Paul Hurst
Acting
Born: October 14, 1888 · Traver, California, USA
Died: February 27, 1953 (aged 64)
Highest Rated
Biography
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)
Known for
Gone with the Wind
1939
The Ox-Bow Incident
1943
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
1936
Island of Lost Souls
1932
Queen Christina
1934
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1923
They Drive by Night
1940
The Westerner
1940
Angel and the Badman
1947
Yellow Sky
1948
Each Dawn I Die
1939
In Old Chicago
1938
Photos (2)
Movies (205)
Gone with the Wind
Yankee Deserter
The Sky's the Limit
Dock Foreman (uncredited)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
1st Deputy (uncredited)
Murder in the Music Hall
Hobarth
Pardon My Stripes
Feets
Angel and the Badman
Frederick Carson
Queen Christina
Swedish Soldier Betting on 6 (uncredited)
The Ox-Bow Incident
Monty Smith
The Sun Shines Bright
Jimmy Bagby
Island of Lost Souls
Capt. Donahue
They Drive by Night
Pete Haig (uncredited)
The Virginian
1946
Gun Smugglers
Sergeant Hasty Jones
Yellow Sky
Drunk (uncredited)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Emeralda's Torturer (uncredited)
The Westerner
Chickenfoot
The Arizona Ranger
Ben Riddle
Goin' Fishin'
1940
Death Valley
Sergeant Dailey
The Phantom President
Sailor (uncredited)
Whispering Smith
Murray Sinclair
In Old Chicago
Mitch
Roaring Road
Checking Board Tabulator (uncredited)
The Gay Deception
Bell Captain
Rimrock Jones
Ike Bray
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Mug
Sweepstakes
Bartender
Edison, the Man
Sheriff
Each Dawn I Die
Garsky
Super-Sleuth
Motorcycle Cop
The Old Frontier
Skipper Horton
Dakota
Captain Spotts
Under Colorado Skies
Lucky John Hawkins
Medicine Bend
Murray Sinclair
Buttons
Slugger McGlue
Big Jim McLain
Mr. Lexiter
Petticoat Politics
Slats O'Dell
Torrid Zone
Daniels
Broadway Serenade
Reynolds, a Drunk
Hot Curves
'Slug', Baseball Player
Calaboose
Ed the bartender
Terror Aboard
Boatswain
Sundown Jim
Broderick
Alexander's Ragtime Band
Bill Mulligan
This Is My Affair
Bowler
On Your Toes
Variety Club Bartender
The Vivisectionist
Bart - Jardine's Servant
Pioneer Marshal
Huck Homer
The Cossacks
Sitchi
Topper Takes a Trip
Charlie - the Bartender
The Big Stampede
'Arizona' Frank Bailey
Barbary Coast Gent
Jake Compton
Scared Stiff
Sheriff
Riffraff
Belcher
In Old Sacramento
Stagecoach Driver
Summer Storm
Orloff
Mississippi
Hefty
You Can't Beat Love
Foreman Butch Mehaffey
Slave Ship
Drunk
December 7th
World War I Ghost Soldier
The Ghost That Walks Alone
Sheriff Slim Carson
State's Attorney
Police Captain Morgan
Midnight Manhunt
Murphy
Coney Island
Louie
Danger – Love at Work
NYC policeman
Prison Break
Soapy
Men Are Such Fools
Stiles
Paradise Island
Beauty
Oh, Yeah!
Railroad-Yard Superintendent
Something for the Boys
Defense Plant Foreman (uncredited)
Ali Baba Goes to Town
Captain
The Great Mr. Nobody
Michael O'Connor
Hold Your Man
Aubrey C. Mitchell (uncredited)
Tugboat Annie
Sam
The Vanishing Westerner
Waldorf Worthington
The Daring Young Man
Prison Guard
Tall, Dark and Handsome
Biff Sage
The Rainbow
Pat
The Sphinx
Detective Terrence Aloysius Hogan
Officer O'Brien
Captain Antrim
His First Command
Sgt. Westbrook
Dudes Are Pretty People
Two-Gun
Law of the Golden West
Otis Ellis
Charlie Chan's Courage
Undetermined Role
Heart of Virginia
Whit Galtry
Public Hero Number 1
Rufe Parker
Wake Up and Live
McCabe
No Time to Marry
Sergeant
Son of God’s Country
Eli Walker
Angel's Holiday
Sgt. Murphy
You Can't Have Everything
Truck Driver (uncredited)
The Girl Detective
Blair / Thompson / Michaels / Snake Henely / Mike Donegal / Bat Dorgan / Kelly / Dalton / Blake
Night in New Orleans
Sergeant Casper Riordan
The Secret Six
Nick Mizoski - the Gouger
California Firebrand
Chuck Waggoner
Stingaree
Howie - Stingaree's Partner
The Gay Desperado
American Detective
Trouble in Morocco
Tiger Malone
The Parson of Panamint
Jake Waldren
Toughest Man in Arizona
1952
The Plainsman and the Lady
Al
Grand Slam
Man Who Speaks Final Line of the Film
The Red Raiders
Sergeant Murphy
Swellhead
Mugsy
The Valley of the Giants
Randeau
The Case of the Curious Bride
