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. |
(Courtesy of Sam Lawson) | Frank Ellis Full name: Frank Birney Ellis 1897 - 1969 |
Frank Birney Ellis was born February 26, 1897 in Newkirk, Kay County, Oklahoma Territory, and his movie career began in 1920s silents starring Buffalo Bill Jr., Ken Maynard, Al Hoxie, Bob Custer, Wally Wales, Buddy Roosevelt and Bill Cody. In the 1930s, he did oaters at Columbia with Charles Starrett and Bill Elliott; at Republic with Gene Autry and the Three Mesquiteers; at Universal with Johnny Mack Brown; about a dozen Hopalong Cassidy films; many with Tim McCoy and Buck Jones; several cliffhangers for Nat Levine and Mascot; lots more. In the 1940s, he became a member of Monogram and PRC's stable of bad guys ... and his waistline had considerably expanded. At Monogram, you can spot him in over three dozen westerns with the Range Busters, Trail Blazers, Rough Riders, Jimmy Wakely, Whip Wilson, and Johnny Mack Brown. He did about five dozen 1940s westerns at Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). At PRC, he did villainy vs. Eddie Dean, Lash La Rue, Texas Rangers and Frontier Marshal trios, Lone Rider adventures starring George Houston and Bob Livingston, and the Billy the Kid / Billy Carson series with Bob Steele and Buster Crabbe. His work for Republic Pictures consisted of about 75 films during the period 1935 - 1953. Ellis was a favorite of prolific director Sam Newfield and producer Sam Katzman. He was employed in 60+ Newfield films scattered over the years 1935 - 1952, and most were westerns at PRC with Houston, Livingston, Steele and Crabbe. And during 1939 - 1954, he had roles in 20+ adventures produced by Sam Katzman. Most were 1940s - 1950s serials that Katzman did for Columbia Pictures. In B westerns, Frank was most often "the second or third or fourth henchman through the door", and many of his roles were unbilled / uncredited. And he did play the lead villain a time or two and an example is the Jack Randall starrer COVERED WAGON TRAILS (Monogram, 1940). He was better at portraying henchmen and bullies rather than the brains heavy. Ellis was another of the B western and serial performers who successfully transitioned to TV, and shows up in episodes of GUNSMOKE, BONANZA, WAGON TRAIN, THE VIRGINIAN, GENE AUTRY SHOW, ANNIE OAKLEY, lots more. Most of his television appearances were background roles as a townsman, barfly, etc. He had a unique voice which I immediately recognize. And when I originally did this webpage on Ellis, I was surprised at his 1897 birth year - he seemed older to me. There's an interesting tidbit on Frank's World War II draft registration - he was employed by the Department of Water and Power, North Hollywood. Part-time job perhaps? There were two marriages for Frank. His first was to a Jessie M. with an unknown surname. In 1927, he married Madonna L. Shelburg and they were together through her death in 1964. Son Frank Wilner Ellis was born in 1934 and Family Trees at ancestry.com indicate that he died in 2008. Frank's film career spanned nearly fifty years with his first movie circa 1920 and his last was released in 1969. A few days shy of his 72nd birthday, Frank Ellis passed away February 23, 1969 at the Santa Clarita Hospital, Saugus, Los Angeles County, California. Medical conditions included COPD and emphysema, but cause of death was respiratory failure, lung cancer and pulmonary disease. Well liked and respected by his peers, Frank Ellis was one of the dependable western and serial performers - otherwise he would never have gotten so much work over so many years.
(Courtesy of Bill McCann) Left to right are Veda Ann Borg, Charles 'Slim' Whitaker, Bill Elliott and Frank Ellis (with his bushy mustache) in THE LAW COMES TO TEXAS (Columbia, 1939). (Courtesy of Les Adams) Above from L-to-R are Fuzzy St. John, I. Stanford Jolley and stage driver Frank Ellis in a lobby card from BLAZING FRONTIER (PRC, 1943), one of the Buster Crabbe oaters. Note the expanded waistline on Ellis. (Courtesy of Les Adams) From L-to-R in the front are Bud Geary, Bob Wilke and Roy Barcroft. Behind this threesome is Frank Ellis as "the fourth man through the door". From CODE OF THE PRAIRIE (Republic, 1944) which starred Smiley Burnette and Sunset Carson.
