Jump to content

Andy Clyde

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the American politician, seeAndrew Clyde.

Andy Clyde
Clyde inRed Lights Ahead(1936)
Born
Andrew Allan Clyde

(1892-03-25)March 25, 1892
Blairgowrie,Perthshire, Scotland
DiedMay 18, 1967(1967-05-18)(aged 75)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park,Glendale,California
OccupationActor
Years active1921–1966
Spouse
Elsie Maud Tarron
​
​
(m.1932)​
Children1

Andrew Allan Clyde(March 25, 1892 – May 18, 1967), was a Scottish-born American film and television actor whose career spanned some 45 years. In 1921 he broke into silent films as aMack Sennettcomic, debuting inOn a Summer Day.He was the fifth of six children of theatrical actor, producer andmanagerJohn Clyde.[1]Clyde's brother David and his sister Jean also became screen actors.[2][3]

Clyde may be best known for his work as California Carlson in theHopalong Cassidymovie series. He is also known for recurring roles in two television series: the farmerCully WilsoninCBS'sLassieand as the neighbor George MacMichael onABC'sThe Real McCoys.

Acting career

[edit]

Theatre and film

[edit]

At age 19, he toured Scotland withDurward Lely& Company, playing Connor Martin in the romantic Irish musical costume drama The Wearin’ o’ the Green.[4][5][6] In 1912,[7]Clyde first came to the United States on tour in theGraham MoffatPlayers, playing the part of Bob Dewar in avaudevillecomedy sketch depicting tenement life in Glasgow calledThe Concealed Bed.[8][9][10][11]Years later, at the invitation of his close friendJames Finlayson,he returned to the United States in 1920 to join producer Mack Sennett's roster of comedians.[12]

Clyde's mastery of makeup allowed him tremendous versatility; he could play everything from grubby youngguttersnipesto oldcrackpotscientists. He hit upon an "old man"characterization in hisshortcomedies,and it was immediately successful. Adopting a gray wig andmustache,he used this makeup for the rest of his short-subject career, and the character was so durable that he literally grew into it. He starred in short comedies longer than any other actor (32 years, 1924–56).[13]

He made a successful transition to sound films while in Mack Sennett's employ. In 1932, when the Sennett studio was facing financial problems, Sennett cut Clyde's salary. Clyde objected and left the studio. Sennett then put the "old man" costume oncharacter actorIrving Bacon.Audiences saw through the masquerade, and Sennett abandoned the character.Educational Pictures,Sennett's distributor, took over the Andy Clyde series, which continued for two more years.

Columbia Pictureslaunched itsshort subjectdepartment in 1934 and Andy Clyde was one of the first comedy stars signed by producerJules White.Unlike many of the Columbia short-subject comedians who indulged in broad facial and physical gestures, Clyde was subtler and more economical: his comic timing was so good that he could merely lift an eyebrow, shudder slightly, or mutter "My, my, my" for humorous effect.

Clyde also kept busy as a character actor in feature films. He almost always appeared as a supporting actor: for example, he played a sad provincial constable in theKatharine HepburnfilmThe Little MinisterandCharles Coburn's drinking buddy inThe Green Years.He did play a couple of leads for low-budget, independent producers: the comedyRed Lights Ahead(1935) and the westernSundown Riders(1944).

By the 1940s, Clyde had been gravitating toward outdoor andwesternadventures. Clyde is well remembered for his roles as a comicsidekick.He was most often associated withWilliam Boydin theHopalong Cassidyseries, as "California Carlson" (a role he also played in theHopalong Cassidy radio program.He stayed with the Cassidy feature films until the series lapsed in 1948. Clyde also worked on the Hopalong Cassidy "record readers" issued byCapitol Recordsin the 1950s.[14]Clyde's home studio, Columbia, cast Clyde prominently in feature-length musical westerns of the mid-1940s.

In 1949 Clyde became the comic sidekick toMonogram Pictures' newest cowboy starWhip Wilson.They worked together through 1951. In 1955 Clyde signed withRepublic Picturesfor two features, aJudy Canovacomedy and aJohn Paynewestern.

