Monte Blue
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Monte Blue (January 11, 1887 – February 18, 1963) was a movie actor who began his career as a romantic leading man in the silent film era, and later progressed to character roles.
Blue was born as Gerard Montgomery Bluefeather in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father was half French, half Cherokee Indian. One of five children, his father died and his mother could not raise five children alone. Along with another brother, they both admitted to the Indiana Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's Home. This did not stop him working his way through to Purdue University.
When growing up, Blue built up his physique to become a football player (he grew to six feet three inches tall). He not only played football, but he was also a fireman, railroad worker, coal miner, cowpuncher, ranch hand, circus rider, lumberjack, and finally, a day laborer at the studios of D. W. Griffith.
He had no theatrical experience when he came to the screen. In his first movie, The Birth of a Nation (1915), he was a stuntman and an extra in the movie. In his next movie, he starred in another small part in the movie, Intolerance (1916). Gradually moving to supporting roles for both D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille, Blue earned his breakthrough role as Danton in Orphans of the Storm, starring sisters, Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish. Then he rose to stardom as a rugged romantic lead along with top leading actresses such as Clara Bow, Gloria Swanson, and Norma Shearer. His most prolific female screen partner was Marie Prevost with whom he made several films in the mid 20s at Warner Brothers. Blue's finest silent screen performance was as the alcoholic doctor who finds paradise in MGM's White Shadows in the South Seas (1928). Blue became one of the few silent stars to survive the talkie revolution. However, he lost his investments in the stock market crash of 1929.
He rebuilt his career as a character actor, working until his retirement in 1954. One of his more memorable roles was the sheriff in Key Largo. He divorced his first wife in 1923 and married Tova Jansen in 1924. He had two children, Barbara Ann and Richard Monte. During the later part of his life, Monte Blue was an active Mason and the advance man for the Hamid-Morton Shrine Circus; while on business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he had a heart attack because of complications from influenza, dying at age 76.
Monte Blue has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6286 Hollywood Blvd.
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Known for
Rawhide
The Lone Ranger
Sheriff Stanton
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
The Strike Leader
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
Hamzulla Khan
This Is Your Life
Self
The Time, The Place and The Girl
Stage Manager (uncredited)
The Birth of a Nation
(uncredited)
The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Mr. Cameron
A Million to One
John Kent Sr.
Casablanca
American (uncredited)
Across the Atlantic
Hugh Clayton
The Big Broadcast of 1938
Passenger (uncredited)
The Texas Rangers Ride Again
Pablo Slide Along
From Headquarters
Happy Smith
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
Student Tour
Jeff Kane
Across the Pacific
Dan Morton
Johanna Enlists
Pvt. Vibbard
The Horn Blows at Midnight
The Chef (uncredited)
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
How to Educate a Wife
Ernest Todd
The Matrimaniac
Assistant Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Life in Hollywood No. 4
Mr. & Mrs. North
Life with Father
The Policeman
