Rand Brooks
Acting • Born 1918-09-21 – Died 2003-09-01
Biography
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
133 credits
Gone with the Wind
Movie • 1939
Charles Hamilton
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
Movie • 1942
In Like Flint
Movie • 1967
Missle Control Officer (uncredited)
Joan of Arc
Movie • 1948
Jean d'Arc, Joan's older brother
Ladies of the Chorus
Movie • 1948
Randy Carroll
Fool's Gold
Movie • 1946
Lucky Jenkins
Sinister Journey
Movie • 1948
Lucky Jenkins
The Devil's Playground
Movie • 1946
Lucky Jenkins
Borrowed Trouble
Movie • 1948
Lucky Jenkins
Dangerous Venture
Movie • 1947
Lucky Jenkins
Unexpected Guest
Movie • 1947
Lucky Jenkins
False Paradise
Movie • 1948
Lucky Jenkins
Strange Gamble
Movie • 1948
Lucky Jenkins
The Dead Don't Dream
Movie • 1948
Lucky Jenkins
Hoppy's Holiday
Movie • 1947
Lucky Jenkins
Silent Conflict
Movie • 1948
Lucky Jenkins
The Marauders
Movie • 1947
Lucky Jenkins
Rin-Tin-Tin: Hero of the West
Movie • 1991
Cpl. Boone
Lady Scarface
Movie • 1941
James 'Jimmy' Powell
Lady in the Dark
Movie • 1944
Ben (uncredited)
Riding High
Movie • 1950
Henry Early
Resisting Enemy Interrogation
Movie • 1944
Pilot
Stagecoach to Dancers' Rock
Movie • 1962
Quint Rucker
And One Was Beautiful
Movie • 1940
Joe Havens
Dramatic School
Movie • 1938
Pasquel Jr.
Sundown in Santa Fe
Movie • 1948
Tom Wyatt
Silver Needle in the Sky
Movie • 1954
Ranger Andrews
Florian
Movie • 1940
Victor
Life with Henry
Movie • 1941
Daniel Gordon (uncredited)
The Sex Symbol
Movie • 1974
Edward Kelly (voice)
Behind Southern Lines
Movie • 1952
Captain Loomis
Laddie
Movie • 1940
Peter Dover
Love Finds Andy Hardy
Movie • 1938
Young Man on Bandstand (uncredited)
The Old Maid
Movie • 1939
Jim
Thunder Afloat
Movie • 1939
Listener (uncredited)
Babes in Arms
Movie • 1939
Jeff Steele
Dancing Co-Ed
Movie • 1939
Steve (uncredited)
The Gunman
Movie • 1952
Jud Calvert
Balalaika
Movie • 1939
Crying Soldier (uncredited)
Born to the Saddle
Movie • 1953
John Grant
The Steel Fist
Movie • 1952
Captain Giorg Nicholoff
Stump Run
Movie • 1960
The Last Hurrah
Movie • 1958
Votes Tallyman (uncredited)
Andy Hardy's Dilemma: A Lesson in Mathematics... and Other Things
Movie • 1940
Mechanic (uncredited)
Air Force
Movie • 1943
Co-Pilot (uncredited)
Heart of the Rockies
Movie • 1951
Jim Corley
Montana Incident
Movie • 1952
Dave Connors
Crash of Moons
Movie • 1954
Andrews
Northwest Passage
Movie • 1940
Eben Towne
The Son of Monte Cristo
Movie • 1940
Hans Mirbach
The Wyoming Bandit
Movie • 1949
Jimmy Howard
Yukon Manhunt
Movie • 1951
Len Kaufman
The Maverick
Movie • 1952
Trooper Barnham
Man from the Black Hills
Movie • 1952
Fake Jimmy Fallon
Cowboy Serenade
Movie • 1942
Jim Agnew
Waco
Movie • 1952
Al
The Sombrero Kid
Movie • 1942
Philip Martin
Black Midnight
Movie • 1949
Daniel Jordan
The Vanishing Westerner
Movie • 1950
Sanderson's First Victim
The Challenge of Rin Tin Tin
Movie • 1958
Comanche Station
Movie • 1960
Station Man
Niagara Falls
Movie • 1941
Honeymooner
The Great Morgan
Movie • 1945
Film Character (uncredited)
Kilroy Was Here
Movie • 1947
Rodney Meadows
Ditch and Live
Movie • 1944
T / Sgt. Ryan
Bunco Squad
Movie • 1950
Robert (uncredited)
Fingers at the Window
Movie • 1942
Young Reporter (uncredited)
High Explosive
Movie • 1943
Jimmy Baker
The Girl from Avenue A
Movie • 1940
Steve
The Harvey Girls
Movie • 1946
Townsman at Saloon (uncredited)
Jennie
Movie • 1940
Karl Schermer
Maverick
TV • 1957
Second at Duel (uncredited)
The Munsters
TV • 1964
The Man
Petticoat Junction
TV • 1963
Ernest Belden
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
Rand
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Trainer
Combat!
