Carl Mathews

Carl Mathews (February 19, 1903 – May 3, 1959), also sometimes credited as Carl Matthews, was an American character actor and stuntman of the 1930s through 1950s. Born on February 19, 1903, in Oklahoma, his first film role would be in Rough Riding Ranger in 1935. Over the next 33 years, Mathews appeared in over 200 films, shorts, and television shows, either as a performer or a stuntman.

Early life Mathews was born in 1903 on the Cherokee reservation in Oklahoma to Sam and Hattie Mathews, and grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma This birth year of 1903 holds throughout his census records through 1940, however, his death certificate lists his date of birth as 1899. His records in the Dawes Rolls show that he was 1/8 Cherokee. His father was a butcher. He was a veteran of World War I, and served in the merchant marines during the 1920s, although by the end of the decade he was working for the railroads as a switchman. He married his wife Margaret at some point in the 1920s, and they had a son, Carl Jr. in 1930. The family lived in Muskogee. it was at this point when Mathews began his career in film. During his career he had roles in over 60 feature films, and appeared in over 150 others in either very small roles, as a stuntman or as a body double.

Filmography

(Per AFI database) This marriage was also unsuccessful, and the two divorced. Mathews died on May 3, 1959, in Los Angeles County, California, of cirrhosis of the liver.