Movie • 1949
Bartender (as old Timer)
The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon
Movie • 1952
Sam Stanton
Lone Star Ranger
Movie • 1942
Tom Duane
Wild Bill Hickok Rides
Movie • 1942
Ned Nolan
Albuquerque
Movie • 1948
Abner Huggins
Bad Men of Missouri
Movie • 1941
Hank Younger
Tap Roots
Movie • 1948
Big Sam Dabney
The Spoilers
Movie • 1942
Flapjack
Painted People
Movie • 1924
Fred Lane
The Huntress
Movie • 1923
Big Jack Skinner
The Woman of the Town
Movie • 1943
Sime
Colt Comrades
Movie • 1943
Sheriff
The Brass Legend
Movie • 1956
Deputy 'Pop' Jackson
Faint Perfume
Movie • 1925
Grandpa Crumb
San Francisco
Movie • 1936
'Red' Kelly
My Dog Shep
Movie • 1946
Mathew Hodgkins
A Boy and His Dog
Movie • 1946
Mr. Thornycroft
Three on a Honeymoon
Movie • 1934
Ezra MacDuff
Godless Men
Movie • 1920
'Black' Pawl
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Movie • 1954
Fred Bixby
Green Light
Movie • 1937
Sheep Man
Peg o' My Heart
Movie • 1922
Jim O'Connell
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
Movie • 1947
Dan Yeary
The World Moves On
Movie • 1934
Notary (1825)
Why Women Love
Movie • 1925
Silas Martin
The Lone Star Ranger
Movie • 1930
Colonel John Aldridge
They Were Expendable
Movie • 1945
'Dad' Knowland
The Bill of Rights
Movie • 1939
Frontiersman
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
Movie • 1952
Clem Johnson
Back to Nature
Movie • 1936
Sheriff
Roaring Guns
Movie • 1944
Farmer MacKenzie
Maid of Salem
Movie • 1937
Village Marshal (Uncredited)
Bill Apperson's Boy
Movie • 1919
Bill Apperson
Tropical Nights
Movie • 1928
Singapore Joe
Riders of the Night
Movie • 1918
Sally's Grandfather
Old Shoes
Movie • 1925
My Lady's Past
Movie • 1929
Circus Days
Movie • 1923
Eben Holt
The Narrow Street
Movie • 1925
Garvey
The Girl of the Golden West
Movie • 1923
Jack Rance
Wild Geese
Movie • 1927
Caleb Gare
Riding High
Movie • 1943
Frenchy McGuire
Girl of the Ozarks
Movie • 1936
Bascomb Rogers
The Deadlier Sex
Movie • 1920
Jim Willis
Paint and Powder
Movie • 1925
Riley
The Riding Tornado
Movie • 1932
Sheriff
The Tall Men
Movie • 1955
Emigrant (uncredited)
Tennessee Johnson
Movie • 1942
Kirby
Meet Me at the Fair
Movie • 1953
Sheriff Evans
A Weaver of Dreams
Movie • 1918
Martin Chandler
Under the Lash
Movie • 1921
Simeon Krillet
Flames
Movie • 1932
Jake
The Outriders
Movie • 1950
Farmer (uncredited)
Sixteen Fathoms Deep
Movie • 1934
A.B. Crockett
Across the Dead-Line
Movie • 1922
Enoch Kidder
Moonlight in Vermont
Movie • 1943
Uncle Rufus
All Faces West
Movie • 1929
Gunner Bill
The Uphill Path
Movie • 1918
James Lawton
Radio Scout
Movie • 1934
Pappy Tolliver
Parnell
Movie • 1937
Dead Child's Father
The Challenge Accepted
Movie • 1918
Uncle Zeke Sawyer
Oklahoma!
Movie • 1955
The Minister (uncredited)
Ship of Souls
Movie • 1925
Angus Garth
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
Movie • 1925
Jap Taylor
Hearts Aflame
Movie • 1923
Black Joe
The Bushranger
Movie • 1928
Sir Eric
Tall in the Saddle
Movie • 1944
Pat Foster (uncredited)
Lovely Mary
Movie • 1916
Peter Nelson
Beauty and the Bad Man
Movie • 1925
Chuckwalla Bill
Desire
Movie • 1923
Patrick Ryan
The Blue Bandanna
Movie • 1919
Jim Yancy
Fighting Cressy
Movie • 1919
Hiram McKinstry
The Barrier
Movie • 1917
John Gaylord / John Tale
Oh, Johnny!
Movie • 1918
Adele's Father
The Heart of the Yukon
Movie • 1927
'Cash' Cynon
The Social Highwayman
Movie • 1926
The Mayor's Partner
Noisy Neighbors
Movie • 1929
Ebenezer
Secrets
Movie • 1933
Doctor (uncredited)
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
TV • 1951
Sam
The Texan
TV • 1958
Zeb Waters
Cavalcade of America
TV • 1952
Quatermaster
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
TV • 1955
The 20th Century Fox Hour
TV • 1955
Old Man
The Lone Ranger
TV • 1949
Jack Brewster
Public Defender
TV • 1954
Lundquist
Wagon Train
TV • 1957
Mr. Carr
Cavalcade of America
TV • 1952
Cavalcade of America
TV • 1952
Judge Grant
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953