Dick Curtis

Dick Curtis
Curtis in Lady in the Death House (1944)
Born
Richard Dye

(1902-05-11)May 11, 1902
Newport, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedJanuary 3, 1952(1952-01-03) (aged 49)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place
Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California
Years active1919–1952
Spouse
Ruth Sullivan
​
​
(m. 1925)​
ChildrenJohn (1929-2004)
Phyllis (1936-1961)

Dick Curtis (born Richard Dye, May 11, 1902 – January 3, 1952), was an American actor who made over 230 film and television appearances during his career.

Early years

Curtis was born in Newport, Kentucky, the son of Frank Dye and Elizabeth Faulkner Dye.

Career

After having limited work in Hollywood, Curtis acted on stage in New York and toured in a variety of productions from 1926 to 1930. He signed with the RKO studio, where he played incidental roles through 1935. His most familiar RKO credits are King Kong (in which Curtis is visible as a crew member aboard ship) and the Wheeler and Woolsey comedy The Nitwits (as a policeman).

After RKO released him, Curtis found work with low-budget, independent companies. Cowboy superstar Tom Mix made his only serial in 1935, The Miracle Rider, and Curtis was one of many character players in the supporting cast. This established the 6-foot, 3-inch actor in movie westerns.

Columbia Pictures

In 1937 Curtis was hired by Columbia Pictures to play villains in its popular Charles Starrett westerns. Starrett and Curtis worked together so often, in so many features, that Starrett referred to their string of films as "the never-ending fight." Indeed, authors Richard Griffith and Arthur Mayer, in their 1957 book The Movies, paid tribute to Starrett and Curtis in a photo essay called "The Never-Ending Fight." Curtis usually wore a pencil mustache in westerns, and retained the makeup for other character roles.

Members of Columbia's stock company of actors were called upon to play in any kind of movie. Thus, in addition to his many Columbia westerns, Dick Curtis can be seen in Columbia's major feature films (You Can't Take It with You), inexpensive "B" features (Blondie, The Man They Could Not Hang), serials (The Spider's Web, Batman), and two-reel comedies (with The Three Stooges, Charley Chase, Andy Clyde, Smith and Dale, and Hugh Herbert).

Curtis almost always played villains -- straight or comic -- but he did have occasional character parts. Perhaps his most benign role was in the 1943 serial The Phantom, where he played a sympathetic jungle chieftain.

Pioneertown

With the help of his friend and actor Russell Hayden, Curtis helped develop Pioneertown, a western movie-set location in Southern California that was used for many television and film westerns. The project was done in partnership with Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers.

Television

Curtis, being a regular in westerns, was an early arrival in television production. He made appearances on The Lone Ranger, The Range Rider, The Gene Autry Show, and many others. He might have gone farther in the new field but his video career was short, owing to declining health.

Final works

Curtis remained active in theatrical motion pictures into the early 1950s. By this time he abandoned his graying mustache for a clean-shaven look (as in the 1951 serial Government Agents vs. Phantom Legion).

Personal life

Curtis was married to silent-film actress Ruth Sullivan, who survived him.

Death

Dick Curtis died at age 49 of pneumonia, brought on by lung cancer, on January 3, 1952. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Selected filmography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Tenkotte, Paul A.; Claypool, James C. (2015). The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky. University Press of Kentucky. p. 253. ISBN 978-0-8131-5996-6. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  2. ↑ Mayer, Geoff (2017). Encyclopedia of American Film Serials. McFarland. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-7864-7762-3. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  3. ↑ Griffith, Richard and Mayer, Arthur. The Movies, Simon and Schuster, 1957, p. 102.
  4. ↑ "The Story Behind Historic Pioneertown Western Movie Location". January 4, 2020.

Further reading