Through the years Andy Clyde was still starring in his two-reel comedies for Columbia, where he had been making six shorts annually. This was modified in 1942 to four per year, then in 1945 to three per year, and finally in 1947 to two per year, which became Clyde's standard schedule for the next nine years. These reductions were not due to any loss in Clyde's popularity; gradual budget cuts forced the studio to make fewer short subjects. From the mid-1940s, the studio was able to produce lower-budgeted remakes, editing older scenes into the new ones.You Were Never Uglier(1944), for example, was remade in 1952 asHooked and Rooked,with Andy Clyde andEmmett Lynnrepeating their roles in the new sequences, but with new female co-stars replacing the vintage-1944 players. Clyde was such an audience favorite that he continued to star in Columbia shorts through 1956, when his last theatrical film was released (the short subjectPardon My Nightshirt). With his history of 79 Columbia shorts, he outlasted every comedian on the Columbia payroll exceptThe Three Stooges.[15]

Television career

[edit]

Clyde began working in the new TV industry in 1952, making guest appearances in established series. He appeared inRod Cameron'ssyndicatedseriesCity Detective.OnThe Pepsi-Cola PlayhouseandStudio 57in 1954 and 1955, respectively, he portrayed Tom Harper in the episode "Santa's Old Suit," with co-starJane Darwell.Clyde guested in several other early series as well, includingThe People's Choice,Soldiers of Fortune,My Little Margie,The Bob Cummings Show,and (as a crafty rural detective)Lock Up.

He appeared in two children's programs: as Colonel Jack in four episodes ofCircus Boyand as Homer Tubbs in four segments of ABC'swesternseriesThe Adventures of Rin Tin Tin.

In 1959, Clyde portrayed millionaire "Andrew C. Cooley" in theCBSfantasydramaThe Millionaire.In 1961, on CBS'sThe Andy Griffith Show,Clyde played Frank Myers, an eccentric old man whom the town tries to evict in the episode "Mayberry Goes Bankrupt". In 1964, Clyde reunited with Walter Brennan for one episode of the new ABC series,The Tycoon.

In 1962–1963, Clyde portrayed Dr. Parkinson in three episodes of the NBCmedical dramaDr. Kildare,starringRichard Chamberlain.

Clyde often worked in TV westerns. InRory Calhoun's CBS western seriesThe Texan,he played Wild Jack Hastings in "The Troubled Town" and in additional segments as the character Andy Miles. Clyde further guest-starred in such westerns asWagon Train,Tales of the Texas Rangers,The Restless Gun,Jefferson Drum,Buckskin,Fury,Shotgun Slade,andThe Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp(as Billy Buckett). In 1959, Clyde played Captain Gibbs in two segments of the ABC/Warner Brotherswestern seriesColt.45.As "Scatterbrain Gibbs", he appeared withTol Averyas Barnes in "Queen of Dixie"; in the story line, series character Christopher Colt (Wayde Preston) is aboard aMississippi Rivergambling boat and encounters a ring ofcounterfeiters.Clyde subsequently played "Captain Gibbs" in the episode "Yellow Terror", withBrad Dexterin the role of John Barker. Clyde andDenver Pylewere cast in the 1960 episode "The Man Who Wanted Everything" of the ABC western dramaThe Man from Blackhawk,starringRobert Rockwellas a rovinginsurance investigator.On CBS'slong-running western seriesGunsmoke,Clyde portrayed Poney Thompson in "Snakebite" in 1958 and Henry Squires in "Durham Bull" in 1962.

As series regular or semi-regular

[edit]

Andy Clyde worked steadily in four TV series. It is for these series that he is best known among TV fans. In 1957 he became a recurring cast member ofThe Real McCoysas George MacMichael, the friendly neighbor of "Grandpa Amos McCoy" (Walter Brennan). Clyde worked well opposite Brennan, with the devious Amos usually entangling George in his latest ideas between games of checkers.

Clyde as George MacMichael, charmed byJoan Blondellas theMcCoys'Aunt Win

In 1959, concurrently with theMcCoysseries, Clyde joined theLassieseries as the eccentric farmer and nature lover Cully Wilson, the friend to Timmy Martin, portrayed by child actorJon Provost.After the Martin family was written out of the series, Cully became the dog's temporary guardian in several episodes before the series shifted to a forest-ranger format.

