James Ellison
Age: N/A | From: Guthrie Center, Iowa, USA
Person Details
Birthday:
Aliases: Jimmie 'Shamrock' Ellison , Jimmie Ellison , Jimmy 'Shamrock' Ellison , Jimmy Ellison , James Ellison Smith
Gender: Male
Place of birth: Guthrie Center, Iowa, USA
Homepage:
Movie Involvements: 41
TV Involvements: 0
Most Famous Work
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. James Ellison (May 4, 1910 - December 23, 1993) was an American actor, born James Ellison Smith in Guthrie Center, Iowa, son of Edward James Smith and Ona Mary Ellis. Ellison appeared in nearly seventy films between 1932 and 1962. Ellison worked for a time in a film laboratory and while there was offered a screen test. He developed it himself and when he saw it, decided it was not satisfactory so he would not show it to the director. But he saw it anyway and Ellison got a contract. Despite his rugged good looks and height of 6 feet 3 inches, Ellison's limited range and somewhat wooden screen presence kept him from the first (or even second) ranks of stardom. He spent much of his career in Westerns, including a stint in the mid-thirties as the sidekick of Hopalong Cassidy in Paramount's successful series. In 1938, he played a charming, romantic character opposite 26 year old Lucille Ball in the comedy, "Next Time I Marry", a film where Ball had her first top billing on screen credits. Before that, in 1936, he played his highest-profile role, as Buffalo Bill in Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman, which also starred Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. Despite that film's success, Ellison spent most of the remainder of his career shuttling between cowboy pictures and more varied roles, primarily in B movies with titles like Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case and The Undying Monster. He had a supporting role in 1941's Charley's Aunt (which starred Jack Benny) and played the romantic lead in 1943's The Gang's All Here, a Twentieth Century Fox musical in which he seemed somewhat lost among the vivid antics of Carmen Miranda, Charlotte Greenwood, and Edward Everett Horton (and was the only principal not to sing a note). He also co-starred with Tom Conway and Frances Dee in Val Lewton's production of I Walked with a Zombie, directed by Jacques Tourneur. Ellison landed another romantic lead role as 'Jerry Gibson' in the musical film Lady, Let's Dance (1944) which starred ice skating sensation 'Belita'. In the early 1950s, Ellison moved from acting to real estate. Joining fellow veteran Jackie Coogan, Ellison returned to the screen only once to play Axel 'Longhorn' Gates in a picture called When the Girls Take Over (1962). James Ellison died at age 83 in Monterey, California after suffering a broken neck as the result of a fall. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Ellison (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Most Famous Work
I Walked with a Zombie
(1943) Wesley Rand
Mother Carey's Chickens
(1938) Ralph Thurston
Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case
(1941) P. Cadwallader Jones
Calendar Girl
(1947) Steve Adams
Annapolis Salute
(1937) William J. "Bill" Martin
Bar 20 Rides Again
(1935) Johnny Nelson
Hotel for Women
(1939) Jeff Buchanan
The Plainsman
(1936) William "Buffalo Bill" CodyActing
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Alex 'Longhorn' Gates (as Jimmy Ellison) | |
| 1952 | Dan Winslow | |
| Jim Fallon | ||
| Jim Kirby (as Jimmy Ellison) | ||
| 1951 | Sheriff Tod Merrick | |
| Sheriff Dave Holland | ||
| Clancy | ||
| Jeff Benson | ||
| 1950 | Gordon Hastings | |
| Capt. Jeff Packard | ||
| Shamrock Ellison | ||
| Shamrock Ellison | ||
| Shamrock Ellison | ||
| Shamrock Kid | ||
| Shamrock Ellison | ||
| Jimmy Ellison | ||
| Shamrock Ellison | ||
| 1948 | Duke Barnum | |
| 1947 | Monte Crandall | |
| Steve Adams | ||
| 1946 | Steve Giles | |
| 1945 | Larry Winters | |
| 1944 | Mike Burke | |
| Jerry Gibson | ||
| 1943 | Andy Mason | |
| Cadet | ||
| Wesley Rand | ||
| Roger Hudson | ||
| 1942 | Capt. James Mason | |
| Robert Curtis | ||
| Henry Summers | ||
| Thomas Aldrich | ||
| 1941 | P. Cadwallader Jones | |
| Bob Clemens | ||
| Jack Chesney | ||
| Tim Kelly | ||
| Thomas Elwood Dice | ||
| 1940 | Tony Pringle | |
| Andrew Hinklin | ||
| 1939 | Mike | |
| Jeff Buchanan | ||
| Bill Loomis | ||
| Jeff Carter | ||
| Dan Preston | ||
| 1938 | Anthony J. Anthony | |
| Ralph Thurston | ||
| Keith Morgan | ||
| 1937 | Lt. Burrell | |
| William J. "Bill" Martin | ||
| Sgt. Robert Gray | ||
| Johnny Nelson | ||
| 1936 | Johnny Nelson | |
| William "Buffalo Bill" Cody | ||
| Johnny Nelson | ||
| Johnny Nelson | ||
| Johnny Nelson | ||
| Mac MacDonald | ||
| 1935 | Jimmy Peyton | |
| Johnny Nelson | ||
| Johnny Nelson | ||
| Johnny Nelson | ||
| Dale Every | ||
| Jimmy | ||
| Detective (uncredited) | ||
| 1932 | Reporter Lane (uncredited) | |
| Elmer | ||
| Year | Character | Movie/Tv |
