Person Details

Birthday: 1904-10-16 03:54:22

Death: 1965-11-26 03:54:22

Aliases: Wild Bill Elliott , Gordon Nance , Gordon Eliott , 'Wild' Bill Elliot , Gordon Elliott , William 'Wild Bill' Elliott , William Elliott

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Pattonsburg, Missouri, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 144

TV Involvements: 1


Most Famous Work

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Wild Bill Elliott (October 16, 1904 – November 26, 1965) was an American film actor. He specialized in playing the rugged heroes of B Westerns, particularly the Red Ryder series of films. By 1925, he was getting occasional extra work in films. He took classes at the Pasadena Playhouse and appeared in a few stage roles there. By 1927, he had made his first Western, The Arizona Wildcat, playing his first featured role. Several co-starring roles followed, and he renamed himself Gordon Elliott. But as the studios made the transition to sound films, he slipped back into roles as an extra and bit parts, as in Broadway Scandals, in 1929. For the next eight years, he appeared in over a hundred films for various studios, but almost always in unbilled parts as an extra. Elliott began to be noticed in some minor B Westerns, enough so that Columbia Pictures offered him the title role in a serial, The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938). The serial was so successful, and Elliott so personable, that Columbia promoted him to starring in his own series of Western features, replacing Columbia's number-two cowboy star Robert "Tex" Allen. Henceforth Gordon Elliott would be known as Bill Elliott. Within two years, he was among the Motion Picture Herald's Top Ten Western Stars, where he would remain for the next 15 years. In 1943, Elliott signed with Republic Pictures, which cast him in a series of Westerns alongside George "Gabby" Hayes. The first of these, Calling Wild Bill Elliott, gave Elliott the name by which he would be best known and by which he would be billed almost exclusively for the rest of his career. Following several films in which both actor and character shared the name Wild Bill Elliott, he took the role for which he would be best remembered, that of Red Ryder in a series of sixteen movies about the famous comic strip cowboy and his young Indian companion, Little Beaver (played in Elliott's films by Bobby Blake). Elliott played the role for only two years but would forever be associated with it. Elliott's trademark was a pair of six guns worn butt-forward in their holsters. Elliott's career thrived during and after the Red Ryder films, and he continued making B Westerns into the early 1950s. He also had his own radio show during the late 1940s. His final contract as a Western star was with Monogram Pictures, where budgets declined as the B Western lost its audience to television. When Monogram became Allied Artists Pictures Corporation in 1953, it phased out its Western productions, and Elliott finished out his contract playing a homicide detective in a series of five modern police dramas, his first non-Westerns since 1938. Elliott retired from films (except for a couple of TV Western pilots which were not picked up). He worked for a time as a spokesman for Viceroy cigarettes and hosted a local TV program in Las Vegas, Nevada, which featured many of his Western films.

Most Famous Work

Scarface
Average
8

Scarface

(1932) Man Outside Theatre (uncredited)
The Mummy
Average
7

The Mummy

(1932) Party Guest (uncredited)
The Roaring Twenties
Average
8

The Roaring Twenties

(1939) Bootlegger (uncredited)
'G' Men
Average
7

'G' Men

(1935) Bootlegger Who Gives Eddie the Bottle Outside the Club (uncredited)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Average
7

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

(1925) Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
Bullets or Ballots
Average
7

Bullets or Ballots

(1936) Hunter - Bank Worker (uncredited)
The Case of the Howling Dog
Average
7

The Case of the Howling Dog

(1934) Reporter in Courtroom (uncredited)
The Rich Are Always with Us
Average
5

The Rich Are Always with Us

(1932) Gambler (uncredited)

