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Birth name: Charles John Holt, Jr. or Charles John Holt, III

1919 - 1973



(Courtesy of Culver Military Academy, Culver, Indiana)
Tim Holt was the son of Jack and Margaret (Woods) Holt, and was born February 5, 1919.  Father Jack was a member of Hollywood's early "royalty" and a bonafide silent film star.  The younger Holt often was with his father on location and even did a "kid role" in one of his dad's silents.  During the 1930s, he attended Culver Military Academy (CMA), a prestigious boarding school in north-central Indiana, located 45 minutes south of South Bend.  Culver's website is at: http://www.culver.org/, and I contacted the school back in 1999.

My special thanks to Alan Loehr, Director of Alumni Relations at Culver, who provided several photos of Tim Holt at Culver.  Mr. Loehr writes:

"Charles John 'Tim' Holt, III was a graduate of Culver Military Academy (CMA), class of '36.  Holt was wounded over Tokyo on the last day of World War II and was awarded the Purple Heart.  He was in Culver's famed Black Horse Troop.  His roommate during his two years was Hal Roach, Jr. '37, scion of another famous Hollywood family, who went on to a career producing movies and operating several studios.  Roach was the Captain of what was arguably CMA's greatest football team in the fall of '36, when they went undefeated and outscored opponents, 223-6.  Coincidentally, the two roommates died within months of each other.  Roach died of pneumonia in March of '72; Holt was stricken with cancer in August '72 and died in February of 1973."



(Courtesy of Culver Military Academy, Culver, Indiana)

Above - a platoon photo during a typical, snowy winter in Indiana.  Holt is in 3rd row from the bottom, on the far left. Blowup of his face shown below.




(Courtesy of Culver Military Academy, Culver, Indiana)

Getting ready for a polo match and young Tim Holt is on the far right.



(From Old Corral collection)
Left is Jennifer Holt (1920 - 1997), the daughter of movie star Jack Holt and sister of RKO cowboy hero Tim Holt.

She did a bunch of B westerns in the 1940s, co-starring with Johnny Mack Brown, Rod Cameron, Lash LaRue, Eddie Dean, others. And she also played the female lead in cliffhangers ADVENTURES OF THE FLYING CADETS (Universal, 1943) and HOP HARRIGAN (Columbia, 1946).


Right is Jack Holt (1888 - 1951), Tim's father.

He was one of the highest paid stars of the silent era, and his primary cinema work was at Paramount. Jack was also one of the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

When talkies arrived, he spent years doing westerns, adventure yarns, and even a serial for Columbia Pictures.

Jack and wife Margaret remained married through his death in 1951, though the couple had not lived together for many years.

(From Old Corral collection)


The Three Holts - Jack, Jennifer and Tim - never appeared together in a film. But Jack had a meaty role in one of Tim's RKO oaters, THE ARIZONA RANGER (1948). Tim and Jack also had roles in the Humphrey Bogart THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE and the silent THE VANISHING PIONEER (Paramount, 1928).

Jennifer, Tim and Jack did work together on one radio program - as guest stars on the September 22, 1946 episode of "All-Star Western Theater" which featured Foy Willing and the Riders of the Purple Sage.

In addition to Tim and Jennifer, there was step-daughter Imogene (nicknamed "Gene") who was from Margaret's first marriage. And despite many reports throughout the years, actor David Holt (1927 - 2003) was NOT the brother of Tim Holt nor the son of Jack Holt.



(Courtesy of Martha Crawford Cantarini)

Above photo taken January, 1937 at the Will Rogers Memorial polo field at the Uplifter's Club, Santa Monica, California.  The winners of the 1st annual polo tournament for the Will Rogers Memorial Trophy are, from L-to-R: film executive Walter Wanger, Tim Holt, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, and sportsman Carl Crawford. In the center is Mrs. Will Rogers.  Tim would have been around 19 years old at the time of this photo.



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