The Jucklins
Bill Hawes
Loving Lies
Captain Dan stover
The Remarkable Andrew
Policeman
The Stoker
Dick Martin
Why We Fight: Divide and Conquer
Bit Role
26 Men
Sharad of Atlantis
Unga Khan
Till I Come Back to You
American Doughboy
Peacock Alley
Elmer Harmon
Skin Deep
Joe Daley
The Fountainhead
Gas Station Executive (uncredited)
The Mask of Dimitrios
Abdul Dhris
Apache
Geronimo
Mission to Moscow
Heckler (uncredited)
Revelation
Paul Granville
Dodge City
Barlow
Frontier Days
Ned-U.S. Marshal
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
Ghosts
Bohemian
San Antonio
Cleve Andrews
The Man from Painted Post
Slim Carter
Main Street
Dr. Will Kennicott
Road to Singapore
High Priest (uncredited)
Brass Knuckles
Zac Harrison
Danger Signal
Policeman in Car
Brass
Philip Baldwin
Desert Gold
Chetley 'Chet' Kasedon
Nevada
Clem Dillon
The Great Man's Lady
Man #2, Hoyt City
Days of Jesse James
Train Passenger
Flaxy Martin
Joe, Detective
Juarez
Lerdo de Tajada
Gentleman Jim
Gambler in "Lucky Guy"
Scattergood Pulls the Strings
Ben Mott
Stallion Road
Horse Rancher (uncredited)
Backfire
Det. Sgt. Pluther (uncredited)
White Shadows in the South Seas
Dr. Matthew Lloyd
Road to Morocco
Kasim's Aide (uncredited)
Warpath
First Emigrant
Colorado Territory
U.S. Marshal (uncredited)
Hands Up
Johnny Belinda
Ben (uncredited)
Silver River
'Buck' Chevigee
Rebellious Daughters
Charlie, alias Clint Houston
Officer Thirteen
Tom Burke
Truck Busters
Scrappy O'Brien
Broadway Rose
Tom Darcy
'G' Men
Fingerprint Expert
Northern Pursuit
Jean
The Unfaithful
Businessman with Hunter
Adventures of the Texas Kid: Border Ambush
Sheriff
The Great Train Robbery
The Super
The Devil's Needle
Bartender (uncredited)
Something to Think About
Jim Dirk
Rootin' Tootin' Rhythm
Joe Stafford
Pacific Blackout
Colonel
So You Want to Hold Your Husband
Rice - Curry's Partner
Action in the North Atlantic
Seaman (uncredited)
Bitter Apples
John Wyncote
The Intruder
John Brandt
Cinderella Jones
Jailer
Sky Racket
Benjamin Arnold
Souls at Sea
Mate
Lucretia Lombard
Stephen Winship
Being Respectable
Charles Carpenter
Cheyenne
Timberline
Key Largo
Sheriff Ben Wade
Kiss Me Again
Gaston Fleury
I Married a Witch
Doorman (uncredited)
Secret Agent X-9
Baron Michael Karsten
Possessed
Norris
Geronimo
Interpreter
The Show of Shows
Condemned Man (segment "Rifle Execution") (uncredited)
This Side of the Law
The Sheriff
The Last Round-up
Jack Kells
The Test
Pepite La Joie
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Indian Jim
The Black Diamond Express
Dan Foster
The Limited Mail
Bob Wilson / Bob Snobson
Born to the West
Bart Hammond
Riders of the Night
'The Killer' Jed
Betsy's Burglar
Victor Gilpin
Adventures of Don Juan
Turnkey (uncredited)
Two Guys from Milwaukee
Broadcast Director (uncredited)
So This Is Paris
Dr. Paul Giraud
Come On, Marines!
Lt. Allen
South of St. Louis
Capt. Jeffrey
The Last Posse
Uncle Will
Trial by Trigger
Brewster (uncredited)
The Lover of Camille
Jean Gaspard Deburau
Recompense
Peter Graham
The Sea Hornet
Lt. Drake
The Only Road
Pedro Lupo
King of Alcatraz
Officer
The Man I Love
Cop (uncredited)
The Iroquois Trail
Chief Sagamore
The Younger Brothers
Deputy Joe
Young Bill Hickok
Marshal Evans
Two Guys from Texas
Pete Nash
Never Say Goodbye
Policeman (uncredited)
Buffalo Stampede
Smiley
King of the Texas Rangers
Capt. Tom King Sr.
The Romance of Tarzan
Juan
Trail of the Arrow
(archive footage)
The Squaw Man
Happy
Snake River Desperadoes
Jim Haverly
Union Pacific
Indian (uncredited)
Martyrs of the Alamo
Defender of the Alamo
North West Mounted Police
Indian
Bells of San Fernando
Governor Don Sebastian Fernando
Orphans of the Storm
Danton
Wanderer of the Wasteland
Guerd Larey
Hands Up!
