A true character.
He was born Andrew Vabre Devine in 195 in Flagstaff, Arizona, a child of the “wild west.” A childhood injury left him with a unmistakably high pitched, gravelly voice that amplified his roly-poly looks, resulting in a long screen career — lasting more than a half century — as a genial supporting player.
Devine migrated to Hollywood during the silent era, appearing in various shorts until making his mark in the early Thirties. He was among the newcomers, playing a fireman, a a popular Universal serial, 1931’s Heroes of the Flames. (Other fresh faces in the picture were Walter Brennan and Bruce Cabot.)
A former athlete and pretty fair horseman, Devine soon found his nitch in westerns. It is believed that John Ford pick Devine to play Buck, the stagecoach teamster, in 1939’s Stagecoach, because he actually experience handling horse teams.
Devine had parts in some pretty good pictures, in fact a half dozen best picture Oscar nominees including 1956’s Around the World in 80 Days and 1962’s How The West Was Won.
And, of course, Ford picked him to portray a town marshall in 1962’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, costarring James Stewart and John Wayne. Both stars become close friends with Devine and were conspicuously attended his funeral in 1977.
In his later years, Devine successfully shifted his benign and likeable screen presence to television, He is perhaps best remembered for his appearances as Guy Madison’s sidekick in the 1951 series, Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok. He rode a horse name “Joker.”
A character to the end.
Joe, looks like your readers forgot ANDY DEVINE that’s for sure!
So many fine performances in both comedy and drama… The likes of IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD as a sheriff tracking the madness to TV’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE as Frisby the old store-keeper who even bores the martians with his tall, tall tales, when they kidnap him thinking he is a genius specimen.
If you go to Kingman, Arizona where he grew up, you’ll find they named the main street after him.
Devine was honorary mayor of Van Nuys, (near me) for eleven years starting in 1938.
His body of work like his own physique is well rounded, from movies to radio and TV… And the fact that John Ford picked him to play Buck, the stagecoach teamster, in 1939’s STAGECOACH because he had actual experience driving a six-horse team, is a good piece of trivia to dazzle your friends with…
Or that he was an avid pilot and owned a flying school that trained flyers for the government during World War II…
One of his last roles was in 1976’s WON TON TON: THE DOG THAT SAVED HOLLYWOOD. Unfortunately, that old HOLLYWOOD cameo filled movie was a dog itself in it’s box-office performance.
Sadly, ANDY DEVINE should be worthy of comment to anyone who thinks of themselves as a true movie fan, CLASSIC or otherwise!
Sheriff Jingles was the greatest sidekick a hero could have. He and Gabby Hayes were my heroes as a little boy.
“Hey, Wild Bill, wait for me…!”
Hardly forgotten.
Don’t forget “Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!” on the totally surreal TV show “Andy’s Gang”