From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Max Wagner (November 28, 1901 – November 16, 1975) was a Mexican-born American film actor who specialized in playing small parts such as thugs, gangsters, sailors, henchmen, bodyguards, cab drivers and moving men, appearing more than 400 films in his career, most without receiving screen credit. Newspaper gossip columnists noted his rise from playing "Gangster #4", with no lines, and not carrying a gun, to "Gangster #2", with both lines and a gun.
Wagner was one of five children, all boys, of William Wallace Wagner, a railroad conductor, and Edith Wagner, a writer who provided dispatches for the Christian Science Monitor during the Mexican Revolution. When he was 10 years old, his father was killed by rebels and the family moved to Salinas, California, where he met John Steinbeck, who became a lifelong friend. Steinback based the character of the boy in his novel The Red Pony on Wagner.
Under the name "Max Baron", Wagner acted in many Spanish-language versions of English-language films, which studios made as a matter of course in the early days of sound films, He also served as a Spanish language coach for other actors, and appeared in many of the "Mexican Spitfire" films starring Lupe Vélez, where he also served to monitor Velez's Spanish ad-libs for profanity.
Other series that Wagner appeared in include the Charlie Chan films, and Tom Mix serials, as well as others made by Mascot Pictures Corporation. In the 1940s, Wagner was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in six films written and directed by Sturges, beginning with The Palm Beach Story
In 1940 during the filming of "The Mad Doctor", Wagner was credited for driving 50,000 miles as an on-screen taxi driver on the studio back lots of Hollywood. Since his appearance as a cab driver in Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935), producers often cast him as a wise-cracking or henchman taxi driver. "I was cast as a taxi driver about five years ago", Wagner told a reporter. "And I was typed."
In 1952, Wagner began to appear on television, in episodes of such shows as The Cisco Kid, Zane Grey Theater and Perry Mason, playing much the same kind of parts he played in the movies.
He was a regular cast member on the western television series Gunsmoke, making nearly 80 appearances between 1959 and 1973. He also appeared in many episodes of The Rifleman, Bonanza, Cimarron Strip, The Wild Wild West and Maverick, including a guest-starring role in the 1959 Rifleman episode "Blood Brother." He also had roles in the original Star Trek and The Twilight Zone series. He appeared in more than 200 television episodes between 1952 and 1974.
Notable film roles for Wagner include a supporting role in the cult science fiction classic Invaders from Mars (1953), an actor playing a gangster in the film-within-a-film segment of Bullets or Ballots (1936), and the bull farm attendant in the Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bullfighters (1945).
Late in his career, he appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). He also occasionally composed music, such as the Mexican folk ballad "Pedro, Rudarte y Simon" in the Western film The Last Trail (1933).
Wagner died of a heart attack in Hollywood in 1975.
Derelict (uncredited)
Roller Coaster Operator
Cashier / Nick's Assistant Bouncer (uncredited)
Mongul Guard (uncredited)
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Durko (uncredited)
Fisherman (uncredited)
Party Guest (uncredited)
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Fats Delaney
Deputy (uncredited)
Drunk (uncredited)
Baggage Man (uncredited)
Church Member
Shakey
Bartender (uncredited)
Barfly (uncredited)
Prison Runner
Bartender (uncredited)
Reporter (uncredited)
Headwaiter - Mexican Pete's
Himself (uncredited)
Prisoner
Evans - Bob's Chauffeur
Bus Driver Jackson (uncredited)
Moving Man (uncredited)
Townsman (uncredited)
Jack Purcell (uncredited)
Man in Café (uncredited)
Convict Road Laborer (uncredited)
Expressman (uncredited)
Workman (uncredited)
Brakeman
Chinatown Barker
Gangster
Cashier (uncredited)
Guard (uncredited)
Blackjack Dealer
Station Agent (uncredited)
Mike (uncredited)
Gangster (uncredited)
Visitor (uncredited)
Man in Dream Sequence (uncredited)
Villager (uncredited)
Police Lt. Joe Wilson
Barfly (uncredited)
Assistant Overseer (uncredited)
Convict Football Player
Military Police Driver (uncredited)
Reporter (uncredited)
Barfly (uncredited)
Bet Placing Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Tough Casino Decoy
First Workman
Sailor
Bartender
Projectionist (uncredited)
Music Hall Drunk (Uncredited)
Townsman Watching Fight (uncredited)
Sergeant Goring
Deputy Charlie (uncredited)
Thug
Tom's Best Man (uncredited)
Policeman Temple (uncredited)
Jim
Baggage Man
Waiter (uncredited)
Police Detective (uncredited)
Townsman (uncredited)
Marine
Nolan's Henchman (uncredited)
Truck Driver
Sailor at Wrestling Match
Ship Porter (uncredited)
Guard (uncredited)
Joe - Truck Driver-Henchman
Soldier
Reporter
Bartender
Spectator (uncredited)
Henchman
Partner
Grip
Army Sgt. Rinaldi
Reporter
School Bus Driver (uncredited)
Charles McMahon
Joey
Reporter (uncredited)
Umpire (uncredited)
Dan - Corridor Guard (uncredited)
Henchman Mike (uncredited)
Brings in Rustler
Party Guest (uncredited)
Mike
Max - Radioman
Gus
Cherry's Cabbie
Ferguson - Pilot
Rudy the Sailor
Hanley's Strong-Arm Man
Moving Man (uncredited)
Cab Driver (Uncredited)
Reporter
Villa Luigi Headwaiter
Bar Patron (uncredited)
Diner Trying to Date Helen
Pirate (uncredited)
Lester - O'Bannion's Driver
Milkman's Helper on Dock
Highway Patrol Officer
Man Outside Hotel
A Hood
Hobo
Soldier
Ernest Dallas
Truck Driver
Tough Guy
Military Policeman
Actor Impersonating Kruger in Newsreel (uncredited)
Slade
Sergeant
Sweeney, Driver (uncredited)
Slade
Max
Policeman in Car (uncredited)
Joe
Headwaiter
Reporter
Bill - Policeman in Car 43
Morley
Sergeant George Dunne
Gibson
Bartender
Jack - Diner Counterman (uncredited)
Blackie
Policeman (uncredited)
Bob
Student
Vorobiov
Streetcar Conductor
Second Investigating Detective (Uncredited)
Guest
George
Fireman
Salesman
Thug
Townsman (uncredited)
Simmons
Student
Shirtless Ditchdigger (uncredited)
Taxi Driver Henchman
Hold-Up Man
Sam Johnson - Milk Man (uncredited)
Bartender (uncredited)
Burglar
Jake (uncredited)
Bennie
Ernie - Counter Girl's Boyfriend
Truck Driver in Diner (uncredited)
Jailer (uncredited)
Citizen (uncredited)
Guest
Convention Delegate (uncredited)
Cowboy
Buck
Policeman (uncredited)
Recruiting Sergeant
Workman
Cell Block E Convict (uncredited)
Drunken Brawler
Chuck Cannon
Boss Mechanic
Sam, Second Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)
Radio Operator (uncredited)
Jake - Trucker in Cafe (uncredited)
Henchman Kincaid
Pug O'Leary
Sophomore
Sailor (uncredited)
Davis
Jamison
Pete
No photos found