Acting
Paul Hurst
Paul Hurst (October 15, 1888 - February 27, 1953) was an American character actor of prodigious output who also directed and wrote silent films. Much of his early work was in low budget western films. A native of central California, Hurst had a first-hand knowledge of Western lore, growing up surrounded by the multi-million acre Lux & Miller ranches which ran cattle throughout the state. Visiting San Francisco as a young man, Hurst became involved in amateur theatricals and thereafter traveled to Los Angeles to join in the emerging film industry there. He began appearing in films as early as 1912, most of them Westerns. By 1916, he was directing them as well (some sources report that he served in the First World War as a member of the French Foreign Legion, but the dates of his film projects make this story highly suspect). In the early 1920s, Hurst wrote several scenarios for films he directed and appeared in. He proved adept at working as a director for some of the cheapest producers along Gower Gulch, where movies were normally shot on location in a week or less and where stunt men were often the highest paid folks on the set. Within a few years, he focused all of his energies into acting, notably becoming one of the few successes to emerge from Hollywood's Poverty Row. Hurst quickly became one of the more prolific and familiar characters in American movies. With his blocky build and squinty demeanor, and with a raspy voice that enhanced his memorability once sound pictures came in, Hurst played villains and cops and comedy sidekicks in more than 250 films. His most famous role was that of the deserter shot dead on the stairway of Tara by Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939). Hurst was the sidekick to Monte Hale in a number of B-Westerns. Former Gower Gulch veteran John Wayne hired Hurst for Big Jim McLain (1952) knowing that Hurst was ill with terminal cancer. In 1953, at the age of 64, due to his health problems, Paul Hurst committed suicide. Date of Death: 27 February 1953, Hollywood, California (suicide)
Filmography
The Sun Shines Bright
Film · 1953
Toughest Man in Arizona
Film · 1952
Big Jim McLain
Film · 1952
Million Dollar Pursuit
Film · 1951
The Missourians
Film · 1950
The Old Frontier
Film · 1950
The Vanishing Westerner
Film · 1950
Ranger of Cherokee Strip
Film · 1949
Prince of the Plains
Film · 1949
Pioneer Marshal
Film · 1949
San Antone Ambush
Film · 1949
South of Rio
Film · 1949
Law of the Golden West
Film · 1949
Outcasts of the Trail
Film · 1949
Who Killed Doc Robbin?
Film · 1948
The Arizona Ranger
Film · 1948
Madonna of the Desert
Film · 1948
Son of God’s Country
Film · 1948
Gun Smugglers
Film · 1948
California Firebrand
Film · 1948
Yellow Sky
Film · 1948
Heart of Virginia
Film · 1948
Angel and the Badman
Film · 1947
Under Colorado Skies
Film · 1947
The Plainsman and the Lady
Film · 1946
The Virginian
Film · 1946
Death Valley
Film · 1946
In Old Sacramento
Film · 1946
Murder in the Music Hall
Film · 1946
Steppin' in Society
Film · 1945
Scared Stiff
Film · 1945
The Big Show-Off
Film · 1945
Dakota
Film · 1945
Midnight Manhunt
Film · 1945
Summer Storm
Film · 1944
Girl Rush
Film · 1944
Something for the Boys
Film · 1944
Barbary Coast Gent
Film · 1944
The Ghost That Walks Alone
Film · 1944
The Ox-Bow Incident
Film · 1943
Hi'ya, Chum
Film · 1943
December 7th
Film · 1943
Calaboose
Film · 1943
The Sky's the Limit
Film · 1943
Coney Island
Film · 1943
Night in New Orleans
Film · 1942
Dudes Are Pretty People
Film · 1942
Sundown Jim
Film · 1942
Pardon My Stripes
Film · 1942
Petticoat Politics
Film · 1941
Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring
Film · 1941
Tall, Dark and Handsome
Film · 1941
Caught in the Draft
Film · 1941
Virginia
Film · 1941
The Great Mr. Nobody
Film · 1941
The Parson of Panamint
Film · 1941
This Woman Is Mine
Film · 1941
The Westerner
Film · 1940
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
Film · 1940
Spring Parade
Film · 1940
Edison, the Man
Film · 1940
Torrid Zone
Film · 1940
Castle on the Hudson
Film · 1940
They Drive by Night
Film · 1940
Goin' Fishin'
Film · 1940
Star Dust
Film · 1940
South to Karanga
Film · 1940
Gone with the Wind
Film · 1939
Broadway Serenade
Film · 1939
It Could Happen to You
Film · 1939
Remember?