On the trail of Frank Ellis
Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Frank Ellis: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0254834/ The IMDb has a "people working together" search function. Ellis did a lot of films for Sam Newfield and Sam Katzman:
22 films from 1939 - 1954 for producer Sam Katzman, and most were serials: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?role=nm0254834,nm0441947 Ellis did a couple comedy shorts with the Three Stooges: https://threestooges.net/cast/actor/430 The Family Search website (free), Ancestry.com (subscription), Oklahoma records index, California Death Index, and death certificate provide more on Frank Ellis and family:
Boyd Magers' Western Clippings website has a profile on Frank Ellis: http://www.westernclippings.com/heavies/frankellis_charactersheavies.shtml |
Some Ellis biographies have him managing amateur / semi-pro baseball teams in the early - mid 1940s ... and his team won the San Fernando Valley championship in 1944. That attribution to our B western movie guy is suspect. Newspapers.com had several dozen articles circa 1942 - 1945 about Frank Ellis / Frank N. Ellis managing various local baseball teams including the "Reseda Athletics", and "Encino Oaks", both of which were in Los Angeles County. The "Encino Oaks" team had civilian and military members. But none of the articles mention coach Ellis being an actor or having ties to Hollywood and movies. There was a 1941 newspaper report that Frank N. Ellis was hired as a physical education instructor at Arrowview Junior High School in San Bernardino, California. Subsequent articles have him coaching baseball, track, tennis, and other sports at Arrowview. And in the statistics table above, Frank has a lot of movie work in the 1940s which would minimize his free time for coaching, team practices, and games. Another unsolved mystery. |
(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above from left to right are Monte Montague being subdued by Bob Custer while oldster Richard Carlyle is restrained by a young and thinnish Frank Ellis in Custer's QUICK TRIGGER LEE (Big 4, 1931). (Courtesy of Les Adams) In the above still and crop/blowups, Ken Maynard is prone among an entire regiment of henchies in THE FIDDLIN' BUCKAROO (Universal, 1933). From L-to-R are Slim Whitaker, Bud McClure, Frank Ellis (face in shadows), Roy Bucko (with Maynard's pearl handled six-shooter in his belt), Hank Bell (with Maynard's other pearl handled six-shooter in his belt), Jack Kirk (face in shadows), Jack King (tall hat), Fred Kohler, partial face of unidentified guy, and Buck Bucko. (From Old Corral Collection) Left to right in this lobby card from TOO MUCH BEEF (Normandy, 1936) are a clean shaven Frank Ellis, Jack King, hero Rex Bell and Horace Murphy. (Courtesy of Ed Phillips) L-to-R are Robert Walker, a thinnish Frank Ellis, Dick Rush, Edmund Cobb, John Doe #3, Charles Starrett, and George Morrell (behind and right of Starrett). In the background on horseback are Steve Clark and Tex Cooper (Buffalo Bill-looking character). Scene from TWO-FISTED SHERIFF (Columbia, 1937). (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above - Ray Corrigan tries to teach the milk drenched Frank Ellis how to drink the white liquid in an amusing bit from one of the weakest of the Range Busters, TEXAS TROUBLE SHOOTERS (Monogram, 1942). Ellis was about 45 years old when he did this film. (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above - Range Busters' Dave Sharpe and John 'Dusty' King have the drop on Frank Ellis in TEXAS TO BATAAN (Monogram, 1942). This was the 17th of 24 films in the Range Busters series and the plot involved the trio delivering Army horses to the Phillipines. At the end, there's a radio broadcast announcing the Pearl Harbor attack and the three heroes decide to enlist. (Courtesy of Minard Coons) Above from left to right are Ray 'Crash' Corrigan, Weldon Heyburn, Carl Mathews, Max 'Alibi' Terhune, Frank Ellis, and John 'Dusty' King in a scene from the Range Busters adventure ROCK RIVER RENEGADES (Monogram, 1942). (From Old Corral collection) Above from L-to-R are Kermit Maynard, Buster Crabbe, Frank Ellis and Charlie King in a lobby card and crop/blowup from FRONTIER OUTLAWS (PRC, 1944), another of the Crabbe "Billy Carson" series. Notice that Frank is wearing the same shirt
and hat in the above lobby card and photo below. (Courtesy of Ken Jones) Hoot Gibson (on the left) and Chief Thunder Cloud (on the right) have apprehended a trio of henchmen in OUTLAW TRAIL (Monogram, 1944), an entry in the Trail Blazers series. In the center from L-to-R are Jim Thorpe, Al Ferguson, and Frank Ellis. James Francis 'Jim' Thorpe (1888 - 1953) won the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympic games, but was later stripped of his medals since he had played pro sports. (From Old Corral collection) Above from left to right are Jack Hendricks (AKA Ray Henderson), Buster Crabbe, Frank Ellis, Al 'Fuzzy' St. John, Ray Jones and Lorraine Miller in a still from BORDER BADMEN (PRC, 1945). (From Old Corral collection) From left to right are Al 'Fuzzy' St. John, Frank Ellis, Lorraine Miller and Buster Crabbe in a lobby card from BORDER BADMEN (PRC, 1945). Left to right in the background are an unidentified guy (black hat), Victor Cox and Jack Hendricks (AKA Ray Henderson). Cox, Hendricks and Ellis were henchmen reporting to boss Charlie King. (From Old Corral collection) Above from left to right are Ted Adams, Frank Ellis, Shirley Patterson (Shawn Smith) and singin' cowboy Eddie Dean in Dean's TUMBLEWEED TRAIL (PRC, 1946). Shirley Patterson was the heroine in the first BATMAN (Columbia, 1943) serial. One of her last films - when she had re-named herself to "Shawn Smith" - was THE LAND UNKNOWN (Universal, 1957), a tale of a military expedition landing inside a volcano and finding dinosaurs. (Courtesy of Phil Arnold) Ellis picked up work in various films. Above is his 1946 Day Player Agreement to portray a "western character" in THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (Samuel Goldwyn, 1947) which starred Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo. His pay was $50.00 per day, $250.00 weekly. Adjusted for inflation, $250 in 1946 = $4,213 in 2024 dollars. |