Paul Brinegar

Paul Alden Brinegar Jr. (December 19, 1917 – March 27, 1995) was an American character actor best known for his roles in three Western series: The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Rawhide, and Lancer.

Early years Brinegar was born in 1917 in Tucumcari in eastern New Mexico, the first child of Louise (née McElroy) and Paul A. Brinegar Sr., who was a farmer. His family relocated several times during his childhood, first moving to Alamogordo, then to Las Cruces, and finally to Santa Fe. In Santa Fe, Brinegar became interested in acting, performing in stage productions at his local high school.

The 1940 census also identifies him at that time as an independent "writer" and his father then as a freelancing "general short-hand reporter". From there, he launched a steady film career that slowed considerably in the late 1950s, after he began appearing on television, but did not end until 1994, when Brinegar made his final screen appearance, as a stagecoach driver, in the 1994 film version of Maverick.

Brinegar was cast in more than 100 Western films produced between 1946 and 1994, often specializing in playing "feisty, grizzled cowboy sidekicks".

Brinegar also made two guest appearances on CBS courtroom drama Perry Mason. His first appearance on that series, prior to Rawhide, is in the 1958 episode "The Case of the Sun Bather's Diary". His second appearance on Perry Mason is in the series' ninth and final season, in the 1966 episode "The Case of the Unwelcome Well".

In the 1968–1970 CBS Western series Lancer, Brinegar had the role of Jelly Hoskins; and in 1969 he appeared in Charro! starring Elvis Presley. Then, in 1973, he played the barman in Clint Eastwood's film High Plains Drifter. From 1982 to 1983, returning to television, Brinegar portrayed a humorous cowboy-like character, Lamar Pettybone, during the first season of the ABC series Matt Houston. Later, he reprised a revised version of his Rawhide Wishbone character for the 1991 TV movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, in which he delivers a brief monologue that contains references to several old television Westerns.

Death Brinegar died of emphysema at the age of 77 in Los Angeles on March 27, 1995.

Brinegar with guest star Barbara Eden in a 1964 episode of Rawhide.

Filmography

TV and film roles (Non-Western roles included) Abilene Town (1946) - Gambler (uncredited) Larceny (1948) - Mechanic Take One False Step (1949) - Reporter (uncredited) Sword in the Desert (1949) - British Soldier (uncredited) Pinky (1949) - Western Union Clerk (uncredited) The Gal Who Took the West (1949) - Tailor (uncredited) Young Man with a Horn (1950) - Stage Manager (uncredited) A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950) - Henchman (uncredited) Storm Warning (1951) - Cameraman #1 (uncredited) Insurance Investigator (1951) - Mr. Spangler, Hotel Orderly (uncredited) Journey Into Light (1951) - Bum Here Come the Nelsons (1952) - Thin Cop (uncredited) The Captive City (1952) - Police Sergeant Pat and Mike (1952) - Caddy (uncredited) We're Not Married! (1952) - Beauty Contest Spectator (uncredited) It Happens Every Thursday (1953) - Mr. Sweetzer, Hotel Clerk (uncredited) Fast Company (1953) - Smokey - Poker Player (uncredited) Captain Scarface (1953) - Clegg So Big (1953) - Farmer (uncredited) Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954) - Angry Accuser in Street (uncredited) Rails Into Laramie (1954) - Bandleader (uncredited) The Rocket Man (1954) - Dave Harris (uncredited) Human Desire (1954) - Brakeman (uncredited) Dawn at Socorro (1954) - Desk Clerk Rogue Cop (1954) - Arcade Clerk (uncredited) A Star Is Born (1954) - Man at Funeral (uncredited) Four Guns to the Border (1954) - Barber (uncredited) The Silver Chalice (1954) - Audience Member (uncredited) The Public Defender (1954-1955, TV Series) - Bud / Vic Oliver / Bailbondsman Cell 2455 Death Row (1955) - Prisoner (uncredited) I Died a Thousand Times (1955) - Bus Driver (uncredited) Highway Patrol (1955, TV Series) - Blainey Ransom! (1956) - Bank Clerk (uncredited) Inside Detroit (1956) - Irate Worker (uncredited) Tales of the Texas Rangers (1956, TV series) - Hobo Cheyenne "Lone Gun" (1956, TV series) - Slim Mantell World Without End (1956) - Vida (uncredited) Santiago (1956) - Alkali (uncredited) Fighting Trouble (1956) - Mailman (uncredited) Flight to Hong Kong (1956) - Castairs (uncredited) Noah's Ark (1957, TV series) - Doug Connor The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) - Okie (uncredited) Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1957, TV series) (Season 1 Episode 2: "Premonition") (1955) - Mason (Season 1 Episode 27: "Help Wanted") (1956) - Police Officer (Season 2 Episode 31: "The Night the World Ended") (1957) - Mr. Stern The Iron Sheriff (1957) - Gun Salesman (uncredited) Tales of Wells Fargo (1957, TV series) - Shorty Tannin The Vampire (1957) - Willy Warner Hell on Devil's Island (1957) - Arneaux (uncredited) Copper Sky (1957) - Charlie Martin Perry Mason (1958) - Tom Sackett Cattle Empire (1958) - Tom Jefferson Jeffrey State Trooper (1958, TV series) - Storekeeper The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955-1958, TV series) - Mayor Jim Kelley How to Make a Monster (1958) - Rivero Lawman (1959, TV series) - George the Stage Line Clerk The Texan (1959, TV series) - Ludwig Trackdown (1959, TV series) - Deputy Zack Armstead Peter Gunn (1961, TV series) - Chigger Rawhide (1959-1965, TV series) - George Washington Wishbone Country Boy (1966) - Link Byrd Sr., the father of Nashville musician played by Randy Boone Bonanza (1967, TV series) - Lev Buckalew Iron Horse (1967, TV series) - Waco Hobson Daniel Boone (1967, TV series) - Gurney The Guns of Will Sonnett (1968, TV series) - Charlie Moss Charro! (1969) - Opie Keetch Death Valley Days (1966–1969, TV Series) - James "Jimmy" Dayton / Rupert Johnson / Sawbuck - Prospector Lancer (1968–1970, TV series) - Jelly Hoskins High Plains Drifter (1973) - Lutie Naylor Emergency! (1974–1976, TV series) - Max / Grady / Husband (Tom) Cannon (1974, TV series) - Charlie Tompkins The Six Million Dollar Man (1975, TV series) - Rafe Morris I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? (1975) - Looney Pickup Driver CHiPs (1977–1982, TV series) - Keith Lawton / Old Surfer The Dukes of Hazzard (1979, TV series) - Dewey Stovall The Texas Rangers (1981, TV movie) - Old Al The Creature Wasn't Nice (1983) - Clint Eastwood / Dirty Harry Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984) - Pee Wee Annihilator (1986, TV movie) - Pops Life Stinks (1991) - Old Bellboy The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993, TV series) - Francis Killbridge Maverick (1994) - Stage Driver

References and notes