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
1976 (archive footage)
Self (archive footage)
1975 Self (archive footage)
1968 Officer Grant
1957 Andy Doyle
Andy Doyle
1956 Andy Doyle
1955 Andy Doyle
Andy Flynn / Andy Doyle
1954 Sam Nelson
Clay Tyndall (as Wild Bill Elliott)
1953 Tack Hamlin
Jim Levering
Frank Graham
Mace Corbin
1952 Pete Devlin
Bill Martin
Joe Daniels (as Wild Bill Elliott)
Matt Boone (as Wild Bill Elliott)
1951 Jim Kirk
1950 Shadrach Jones
Ringo
Wild Bill Elliott
1949 Zeb Smith
Frank Norris / Frank Plummer (as William Elliott)
1948 Gary Conway
Bill Stockton (as William Elliott)
1947 Josie Allen
Charles Alderson
1946 Sam Colton
Red Ryder
Johnny Barrett / Spanish Jack
Red Ryder
Red Ryder (as Wild Bill Elliott)
Red Ryder
1945 Red Ryder (as Wild Bill Elliott)
Red Ryder (as Wild Bill Elliott)
Red Ryder
Red Ryder (as Wild Bill Elliott)
Wild Bill Elliott
Red Ryder
Red Ryder
1944 Red Ryder (as Wild Bill Elliott)
Red Ryder
Red Ryder (as Wild Bill Elliott)
Red Ryder (as Wild Bill Elliott)
Red Ryder
Red Ryder
Bill Elliott
Wild Bill Elliott (as Wild Bill Elliott)
1943 Marshal Wild Bill Elliott (as Wild Bill Elliott)
Wild Bill Elliott
Wild Bill Elliott
Wild Bill Elliott
Wild Bill Elliott
Wild Bill Elliott
1942 Wild Bill Tolliver
Joaquin Murietta aka The Black Shadow
'Wild' Bill Hickok
'Wild' Bill Hickok
Sergeant Bill Cameron
'Wild' Bill Hickok / Prince Katey
'Wild' Bill Hickok
1941 'Wild' Bill Hickok
'Wild' Bill Hickok
Dave Crockett
'Wild' Bill Hickok
Bluey
Wild Bill Boone
'Wild' Bill Hickok
'Wild' Bill Hickok
1940 'Wild' Bill Hickok
'Wild' Bill Hickok
'Wild' Bill Hickok
Wild Bill Saunders
Wild Bill Saunders
Wild Bill Saunders
1939 Wild Bill Saunders
Bootlegger (uncredited)
Kit Carson
John Freeman
1938 Backgammon Man (uncredited)
'Wild' Bill Hickok
Chauncey Courtland
Dr. Allan
1937 Bill Parker
Odie Fenton
Jim Neale
Bruce Thomas
Lulu's Bathing Companion (uncredited)
Little Lord Fauntleroy (uncredited)
Walter Wilson
Randall
City Attorney Seabrook
1936 Wellman, a Dude
2nd Radio Announcer
Ramon Duval
Don Trumbeau
Sam Laxter
Robert Bates
Jefferson Duane
Pilot (uncredited)
News Commentator (uncredited)
Carl Griffin
Sharp, Board of Directors Member (uncredited)
Dave Thatcher (as Gordon Elliott)
Hunter - Bank Worker (uncredited)
Kenneth Martin
1935 N/A
Charlie Fagan
Playboy in 'Playboy of Paree' Number (uncredited)
Minor Role
Jeff Holt
Warren Sherrill
Tom Collins - Greer's Associate
Teddy
Reporter (uncredited)
Backstage Actor
Reporter
James, Clerk at College Club
Bootlegger Who Gives Eddie the Bottle Outside the Club (uncredited)
Jackson's Secretary / Dorothy's Dance Partner
Freddie
Vincent's Assistant (uncredited)
Bank Teller (uncredited)
Stuart Wyatt
Wedding Guest
Maxine's Casino Escort (uncredited)
1934 Governor's Secretary (uncredited)
Lt. Saunders
Polo Match Spectator (uncredited)
Reporter in Courtroom (uncredited)
Party Guest
Dancer (uncredited)
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Male Nurse
Norman (uncredited)
1933 New Year's Eve Reveler (Uncredited)
Audience Member / Dexter's Party Guest
Bicyclist (uncredited)
Party Guest (uncredited)
Man at Roulette Table (Uncredited)
Night Club Patron (uncredited)
Guest at Polly's Party (uncredited)
Partygoer (uncredited)
1932 Escort (uncredited)
Polo Player (uncredited)
Policeman Following Blonde (uncredited)
Ship's Passenger / Dance Extra (uncredited)
Party Guest (uncredited)
Gambler (uncredited)
Man Outside Theatre (uncredited)
Party Guest (uncredited)
Bit Role
Alex Brown (Uncredited)
Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Party Guest (uncredited)
1931 Larry's Friend
Dance Extra / Lobby Extra
Escort (uncredited)
Party Boy
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Hotel Dining Room Guest
Hotel Guest on Veranda
Country Club Guest
Night Club Patron
Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Wedding Party Guest
Music Store Customer (uncredited)
Hotel Dancer (uncredited)
Minor Role (uncredited)
1930 Physical Exam Onlooker
Golfer (uncredited)
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
Party Boy
Poker Player
N/A
Wedding Guest
Party-Goer
1929 George Halloway
Party Guest
Ruth's Friend (uncredited)
1928 George Baxter
Gordon Elliot
1927 Telemachus
Roy Schyler (as Gordon Elliott)
Aggressive Student at Dance
Party Guest
1926 Well-Wishing Villager
1925 Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
Athlete (uncredited)
Year Character Movie/Tv

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