Jack Holt

Charles John Holt, Jr. (May 31, 1888 – January 18, 1951) was an American motion picture actor who was prominent in both silent and sound movies, particularly Westerns.

Early life Holt was born in 1888 in the Fordham section of The Bronx, New York, the son of an Episcopal priest at St. James Church. When in Manhattan, he attended Trinity School. He was accepted into the Virginia Military Institute in 1909, but expelled for misbehavior in his second semester there.

Film career

Holt began in Hollywood with stunt work and bit parts in serials and at Universal Pictures worked as a supporting player for Francis Ford and his brother John Ford, and Grace Cunard.

In his 1914 film debut, Holt rode a horse down a steep embankment into the Russian River in a scene for Salomy Jane. The stunt cracked some of Holt's ribs and injured the horse so badly that it had to be destroyed. The film, which was considered lost for years, was included in the DVD released 2011 anthology Treasures 5 The West 1898—1938 by the National Film Preservation Foundation after a print was discovered in Australia.

Personal life Original caption: "Howard C. Hickman, husband and director of Bessie Barriscale, shows leading man Jack Holt how to make love to Mrs. Hickman." This appears to be a production still from Kitty Kelly, M.D. (1919). If so, the cameraman behind the Bell & Howell model 2709 is Eugene Gaudio. Holt married divorcee Margaret Wood in 1918. She obtained a divorce in Mexico in 1932 but, on January 9, 1940, a judge in Los Angeles ruled that the divorce was invalid. Her father, tycoon Henry Morton Stanley-Wood, disowned her because she married an actor; they later made up after her father lost most of his money in the Great Depression. She already had a daughter when she married Holt, and together they had a son, Charles John Holt III, and a daughter, Elizabeth Marshall Holt. Better known as Tim and Jennifer, respectively, both of them became actors in western films.

Death Holt died in 1951 of a heart attack, at age 62. He was interred at Los Angeles National Cemetery.

Contribution Holt has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6313-½ Hollywood Blvd for his contribution to the motion picture industry.

Margaret Mitchell, although having no say in the casting for Gone With the Wind (1939), expressed her preference for Jack Holt as Rhett Butler, because her personal favorite, Charles Boyer, had a French accent.

