Paul Hurst

Known for ActingBorn 1888-10-14Died 1953-02-27Traver, California, USA

Paul Hurst (October 15, 1888 - February 27, 1953) was an American character actor of prodigious output who also directed and wrote silent films. Much of his early work was in low budget western films. A native of central California, Hurst had a first-hand knowledge of Western lore, growing up surrounded by the multi-million acre Lux & Miller ranches which ran cattle throughout the state. Visiting San Francisco as a young man, Hurst became involved in amateur theatricals and thereafter traveled to Los Angeles to join in the emerging film industry there. He began appearing in films as early as 1912, most of them Westerns. By 1916, he was directing them as well (some sources report that he served in the First World War as a member of the French Foreign Legion, but the dates of his film projects make this story highly suspect). In the early 1920s, Hurst wrote several scenarios for films he directed and appeared in. He proved adept at working as a director for some of the cheapest producers along Gower Gulch, where movies were normally shot on location in a week or less and where stunt men were often the highest paid folks on the set. Within a few years, he focused all of his energies into acting, notably becoming one of the few successes to emerge from Hollywood's Poverty Row. Hurst quickly became one of the more prolific and familiar characters in American movies. With his blocky build and squinty demeanor, and with a raspy voice that enhanced his memorability once sound pictures came in, Hurst played villains and cops and comedy sidekicks in more than 250 films. His most famous role was that of the deserter shot dead on the stairway of Tara by Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939). Hurst was the sidekick to Monte Hale in a number of B-Westerns. Former Gower Gulch veteran John Wayne hired Hurst for Big Jim McLain (1952) knowing that Hurst was ill with terminal cancer. In 1953, at the age of 64, due to his health problems, Paul Hurst committed suicide. Date of Death: 27 February 1953, Hollywood, California (suicide)Read more

Movies & web series

The Old Frontier

Ranger of Cherokee Strip

Pioneer Marshal

Sundown Jim

Fifty Roads to Town

The Daring Young Man

Tomorrow's Youth

That's My Line

Lucky Larkin

The Third Alarm

Haunted Range

Rangeland

Table Top Ranch

The Diamond Runners

The Quicksands

Outcasts of the Trail

Son of God’s Country

Petticoat Politics

Virginia

The Big Race

The Ballad of Paducah Jail

Swellhead

The California Mail

The Lawless Legion

The Rainbow

Folly of Youth

Golden Silence

The Chief of Police

Charlie Chan's Courage

His First Command

The Missourians

Prince of the Plains

Madonna of the Desert

Calaboose

Dudes Are Pretty People

She's No Lady

North of Nome

Carnival

My Pal, the King

Gone with the Wind

The Devil's Saddle

The Red Raiders

Outlaw's Paradise

Roaring Road

Blue Streak O'Neil

The Midnight Message

The Demon Rider

A Western Engagement