Arthur Hunnicutt | |
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in Stars in My Crown (1950) |
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Born | Arthur Lee Hunnicutt February 17, 1910 Gravelly, Arkansas, U.S. |
Died | September 26, 1979 Woodland Hills, California, U.S. |
(aged 69)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1942-75 |
Spouse | Pauline Lile |
Arthur Lee Hunnicutt (February 17, 1910 – September 26, 1979) was an American actor known for his portrayal of wise, grizzled, old rural characters. In one of his last movies, Moonrunners which was the precursor to The Dukes of Hazzard, he played the original Uncle Jesse.
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A native of Gravelly, Arkansas, Hunnicutt attended Arkansas State Teachers College but dropped out during his junior year when he ran out of money. He moved to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts where he joined up with a theatre company before moving to New York where he quickly found himself landing roles in Broadway productions. While touring as the lead actor in Tobacco Road, he developed the country character he would later be typecast as throughout his career. Hunnicutt often found himself cast as a character much older than himself.
Hunnicutt appeared in a number of films in the early 1940s before returning to the stage. In 1949 he moved back to Hollywood and resumed his film career. He played a long string of supporting role characters – sympathetic, wise rural types, as in The Red Badge of Courage (1951), The Lusty Men (1952),The Kettles in The Ozarks (1955) The Last Command (1955) (as Davy Crockett), The Tall T (1957) and El Dorado (1966).
In 1952, he earned an Oscar nomination for Supporting Actor in the Howard Hawks western The Big Sky.
Throughout the '50s, '60s, and '70s, Hunnicutt made nearly 40 guest appearances on American television programs such as Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Outer Limits, The Rifleman, Perry Mason, and The Twilight Zone.
In his later years, Hunnicutt served as Honorary Mayor of Northridge, California. He developed tongue cancer. He died in 1979 and is buried in the Coop Prairie Cemetery in Mansfield, Arkansas.
Year | Film | Role |
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1942 | Silver Queen | |
1943 | The Chance of a Lifetime | |
1949 | Border Incident | |
1949 | The Great Dan Patch | |
1950 | Stars in My Crown | |
1950 | Broken Arrow | |
1950 | Two Flags West | |
1951 | Sugarfoot | |
1951 | The Red Badge of Courage | |
1952 | The Big Sky | Zeb Calloway/Narrator |
1952 | The Lusty Men | |
1953 | Split Second | |
1954 | The French Line | |
1954 | She Couldn't Say No | |
1955 | The Last Command | Davy Crockett |
1955 | The Kettles in The Ozarks | |
1957 | The Tall T | Rintoon |
1962 | Twilight Zone The Hunt | Hyder Simpson |
1964 | Outer Limits Cry of Silence | Lamont |
1965 | Cat Ballou | Butch Cassidy |
1966 | El Dorado | Bull Harris |
1971 | The Million Dollar Duck | |
1974 | Harry and Tonto | |
1974 | The Spikes Gang | Kid White aka Billy Blanco |
1975 | Moonrunners | Uncle Jesse |