Rand Brooks
Arlington Rand Brooks Jr. (September 21, 1918 – September 1, 2003) was an American film and television actor.
Brooks was born in Wright City, Missouri. He was the son of Arlington Rand Brooks, a farmer. His mother and he moved to Los Angeles when he was four, though he continued to spend summers in Wright City. Brooks continued to make visits to his hometown of Wright City into the 1950s, up to and following the death of his father in 1950. His mother and his grandfather were actors.
After leaving school, Brooks got a screen test at MGM and was given a bit part in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938). His big fame came with his part as Charles Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939), a role which he later admitted he despised; he wanted to play more macho parts. He made $100 per week under contract at MGM, but when he was on loan to Selznick International Pictures for Gone with the Wind, he made $500 per week.
After Gone With the Wind, he had relatively small parts in other movies including Babes in Arms, then a regular role as Lucky in the Hopalong Cassidy series of Westerns in the mid-1940s; Brooks succeeded Russell Hayden in the role. Among the films, which starred William Boyd as Hopalong, were Hoppy's Holiday, The Dead Don't Dream, and Borrowed Trouble. He received positive notice for his work in Fool's Gold, with Variety reporting that he did "an excellent job." In edited, half-hour versions of some of the films, he appeared in 12 of the 52 episodes of the Hopalong Cassidy television series.
In 1948, he co-starred with Adele Jergens and Marilyn Monroe in the low-budget, black-and-white Columbia Pictures film, Ladies of the Chorus. Brooks became the first actor to share an on-screen kiss with Monroe, who in a few years was one of the world's biggest movie stars. Filmed in just 10 days, the film was released soon after its completion. Variety called his performance in the 1952 film The Steel Fist "capable."
Television brought new opportunities, again often in Westerns. He played Cpl. Randy Boone in the 1950s television series, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. Brooks had guest roles in 1950s Western series, including Mackenzie's Raiders, The Lone Ranger, Maverick, Gunsmoke, and Bonanza. He appeared twice on the syndicated adventure series, Rescue 8, as well as on CBS's Perry Mason courtroom drama series.
In 1962, he directed and produced a movie about brave dogs, Bearheart, but the film was entangled in legal troubles due to his business manager's involvement in crimes such as forgery and graft. The film was finally released in 1978, under the title Legend of the Northwest.
After he left show business, Brooks ran a private ambulance company in Glendale, California. He commented that he "died in more pictures than almost anyone" and that though he was never very big in show business, he was willing to return to it. Brooks sold the ambulance company in 1994, and retired to his ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, where he bred champion Andalusian horses. He attended a Gone with the Wind reunion for Clark Gable's birthday, along with Ann Rutherford and Fred Crane, in Cadiz, Ohio, in 1992.
On September 1, 2003, Brooks died in Santa Ynez, California.
Known for
Columbo
Jerry - Wine Lab Assistant (uncredited)
Perry Mason
Trainer
Perry Mason
Ted Richert
Bonanza
Cowboy
Adam-12
Mr. Edwards
Adam-12
Bus Driver
Adam-12
Mr. Marshall
Maverick
Second at Duel (uncredited)
Maverick
Jack Blair
Lassie
Bulldozer Operator
Wagon Train
Thomas Pope
Petticoat Junction
Ernest Belden
My Three Sons
Frank Walker
My Three Sons
Ed Henson
The Virginian
Henry
Combat!
