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Unkempt, rough and tough looking members of the gang, or lynch mob, or vigilantes, or posse riders, or cow herders. They had minimal or no dialog, not much screen time, and were generally not listed in the film credits. Some would show up as a face in the crowd, portraying townspeople, barflys, deputies, wagon drivers, ranch hands, etc. We tend to recognize some of their faces, but have no clue as to their real names.



1941
George Hazel
AKA 'Arizona Slim'

Full name:
George Jonathan Hazel

1890-1952

appeared in at least 50 westerns and 1 serial ... and still counting


Another face that shows up in 1930s - 1940s B westerns is George Hazel.

Most all of his roles were typical of the background performers of that period - he was an unbilled / uncredited henchman, townsman, barfly, etc.

Ken Jones, co-author of Heroes, Heavies and Sagebrush, had info on Hazel: The real name of 'Arizona Slim' was George Hazel and he was born July 30, 1890 in Purcell, Oklahoma. He died January 29, 1952 as a result of a skull fracture after falling off of a bicycle in Palm Springs, California.

In the 1920 census (below), George was in Los Angeles and his occupation was "Cowboy - Motion Pictures". He probably appeared in some/many silents, but the films are lost, unavailable ... or no one has identified him as yet.

And George was on the payroll of the Universal Pictures police / security service when he registered for the World War II draft in 1942.



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above - Blackie Whiteford on the left and George Hazel on the right in FIGHTING BILL FARGO (1941), one of the Johnny Mack Brown oaters for Universal. At the time this was filmed, Hazel and Whiteford were both about fifty years old.



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

In the foreground are Nell O'Day and Ted Adams, and George Hazel is ready to pounce ... also from FIGHTING BILL FARGO.


  Although some of the data may be incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on George Hazel: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0371933/

The Family Search website (free), Ancestry.com (subscription), and California Death Index have information on George Hazel:

  • Ancestry had a record from the "U.S., Native American Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914" by the Dawes Commission. There is an entry for 12 year old George Hazel, born about 1890, enrolled September 25, 1902, Dawes Roll #14209, census card 169, and Tribal affiliation is Choctaw. In addition to George, the Dawes Roll includes his father Jonathan and several sisters and brothers.
  • Oklahoma Applications for Allotment, Five Civilized Tribes, 1899-1907 - George's father Jonathan applied for a parcel of land for his son who was a "citizen by blood of the Choctaw Nation". This link will take you to the first page of the application. Once there, you can scroll through another ten pages or so: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2HS-GH8R
  • 1910 census summary and census takers worksheet - 58 year old Johnthan [sic] Hazel (born Texas), his 54 year old wife Evaleen (born Texas), 33 year old daughter Carrie (born Oklahoma), and 19 year old son George (born Oklahoma) were living in San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. No occupation listed for George, but father Johnthan was "Dealer - Live Stock".: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M29R-KSF
  • World War I draft registration - 26 year old George J. Hazel was born July 30, 1890 in Purcell, Oklahoma. He was single; home address was 319 Army Boulevard, San Antonio, Texas; occupation was "Cattleman"; employer was J. Hazel (his father) at 319 Army Boulevard, San Antonio; he had prior military service of 3 years as an Infantry Corporal in an un-named military unit: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-25121-28174-18?cc=1968530
  • 1920 census summary and census takers worksheet - 29 year old George J. Hazel (born Oklahoma) was one of many boarders at a rooming house/hotel at 1725-1727 Allessandro [sic] Street, Los Angeles. He was single and occupation was "Cowboy - Motion Pictures". (The 1700 block of Alessandro Street was in the Edendale section of Los Angeles, home of the old Bison studio, Mack Sennett / Keystone studio, and many other production companies.) There are many other movie people living there including Gilbert 'Pee Wee' Holmes and Jacob W. Lundell [sic] (better known as Jack Lindell, the trainer of Rex, King of the Wild Horses): https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MHQX-Q7R
  • 1942 World War II draft registration - 51 year old George Jonathan Hazel was born July 30, 1890 in Purcell, Oklahoma. His residence was Universal Studio (Police Department), Universal City, California; contact was that Police Department; and his occupation/employer was "Motion Picture Studios (actor)": https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-16506-2937-36?cc=1861144
  • California Death Index has a record for George Jonathan Hazel, born July 30, 1890 in Oklahoma, Mother's maiden name of Irwin, and he passed away on January 29, 1952 in Riverside County, California: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPFN-5QP

Info on the Dawes Rolls (or Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, or Dawes Commission of Final Rolls): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawes_Rolls

Find A Grave website has George Slim Hazel interred at Fairhaven Memorial Park, Santa Ana, Orange County, California: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58969390/george-slim-hazel



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