Acting
Max Wagner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Max Wagner (November 28, 1901 – November 16, 1975) was a Mexican-born American film actor who specialized in playing small parts such as thugs, gangsters, sailors, henchmen, bodyguards, cab drivers and moving men, appearing more than 400 films in his career, most without receiving screen credit. Newspaper gossip columnists noted his rise from playing "Gangster #4", with no lines, and not carrying a gun, to "Gangster #2", with both lines and a gun. Wagner was one of five children, all boys, of William Wallace Wagner, a railroad conductor, and Edith Wagner, a writer who provided dispatches for the Christian Science Monitor during the Mexican Revolution. When he was 10 years old, his father was killed by rebels and the family moved to Salinas, California, where he met John Steinbeck, who became a lifelong friend. Steinback based the character of the boy in his novel The Red Pony on Wagner. Under the name "Max Baron", Wagner acted in many Spanish-language versions of English-language films, which studios made as a matter of course in the early days of sound films, He also served as a Spanish language coach for other actors, and appeared in many of the "Mexican Spitfire" films starring Lupe Vélez, where he also served to monitor Velez's Spanish ad-libs for profanity. Other series that Wagner appeared in include the Charlie Chan films, and Tom Mix serials, as well as others made by Mascot Pictures Corporation. In the 1940s, Wagner was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in six films written and directed by Sturges, beginning with The Palm Beach Story In 1940 during the filming of "The Mad Doctor", Wagner was credited for driving 50,000 miles as an on-screen taxi driver on the studio back lots of Hollywood. Since his appearance as a cab driver in Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935), producers often cast him as a wise-cracking or henchman taxi driver. "I was cast as a taxi driver about five years ago", Wagner told a reporter. "And I was typed." In 1952, Wagner began to appear on television, in episodes of such shows as The Cisco Kid, Zane Grey Theater and Perry Mason, playing much the same kind of parts he played in the movies. He was a regular cast member on the western television series Gunsmoke, making nearly 80 appearances between 1959 and 1973. He also appeared in many episodes of The Rifleman, Bonanza, Cimarron Strip, The Wild Wild West and Maverick, including a guest-starring role in the 1959 Rifleman episode "Blood Brother." He also had roles in the original Star Trek and The Twilight Zone series. He appeared in more than 200 television episodes between 1952 and 1974. Notable film roles for Wagner include a supporting role in the cult science fiction classic Invaders from Mars (1953), an actor playing a gangster in the film-within-a-film segment of Bullets or Ballots (1936), and the bull farm attendant in the Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bullfighters (1945). Late in his career, he appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). He also occasionally composed music, such as the Mexican folk ballad "Pedro, Rudarte y Simon" in the Western film The Last Trail (1933). Wagner died of a heart attack in Hollywood in 1975.
Filmography
Young Frankenstein
Film · 1974
Terror in the Wax Museum
Film · 1973
Evil Roy Slade
Film · 1972
Support Your Local Gunfighter
Film · 1971
Columbo
Series · 1971
The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
Film · 1970
The Cheyenne Social Club
Film · 1970
True Grit
Film · 1969
Rosemary's Baby
Film · 1968
Hang 'em High
Film · 1968
The Legend of Lylah Clare
Film · 1968
Return of the Gunfighter
Film · 1967
Gunpoint
Film · 1966
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
Film · 1966
The Great Race
Film · 1965
Shenandoah
Film · 1965
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Film · 1963
4 for Texas
Film · 1963
Pressure Point
Film · 1962
To Kill a Mockingbird
Film · 1962
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Film · 1962
Ice Palace
Film · 1960
Sunrise at Campobello
Film · 1960
The Andy Griffith Show
Series · 1960
The Twilight Zone
Series · 1959
Bonanza
Series · 1959
Bonanza
Series · 1959
The Rifleman
Series · 1958
Robbery Under Arms
Film · 1957
The Spirit of St. Louis
Film · 1957
Public Pigeon No. 1
Film · 1957
The Conqueror
Film · 1956
I Died a Thousand Times
Film · 1955
Illegal
Film · 1955
East of Eden
Film · 1955
Tennessee's Partner
Film · 1955
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
Series · 1955
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
Series · 1955
Gunsmoke
Series · 1955
The Great Diamond Robbery
Film · 1954
The Country Girl
Film · 1954
Invaders from Mars
Film · 1953
Donovan's Brain
Film · 1953
Flaming Feather
Film · 1952
The Abbott and Costello Show