G.I. Lieutenant
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Banker Wilson
The Munsters
The Man
The Lone Ranger
Dick Larrabee
The Lone Ranger
Deputy Jim Tyler
The Lone Ranger
Marshal Roy Bell
The Lone Ranger
Private Phillips
The Lone Ranger
Private Jack Carey
The Lone Ranger
Al Sommers
The Lone Ranger
Express Rider
The Lone Ranger
Lieutenant Tipton
The Lone Ranger
Ben
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
Sheriff Del Mathey
Hawaiian Eye
Agent
Gunsmoke
Rand
Gunsmoke
Man
Bat Masterson
Willard Wynant
Peter Gunn
Silver Needle in the Sky
Ranger Andrews
M Squad
Purser
Gone with the Wind
Charles Hamilton
The Millionaire
Allan Carter
The Gene Autry Show
Jeff Elwood
The Gene Autry Show
Young Deputy
The Real McCoys
Mr. Foster
Tombstone Territory
Ed
Studio 57
Joan of Arc
Jean d'Arc, Joan's older brother
The Green Hornet
Conway
False Paradise
Lucky Jenkins
The Last Hurrah
Votes Tallyman (uncredited)
12 O'Clock High
Finance Officer
The Cisco Kid
Clint Riley
Lux Video Theatre
Uncle George
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Capt. Loomis
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Ed Chandler
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Bob Purdy
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Ben Webb
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Ob Wilkins
Borrowed Trouble
Lucky Jenkins
The Son of Monte Cristo
Hans Mirbach
Life with Henry
Daniel Gordon (uncredited)
Boston Blackie
Hutch
In Like Flint
Missle Control Officer (uncredited)
Tightrope
Young Man
Silent Conflict
Lucky Jenkins
The Adventures of Kit Carson
Sinister Journey
Lucky Jenkins
Lady Scarface
James 'Jimmy' Powell
The Steel Fist
Captain Giorg Nicholoff
Man from the Black Hills
Fake Jimmy Fallon
Crash of Moons
Andrews
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
Black Midnight
Daniel Jordan
City Detective
The Vanishing Westerner
Sanderson's First Victim
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
Cpl. Boone
The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin
Cpl. Boone (uncredited)
Dangerous Venture
Lucky Jenkins
Cowboy Serenade
Jim Agnew
Born to the Saddle
John Grant
Hoppy's Holiday
Lucky Jenkins
The Roy Rogers Show
The Great Morgan
Film Character (uncredited)
Lady in the Dark
Ben
The Gunman
Jud Calvert
The Maverick
Trooper Barnham
Stagecoach to Dancers' Rock
Quint Rucker
The Marauders
Lucky Jenkins
Love Finds Andy Hardy
Young Man on Bandstand (uncredited)
Riding High
Henry Early
Resisting Enemy Interrogation
Pilot
Northwest Passage
Eben Towne
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
The Sombrero Kid
Philip Martin
The Old Maid
Jim
Unexpected Guest
Lucky Jenkins
Florian
Victor
Yukon Manhunt
Len Kaufman
Waco
Al
The Wonderful World of Disney
Baseball Coach (uncredited)
Laddie
Peter Dover
Air Force
Co-Pilot (uncredited)
Jefferson Drum
Ray Comstock
The Girl from Avenue A
Steve
Fool's Gold
Lucky Jenkins
Dramatic School
Pasquel Jr.
Niagara Falls
Honeymooner
Strange Gamble
Lucky Jenkins
The Devil's Playground
Lucky Jenkins
Dancing Co-Ed
Steve (uncredited)
The Man Called X
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Bunco Squad
Robert (uncredited)
Ladies of the Chorus
Randy Carroll
The Wyoming Bandit
Jimmy Howard
Babes in Arms
Jeff Steele
Sundown in Santa Fe
Tom Wyatt
Thunder Afloat
Listener (uncredited)
And One Was Beautiful
Joe Havens
Fingers at the Window
Young Reporter (uncredited)
The Challenge of Rin Tin Tin
Comanche Station
Station Man
Heart of the Rockies
Jim Corley
The Sex Symbol
Edward Kelly (voice)
Andy Hardy's Dilemma: A Lesson in Mathematics... and Other Things
Mechanic (uncredited)
Balalaika
Crying Soldier (uncredited)
The Dead Don't Dream
Lucky Jenkins
Rin-Tin-Tin: Hero of the West
Cpl. Boone
Kilroy Was Here
Rodney Meadows
Behind Southern Lines
Captain Loomis
Stump Run
High Explosive
Jimmy Baker
Ditch and Live
T / Sgt. Ryan
Montana Incident
Dave Connors