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.

Hooper Atchley Full name: Lemuel Hooper Atchley 1887 - 1943

Hooper Atchley was born in Tennessee and his early years were spent on the stage in traveling repertory companies, theater and Broadway plays.

Newspapers and trade publications have many mentions of Atchley doing stage work circa 1910 - 1925. Examples: he was a member of the Majestic Stock Company of Fort Wayne, Indiana; he was the lead or a main player with the Academy of Music Stock Company of New York; with Baylies-Hicks Stock Company in Fall River, Massachusetts; New Bedford Players of New Bedford, Massachusetts; National Theater Stock Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Hathaway Players in Brockton, Massachusetts. And he played the lead in one of the touring companies doing 'The Bird of Paradise' for noted theatrical producer Oliver Morosco.

He arrived in Hollywood during the waning days of the silent film and found his niche portraying slick, slippery, conniving no-goods ... sometimes with a weak backbone and needing his gang to back him up. A smallish man with a thin moustache, he was the brains heavy in westerns and cliffhangers. Or ... he'd have a supporting/bit part as a crooked lawyer, crooked land agent, crooked politician, etc.

Serial fans can spot him in THE THREE MUSKETEERS (Mascot, 1933), MYSTERY MOUNTAIN (Mascot, 1934), ACE DRUMMOND (Universal, 1936), THE ADVENTURES OF RED RYDER (Republic, 1940), DICK TRACY VS. CRIME INC. (Republic, 1941), more. During the 1930s, he played opposite cowboy heroes Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Gene Autry, Tom Keene, Tim McCoy, Three Mesquiteers, others.

He committed suicide in 1943 by shooting himself. Some sources mention that he was despondent over medical problems (cancer and/or failing eyesight), but the motive for taking his own life is not mentioned in the trades and newspaper death notices.

His movie career amounted to about 200 films scattered over the years 1929 - early 1940s. And he did credited and uncredited roles in westerns, serials, and various A and B grade features. He appeared in about two dozen films at Republic Pictures during the period 1935 - 1943.

(Courtesy of Ed Tabor)

When Ed Tabor sent me the above from one of the 1932 editions of the Standard Casting Directory, I was surprised at Atchley's list of New York stage play credits.

In 2004, I was contacted by Mitch Collins and Arthur Phillips. Following is some family information and background on Hooper that was assembled from several of their e-mails:

Hooper's mother and Art Phillips' father were brother and sister. Hooper's mother was Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Her father was William Phillips who served in the Union Army during the Civil War and was a Tennessee Republican State Senator in the 44th General Assembly (1885-1887) representing Cocke, Jefferson and Sevier counties. He had owned slaves. He died in 1918. William was the grandfather of James Arthur Atchley who is mentioned as being a sometime member of the Tennessee General Assembly. He must have been Hooper's brother. (There is a 17 year old son named Arthur Atchley listed in the 1900 census.) He was also a Republican. Art's brother Lemuel Phillips was named after Hooper. Art heard of Hooper's death while in the Navy during WWII. He was on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ommaney Bay which was sunk by a kamikaze on January 4, 1945. According to the family, Hooper had been diagnosed with cancer and this was the probable reason for his suicide. Hooper Atchley's full name, birth and death dates are: Lemuel Hooper Atchley, April 30, 1887 to November 17, 1943.
(Footnote: his grave marker shows a November 17, 1943 death date, but his actual death date is November 16, 1943. See the death certificate information below.)

(Courtesy of Jim McDade)

In November, 2016, I connected with Jim McDade whose grandfather was James Arthur Atchley, Hooper's older brother. The image above is a full length portrait shot of Hooper in what appears to be a Civil War era uniform, and the photo was taken in 1917 by a photographer named Wilson. Jim found it in the home he grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and there's water damage at the bottom. Jim writes that "the family - or at least my mother - always called him "Uncle Doc". I have no idea where the name came from. But she was hospitalized for six months in a body cast in a New York City hospital in 1922. And "Uncle Doc" came to visit her every single day. So he must have been performing on Broadway at that time."

  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Atchley: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0040341/

The Internet Broadway Database lists Atchley in three New York plays during the years 1913-1929: https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/hooper-atchley-30292

The Family Search website, trade publications, newspapers, California Death Index, and the death certificate provide more on Hooper Atchley. There are two sets of 1940 census data taken April and June, 1940 - both are for our Hooper Atchley, but the second set has more info and full names.

