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Alan Bridge

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Al Bridge
File:Al Bridge.jpg
Born
Alfred Morton Bridge

(1891-02-26)February 26, 1891
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
DiedDecember 27, 1957(1957-12-27) (aged 66)
Los Angeles, California, US
OccupationActor
Years active1905–1954
Spouse(s)Blanche Bridge
(m. 19??; 1945 [her death])

Al Bridge (February 26, 1891 – December 27, 1957) was an American character actor who played mostly small roles in over 270 films between 1931 and 1954. Bridge's persona was an unpleasant, gravel-voiced man with an untidy moustache. Sometimes credited as Alan Bridge, and frequently not credited onscreen at all, he appeared in many westerns, especially in the Hopalong Cassidy series, where he played crooked sheriffs and henchmen.

Life and career

Bridge and his sister, who would become the actress Loie Bridge,[1] were raised by their mother and stepfather, a Philadelphia butcher.[2] Bridge went into vaudeville with relatives when he was still a teenager[3] Bridge served in the American infantry during World War I.[4] Rejoining relatives in a theatrical troupe, Bridge toured the U.S. as an actor[5] and wrote a few scripts. He broke into movies with a pair of minor screenplays (the comedy short Her Hired Husband in 1930 and a Western, God's Country and the Man[6] (1931), in which he also appeared. He spent the next 25 years as a familiar face in B-Westerns and mainstream comedies and dramas. In the forties, Bridge was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in ten of the eleven American films that Sturges wrote and directed.[7] He is perhaps best remembered for his role as "The Mister", the chain-gang boss over Joel McCrea in Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels.[8]

Bridge's television work, which began in 1950 includes appearances on The Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show as well as other programs.

Bridge died in Los Angeles two months before his 67th birthday.

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ "Actress Loie Bridge Dies at 84," ''Los Angeles Times, March 10, 1974 https://www.newspapers.com/image/381501986/?article=8626c5ea-374e-4ffd-a008-59ccc61af1ed&focus=0.85379636,0.7683134,0.9760975,0.9714055&xid=3355&_ga=2.178929891.690596054.1604435973-1157292148.1569503008
  2. ^ 1910 U.S. Census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  3. ^ "Victor Faust as the 'Tramp' and Alan Bridge as 'Jimmie Scarecrow', The Dodge City Globe Dodge City, Kansas, Jan. 17, 1907, https://www.newspapers.com/image/339708240/?terms=%22Alfred%20Bridge%22&match=1
  4. ^ U.S. Veterans Administration grave marker, Valhalla Memorial Park, Burbank, California
  5. ^ 1920 U.S. Census, Kansas City, Missouri
  6. ^ aka "A Man's Country", "Rose of the Rio Grande" and "Trail of the Law"
  7. ^ Al Bridge appeared in Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Hail the Conquering Hero, The Great Moment, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, Unfaithfully Yours and The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend. He also appeared in I Married a Witch, which Sturges produced. He had earlier been in Diamond Jim, which Sturges wrote the screenplay for.
  8. ^ Erickson, Hal Biography (Allmovie)
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