The 'brains' and 'action' heavies who had meaty roles and lots of dialog ... and the players who were fathers, ranch owners, lawman, mayors, judges, lawyers, storekeepers, newspaper editors, wardens, etc.

Jack Rockwell Real name: John Rockwell Trowbridge 1890 - 1947

Jack Rockwell was approaching 40 years of age when he arrived in Hollywood in the late 1920s. His steely eyes and surly, snarling, cantankerous demeanor must have impressed the B western and serial directors for they used him in scores of films, generally portraying either a baddie, lawman or ranch owner.

I know he wore various outfits in his screen portrayals ... but the Rockwell "range costume" that is burned into my brain has him wearing that black hat, light colored shirt, tie and vest as shown in the still above. I'm also sure that Rockwell made at least one film appearance where he smiled or laughed ... but I don't recall it.

His first western appearances were at Tiffany and KBS WorldWide with Ken Maynard in the early 1930s. By the 1940s, most of Rockwell's menacing screen personna was lost due to his advancing age.

Les Adams has Rockwell in about 250 sound era films, which includes about 215 westerns and two dozen serials.  Among those 250 films are 55 for Republic Pictures during the period from 1935-1946, and most of those are B westerns.

Rockwell and supporting actor Charles S. Trowbridge (1882-1967) were brothers, and both were born in Mexico. Trowbridge didn't do many westerns , but was a prolific performer in both A and B films, often portraying a lawyer, judge, military officer, scientist ... and he had a great voice as well as a memorable enunciation with his words. I remember him as the Navy Admiral on Bataan who was the commanding officer of John Wayne and Robert Montgomery in John Ford's World War II PT Boat saga, THEY WERE EXPENDABLE (MGM, 1945). He was also the archaeologist killed by Tom Tyler (as Kharis) in THE MUMMY'S HAND (Universal, 1940) which starred Dick Foran and Wallace Ford. And he portrayed the governor who was a victim of the MYSTERIOUS DR. SATAN (Republic serial, 1940).

(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is Jack Rockwell's brother Charles S. Trowbridge as 'Major William Elliott' and being menaced by The Black Hangman in the serial, THE ADVENTURES OF THE FLYING CADETS (1943).

Dale, Jim and Richard discovered more about Rockwell. He was born October 6, 1890 and passed away on November 10, 1947 at the Glendale (California) Sanitarium and Hospital from 'hypostatic pneumonia'. The Rockwell home was on West Windsor Road in Glendale, California. Rockwell's wife, Helen B. Trowbridge, was still living at that Glendale address when she passed away in 1976. They are together in vaultage at the Grandview Memorial Park, Glendale, California. The death certificate shows his name as John Rockwell Trowbridge; his birthplace as Vera Cruz, Mexico; his Mother and Father were Charles Trowbridge of Decatur, Illinois, and Katie Stephens of Pachicca, Mexico; the death certificate also notes that he was a World War I vet.

You also may want to go to the In Search Of ... webpage on the Old Corral. Then go to the California Death Records database and you will find a record for John Trowbridge, and he passed away in 1947. However, you will not find a match in the Social Security Death Index, apparently because his family did not file a claim with Social Security for the death/burial payment.

  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has information on Jack Rockwell and his brother, Charles Trowbridge:

Jim Tipton's Find A Grave website notes that Rockwell is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10024390 , and his brother Charles S. Trowbridge is interred at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5438

(Courtesy of John Rockwell McFarland) Above are Jack Rockwell's silver spurs. Note the initials JR in gold. Above from L-to-R are Syd Saylor, Verna Hillie, Hal Taliaferro (Wally Wales), Ken Maynard, Jack Cheatham, Al Bridge and Jack Rockwell in the chapterplay, MYSTERY MOUNTAIN (Mascot, 1934). Above, from L-to-R are Jack Rockwell, H. B. Warner, Ken Maynard, Evalyn Knapp and Kenneth Thompson. The face between Maynard and Warner is William (Bill) McCall. Lobby card from IN OLD SANTA FE (Mascot, 1934). Rockwell appeared in about thirty of Ken Maynard's westerns. From L-to-R are Wally Wales/Hal Taliaferro, Joan Gale, Tom Mix and Jack Rockwell in a scene from the lengthiest serial ever made, THE MIRACLE RIDER (Mascot, 1935). Chapter 1, "The Vanishing Indian", was on five reels and ran for about 43 minutes. The total running time of the fifteen episodes was about 306 minutes. DICK TRACY was Republic's longest chapterplay, clocking in at a tad under 290 minutes. Above, Reb Russell has the drop on baddie Jack Rockwell in LIGHTNING TRIGGERS (Kent, 1935), believed to be the last film in Reb's short-lived film career. Rockwell did wear something besides a black hat ... above, from L-to-R are Rockwell, Karl Hackett, John Merton, Tim McCoy, Joe Girard, and Lafe McKee in LIGHTNIN' BILL CARSON (Puritan, 1936). In the above lobby card from ROGUE OF THE RANGE (A. W. Hackel/Supreme, 1936), a two-gunned Johnny Mack Brown points an accusing finger at Jack Rockwell.  Thx to Les Adams for help in identifying several of the players - from L-to-R are Tex Palmer, Rockwell, Blackie Whiteford (in purple shirt), Art (Arturo) Felix, unidentified player (behind Brown), Brown and George Ball. (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above from L-to-R are Bill Elliott, Roy Brent, Jack Rockwell, Anne Jeffreys, Georgia Cooper, John James and Al Taylor in THE MAN FROM THUNDER RIVER (1943).