• 1900 census summary and census takers worksheet - 44 year old Pleus (or Pleas) S. Atchley (occupation "merchant"), 47 year old Susan E., three daughters and two sons reside in Knoxville, Tennessee. The two sons are: 17 year old Arthur (who may be the James Arthur Atchley mentioned by Mitch Collins and Arthur Phillips above), and 13 year old Hooper Atchley. Both boys are listed "at school": https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MSDQ-74N
• World War I draft registration dated May, 1917 - Lemuel Hooper Atchley is single and his birth date and location are April 30, 1887 and Newport, Tennessee. Occupation is "actor farmer and miller", and he works for his father in Ebenezor, Tennessee: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-25094-59477-46?cc=1968530&wc=MM18-N2G:1941158068
• 1920 census summary and census takers worksheet - 32 year old Hooper Atchley (born Tennessee) is a lodger residing with William H. and Eva Goulding in Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. He is single and occupation is "Actor - Stock Company": https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXB1-6HH
• 1930 census summary and census takers worksheet - 40 year old Hooper Atchley (born Tennessee) and 42 year old wife Violet M. (born Massachusetts) are among many renters at the Aloaha Apartment Hotel in Los Angeles. No occupation listed for Hooper or his wife and he was not a World War I veteran: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XCJB-JW1
• 1940 census summary and census takers worksheet dated April 1, 1940 - 52 year old Hooper Atchley (born Tennessee) and 53 year old wife Violet own their home at 602 North Kilkea in Los Angeles, and they lived there in 1935. There is no occupation/employment info for Atchley: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K9C2-8H8
• 1940 census summary and census takers worksheet dated June 6, 1940 - 52 year old Lemuel Hoope [sic] Atchley (born Tennessee) and 52 year old wife Violet M. (born Massachusetts) own their home at 602 Kilkea in Los Angeles. Hooper's occupation/employment is "Actor - Motion Pictures", and in 1939, he worked 10 weeks and earned $2700.00: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K9C2-DK8
• World War II draft registration - Lemuel Hooper Atchley reports his birth date and location as April 30, 1887 in Newport, Cocke County, Tennessee. Occupation is "Free lance Motion Picture Actor - All Studios". Wife Violet is his contact and they still reside at 602 N. Kilkea Drive, Los Angeles: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-16386-65625-6?cc=1861144&wc=MMRW-1T6:1658203866
• Death certificate: 56 year old Lemuel Hooper Atchley was born April 30, 1887 in Ebenezer, Tennessee. On November 16, 1943, he died from a "gunshot wound of brain" at his home at 602 North Kilkea Drive, Los Angeles. There was an autopsy, coroner's investigation, and his death was ruled a suicide. His occupation was "Actor - Motion Pictures"; he was a World War I veteran; wife Violet Atchley was the death certificate informant. His father had an unknown first name and last name of Atchley; his mother was Elizabeth Phillips. Funeral Director was Reed Bros., Tapley and Geiger, Los Angeles and remains were transported to Tennessee for interment.
• California Death Index mirrors the death certificate: Lemuel Hooper Atchley, born 4/30/1887 in Tennessee, Mother's maiden name of Phillips, and he passed away on 11/16/1943. There is no corresponding record in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI): https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPQ7-J4Q
• Report of his suicide in the November 17, 1943 Los Angeles Evening Citizen newspaper: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111143594/motion-picture-actor-hooper-atchley/
• November 18, 1943 Los Angeles (California) Times newspaper carried a brief funeral notice for Atchley with "Services and interment Knoxville, Tenn.": https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111143853/funeral-service-and-interment-in/
• November 24, 1943 issue of Variety: "Hooper Atchley, 57, stage and screen actor, fatally shot himself Nov. 16 (1943) at his home in Hollywood."
• Find A Grave has a photo of the marker for Lemuel Hooper Atchley who is interred at Open Door Church Cemetery, Cocke County, Tennessee: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10023893/hooper-atchley

There was a genealogy webpage which included Hooper, his parents and siblings. It was no longer working when I checked in September, 2022: http://kimsfamilyhistory.com/f3048.htm

(Courtesy of Mitch Collins and Arthur Phillips) Atchley is interred at Phillips Cemetary near Newport, Tennessee. Note that the marker shows Atchley's passing as November 17, 1943. The death certificate has him passing away on November 16, 1943. Above - Hooper Atchley and Marion Shilling in a screen capture from Tom Keene's SUNDOWN TRAIL (RKO, 1931). (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above from L-to-R are Hooper Atchley, Alice Day and Lafe McKee in a lobby card from GOLD (Majestic, 1932) which starred Jack Hoxie. Hoxie and his white horse 'Scout' are shown on the left. Alice Day is also pictured in the top right circular inset. (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above - Johnny Mack Brown is surrounded by a trio of great moustached villains - from L-to-R are Bradley Page, Hooper Atchley and George Meeker in the non-western AGAINST THE LAW (Columbia, 1934).