Acting
Glenn Strange
Biography
At various times in his life a rancher, deputy sheriff and rodeo performer, this huge, towering (6' 5") beast of a man was born George Glenn Strange in Weed, New Mexico, on August 16, 1899, but grew up a real-life cowboy in Cross Cut, Texas. Of Irish and Cherokee Indian descent, he taught himself (by ear) the fiddle and guitar at a young age and started performing at local functions as a teen. In the late 1920s, Glenn and his cousin, Taylor McPeters, better known later as the western character actor Cactus Mack, joined a radio singing group known as the "Arizona Wranglers" that toured throughout the country. Gunsmoke Strange first appeared on Gunsmoke in 1960 after James Arness asked him, "When are you going to do a Gunsmoke? I like to work with big guys." During Gunsmoke's sixth season, Strange played a Long Branch customer in "Old Faces" and a cowboy in "Melinda Miles". Strange began playing Sam Noonan during the seventh season and continued in the role for 222 episodes. In 1972 Strange was diagnosed with lung cancer but worked as long as he was able. Five of his episodes were broadcast after his death. His last appearance was on the November 26, 1973, episode "The Hanging of Newly O'Brien". Death On September 20, 1973, at age 74, Strange died of lung cancer in Los Angeles, California. Singer Eddie Dean, with whom Strange had collaborated on various songs and opening themes for films, sang at Strange's funeral service as a final tribute. Strange is interred at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery. CLR
Movies with Glenn Strange
Red River
1948
Calamity Jane
1953
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
1957
Marty
1955
Last Train from Gun Hill
1959
The Fastest Gun Alive
1956
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein
1948
Cattle Queen of Montana
1954
The Lusty Men
1952
House of Dracula
1945
Sinbad the Sailor
1947
The Desperadoes
1943
Flash Gordon
1936
Dude Cowboy
1941
The Sea of Grass
1947
House of Frankenstein
1944
Lawless Range
1935
The Star Packer
1934
The Hurricane Express
1932
Alias Jesse James
1959
The Spoilers
1942
Escape from Fort Bravo
1953
Saratoga Trunk
1945
Alaska
1944
Dark Command
1940
The Lawless Breed
1952
Backlash
1956
The Mummy's Tomb
1942
Dracula in the Movies
1992
Mission to Moscow
1943
The Horror Show
1979
Wagons West
1952
Pioneer Days
1940
The Range Feud
1931
The Veils of Bagdad
1953
Last Stagecoach West
1957
Hollywood Wonderland
1947
Action in the North Atlantic
1943
Comanche Territory
1950
The Red Badge of Courage
1951
Ride Him, Cowboy
1932
Oklahoma Terror
1939
Comin' Round the Mountain
1951
Death Valley Rangers
1943
The Spy Ring
1938
The Road to Denver
1955
Teddy the Rough Rider
1940
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999
Badlands of Dakota
1941
Four Faces West
1948
Land Beyond the Law
1937
Bandit Ranger
1942
Harmony Trail
1944
The Mad Monster
1942
The Kansan
1943
Western Mail
1942
The Night Riders
1939
The Lone Ranger Rides Again
1939
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991
The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap
1947
State Police
1938
Call of the Rockies
1938
Westward Ho
1935
Sonora Stagecoach
1944
The Many Faces of Dracula
2000
The Fargo Kid
1940
The Black Raven
1943
The Halliday Brand
1957
Master Minds
1949
Sunset on the Desert
1942
Adventure's End
1937
The Gallant Legion
1948
Texas Carnival
1951
Rough Riders' Round-up
1939
Sunset Trail
1939
The Woman of the Town
1943
Rimfire
1949