Filmography

Salomy Jane (1914) as Solitaire-Playing Cowboy in Saloon (uncredited) The Master Key (1914, Serial) as Donald Faversham The Broken Coin (1915, Serial) as Captain Williams Jewel (1915) as Nat Bonnell The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916) as Conde Naked Hearts (1916) as Howard Liberty (1916, Serial) as Captain Bob Rutledge Saving the Family Name (1916) as Jansen Winthrop The Chalice of Sorrow (1916) (uncredited) The Black Sheep of the Family (1916) as Kenneth Carmont Joan the Woman (1916) (uncredited) Patria (1917, Serial) The Cost of Hatred (1917) as Huertez Sacrifice (1917) as Paul Ekald Giving Becky a Chance (1917) as Tom Fielding The Inner Shrine (1917) as Viscount D'Arcourt The Little American (1917) as Karl von Austreim The Call of the East (1917) as Alan Hepburn The Secret Game (1917) as Maj. John Northfield The Hidden Pearls (1918) as Robert Garvin The Claw (1918) as Maurice Stair One More American (1918) as Sam Potts Headin' South (1918) Love Me (1918) as Gordon Appleby The Honor of His House (1918) as Robert Farlow The White Man's Law (1918) as Sir Harry Falkland The Iron Claw (1916, Serial) as Maurice Stair A Desert Wooing (1918) as Barton Masters Green Eyes (1918) as Pearson Hunter The Marriage Ring (1918) as Rodney Heathe The Road Through the Dark (1918) as Duke Karl The Squaw Man (1918) as Cash Hawkins Cheating Cheaters (1919) as Tom Palmer A Midnight Romance (1919) as Roger Sloan For Better, for Worse (1919) as Crusader The Woman Thou Gavest Me (1919) as Lord Raa A Sporting Chance (1919) as Paul Sayre The Woman Michael Married (1919) as Michael Ordsway The Life Line (1919) as Jack Hearne, the Romany Rye Kitty Kelly, M.D. (1919) as Bob Lang Victory (1919) as Axel Heyst The Best of Luck (1920) as Kenneth, Lord Glenayr Crooked Streets (1920) as Rupert O'Dare Held by the Enemy (1920) as Col. Charles Prescott The Sins of Rosanne (1920) as Sir Dennis Harlenden Midsummer Madness (1920) as Bob Meredith All Soul's Eve (1921) as Roger Heath Ducks and Drakes (1921) as Rob Winslow The Lost Romance (1921) as Mark Sheridan The Mask (1921) as Kenneth Traynor / Handsome Jack After the Show (1921) as Larry Taylor The Grim Comedian (1921) as Harvey Martin The Call of the North (1921) as Ned Trent Bought and Paid For (1922) as Robert Stafford North of the Rio Grande (1922) as Bob Haddington While Satan Sleeps (1922) as Phil The Man Unconquerable (1922) as Robert Kendall On the High Seas (1922) as Jim Dorn Making a Man (1922) as Horace Winsby Nobody's Money (1923) as John Webster The Tiger's Claw (1923) as Sam Sandell A Gentleman of Leisure (1923) as Robert Pitt Hollywood (1923) as himself The Cheat (1923) as Dudley Drake The Marriage Maker (1923) as Lord Stonbury Don't Call It Love (1923) as Richard Parrish The Lone Wolf (1924) as Michael Lanyard Wanderer of the Wasteland (1924) as Adam Larey Empty Hands (1924) as Grimshaw North of 36 (1924) as Don McMasters Eve's Secret (1925) as Duke of Poltava The Thundering Herd (1925) as Tom Doan The Light of Western Stars (1925) as Gene Stewart Wild Horse Mesa (1925) as Chane Weymer The Ancient Highway (1925) as Cliff Brant The Enchanted Hill (1926) as Lee Purdy Sea Horses (1926) as George Glanville The Blind Goddess (1926) as Hugh Dillon Born to the West (1926) as 'Colorado' Dare Rudd Forlorn River (1926) as Nevada Man of the Forest (1926) as Milt Dale The Mysterious Rider (1927) as Bent Wade The Tigress (1927) as Winston Graham, Earl of Eddington The Warning (1927) as Tom Fellows / Col. Robert Wellsley The Smart Set (1928) as Nelson The Vanishing Pioneer (1928) as Anthony Ballard / John Ballard Court-Martial (1928) as James Camden The Water Hole (1928) as Philip Randolph Submarine (1928) as Jack Dorgan Avalanche (1928) as Jack Dunton Sunset Pass (1929) as Jack Rock The Donovan Affair (1929) as Insp. Killian Father and Son (1929) as Frank Fields Flight (1929) as Panama Williams Vengeance (1930) as John Meadham The Border Legion (1930) as Jack Kells Hell's Island (1930) as Mac The Squealer (1930) as Charles Hart The Last Parade (1931) as Cookie Leonard Dirigible (1931) as Jack Bradon Subway Express (1931) as Inspector Killian White Shoulders (1931) as Gordon Kent Fifty Fathoms Deep (1931) as Tim Burke A Dangerous Affair (1931) as Lt. McHenry Maker of Men (1931) as Coach Dudley Behind the Mask (1932) as Jack Hart aka Quinn War Correspondent (1932) as Jim Kenyon This Sporting Age (1932) as Capt. John Steele Man Against Woman (1932) as Johnny McCloud Hollywood Speaks (1932) as himself When Strangers Marry (1933) as Steve Rand The Woman I Stole (1933) as Jim Bradler The Wrecker (1933) as Chuck Regan Master of Men (1933) as Buck Garrett Whirlpool (1934) as Buck Rankin Black Moon (1934) as Stephen Lane The Defense Rests (1934) as Matthew Mitchell I'll Fix It (1934) as Bill Grimes The Best Man Wins (1935) as Nick Roberts Storm Over the Andes (1935) as Bob Kent The Unwelcome Stranger (1935) as Howard W. Chamberlain The Awakening of Jim Burke (1935) as Jim Burke The Littlest Rebel (1935) as Col. Morrison Dangerous Waters (1936) as Jim Marlowe San Francisco (1936) as Jack Burley Crash Donovan (1936) as 'Crash' Donovan End of the Trail (1936) as Dale Brittenham North of Nome (1936) as John Raglan Trouble in Morocco (1937) as Paul Cluett Roaring Timber (1937) as Jim Sherwood Outlaws of the Orient (1937) as Chet Eaton Trapped by G-Men (1937) as G-Man Martin Galloway, Posing as Bill Donovan Under Suspicion (1937) as Robert Bailey Making the Headlines (1938) as Police Lt. Lewis Nagel Flight into Nowhere (1938) as Jim Horne Reformatory (1938) as Robert Dean Crime Takes a Holiday (1938) as Walter Forbes The Strange Case of Dr. Meade (1938) as Dr. Meade Whispering Enemies (1939) as Stephen Brewster Trapped in the Sky (1939) as Major Fugitive at Large (1939) as Tom Farrow / George Storm Hidden Power (1939) as Dr. Garfield Outside the Three-Mile Limit (1940) as Treasury Agent Conway Passport to Alcatraz (1940) as George Hollister Fugitive from a Prison Camp (1940) as Sheriff Lawson The Great Plane Robbery (1940) as Mike Henderson The Great Swindle (1941) as Jack Regan Holt of the Secret Service (1941, Serial) as Jack Holt / Nick Farrell Thunder Birds (1942) as Colonel MacDonald Northwest Rangers (1942) as Duncan Frazier Cat People (1942) as The Commodore They Were Expendable (1945) as General Martin My Pal Trigger (1946) as Brett Scoville Flight to Nowhere (1946) as FBI Agent Bob Donovan The Chase (1946) as Cmdr. Davidson Renegade Girl (1946) as Maj. Barker The Wild Frontier (1947) as Charles 'Saddles' Barton The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) as Flophouse Bum (uncredited) The Arizona Ranger (1948) as Rawhide Morgan The Gallant Legion (1948) as Capt. Banner The Strawberry Roan (1948) as Walt Bailey Loaded Pistols (1948) as Dave Randall The Last Bandit (1949) as Mort Pemberton Brimstone (1949) as Marshal Walter Greenslide Task Force (1949) as Captain Reeves Red Desert (1949) as Deacon Smith The Daltons' Women (1950) as Clint Dalton – Mike Leonard Return of the Frontiersman (1950) as Sheriff Sam Barrett Trail of Robin Hood (1950) as himself King of the Bullwhip (1950) as Banker James Kerrigan Across the Wide Missouri (1951) as Bear Ghost (final film role)