Glenn Strange
1899-1973
Known for Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein, House of Dracula, Marty.
Biography
At various times in his life a rancher, deputy sheriff and rodeo performer, this huge, towering (6' 5") beast of a man was born George Glenn Strange in Weed, New Mexico, on August 16, 1899, but grew up a real-life cowboy in Cross Cut, Texas. Of Irish and Cherokee Indian descent, he taught himself (by ear) the fiddle and guitar at a young age and started performing at local functions as a teen. In the late 1920s, Glenn and his cousin, Taylor McPeters, better known later as the western character actor Cactus Mack, joined a radio singing group known as the "Arizona Wranglers" that toured throughout the country. Gunsmoke Strange first appeared on Gunsmoke in 1960 after James Arness asked him, "When are you going to do a Gunsmoke? I like to work with big guys." During Gunsmoke's sixth season, Strange played a Long Branch customer in "Old Faces" and a cowboy in "Melinda Miles". Strange began playing Sam Noonan during the seventh season and continued in the role for 222 episodes. In 1972 Strange was diagnosed with lung cancer but worked as long as he was able. Five of his episodes were broadcast after his death. His last appearance was on the November 26, 1973, episode "The Hanging of Newly O'Brien". Death On September 20, 1973, at age 74, Strange died of lung cancer in Los Angeles, California. Singer Eddie Dean, with whom Strange had collaborated on various songs and opening themes for films, sang at Strange's funeral service as a final tribute. Strange is interred at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery. CLR
Movie Credits
The Legend Of The Lone Ranger (1952)
The Mad Monster (1942)
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Texas Trouble Shooters (1942)
The Fighting Gringo (1939)
Blazing Sixes (1937)
Comin' Round the Mountain (1951)
Sonora Stagecoach (1944)
The Monster Maker (1944)
Black Market Rustlers (1943)
Haunted Ranch (1943)
Bandit Ranger (1942)
Stagecoach Buckaroo (1942)
Fugitive Valley (1941)
Arizona Days (1937)
Roll, Thunder, Roll! (1949)
House of Dracula (1945)
Come on Danger (1942)
Down Texas Way (1942)
Stage to Chino (1940)
A Tenderfoot Goes West (1936)
Last Stagecoach West (1957)
Arizona Trail (1943)
False Colors (1943)
Little Joe, the Wrangler (1942)
Wide Open Town (1941)
Quantrill's Raiders (1958)
The Road to Denver (1955)
The Vanishing American (1955)
Forty Thieves (1944)
Arizona Legion (1939)
Days of Jesse James (1939)
Land Beyond the Law (1937)
Lawless Range (1935)
Westward Ho (1935)
The Halliday Brand (1957)
Saddlemates (1941)
Law of the Pampas (1939)
The Llano Kid (1939)
The New Frontier (1935)
Double Crossbones (1951)
Comanche Territory (1950)
Boot Hill Bandits (1942)
Riders of Death Valley (1941)
Alias Jesse James (1959)
Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)
The Lawless Breed (1952)
Dude Cowboy (1941)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of The Wolf Man (1999)
San Francisco Docks (1940)
California Mail (1936)
The Star Packer (1934)
Wild Horse Stampede (1943)
Rough Riders' Round-up (1939)
Avenging Waters (1936)
Cattle Queen of Montana (1954)
Wagons West (1952)
Bad Men of the Border (1945)
The Desperadoes (1943)
The Hurricane Express (1932)
Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)
The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap (1947)
Trailin' West (1936)
The Lusty Men (1952)
Devil's Canyon (1953)
Sinbad the Sailor (1947)
Marty (1955)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
Range War (1939)
Cyclone of the Saddle (1935)
Calamity Jane (1953)
Saratoga Trunk (1945)
The Spy Ring (1938)
The Range Feud (1931)
Four Faces West (1948)
Stormy (1935)
The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
Backlash (1956)
Ride Him, Cowboy (1932)
