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Revision as of 13:38, 20 March 2007
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Dub Taylor (February 26, 1907 - October 3, 1994) was a prolific American character actor who worked extensively in Westerns.
Taylor was born Walter Clarence Taylor III in Richmond, Virginia, in 1907. His name was usually shortened to "W" by his friends, and "Dub" was derived from that. His family moved to Augusta, Georgia, when he was five years old and lived in that city until he was thirteen. During that time he befriended Ty Cobb's son and namesake, Ty Cobb, Jr.[1]
A vaudeville performer, Taylor made his film debut in 1938, playing cheerful ex-football captain Ed Carmichael in Frank Capra's You Can't Take It With You. The following year, Taylor appeared in The Taming of the West, in which he originated the character of "Cannonball," a role he continued to play for the next ten years, in over fifty films. "Cannonball" was a comic sidekick to "Wild Bill" Saunders (played by Bill Elliott), a pairing that continued through 13 features, during which Elliott’s character became Wild Bill Hickok. During this period, a productive relationship with Tex Ritter as Elliott's co-hero began with King of Dodge City (1941). That partnership lasted through ten films, but Taylor left after the first one, carrying his "Cannonball" character over to a new series with Russell "Lucky" Hayden. ("Wild Bill" brought in Frank Mitchell to play a very different character, also named "Cannonball," in the remainder of his shows with Tex Ritter.) Taylor moved again to a series of films starring Charles Starrett, who eventually became "The Durango Kid", once again, playing his sidekick, "Cannonball". These films had been produced at Columbia, Capra's studio, and had a certain quality of production that seemed to be lacking at the Monogram lot, where Taylor brought his "Cannonball" character in 1947. There he joined up with Jimmy Wakely for a concluding run of 16 films (in two years). These final episodes may have been unpleasant experiences for Taylor, as he never wanted to talk about them thereafter. After 1949, Taylor turned away from "Cannonball," and went on to a busy and varied career, but for many growing up in this period, this character is the one they call to mind when they remember Dub Taylor.
His acting roles, even during his "Cannonball" period, were not confined to these films. He had bit parts in a number of classic films, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), A Star Is Born (the 1954 version), and Them! (1954), along with dozens of television roles. He joined Sam Peckinpah's famous stock company in 1965's Major Dundee as a professional horse thief, and appeared subsequently in that director's The Wild Bunch (1969), as a prohibitionist minister who gets his flock shot up by the title outlaws in the film's infamous opening scene, Junior Bonner (1972), The Getaway (1972), and Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid (1973), as an aging, eccentric outlaw friend of Billy's.
Despite his extensive career as a character actor in a wide array of varying roles, Taylor's niche seemed to be in Westerns, having appeared in dozens of them over his career.
He is probably best remembered for his trademark bowler hat, which he wore in most of his appearances. He was also known for his wild gray hair, an unshaven bristly face, squinty eyes, and his raspy voice and cackle. He put that voice to use, alongside fellow Western veterans like Jeanette Nolan and Pat Buttram, in the Disney animated feature The Rescuers, as Digger the mole.
Taylor later appeared playing a cartoonish villain in a series of Western-themed "Hubba Bubba" bubble gum commercials in the early 1980s.
Arguably, his most memorable role was playing the father of Michael J. Pollard's C.W. Moss in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). He continued a prolific career as a character and bit actor until his death of heart failure in October 1994. His last appearance was in the movie Maverick.
His son, Buck Taylor is also an actor.
In early 2006, filmmaker Mark Stokes began directing a feature length documentary on the life of Dub Taylor, "That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor,"[2] which has received support from the Taylor Family and many of Dub's previous co-workers, including Bill Cosby, Peter Fonda, Dixie Carter, Don Collier, Cheryl Rogers-Barnett, as well as many others. The project is scheduled to have it's World Premiere at Taylor's Childhood Hometown of Augusta on April 14, 2007. The project is from Executive Producers Stokes and James Kicklighter from JamesWorks Entertainment and Professor Pauper Productions.
References
- ^ "Dub Taylor: Movie and TV Star". The Augusta Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-02-06.
- ^ "That Guy: The Legacy of Dub Taylor". Retrieved 2007-02-06.