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Perrin's last hurrah as a leading man was in a brief series churned out by he and William Berke under their Berke-Perrin 'Blue Ribbon' logo.  Am unsure whether that 'Perrin-Burke' relationship meant that Perrin was involved in the financing ... and/or production ... and/or simply the star, with Berke handling the production and directing under his Lester Williams pseudonym.

Below - trade publications announced the "6 dynamic action dramas" for 1936 by Berke-Perrin productions.  Only four were completed and released.



WILDCAT SAUNDERS (Atlantic, 1936) has Jack as boxer Wildcat Saunders who needs to get back into fighting shape.  A training camp is set up at a ranch ... and the plot involves the robbery of a fortune in gems.

HAIR-TRIGGER CASEY (Atlantic, 1936) has Army officer Perrin returning to his ranch to find alien smuggling.

DESERT JUSTICE (Atlantic, 1936) has Perrin as a former Policeman whose brother (future stuntman Dave Sharpe) is involved in bank stickups.

GUN GRIT (Atlantic, 1936) has FBI agent Perrin traveling out west to thwart a gang who are stealing cattle and then pushing a 'protection racket' scheme on the local ranchers.


(Courtesy of Les Adams)



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above are Perrin, Braveheart the dog, and a very young Dave Sharpe before his stuntman days at Republic, in a still from GUN GRIT (Atlantic, 1936), one of the four 'Blue Ribbon' westerns from Perrin and William Berke.


Perrin must have recognized that his starring career was going downhill ... or he just needed some extra bucks. So, while playing the lead in an occasional sagebrush yarn, he also did bit and supporting roles in other movies (sometimes billing himself as 'Jack Gable' or 'Richard Terry').  Thus, in the early to mid 1930s, he can be spotted in Ken Maynard oaters at Tiffany and World Wide, with Tom Tyler at Reliable, in serials for Nat Levine's Mascot Pictures, and more.

As best I can recall, Perrin's last meaty role was as Davy Crockett in THE PAINTED STALLION (Republic, 1937) chapterplay. From then on, the parts got smaller and he dropped further down in the cast listing.  Around 1950, his friend William Berke was doing films for Robert L. Lippert, and Perrin wound up with some small parts in those.  Perrin's last film credit is around 1960.  I've not found any mention of him performing with circuses or traveling shows.

Apparently, he was able to bank or invest some money, and his retirement was pleasant. Perrin died of a heart attack on December 17, 1967.

There were three marriages. As noted earlier, his first was to actress Josephine Hill in June, 1920 and daughter Patricia was born circa 1923. That pairing ended in a 1931 divorce. The 1940 census lists Perrin's wife as Lois M. Perrin (and there's an 11 year old stepson named William Bates, so I assume her prior married name was Lois Bates). The December, 1967 funeral notice for Jack mentions his wife Ethel and a daughter.

Les Adams has about 240 sound film credits for Perrin. That number includes 123 westerns and 24 serials. His work at Republic Pictures consisted of bits and supporting roles in about a dozen films during the period 1937 - 1948. A filmography of Perrin's westerns and serials is included in a later webpage.

The Motion Picture Herald and Boxoffice polls were conducted from about the mid 1930s through the mid 1950s.  With a few exceptions, the annual results would list the 'Top Ten' (or 'Top Five') cowboy film stars.  In most cases, the winners were what you would expect - Autry, Rogers, Holt, Starrett, Hoppy, etc.  Jack Perrin never achieved a ranking in these polls. However, it should be noted that the polls did not begin until the mid 1930s, which was at the end of his time as a B western hero.

Perrin wasn't the only silent western and serial hero that failed to sustain stardom in talkies.  Lots of others met the same fate, including Wally Wales, Jay Wilsey (Buffalo Bill, Jr.), Buddy Roosevelt, Buzz Barton and Bob Custer. I thought he deserved a bit better and wish he had the opportunity to work with better quality production companies. He and Starlight looked good. On the downside, Jack wasn't very accomplished in the choreographed film brawl, and much of his fisticuffs appear to be flailing around and wrestling. Jack Perrin is another of the forgotten western movie heroes.



(Courtesy of Randy Laing)

Above from left to right are Hal Taliaferro (Wally Wales) as "Jim Bowie", Hoot Gibson, and Jack Perrin as "Davy Crockett" in a scene from the chapterplay, THE PAINTED STALLION (Republic, 1937).



(From Old Corral collection)

Above, from left to right are Randall, Kenne Duncan, Glenn Strange, Jack Perrin and George Chesebro.  Carl Mathews is in back with the neckhold on Strange.  From Randall's LAND OF THE SIX GUNS (Monogram, 1940).



(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from left to right are Johnny Mack Brown, an older Jack Perrin, John Merton and Pierce Lyden in SHADOWS ON THE RANGE (Monogram, 1946). Perrin was about 50 years old when he did this film.



Starlight the Wonder Horse


(From Old Corral collection)

Above is Jack Perrin on his "Starlight the Wonder Horse" circa 1928. During the sound era, Perrin continued riding Starlight. The horse was also ridden by many western heroes including Jack Hoxie, Big Boy Williams, Smith Ballew, John Wayne, Bob Livingston, Tex Ritter, Fred Scott, Jack Randall, and Hoot Gibson. There's more on Starlight in the Trusty Steeds/Movie Horses section on the Old Corral.



Links

  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on:

          Jack Perrin: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0674741/
          Josephine Hill (1899 - 1989): https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0384420/

The Family Search website and newspaper obituary provide more on Lyman Wakefield Perrin and his three wives:

Find A Grave website has a picture of the grave marker for World War I U. S. Navy veteran Jack W. Perrin at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6079691/jack-perrin

Find A Grave has the marker for actress - and Perrin's former wife - Josephine Hill Brown who is interred at Desert Memorial Park, Cathedral City, Riverside County, California: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7410003/josephine-hill

Perrin has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: https://walkoffame.com/jack-perrin/

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science Special Collections, Margaret Herrick Library, includes the "Jack Perrin papers" (mostly scripts): https://collections.new.oscars.org/Details/Collection/602



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