Russell Simpson
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Russell McCaskill Simpson (June 17, 1880, Danville, California – December 12, 1959, Woodland Hills, California) was an American character actor who appeared in over 500 movies. He is best known for his "grizzled old man" appearances. Gaunt, lanky, and rustic-sounding, Simpson was a familiar character actor for almost forty-five years, particularly as a member of the John Ford Stock Company.
At age 18 Simpson prospected for gold in Alaska. He began taking acting classes in Seattle, Washington. In 1910 he married Gertrude Alter from New York City.
By 1909, he had gone into the theatre. He appeared in at least two plays on Broadway between 1909 and 1912, and made his motion picture debut in Cecil B. DeMille's 1914 original film version of The Virginian in a bit part. By 1923, when the film was remade, Simpson had progressed to playing the lead villain.
Throughout his career, Simpson worked for 12 years in road shows, stock companies, and on Broadway. He didn't usually perform lead roles, but he did star in many movies throughout the silent movie era. He performed a lead role as the grandfather in Out of the Dust (1920).
Simpson is best known for his work in the films of John Ford and, in particular, for his portrayal of Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). His final film was The Horse Soldiers, his tenth film for Ford. Simpson worked up to 1959, the year of his death.
He was the president of the Overseas Phonograph Accessories Corporation.
Known for
Wagon Train
Mr. Carr
The Lone Ranger
Jack Brewster
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Old Man
The Texan
Zeb Waters
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Sam
Public Defender
Lundquist
Cavalcade of America
Quatermaster
Cavalcade of America
Cavalcade of America
Judge Grant
Faint Perfume
Grandpa Crumb
Brigham Young
U.S. Army Major
Painted People
Fred Lane
Tap Roots
Big Sam Dabney
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
Snowblind
Hugh Garth
Bad Bascomb
Elijah Walker
My Darling Clementine
John Simpson
Death Valley
Old Silas Bagley
Tuna Clipper
Capt. Fergus MacLennan
Carolina
Richards
Blue Jeans
Jacob Tutwiler
Geronimo
Scout
Parnell
Dead Child's Father
Flames
Jake
They Were Expendable
'Dad' Knowland
The Tall Men
Emigrant (uncredited)
General Electric Theater
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Kenneth Allen (uncredited)
Along Came Jones
Pop de Longpre
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Fred Bixby
The Brand
Dan McGill
Young Mr. Lincoln
Woolridge (uncredited)
Call Her Savage
Old Man in Wagon Train
The Grapes of Wrath
Pa Joad
The Horse Soldiers
Henry Goodbody
Breakers Ahead
Captain Scudder
Oklahoma!
The Minister (uncredited)
The Border Legion
Overland Bradley
Friendly Persuasion
Brother Griffith - Elder (uncredited)
Joan of Arc
Old Man with Pipe (uncredited)
Broken Lance
Judge (uncredited)
Dodge City
Orth
Tall in the Saddle
Pat Foster (uncredited)
Hello Trouble
Jonathan Kenyon
Lovely Mary
Peter Nelson
Wagon Master
Adam Perkins
The Tin Star
Clem Hall
Santa Fe Trail
Shubel Morgan
West of the Pecos
Roy Neal
Saddle Tramp
Pop
Shut My Big Mouth
Mayor Potter
Meet John Doe
(uncredited)
San Francisco
'Red' Kelly
Drums Along the Mohawk
Dr. Petry
Law and Order
Judge R.W. Williams
The Gal Who Took the West
Bartender (as old Timer)
Way Down East
Squire Amasa Bartlett
Free For All
Farmer
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln's Employer
Comin' Round the Mountain
Judge
Tobacco Road
Chief of Police
Bad Men of Missouri
Hank Younger
Lahoma
'Brick' Willock
Valley of the Giants
McKenzie
Lone Star
Maynard Cole
The Spoilers
Flapjack
Coroner Creek
Walt Hardison
The Sun Shines Bright
Lewt Lake
The Eagle
The Eagle's Lieutenant / Coach Driver (uncredited)
Nazi Agent
2nd Captain (uncredited)
My Dog Shep
Mathew Hodgkins
Virginia City
Gaylord
Sixteen Fathoms Deep
A.B. Crockett
The Outriders
Farmer (uncredited)
Tennessee Johnson
Kirby
Swamp Water
Marty McCord
