Dub Taylor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Walter Clarence Taylor Jr. (February 26, 1907 – October 3, 1994), known as Dub Taylor, was an American character actor who from the 1940s into the 1990s worked extensively in films and on television, often in Westerns but also in comedies. He was the father of actor Buck Taylor, who played the character Newly O'Brien on Gunsmoke.
Walter C. Taylor Jr. was born in 1907 in Richmond, Virginia, the middle child of five children of Minnie and Walter C. Taylor, Sr. According to the federal census of 1920, young Walter had two older sisters, Minnie Marg[aret] and Maud, a younger brother named George, and a little sister, Edna Fay. The family moved to Augusta, Georgia around 1912 when Walter was five years old, and the Taylors lived in this city until he was 13. The census of 1920 also documents that Dub's mother was a native of Pennsylvania and his father was a native of North Carolina, who worked in Augusta at that time as a "Cotton Broker". While living in Georgia as a boy, Walter, Jr., got his lifelong nickname when his friends began calling him "W" (double-u) and then shortened his nickname even farther, to just "Dub". It was in Georgia, too, where Taylor befriended Ty Cobb, Jr., the son of the legendary professional baseball player.
A vaudeville performer, Dub Taylor was a member of the 1937 Alabama Crimson Tide football team that played in the 1938 Rose Bowl. He stayed behind to establish a career in films, making his film debut in 1938 as the cheerful ex-football captain Ed Carmichael in Frank Capra's You Can't Take It with You. Taylor secured the part because the role required an actor who could also play the xylophone. Later, during the 1950s and early 1960s, he demonstrated his considerable talent for playing the xylophone on several television shows, including an episode on the syndicated series Ranch Party hosted by Tex Ritter.
In 1939, he appeared in the film Taming of the West, in which he originated the character of Cannonball, a role he continued to play for the next ten years, in over 50 films. Cannonball was a comic sidekick to Wild Bill Saunders (played by Bill Elliott), a pairing that continued through 13 features, during which Elliott’s character became Wild Bill Hickok.
Despite his extensive career as a character actor in a wide range of roles, Dub Taylor continued to find his niche in Westerns, a genre in which he performed in literally dozens of more films and in episodes of many television series. Taylor often appeared in the guise of talkative hotel or postal clerks, court bailiffs, cooks, or dissolute doctors. He portrayed, for example, an ill-tempered chuckwagon cook in the 1969 film The Undefeated, starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson. He appeared as well in the 1971 movie Support Your Local Gunfighter as the drunken Doc Shultz. Taylor played Houston Lamb over the course of four episodes of Little House On The Prairie in seasons six and seven (1979 to 1981). Taylor made at least two film cameos in the early 1990s. In Back to the Future Part III, he appeared with veteran Western actors Pat Buttram and Harry Carey Jr.. His last appearance was in the film Maverick as a hotel room clerk.
Dub Taylor died of a heart attack on October 3, 1994 in Los Angeles. In addition to being father to Buck Taylor, Dub had a daughter, Faydean Taylor Tharp. CLR
Known for
Perry Mason
Stroller
Bonanza
Simon
Bonanza
Otto
Bonanza
Luke Calhoun
Bonanza
Barlow
Little House on the Prairie
The Andy Griffith Show
Billy Ray Talbot
The Andy Griffith Show
Preacher
The Andy Griffith Show
Ben Beecham
The Wild Wild West
Guard
Emergency!
Old Man
Emergency!
