Kermit Maynard Full name: |
Kermit Maynard was the younger brother of Ken Maynard, and the brothers were born in Vevay, Indiana - Ken in 1895 and Kermit in 1897. In addition to sons Kenneth and Kermit, William H. Maynard and Emma May (nee Stewart) Maynard had three daughters - Trixie, Willa and Bessie. The growin' up years for Ken and Kerm were in Columbus, Indiana which is about 65 miles northwest of Vevay, Indiana. Kerm attended Indiana University and lettered in baseball, football, and basketball, but did not finish and receive a degree. 1920 Indiana University yearbook photos of baseball, football, and basketball player Kermit Maynard shown below.
(Courtesy of Ernie Andres, Executive Secretary of the Indiana University Men's Association)
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(From Old Corral collection) Above - the title lobby card from WILD HORSE ROUND-UP (Ambassador / Conn, 1936). (From Old Corral collection) Above - the title lobby card from WHISTLING BULLETS (Ambassador / Conn, 1937). (From Old Corral collection) In the above lobby card from WHISTLING BULLETS (Ambassador / Conn, 1937), Kermit and leading lady Harlene Wood check out the prone Jack Ingram. During the 1930s, Harlene/Harley Wood worked in about a half dozen westerns, and after a name change to Jill Martin, was the heroine in the HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS serial. There's more about her in the Heroines/Leading Ladies section on the Old Corral. |
(Pressbook cover courtesy of Les Adams) | (Pressbook cover courtesy of Les Adams) | |
The WILD HORSE ROUNDUP pressbook cover above includes a photo of young Dickie Jones (inset, lower left) who, in later life, became Dick Jones of TV's RANGE RIDER and BUFFALO BILL, JR. Betty Lloyd (inset, lower right) is Beth Marion. |
By the late 1930s, independent producers like Maurice Conn and his Ambassador Pictures were having difficulty as the market for inexpensive, independently produced westerns was drying up. Republic Pictures had been formed and was churning out a good product and even Paramount had become serious about westerns with their new Hopalong Cassidy series. Circa late 1937 - early 1938, Conn filed for bankruptcy and wound up taking his production setup to Monogram where he produced oaters starring Jack Randall and Tim McCoy. Kerm's starring career was over.
Maynard was proud of his Ambassador films, but quickly moved into supporting roles in serials and westerns ... and that work continued for years. During the early to mid 1940s, it seemed like he was in just about every western that was churned out by PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation). The Maynards settled in the San Fernando Valley, and son Bill (William) was born in 1943. In later life, Kerm became a representative for the Screen Extras Guild (which was later merged into SAG, the Screen Actors Guild), and he retired from that job in 1969. Edith recalled that it was a real change when Kerm took the position with the Guild - he was working an unaccustomed 8 to 5 job and wearing a white shirt and tie. And Edith no longer had to remain home to answer the phone when studios and casting offices would call with film assignments for Kerm. Edith also mentioned that Kerm neither smoked nor drank, and he did not have a weight problem like brother Ken. Kerm consumed bottle after bottle of soda pop and loved ice cream and Wheaties. He also was a prolific (and near par) golfer. Kermit Maynard passed away from a heart attack at his North Hollywood, California home on January 16, 1971. Wife Edith passed away in 1989. You'll also find a webpage titled 'Prolific Performers' on the Old Corral, and near the top of that list is Kermit Maynard with over 300 sound film appearances. Of that number, 262 are westerns and 22 are serials. Kerm's Republic film credits number only about two dozen appearances during the period from 1938 - 1951. I did an extensive, multi-issue article on Kermit Maynard for Favorite Westerns magazine many years ago, and spent considerable time visiting and chatting with Kerm's wife Edith. I also interviewed Buster Crabbe, since he and Kerm were good friends and worked together in a lot of films. In 1981, Mr. Crabbe was living in the Scottsdale, Arizona area. I asked him if he could jot down some thoughts which I could use as an ending/closing quote for my article. The worn and faded note reads:
You can view or download Kermit's CODE OF THE MOUNTED from the Internet Archive. This one has some great footage of Kermit doing roman riding, more: https://archive.org/details/CodeOfTheMounted1935-KermitMaynard The Family Search website, California Death Index, and the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) provide more info on Kermit Maynard and family:
Find A Grave website has photos of the grave markers for Kermit Maynard and wife Edith who are interred at Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, North Hollywood, California: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6243/kermit-maynard
Newspaper death and funeral notices on Kermit Maynard - these will open in a separate window / tab: The Historic Columbus Indiana website has a 1916 Columbus High School yearbook showing Senior Kermit Maynard - and the info printed next to the photo shows his nickname as "Kern" (with an N not an M): http://www.historiccolumbusindiana.org/yearbooks/1916/24.html
Dave Smith had a website on 'Hoosiers' (Maynard and other actors and actresses born in Indiana), but the site was not working as of June, 2021: http://www.whenmoviesweremovies.com/ There's more on Ken, Kermit and the Maynard family at the Switzerland County INGenWeb: http://www.ingenweb.org/inswitzer/bios/maynardKen.html The website for the Switzerland County Visitors Center in Vevay, Indiana is: https://switzcotourism.com/ |