Fibo Morgan (uncredited)
Castle on the Hudson
Guard (uncredited)
Spring Parade
Headwaiter
Fifty Roads to Town
Tom
Robin Hood of El Dorado
Wilson
Maybe It's Love
Expressman (uncredited)
The Racketeer
Mehaffy - Policeman
Second Honeymoon
Dennis Huggins
Prince of the Plains
Sheriff Hank Hartley
The Hazards of Helen
Benton - a Foreman
The Runaway Bride
Sergeant Daly
Cafe Society
Bartender
Bad Lands
Curly Tom
Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence
Empire State Building Guard
The Driver Of The Deadwood Coach
Bad Bill - a Desperado
The Devil's Saddle
'Swig' Moran
Secrets of a Nurse
Arlington Bysshe 'Slice' Cavanaugh
Borrowed Wives
Bull Morgan
Lightning Bryce
Powder Solvang
Panama Flo
Al
My Lucky Star
Louie
Tomorrow's Youth
Detective
Shadow of Doubt
Lt. Sackville
North of Nome
Carlson
Midnight Alibi
Babe the Butcher
Josette
A. Adolphus Heyman
The Cave Men's War
Red Axe
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
Pete
The Big Race
Skipper O'Neal
The Red Signal
Chief Dispatcher
Saturday's Millions
Doc Maloney, Trainer
Shadow of the Law
Pete Shore
The Thirteenth Guest
Detective Grump
Madonna of the Desert
Pete Connors
The Line-Up
Detective Sgt. Doyle
Hold That Co-ed
Slapsy
Smashing Through
Stevens
My Pal, the King
Red
Among the Missing
Capt. W.F. 'Big Bill' Connors
Glove Slingers
Chuck Brenner
To Mary - with Love
Drunk
Who Killed Doc Robbin?
Jailer
The Public Defender
Doc
The Single Sin
Slug
Judith of the Cumberlands
Blatchley Turrentine
Girl Rush
Muley
Outcasts of the Trail
Doc Meadowlark
Island in the Sky
Happy
Million Dollar Pursuit
Ray Harvey
This Woman Is Mine
Second Mate Mumford
Hold 'Em Jail
Butch
Caught in the Draft
Sgt. Burns
South of Rio
Andy Weems
Lilac Time
(uncredited)
A Lass of the Lumberlands
1916
Quick Millions
Sheriff
Take the Stand
Denny O'Brien
Wife, Doctor and Nurse
Bill
Kick In
Detective Whip Fogarty
Mountain Justice
Lem Harland
Ranger of Cherokee Strip
Sheriff Jug Mason
Blackmailer
Inspector Killian
The Hazards of Helen: Episode13, The Escape on the Fast Freight
A Trainman
Hi'ya, Chum
Archie Billings
The Last Express
Asst. Dist. Atty. Springer
Carnival
Policeman
Steppin' in Society
Cookie
The Manager of the B & A
Roger Oakley (as Paul C. Hurst)
The Women in His Life
Paul, Perez's Second Bodyguard
The Lawless Legion
Ramirez
A Very Honorable Guy
Butler
Tide of Empire
Poppy
Bad Company
Paul Hurst
Star Dust
Mac, Amalgamated Lab Tech
South to Karanga
Slats
We Who Are About to Die
Tip Fuller
The Big Show-Off
Herbert Trafagan, aka "The Devil", a wrestler
Calm Yourself
Detective Roscoe
Remember?
Policeman
San Antone Ambush
Happy Daniels
The Third Alarm
'Beauty' Johnson
The Legion of Missing Men
Muggsy
Sequoia
Bergman
Day of Reckoning
Harry
That's My Line
Mexican Bandit
The Secret Witness
Officer Brannigan
It Could Happen to You
Sandy
Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring
Page
The Missourians
John X. Finn
Maker of Men
Gabby
The Further Adventures of Stingaree
Howie
She's No Lady
Cop
Virginia
Thomas
The Railroad Raiders
Steve Arnold (as Paul C. Hurst)
The California Mail
Rowdy Ryan
Sailor's Holiday
Jimmylegs
The Ballad of Paducah Jail
Escaped Felon
Lucky Larkin
Pete Brierson
The Plot at the Railroad Cut
Benton, the Foreman
Blue Streak O'Neil
1926
Directing (23)
Roaring Road
Director
Rangeland
Director
Lightning Bryce
Director
Table Top Ranch
Director
The Red Signal
Director
The Demon Rider
Director
A Lass of the Lumberlands
Director
Folly of Youth
Director
King Fisher's Roost
Director
The Tiger's Trail
Director
The Heart of a Texan
Director
Battling Bunyan
Director
Branded a Bandit
Director
The Further Adventures of Stingaree
Director
The Woman in the Web
Director
The Midnight Message
Director
A Western Engagement
Director
The Railroad Raiders
Director
Shadows of the West
Director
Haunted Range
Director
The Passing of Wolf MacLean
Director
The Crow's Nest
Director
Blue Streak O'Neil
Director
Writing (9)
Rangeland
Writer
Table Top Ranch
Story
Table Top Ranch
Scenario Writer
King Fisher's Roost
Story
King Fisher's Roost
Scenario Writer
The Heart of a Texan
Scenario Writer
Branded a Bandit
Story
Branded a Bandit
Scenario Writer
The Railroad Raiders
Writer