George
The Twilight Zone
Peters
The Cosby Show
Slim Claxton
Hawaii Five-O
Ray Tobias
Cheyenne
Hoyt
The Virginian
Walt Cooper
The Virginian
Runty Bojohn
The Big Valley
Doc Tully
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Yancie
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Harper - Auctioneer
Love, American Style
Love, American Style
Pa
Love, American Style
Grover
I Love Lucy
Rattlesnake Jones
Gunsmoke
Sonny Starr
Gunsmoke
Cook
Gunsmoke
Bartender
Gunsmoke
Farnum
Gunsmoke
Noah Riker
Gunsmoke
Rev. Finney Cox
The High Chaparral
Oscar Hipple
The High Chaparral
Fargo Smith
Burke's Law
Garnet
Hazel
Hazel
Mitch Brady
Lawman
Lawman
Chef's Assistant (uncredited)
Lawman
Bartender
The Monkees
The Odd Couple
Slim
Designing Women
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
Hogan
Back to the Future Part III
Saloon Old Timer
The Rescuers
Digger (voice)
That Girl
Dennis the Menace
Opie
Maverick
Room Clerk
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip
Man Tourist
Surfside 6
Laredo
Alias Smith and Jones
Parrish
Teet Howie
The Getaway
Laughlin
Carefree
(uncredited)
Riding High
Joe
Dragnet
Miller Starkie
The Partridge Family
Flicker
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Preacher
Lancer
Them!
Railroad Yard Watchman
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
George B. Glines
Tom Sawyer
Clayton
How the West Was Won
Moss
The Mod Squad
Junior Bonner
Del
Gator
Mayor T.L. Caffery
Silver Trails
Cannonball
Crime Wave
Gus Snider
The Reivers
Dr. Peabody
The Guns of Will Sonnett
The Guns of Will Sonnett
Henry Jackson
Riding Shotgun
Eddie (uncredited)
Courtin' Trouble
Cannonball
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Station Attendant
Major Dundee
Priam
Great Day
Doc
Cimarron Strip
Owley
The Wild Bunch
Reverend Wainscoat
How the West Was Won
Man (uncredited)
Bonnie and Clyde
Ivan Moss
Movin' On
Conagher
Used Cars
Tucker
Country Blue
J.J. 'Jumpy' Belk
Burnt Offerings
Walker
Sundown Valley
Cannonball Boggs
Evel Knievel
Turquoise Smith
Bandolero!
Attendant
1941
Mr. Malcomb
The Losers
Gregory
Beartooth
Cannonball Run II
Police Officer
Minesweeper
Seaman Stubby Gordon
A Man Called Horse
Joe
Mooncussers
Fire Tender
Death of a Gunfighter
Doc Adams
Range Renegades
Cannonball
Pocketful of Miracles
Man (uncredited)
26 Men
A Star Is Born
Norman's Driver (uncredited)
Johnny Banco
Spencer's Mountain
Percy Cook
Mr. Terrific
Preacher
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Reporter (uncredited)
The Hallelujah Trail
Clayton Howell
The Fastest Gun Alive
Nolan Brown (uncredited)
The Liberation of L.B. Jones
Mayor
The Cincinnati Kid
Dealer
A Hole in the Head
Fred
Don't Make Waves
Electrician
The Wild Country
Phil
A Tornado in the Saddle
Cannonball
Oklahoma Blues
Cannonball Taylor
Wild in the Sky
Officer Roddenberry
Tall Man Riding
Townsman (uncredited)
Soggy Bottom, U.S.A.
