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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.


Douglas Fowley

Real name: Daniel Vincent Fowley

1911 - 1998


Born and raised in New York City, Douglas Fowley wound up in Hollywood during the 1930s.  Under a contract at Fox, he appeared in numerous roles in films of that studio during the late 1930s - early 1940s, including the Mr. Moto, Charlie Chan and Laurel & Hardy series. Typecast as a villain, and often wearing a moustache, Fowley worked at many of the A and B film studios and production units during the 1940s. He served in the Navy during World War II.

Several of his meatier supporting roles were:

In the 1940s through 1950s, Fowley also did some low budget westerns, appearing in films of Roy Rogers at Republic, Eddie Dean at PRC, Tim Holt at RKO, the Hopalong Cassidy series, more.

In some of his roles - especially his later work - Fowley would remove his false teeth (or 'click' his false teeth) - an example is his performance as the cold and battle weary G.I. in MGM's BATTLEGROUND (1949).

As with many of the performers of the period, Fowley ultimately wound up in TV playing bit parts and character roles in various shows from the 1950s through the 1970s, and that included TVers like WILD BILL HICKOK and PERRY MASON. However, his most memorable television work was the three or four year period in the late 1950s when he portrayed gunslinger Doc Holliday, the helper to Hugh O'Brian in THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF WYATT EARP (Myron Healey portrayed Holliday during one season of that series when Fowley was busy with movie work).

His personal life was a bit chaotic. There were six or seven marriages, including a 1938-1943 marriage to actress Shelby Payne.

Fowley died May 21, 1998 at the Motion Picture and Television Home and Hospital in Los Angeles.

You may want to go to the In Search Of ... page on the Old Corral and then to the California Death Records database. There you will find a record for: Douglas Vincent Fowley, born 5/30/1911 in New York, Mother's maiden name of O'Connor, and he passed away on 5/21/1998.

  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Douglas Fowley: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0288830/

Find A Grave website notes that Fowley is interred at the Laurel Cemetery, Murrieta (Riverside County), California: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10539053/douglas-fowley




Courtesy of Boyd Magers)

Above from left to right are Douglas Fowley, Emmett Vogan, Roy Rogers and Roy Barcroft in a 1954 blue duotone re-release lobby card from ALONG THE NAVAJO TRAIL (Republic, 1945). Fowley and Barcroft report to Vogan who is the president of an oil drilling company that needs Dale Evans' ranch for a pipeline.



(Image courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from L-to-R are Douglas Fowley, Lynne Carver, stuntman Ted Mapes (with hat), Steve Clark, Terry Frost (with hat), Johnny Mack Brown, Lynton Brent (partial face), a very old Jack Rockwell (wearing the suit), Tom Quinn and Raymond Hatton in a scene from JMB's DRIFTING ALONG (Monogram, 1946).



(From Old Corral image collection)

Above - singin' cowboy Eddie Dean is locked in battle with Douglas Fowley in a lobby card from WILD COUNTRY (PRC, 1947). The moustached guy standing on the right is Forrest Matthews.



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