Film · 1939
Bad Lands
Film · 1939
Cafe Society
Film · 1939
On Your Toes
Film · 1939
Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence
Film · 1939
Each Dawn I Die
Film · 1939
Glove Slingers
Film · 1939
Quick Millions
Film · 1939
Alexander's Ragtime Band
Film · 1938
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Film · 1938
Topper Takes a Trip
Film · 1938
In Old Chicago
Film · 1938
Island in the Sky
Film · 1938
Secrets of a Nurse
Film · 1938
Prison Break
Film · 1938
Hold That Co-ed
Film · 1938
My Lucky Star
Film · 1938
Josette
Film · 1938
No Time to Marry
Film · 1938
The Last Express
Film · 1938
Trouble in Morocco
Film · 1937
Angel's Holiday
Film · 1937
Ali Baba Goes to Town
Film · 1937
Danger – Love at Work
Film · 1937
Second Honeymoon
Film · 1937
The Legion of Missing Men
Film · 1937
Wake Up and Live
Film · 1937
She's No Lady
Film · 1937
The Lady Fights Back
Film · 1937
Slave Ship
Film · 1937
We Who Are About to Die
Film · 1937
You Can't Have Everything
Film · 1937
You Can't Beat Love
Film · 1937
This Is My Affair
Film · 1937
Wife, Doctor and Nurse
Film · 1937
Super-Sleuth
Film · 1937
Fifty Roads to Town
Film · 1937
I'd Give My Life
Film · 1936
Robin Hood of El Dorado
Film · 1936
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Film · 1936
North of Nome
Film · 1936
To Mary - with Love
Film · 1936
The Gay Desperado
Film · 1936
Blackmailer
Film · 1936
Riffraff
Film · 1936
The Gay Deception
Film · 1935
Sequoia
Film · 1935
Shadow of Doubt
Film · 1935
Public Hero Number 1
Film · 1935
Maybe It's Love
Film · 1935
The Daring Young Man
Film · 1935
Carnival
Film · 1935
Mississippi
Film · 1935
Calm Yourself
Film · 1935
The Case of the Curious Bride
Film · 1935
Wilderness Mail
Film · 1935
Midnight Alibi
Film · 1934
A Very Honorable Guy
Film · 1934
Tomorrow's Youth
Film · 1934
Take the Stand
Film · 1934
Among the Missing
Film · 1934
Queen Christina
Film · 1934
The Big Race
Film · 1934
The Ballad of Paducah Jail
Film · 1934
Charlie Chan's Courage
Film · 1934
The Line-Up
Film · 1934
The Sphinx
Film · 1933
Terror Aboard
Film · 1933
Tugboat Annie
Film · 1933
Saturday's Millions
Film · 1933
Day of Reckoning
Film · 1933
The Women in His Life
Film · 1933
Grand Slam
Film · 1933
Hold Your Man
Film · 1933
Island of Lost Souls
Film · 1932
The Big Stampede
Film · 1932
The Thirteenth Guest
Film · 1932
State's Attorney
Film · 1932
Men Are Such Fools
Film · 1932
My Pal, the King
Film · 1932
The Phantom President
Film · 1932
Hold 'Em Jail
Film · 1932
Panama Flo
Film · 1932
The Secret Six
Film · 1931
Bad Company
Film · 1931
That's My Line
Film · 1931
Sweepstakes
Film · 1931
The Single Sin
Film · 1931
The Secret Witness
Film · 1931
The Public Defender
Film · 1931
Maker of Men
Film · 1931
Kick In
Film · 1931
Paradise Island
Film · 1930
Swellhead
Film · 1930
Borrowed Wives
Film · 1930
Hot Curves
Film · 1930
The Runaway Bride
Film · 1930
Officer O'Brien
Film · 1930
Lucky Larkin
Film · 1930
Mountain Justice
Film · 1930
Shadow of the Law
Film · 1930
The Third Alarm
Film · 1930
The Racketeer
Film · 1929
The California Mail
Film · 1929
The Lawless Legion
Film · 1929
Tide of Empire
Film · 1929
Sailor's Holiday
Film · 1929
Oh, Yeah!
Film · 1929
His First Command
Film · 1929
The Rainbow
Film · 1929
The Cossacks
Film · 1928
Lilac Time
Film · 1928
The Devil's Saddle
Film · 1927
The Red Raiders
Film · 1927
The Valley of the Giants
Film · 1927
Outlaw's Paradise
Film · 1927
Buttons
Film · 1927
Roaring Road
Film · 1926
Blue Streak O'Neil
Film · 1926
The Fighting Ranger
Film · 1926
The Man Who Would Not Die
Film · 1924
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Film · 1923
Lightning Bryce
Film · 1919
Rimrock Jones
Film · 1918
Smashing Through
Film · 1918
The Railroad Raiders
Film · 1917
The Hazards of Helen
Film · 1917
The Further Adventures of Stingaree
Film · 1917
A Lass of the Lumberlands
Film · 1916
Whispering Smith
Film · 1916
The Diamond Runners
Film · 1916
Judith of the Cumberlands
Film · 1916
Medicine Bend
Film · 1916
The Manager of the B & A
Film · 1916
The Girl Detective
Film · 1915
Stingaree
Film · 1915
The Red Signal
Film · 1915
The Hazards of Helen: Episode13, The Escape on the Fast Freight
Film · 1915
The Vivisectionist
Film · 1915
The Quicksands
Film · 1914
The Chief of Police
Film · 1914
The Plot at the Railroad Cut
Film · 1914
The Cave Men's War
Film · 1913
The Driver Of The Deadwood Coach
Film · 1912