Series · 1952
Pier 23
Film · 1951
The Secret of Convict Lake
Film · 1951
The Racket
Film · 1951
Frenchie
Film · 1950
It Happens Every Spring
Film · 1949
Flaxy Martin
Film · 1949
The Red Pony
Film · 1949
Caught
Film · 1949
Reign of Terror
Film · 1949
Shed No Tears
Film · 1948
The Sainted Sisters
Film · 1948
The Miracle of the Bells
Film · 1948
Half Past Midnight
Film · 1948
Tycoon
Film · 1947
Sinbad the Sailor
Film · 1947
Possessed
Film · 1947
Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
Film · 1946
It's a Wonderful Life
Film · 1946
The Truth About Murder
Film · 1946
That Brennan Girl
Film · 1946
Radio Stars on Parade
Film · 1945
The Lost Weekend
Film · 1945
Fallen Angel
Film · 1945
Circumstantial Evidence
Film · 1945
A Medal for Benny
Film · 1945
Boss of Boomtown
Film · 1944
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Film · 1944
Hi, Beautiful
Film · 1944
Undercover: How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines
Film · 1943
Matri-Phony
Film · 1942
Overland to Deadwood
Film · 1942
Come on Danger
Film · 1942
The Spoilers
Film · 1942
Sabotage Squad
Film · 1942
The Wife Takes a Flyer
Film · 1942
Obliging Young Lady
Film · 1942
Mexican Spitfire's Elephant
Film · 1942
Panama Hattie
Film · 1942
A Night to Remember
Film · 1942
Moontide
Film · 1942
The Palm Beach Story
Film · 1942
The Talk of the Town
Film · 1942
Ride on Vaquero
Film · 1941
Cyclone on Horseback
Film · 1941
Texas
Film · 1941
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
Film · 1941
The House Across the Bay
Film · 1940
Millionaire Playboy
Film · 1940
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
Film · 1940
The Grapes of Wrath
Film · 1940
Charlie Chan in Panama
Film · 1940
Mexican Spitfire
Film · 1940
Trail of the Vigilantes
Film · 1940
Buck Benny Rides Again
Film · 1940
The Bank Dick
Film · 1940
Hired Wife
Film · 1940
They Drive by Night
Film · 1940
Men Against the Sky
Film · 1940
Lucky Partners
Film · 1940
The Mad Doctor
Film · 1940
Rhythm on the River
Film · 1940
Wildcat Bus
Film · 1940
The Ghost Breakers
Film · 1940
Pop Always Pays
Film · 1940
You Can't Fool Your Wife
Film · 1940
Wings of the Navy
Film · 1939
Fast and Loose
Film · 1939
Mr. Moto in Danger Island
Film · 1939
The Return of the Cisco Kid
Film · 1939
Fifth Avenue Girl
Film · 1939
The Girl from Mexico
Film · 1939
The Gracie Allen Murder Case
Film · 1939
Reno
Film · 1939
The Roaring Twenties
Film · 1939
The Day the Bookies Wept
Film · 1939
I'll Tell the World
Film · 1939
Money to Loan
Film · 1939
Our Leading Citizen
Film · 1939
Cafe Society
Film · 1939
Off the Record
Film · 1939
Scouts to the Rescue
Film · 1939
Born to Be Wild
Film · 1938
The Arkansas Traveler
Film · 1938
Maid's Night Out
Film · 1938
Cocoanut Grove
Film · 1938
Tarnished Angel
Film · 1938
Professor Beware
Film · 1938
Little Tough Guys in Society
Film · 1938
Penrod and His Twin Brother
Film · 1938
Painted Desert
Film · 1938
Submarine Patrol
Film · 1938
Step Lively, Jeeves!
Film · 1937
Alcatraz Island
Film · 1937
God's Country and the Woman
Film · 1937
Many Unhappy Returns
Film · 1937
We Who Are About to Die
Film · 1937
Border Cafe
Film · 1937
Wings Over Honolulu
Film · 1937
The Great O'Malley
Film · 1937
Smart Blonde
Film · 1937
San Quentin
Film · 1937
Stage Door
Film · 1937
Black Legion
Film · 1937
You Only Live Once
Film · 1937
Love on a Bet
Film · 1936
The Crime Patrol
Film · 1936
Walking on Air
Film · 1936
Two in Revolt
Film · 1936
Paddy O'Day
Film · 1936
Night Waitress
Film · 1936
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
Film · 1936
The Girl from Mandalay
Film · 1936
Love Begins at Twenty
Film · 1936
Sons o' Guns
Film · 1936
The Girl on the Front Page
Film · 1936
Chatterbox
Film · 1936
The House of a Thousand Candles
Film · 1936
The Big Game
Film · 1936
Bullets or Ballots
Film · 1936
Dancing Pirate
Film · 1936
Charlie Chan in Shanghai
Film · 1935
The Fighting Marines
Film · 1935
The Miracle Rider
Film · 1935
Dr. Socrates
Film · 1935
The Daring Young Man
Film · 1935
Mary Burns, Fugitive
Film · 1935
3 Kids and a Queen
Film · 1935
A Notorious Gentleman
Film · 1935
Name the Woman
Film · 1934
Hell Bent for Love
Film · 1934
Gridiron Flash
Film · 1934
Blind Date
Film · 1934
The Personality Kid
Film · 1934
Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen
Film · 1934
The Oil Raider
Film · 1934
The Lost Jungle
Film · 1934
The Lost Jungle
Film · 1934
She Had to Choose
Film · 1934
Arizona to Broadway
Film · 1933
Before Dawn
Film · 1933
Cock of the Air
Film · 1932
The World and the Flesh
Film · 1932
Renegades of the West
Film · 1932
Rockabye
Film · 1932
The Good Bad Girl
Film · 1931
Suicide Fleet
Film · 1931
The Last of the Vargas
Film · 1930
Numbered Men
Film · 1930
Going Wild
Film · 1930
The Thrill Seekers
Film · 1927
The Relay
Film · 1927
Flashing Oars
Film · 1927
The First Auto
Film · 1927
Making Good
Film · 1926