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
Dan Yeary
The Last Command
The Parson
Defying Destiny
Mr. Wilkens
The Cabin in the Cotton
Uncle Joe
Wyoming
Mr. Bronson
Feudin' Fools
Grandpa Smith
The Brass Legend
Deputy 'Pop' Jackson
Wild Bill Hickok Rides
Ned Nolan
Heart of the North
Dave MacMillan
The Lonely Man
Silver Dollar
Hamlin
Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise)
Doctor
The Woman of the Town
Sime
Albuquerque
Abner Huggins
Gold Is Where You Find It
MacKenzie
Three Faces West
Minister
Maid of Salem
Village Marshal (Uncredited)
Girl of the Ozarks
Bascomb Rogers
Desert Gold
Ladd
A Boy and His Dog
Mr. Thornycroft
Alexander Hamilton
Harvey Taylor - First Ex-Soldier
The Famous Ferguson Case
Banker Craig
Man to Man
Uncle Cal
The World Moves On
Notary (1825)
Roughly Speaking
The Colonel - Drill Instructor (uncredited)
Desire
Patrick Ryan
Paradise Isle
Baxter
Ramona
Scroggs
Mountain Justice
Matthew Turnbull
Wild Geese Calling
Marshal Len Baker
The Girl of the Golden West
Fred - Outrider in Prologue
After the Fog
Joshua Barker
Texas Masquerade
J.K. Trimble
The Untamed Breed
Minister
Innocents of Paris
Emile Leval
The Honor of the Press
Dan Perkins
Citadel of Crime
Jess Meekins
The Big Bonanza
Adam Parker
Why Women Love
Silas Martin
Man Hunt
Jeff Parkington
The Great Meadow
Thomas Hall
Billy the Kid
Angus McSween
Face in the Sky
Pa Nathan Brown
The Lone Star Ranger
Colonel John Aldridge
The Hoosier Schoolmaster
Doc Small
Colt Comrades
Sheriff
The Power and the Glory
Professor (uncredited)
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
Clem Johnson
The Deadlier Sex
Jim Willis
The Fabulous Texan
Wade Clayton
Back to Nature
Sheriff
Western Caravans
Winchester Thompson
Old Shoes
The First Auto
Hank Armstrong
Sundown in Santa Fe
Sheriff Jim Wyatt
Border Patrol
Orestes Krebs
Meet Me at the Fair
Sheriff Evans
My Lady's Past
Last of the Duanes
Tom Duane
Green Light
Sheep Man
Desperate Trails
Sheriff Big Bill Tanner
Rags to Riches
The Sheriff
Frontier Marshal
Editor Pickett
Motive for Revenge
McAllister
The Narrow Street
Garvey
Riding High
Frenchy McGuire
The Bill of Rights
Frontiersman
The Virginian
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
The Ghost of Crossbone Canyon
Sam Stanton
The Harvester
Abner Prewett
Bowery Buckaroos
Luke Barlow
Circus Days
Eben Holt
Paddy O'Day
Benton
Wild Geese
Caleb Gare
Moonlight in Vermont
Uncle Rufus
Yodelin' Kid from Pine Ridge
Bayliss Baynum
Fighting Cressy
Hiram McKinstry
Wild West Days
Matt Keeler
Call of the Klondike
Andy McKay
The Virginian
Trampas
Peg o' My Heart
Jim O'Connell
Roaring Guns
Farmer MacKenzie
Annie Laurie
Sandy
Under the Lash
Simeon Krillet
Bunty Pulls the Strings
Tammas Biggar
Now We're in the Air
Lord Abercrombie McTavish
Lone Star Ranger
Tom Duane
Lovey Mary
Stubbins
The Splendid Road
Capt. Lightfoot
Thunder Mountain
Si Pace
The Frontiersman
Andrew Jackson
The Earth Woman
Ezra Tilden
California Gold Rush
Colonel Parker
Ridin' for Justice
Marshal Joseph Slyde
Across the Dead-Line
Enoch Kidder
Tropical Nights
Singapore Joe
The Sap
The Banker
The Kingdom Within
Caleb Deming
Bill Apperson's Boy
Bill Apperson
The Bushranger
Sir Eric
That I May Live
Bish Plivens
All Faces West
Gunner Bill
Beauty and the Bad Man
Chuckwalla Bill
The Challenge Accepted
Uncle Zeke Sawyer
Ever Since Eve
Jim Wood
Three on a Honeymoon
Ezra MacDuff
The Huntress
Big Jack Skinner
The Riding Tornado
Sheriff
Human Hearts
Paul Logan
The Heart of the Yukon
'Cash' Cynon
The Re-Creation of Brian Kent
Jap Taylor
Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles
Speaker
Godless Men
'Black' Pawl
The Uphill Path
James Lawton
The Old Homestead
Sheriff
Lena Rivers
Grandfather Nichols
Radio Scout
Pappy Tolliver
A Weaver of Dreams
Martin Chandler
Paint and Powder
Riley
Rustlin' for Cupid
Hank Blatchford
Hearts Aflame
Black Joe
The Branding Iron
John Carver
The Girl of the Golden West
Jack Rance
Riders of the Night
Sally's Grandfather
The Barrier
John Gaylord / John Tale
Oh, Johnny!
Adele's Father
Ship of Souls
Angus Garth
The Blue Bandanna
Jim Yancy