TV • 1962
G.I. Lieutenant
Hawaiian Eye
TV • 1959
Agent
Lassie
TV • 1954
Bulldozer Operator
The Lone Ranger
TV • 1949
Dick Larrabee
The Millionaire
TV • 1955
Allan Carter
Peter Gunn
TV • 1958
The Real McCoys
TV • 1957
Mr. Foster
M Squad
TV • 1957
Purser
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
TV • 1954
Cpl. Boone
Bat Masterson
TV • 1958
Willard Wynant
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
TV • 1955
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Banker Wilson
The Roy Rogers Show
TV • 1951
City Detective
TV • 1953
The Adventures of Kit Carson
TV • 1951
The Man Called X
TV • 1956
Jefferson Drum
TV • 1958
Ray Comstock
The Green Hornet
TV • 1966
Conway
The Gene Autry Show
TV • 1950
Young Deputy
The Gene Autry Show
TV • 1950
Jeff Elwood
The Lone Ranger
TV • 1949
Deputy Jim Tyler
Wagon Train
TV • 1957
Thomas Pope
Maverick
TV • 1957
Jack Blair
The Cisco Kid
TV • 1950
Clint Riley
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
TV • 1955
Sheriff Del Mathey
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Uncle George
Bonanza
TV • 1959
Cowboy
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
Man
Adam-12
TV • 1968
Mr. Edwards
Adam-12
TV • 1968
Bus Driver
Adam-12
TV • 1968
Mr. Marshall
Tightrope
TV • 1959
Young Man
The Lone Ranger
TV • 1949
Private Phillips
The Lone Ranger
TV • 1949
Marshal Roy Bell
The Virginian
TV • 1962
Henry
Columbo
TV • 1971
Jerry - Wine Lab Assistant (uncredited)
Studio 57
TV • 1954
The Lone Ranger
TV • 1949
Private Jack Carey
The Wonderful World of Disney
TV • 1954
Baseball Coach (uncredited)
Tombstone Territory
TV • 1957
Ed
The Lone Ranger
TV • 1949
Al Sommers
12 O'Clock High
TV • 1964
Finance Officer
My Three Sons
TV • 1960
Frank Walker
My Three Sons
TV • 1960
Ed Henson
Perry Mason
TV • 1957
Ted Richert
Boston Blackie
TV • 1951
Hutch
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
TV • 1951
Capt. Loomis
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
TV • 1951
Ed Chandler
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
TV • 1951
Bob Purdy
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
TV • 1951
Ben Webb
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
TV • 1951
Ob Wilkins
The Lone Ranger
TV • 1949
Express Rider
The Lone Ranger
TV • 1949
Lieutenant Tipton
The Lone Ranger
TV • 1949
Ben
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
TV • 1954
Cpl. Boone (uncredited)
Highway Patrol
TV • 1955
Bill Rinker