Dan Tracy
Frontier Pony Express
Cherokee
Conquest
Donald Overton
Touchdown, Army
Pilot (uncredited)
Our Leading Citizen
Frank
Isle of Escape
Dave Wade
The Big Wheel
Deacon Jones
One-Round Hogan
Robert Emmet Hogan
New York Town
McAuliffe (uncredited)
Law of the Timber
Hodge Mason
Hawk of the Wilderness
Yellow Weasel
The Hidden Hand
Matthews, the undertaker (uncredited)
Those Who Dance
Dan Hogan
Tom Sawyer, Detective
Sheriff Walker
Too Much Johnson
Billy Lounsberry
The Purple Highway
Edgar Prentice, aka Edgar Craig
Port of Hate
Hammond
Ride, Vaquero!
Bartender (uncredited)
Edge of Darkness
Jens Petersen
Rose of Cimarron
Lone Eagle
Told in the Hills
Kalitan
Ranger of Cherokee Strip
Chief Hunter
Romance and Arabella
Harry Atteridge
The 13th Commandment
Humoresque
Moving Man (uncredited)
Mystery Sea Raider
Captain Norberg
My Favorite Blonde
Policeman at Union Hall (uncredited)
The Vagabond Prince
Peasant
Her Marriage Vow
Bob Hilton
The Man Upstairs
Geoffrey West
Ride, Ranger, Ride
Duval, aka Chief Tavibo
Shadow of a Woman
Mike, Police Lieutenant
Wild and Woolly
One of Wild Bill's Men (Uncredited)
Sunset in Wyoming
Jim Hayes
Treachery Rides the Range
Colonel Drummond
The Goddess of Lost Lake
(uncredited)
Daughters of Pleasure
Kent Merrill
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Bartender in Errol Flynn Number (uncredited)
Riders of Death Valley
Rance Davis
The Marriage Circle
Dr. Franz Braun
Hangman's Knot
Maxwell
The Greyhound Limited
Monte
Defying Destiny
Jack Fenton
Hogan's Alley
Lefty O'Brien
So You Want to Play the Horses
The Colonel (uncredited)
A Perfect Crime
Wally Griggs
Trails of the Wild
RCMP Larry Doyle
North to the Klondike
John Burke
Mary of Scotland
Messenger
Illegal Traffic
Captain Moran
Wagon Wheels
Kenneth Murdock
The Hard Way
Man in Audience (Uncredited)
Her Forgotten Past
Donald Thorne
Amateur Crook
Crone
A Cumberland Romance
Sherd Raines
The Affairs of Anatol
Abner Elliott
Secret Enemies
Hugo Mehl
Homicide
George, Sheriff
The Mysterious Rider
Cap Folsom
Moonlight and Honeysuckle
Ted Musgrove
Klondike Fury
Flight Dispatcher
Red Hot Tires
Al Jones
Tiger Rose
Devlin
Gold Raiders
John Sawyer
Across the Pacific
Monte
Song of the Gringo
Sheriff
Bad Man of Deadwood
Sheriff Jordan
M'Liss
Mexican Joe Dominguez
My Old Kentucky Home
Richard Goodloe
Cocoanut Grove
Undetermined Role
Mademoiselle Midnight
Owen Burke / Jerry Brent
Prison Shadows
Bert McNamee
On Probation
Al Murray
Social Error
Dean Carter
Pettigrew's Girl
Pvt. William Pettigrew
The Blonde Bandit
Police Chief Ramsey
Everywoman
Love
A Broken Doll
Tommy Dawes
The Microscope Mystery
Jud
Wolf's Clothing
Barry Baline
The Bush Leaguer
Buchanan 'Specs' White
100% American
Mayme's Army boyfriend
No Defense
Monte Collins
Jim Bludso
Joe Bowers
Three Desperate Men
Marshal Pete Coleman
The Dark Swan
Lewis Dike
The Brute
Martin 'Easy-Going' Sondes
Other Women's Husbands
Dick Lambert
The Noon Hour
Ada's Brother
The Kentuckians
Boone Stallard