From 1960 to 1962, Clyde was cast as the farmer Pa McBeam in five episodes of theNBCwestern seriesThe Tall Man,starringBarry SullivanandClu Gulager.Judy Nugentplays McBean's daughter, June. In three episodes,Olive Sturgessplayed daughter May McBeam. In "The Reluctant Bridegroom" (February 18, 1961),Ellen Corbyis featured as Hannah Blossom, a potentialmail order bride,for Pa McBeam. Through a fraudulent letter written by the McBeam daughters, Hannah is lured toLincoln,New Mexico, the setting of the series, to seek out the potential husband. In "Substitute Sheriff" (January 6, 1962), the McBeam daughters enlist their father as an acting sheriff in a scheme to thwart the seizure of their property for right-of-way by the railroad.Bob Hastingsappears in this episode as J. S. Chase.

In 1964-65 Clyde appeared as Grandpa Jim Anderson in five episodes of the ABC military comedyNo Time for Sergeants,starringSammy Jackson.The series was inspired by an earlierAndy Griffithfilmof the same name.

Personal life

[edit]

On September 23, 1932, Clyde married Elsie Maud Tarron, a former member of theSennett Bathing Beauties,[12]inOntarioinSan Bernardino County,California.Jules Whiterecalled that Clyde became a father in middle age, and was devastated when his son, John Allan Clyde, died ofmeningitisat age nine.[16]

Clyde was close friends withBen Turpin,serving as the witness at Turpin's second marriage[17]and apallbearerat his funeral.[18]

He became anaturalized United States citizenon September 24, 1943.[19]

Clyde continued to perform on television until his death of natural causes on May 18, 1967.[13]His remains are interred atGlendale'sForest Lawn Memorial Park.[20]

Legacy

[edit]

On February 8, 1960, Clyde received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fameat 6758Hollywood Boulevard,for his contribution to the motion pictures industry.[21][22]

Selected filmography

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^John Clyde: Scotland's first film star,Helensburgh Heritage. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  2. ^David Clyde: Stage and film actor,Helensburgh Heritage. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  3. ^Jean Clyde: Stage actress,Helensburgh Heritage. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  4. ^"DURWARD LELY AT BATHGATE".West Lothian Courier.August 18, 1911. p. 4.
  5. ^"AUCHTERARDER".Strathearn Herald.August 19, 1911. p. 6.
  6. ^"MARKINCH".Fifeshire Advertiser.February 17, 1912. p. 10.
  7. ^"New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JJY3-W2K:16 August 2019), Andrew A. Clyde, 1912.
  8. ^"THE VAUDEVILLE WEEK IN FRISCO: Orpheum, San Francisco, July 1".The Billboard.July 13, 1912. p. 12.
  9. ^"NEW VAUDEVILLE ACTS: Graham Moffat's Players, in 'The Concealed Bed', Keith's Union Square, Evening, Oct. 21".The New York Clipper.October 26, 1912. p. 14.
  10. ^"VAUDEVILLE AND BURLESQUE NEWS: Keith's Union Square, New York, Oct. 24".The Billboard.November 2, 1912. p. 10.
  11. ^"AMUSEMENTS: Temple Theater".Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.February 11, 1913.
  12. ^abAndy Clyde: Film star,Helensburgh Heritage. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  13. ^abOkuda, Ted; Watz, Edward; (1986).The Columbia Comedy Shorts,McFarland & Company, Inc., p. 206.ISBN0-89950-181-8
  14. ^Hall, Roger."Alan Livingston and The Capitol Record Readers".Archived fromthe originalon August 31, 2011.RetrievedApril 2,2009.
  15. ^Okuda and Watz, p. 69.
  16. ^David Bruskin.Behind the Three Stooges: The White BrothersISBN1-882766-00-8.
  17. ^"California, County Marriages, 1850–1952, Bernard Turpin and Babette Dietz, 08 Jul 1926".FamilySearch.Los Angeles, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,074,649.RetrievedJanuary 25,2016.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: location (link)
  18. ^"Veterans of Films Honor Ben Turpin".Prescott Evening Courier. July 4, 1940.RetrievedNovember 23,2010.
  19. ^"California, Southern District Court (Central) Naturalization Index, 1915–1976, Andrew Allan Clyde, 1943".FamilySearch.Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States, National Archives and Records Service, Los Angeles Branch, Laguna Niguel; FHL microfilm 1,562,035.RetrievedJanuary 25,2016.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: location (link)
  20. ^Wilson, Scott.Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons,3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
  21. ^"Andy Clyde | Hollywood Walk of Fame".www.walkoffame.com.RetrievedJuly 18,2016.
  22. ^"Andy Clyde".Los Angeles Times.RetrievedJuly 18,2016.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andy_Clyde&oldid=1241136898"