Robert (Tex) Allen

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Robert (Tex) Allen (also credited as Bob Allen) was an actor B-movie westerns between 1935 and 1944. Born Irvine E. Theodore Beahr on March 28, 1906 in Mount Vernon, New York USA, Allen went on to graduate from the New York Military Academy in 1924, where he rode in the academy cavalry and from Dartmouth College in 1929 with a degree in English. He worked for a bank which soon failed in the Great Depression. He flew briefly as a commercial pilot before signing a standard acting contract with Columbia Pictures in 1935. He also later contracted with 20th Century Fox.

Allen's first notable role was the male lead in Love Me Forever (1935), for which he won a Box Office Award. He gained additional notice as the star of When You're in Love (1936), opposite Grace Moore. After the departure of cowboy star Ken Maynard, Allen was plugged into producer Larry Darmour's formulaic Ranger pictures. Along with sidekick Wally Wales (played by Hal Taliaferro), he redefined the role, starring in six films for director Spencer Gordon Bennet in that year alone. These films became known as the Bob Allen Ranger series.

With parts harder to come by, Allen became a real estate broker in 1964. He remained somewhat active into the 1970s, appearing on Broadway, in daytime soap operas and touring across the nation performing on stage. Allen was married to stage and silent-movie actress Evelyn Peirce. Their son, Ted Baehr, born in 1946, is a prominent Christian media critic. They also have a daughter, Katherine Meyer. Robert Allen died on October 9, 1998 of complications from cancer.

[edit] Filmography

1931 - The Reckless Hour
1933 - Saturday's Millions"
1934 - Menace; Jealousy
1935 - The Black Room; Law Beyond the Range; Death Flies East; Guard That Girl; I'll Love You Always; Fighting Shadows; Air Hawks; The Revenge Rider; Crime and Punishment; White Lies; Party Wire; Love Me Forever; I'm a Father
1936 - Lady of Secrets; Craig's Wife; The Unknown Ranger; Pride of the Marines; When You're in Love
1937 - The Awful Truth; Law of the Ranger; Let's Get Married; The Big Broadcast of 1938; Reckless Ranger; The Rangers Step In; Rio Grande Ranger; Ranger Courage
1938 - Keep Smiling; Everybody's Baby; Up the River; Meet the Girls
1939 - Fighting Thoroughbreds; Winter Carnival; Winner Take All
1940 - City of Chance
1943 - Blazing Guns
1944 - Death Valley Rangers
1945 - She Gets Her Man
1947 - The Web
1964 - Terror in the City
1966 - Naked Evil
1967 - Hell's Angels on Wheels
1970 - Dirtymouth
1986 - Raiders of the Living Dead