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Personal Info

Gender

Male

Birthday

1910-05-04 (114 years old)

Place of Birth

Guthrie Center, Iowa, USA

James Ellison

Biography:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

James Ellison (May 4, 1910 - December 23, 1993) was an American actor, born James Ellison Smith in Guthrie Center, Iowa, son of Edward James Smith and Ona Mary Ellis.

Ellison appeared in nearly seventy films between 1932 and 1962.

Ellison worked for a time in a film laboratory and while there was offered a screen test. He developed it himself and when he saw it, decided it was not satisfactory so he would not show it to the director. But he saw it anyway and Ellison got a contract.

Despite his rugged good looks and height of 6 feet 3 inches, Ellison's limited range and somewhat wooden screen presence kept him from the first (or even second) ranks of stardom. He spent much of his career in Westerns, including a stint in the mid-thirties as the sidekick of Hopalong Cassidy in Paramount's successful series. In 1938, he played a charming, romantic character opposite 26 year old Lucille Ball in the comedy, "Next Time I Marry", a film where Ball had her first top billing on screen credits. Before that, in 1936, he played his highest-profile role, as Buffalo Bill in Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman, which also starred Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur.

Despite that film's success, Ellison spent most of the remainder of his career shuttling between cowboy pictures and more varied roles, primarily in B movies with titles like Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case and The Undying Monster. He had a supporting role in 1941's Charley's Aunt (which starred Jack Benny) and played the romantic lead in 1943's The Gang's All Here, a Twentieth Century Fox musical in which he seemed somewhat lost among the vivid antics of Carmen Miranda, Charlotte Greenwood, and Edward Everett Horton (and was the only principal not to sing a note). He also co-starred with Tom Conway and Frances Dee in Val Lewton's production of I Walked with a Zombie, directed by Jacques Tourneur.

Ellison landed another romantic lead role as 'Jerry Gibson' in the musical film Lady, Let's Dance (1944) which starred ice skating sensation 'Belita'.

In the early 1950s, Ellison moved from acting to real estate. Joining fellow veteran Jackie Coogan, Ellison returned to the screen only once to play Axel 'Longhorn' Gates in a picture called When the Girls Take Over (1962).

James Ellison died at age 83 in Monterey, California after suffering a broken neck as the result of a fall.

Description above from the Wikipedia article James Ellison (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Acting

1962

When the Girls Take Over as Alex 'Longhorn' Gates (as Jimmy Ellison)

1952

Dead Man's Trail as Dan Winslow
Texas City as Jim Kirby (as Jimmy Ellison)

1951

Texas Lawmen as Sheriff Tod Merrick
Kentucky Jubilee as Jeff Benson
Whistling Hills as Sheriff Dave Holland

1950

Crooked River as Shamrock Ellison
Everybody's Dancin' as Jimmy Ellison
Fast on the Draw as Shamrock Ellison
Colorado Ranger as Shamrock Kid
Marshal of Heldorado as Shamrock Ellison
Hostile Country as Shamrock Ellison
West of the Brazos as Shamrock Ellison
I Killed Geronimo as Capt. Jeff Packard

1948

1947

The Ghost Goes Wild as Monte Crandall
Calendar Girl as Steve Adams

1946

G.I. War Brides as Steve Giles

1945

Hollywood and Vine as Larry Winters

1944

1943

I Walked with a Zombie as Wesley Rand
The Gang's All Here as Andy Mason
Dixie Dugan as Roger Hudson

1942

The Undying Monster as Robert Curtis
Careful, Soft Shoulders as Thomas Aldrich
That Other Woman as Henry Summers
Army Surgeon as Capt. James Mason

1941

Charley's Aunt as Jack Chesney
Play Girl as Thomas Elwood Dice
Ice-Capades as Bob Clemens

1940

Anne of Windy Poplars as Tony Pringle
You Can't Fool Your Wife as Andrew Hinklin

1939

Zenobia as Jeff Carter
Hotel for Women as Jeff Buchanan
Sorority House as Bill Loomis
Almost a Gentleman as Dan Preston

1938

Mother Carey's Chickens as Ralph Thurston
Next Time I Marry as Anthony J. Anthony

1937

Borderland as Johnny Nelson
Annapolis Salute as William J. "Bill" Martin
23 1/2 Hours Leave as Sgt. Robert Gray
The Barrier as Lt. Burrell

1936

The Plainsman as William "Buffalo Bill" Cody
Three on the Trail as Johnny Nelson
Heart of the West as Johnny Nelson
Call of the Prairie as Johnny Nelson
Trail Dust as Johnny Nelson

1935

The Eagle's Brood as Johnny Nelson
Hop-a-long Cassidy as Johnny Nelson
Bar 20 Rides Again as Johnny Nelson
Buried Loot as Detective (uncredited)
Hitch Hike Lady as Jimmy Peyton
Reckless as Dale Every

1932

Play Girl as Elmer
The Famous Ferguson Case as Reporter Lane (uncredited)