Cottonmouth Gorch
You Can't Take It with You
Ed Carmichael
The Shakiest Gun in the West
Pop Cushings
The Best of Times
Mac
The Fortune
Rattlesnake Tom
They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way
Gunner
Sweet Bird of Youth
Dan Hatcher
Lawless Code
Cannonball Taylor
Once Upon a Texas Train
Charlie Lee
The Vigilantes Ride
Cannonball Taylor
Home from the Hill
Bob Skaggs (uncredited)
Saddles and Sagebrush
Cannonball
The Bounty Hunter
Eli Danvers
The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin
Timekeeper
… tick… tick… tick…
Junior
Riders of the Northwest Mounted
Cannonball
Period of Adjustment
Drunk (uncredited)
Moonshine County Express
Uncle Bill
You Can't Run Away from It
Joe
Custer
The Winds of Autumn
Rattler S. Gravley
Please Don't Eat the Daisies
Ed Hewley
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
(archive footage)
The Westerner
Walt Smith
Man and Boy
Atkins
Support Your Local Gunfighter
Doc Schultz
No Time for Sergeants
Mr. McKinney
The Lloyd Bridges Show
Freddy
Creature from Black Lake
Grandpaw Bridges
The Monroes
The Money Jungle
Pete Jensen
Hearts of the West
Nevada Ticket Agent
Something for a Lonely Man
Sheriff
I Died a Thousand Times
Ed (uncredited)
The Learning Tree
Spikey
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Gimme Cap
Ride a Northbound Horse
Purse
Ensign O'Toole
Clerk
The Return of Wild Bill
Cannonball
The Lone Prairie
Cannonball
Cowboy in the Clouds
Cannonball
The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw
The Westerner's Friend
Treasure of Matecumbe
Sheriff Forbes
The Daughters of Joshua Cabe Return
Bitteroot
Auntie Mame
County Veterinarian (uncredited)
The Loner
Jim
The Great Smokey Roadblock
Harley Davidson
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
Josh
Wichita Town
The Son of Davy Crockett
Cannonball
Cyclone Prairie Rangers
Cannonball
Pioneers of the Frontier
Cannonball Simms
Brand of Fear
Cannonball
Kit Carson and the Mountain Men
Stableman
Casey Jones
Wallie Sims
Flash and the Firecat
Sheriff C.W. Thurston
Partners of the Sunset
Cannonball
Tanks a Million
Malloy
The Return of Daniel Boone
Cannonball
Hands Across the Rockies
Cannonball Taylor
The Beachcomber
Pete Dibley
The Wonderful World of Disney
Purse
The Wonderful World of Disney
Fire Tender
The Wonderful World of Disney
Cicero Everhart
The Rangers Ride
Cannonball Taylor
Across The Rio Grande
Cannonball Taylor
Cowboy from Lonesome River
Cannonball
The Delphi Bureau: The Merchant of Death Assignment
Old Timer
Beyond the Sacramento
Cannonball
Falling from Grace
Grandpa Parks
The Brian Keith Show
The Decorator
Taxi Driver
The Undefeated
McCartney
Across the Sierras
Cannonball
Shootout in a One-Dog Town
Halsey
Both Barrels Blazing
Cannonball
Temple Houston
Cliff Willard
The Man from Tumbleweeds
Cannonball
Pony Express Rider
Boomer Riley
Bret Maverick
Toothless Tim Teal
Death Valley Days
Rupert
One Man's Law
Nevady
Gun Law Justice
Cannonball
Rough Ridin' Justice
Cannonball
Poor Pretty Eddie
Justice of the Peace Floyd
This Is a Hijack
Sheriff Gordon
Honky Tonk
Hot Rod Gang
Landlord
Saddle Leather Law
Cannonball
Life with Buster Keaton
Brock's Last Case
Judge Robbins
Run, Joe, Run
Chopper One
Rudy
Menace on the Mountain
Cicero Everhart
Doc Hooker's Bunch
Dr. Isaiah Beauregard Hooker
King of Dodge City
Cannonball Taylor
Cowboy Cavalier
Cannonball
Frontier Gunlaw
Cannonball
Gun Runner
Cannonball Taylor (as 'Cannonball' Taylor)
Rustlers of the Badlands
Cannonball
Who Killed the Mysterious Mr. Foster?
Reed, the Lawyer
The Outlaws
L.D. Sloane
Black Gold
Doc
Taming of the West
Cannonball
North from the Lone Star
Cannonball
Blazing the Western Trail
Cannonball
Prairie Schooners
Cannonball
Roaring Westward
Cannonball
The Wildcat of Tucson
Cannonball
Cowboy Canteen
Cannonball
Wyoming Hurricane
Doc 'Canonball' Jones
Ridin' Down the Trail
Cannonball
Outlaws of the Rockies
Cannonball
Lawless Empire
Cannonball
Silver City Raiders
Cannonball
The Last Horseman
Cannonball
Sagebrush Heroes
Cannonball
Outlaw Brand
Cannonball
Texas Panhandle
Cannonball Taylor
Song of the Drifter
Cannonball
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
The Marshall of Trail City
Cannonball