Triple Justice
1940
Double Crossbones
1951
Forty Thieves
1944
The Fugitive Sheriff
1936
Valley Of Vengeance
1944
Arizona Trail
1943
Up Goes Maisie
1946
California Frontier
1938
Wagon Train
1940
Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld
1994
Riders of Death Valley
1941
Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991
The Great Sioux Uprising
1953
False Colors
1943
Wyoming
1940
The New Frontier
1935
Overland Mail
1939
Black Bandit
1938
Spaceship to the Unknown
1966
California Mail
1936
Billy the Kid Trapped
1942
The Kid's Last Ride
1941
Cyclone of the Saddle
1935
Avenging Waters
1936
Romance on the Range
1942
Knickerbocker Holiday
1944
Go West, Young Lady
1941
In Old Mexico
1938
Wild Horse
1931
Moonlight on the Prairie
1935
Rhythm of the Rio Grande
1940
Born to the Saddle
1953
Bad Men of the Border
1945
Cavalier of the West
1931
Stage to Chino
1940
Blazing Sixes
1937
The Legend Of The Lone Ranger
1952
Wide Open Town
1941
The Lone Rider and the Bandit
1942
Devil's Canyon
1953
Arizona Cyclone
1941
Western Cyclone
1943
Gun Packer
1938
Texas Trouble Shooters
1942
The Vanishing American
1955
Bullets and Saddles
1943
Arizona Days
1937
Raiders of the West
1942
Law of the Pampas
1939
Three Men from Texas
1940
Westward Ho-Hum
1941
The Bandit Trail
1941
Days of Jesse James
1939
The Sunday Round-Up
1936
Beyond the Line of Duty
1942
Trailin' West
1936
The Thrill Hunter
1933
Blue Montana Skies
1939
Callaway Went Thataway
1951
Arizona Legion
1939
San Francisco Docks
1940
The Man from Hell
1934
The Contender
1944
Billy the Kid Wanted
1941
Whirlwind Horseman
1938
The Fighting Gringo
1939
The Monster Maker
1944
Gunfire at Indian Gap
1957
Boot Hill Bandits
1942
Come on Danger
1942
San Antonio Kid
1944
The Adventures of the Spirit
1963
Guilty Trails
1938
Border Wolves
1938
Guns of the Pecos
1936
The Phantom Stage
1939
Saddlemates
1941
Cattle Stampede
1943
The Kid Rides Again
1943
Little Joe, the Wrangler
1942
A Tenderfoot Goes West
1936
Roll, Thunder, Roll!
1949
Billy The Kid's Round-Up
1941
Pride of the West
1938
The Law of 45's
1935
Quantrill's Raiders
1958
Honor of the West
1939
Disaster
1948
Silver City Kid
1944
Air Devils
1938
Black Market Rustlers
1943
The Mysterious Rider
1938
Six Shootin' Sheriff
1938
The Driftin' Kid
1941
The Cherokee Strip
1937
The Return of the Rangers
1943
Stagecoach Buckaroo
1942
Haunted Ranch
1943
The Devil's Saddle Legion
1937
The Painted Trail
1938
The Mexicali Kid
1938
Down Texas Way
1942
The Cowboy from Sundown
1940
Rolling Down the Great Divide
1942
Renegades of the Rio Grande
1945
Range War
1939
Empty Holsters
1937
Trail to Gunsight
1944
Across the Plains
1939
Wild Horse Stampede
1943
The Llano Kid
1939
The Last Stand
1938
Pals of the Silver Sage
1940
Lone Star Law Men
1941
Fugitive Valley
1941
Stormy
1935
Land of the Six Guns
1940
Ghost Town Riders
1938
Overland Stagecoach
1942
I Was a Teenage Movie Maker: Don Glut's Amateur Movies
2006
Covered Wagon Trails
1940
TV Shows with Glenn Strange
The Rifleman
1958
Rawhide
1959
Petticoat Junction
1963
Thriller
1960
Gunsmoke
1955
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
1955
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
The Lone Ranger
1949
Sugarfoot
1957
The Abbott and Costello Show
1952
Hopalong Cassidy
1952
The Adventures of Jim Bowie
1956
The Adventures of Kit Carson
1951
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
1955
26 Men
1957
Frontier Doctor
1958
Buffalo Bill Jr.
1955
Judge Roy Bean
1955
General Electric Theater
1953