American actor (1895–1962)
Roscoe Ates
Born (1895-01-20 ) January 20, 1895Died March 1, 1962(1962-03-01) (aged 67) Resting place
Forest Lawn Memorial Park ,
Glendale , California Nationality American Occupations Actor stage performer comedian vaudevillian musician Years active 1929–1961 Spouses
Clara Callahan
(
m. ;
div. 1945)
Leonore Belle Jumps
(
m. 1949; died 1955)
Beatrice Angelina Naranjo
(
m. )
Roscoe Blevel Ates (January 20, 1895 – March 1, 1962) was an American
vaudeville performer, actor of stage and screen, comedian and musician who primarily featured in
western films and television. He was best known as western character Soapy Jones.
[2] He was also billed as Rosco Ates .
Early years
Ates was born on January 20, 1895, in the northwest of
Hattiesburg , Mississippi, in the rural hamlet of Grange
[2] (Grange is no longer included on road maps). Ates spent much of his childhood learning how to manage a
speech impediment ,
[3] succeeding when he was 18.
[4]
Early career
Ates played violin to accompany silent films at a theater in Chickasha, Oklahoma.
[4] Following that experience, he became an entertainer as a concert violinist but found economic opportunities greater as a
vaudeville comedian, appearing as half of the team of Ates and Darling.
[5] For 15 years, he was a headliner on the
Orpheum Circuit ,
[6] and he revived his long-gone stutter for humorous effect
Military service
Ates served in World War II, training of[
clarification needed ] the Air Force fighter squad program in
Houston, Texas at
Ellington Field Texas .
Theater and personal appearances
On Broadway, Ates appeared as James McCracken in the musical comedy Sea Legs (1937).
[7]
In the late 1930s, Ates made a personal appearance tour in Scotland and England. He also toured selected American cities with Hollywood Scandals , a stage revue with 35 people.
[8]
Film career
His first film role was a ship's cook in South Sea Rose . The next year he was cast as "Old Stuff" in the
widescreen film
Billy the Kid starring
Wallace Beery . Here is a listing of his films:
South Sea Rose (1929) as Ship's Cook
Marianne (1929) as Orderly (uncredited)
City Girl (1930) as Reaper
Double Cross Roads (1930) as Ticket Agent (uncredited)
Caught Short (1930) as Bit Part (uncredited)
The Big House (1930) as Putnam
Check and Double Check (1930) as Brother Arthur
Love in the Rough (1930) as Proprietor
Soup to Nuts (1930) as Pants Presser at Al's Tailor Shop (uncredited)
Those Three French Girls (1930) as Elmer (uncredited)
Billy the Kid (1930) as Old Stuff
Remote Control (1930) as Stuttering Piccolo Player (uncredited)
Cimarron (1931) as Jesse Rickey
The Champ (1931) as Sponge
Politics (1931) as Peter Higgins, the town barber
Reducing (1931) as Stuttering Ticket Agent (uncredited)
A Free Soul (1931) as Man Shot at in Men's Room (uncredited)
The Great Lover (1931) as Roscoe
Too Many Cooks (1931) as Mr. Wilson
She Went for a Tramp (Short) (1931)
The Voice of Hollywood Number 7 (Second Series) (Short) (1931)
Cut It Out, Doctor (Short) (1931)
Use Your Noodle (Short) (1931)
A Clean-Up on the Burb (Short) (1931)
The Lone Starved Ranger (Short) (1931) as Roscoe, the Stuttering Man
The Big Shot (1931) as Rusty, the Barber
The Rainbow Trail (1932) as Ike Wilkins
Come on Danger! (1932) as Rusty
Renegades of the West (1932) as Dr. Henry Fawcett
Freaks (1932) as Roscoe
The Roadhouse Murder (1932) as Edmund Joyce
Ladies of the Jury (1932) as Andrew MacKaig
Never the Twins Shall Meet (1932) as Alfred Guppy / Albert Guppy
Young Bride (1932) as Mike, the Pool Hall Bartender
Hold 'Em Jail (1932) as Slippery Sam Brown
Sham Poo, the Magician (1932) as Roscoe / Tourist
Deported (1932)
Lucky Devils (1933) as Gabby
What! No Beer? (1933) as Schultz the Brewmaster
Alice in Wonderland (1933) as Fish
The Cheyenne Kid (1933) as Bush
The Past of Mary Holmes (1933) as Bill-Poster Klondike
King Kong (1933) as Press Photographer (uncredited)
Scarlet River (1933) as Ulysses Mope
Golden Harvest (1933) as Louis Jenkins aka Loopey Lou
She Made Her Bed (1934) as Santa Fe
Merry Wives of Reno (1934) as The Trapper
Woman in the Dark (1934) as Tommy Logan
Dizzy and Daffy (1934) as 'Call-'Em-Wrong Jones', the Umpire
So You Won't T-T-T-Talk (1934) as Elmer Whipple
The People's Enemy (1935) as Slip Laflin
Why Pay Rent? (Short) (1935) as Elmer Whipple
Once Over Lightly (Short) (1935)
On the Wagon (1935) as Elmer
Fair Exchange (1936) as Elmer Goodge
God's Country and the Woman (1937) as Gander Hopkins
Drug Store Follies (Short) (1937) as The Stuttering Comic
Alpine Cabaret (Short) (1937) as Elmer
The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938) as Oscar "Snake-Eyes" Smith
Riders of the Black Hills (1938) as Sheriff Brown
Gone with the Wind (1939) as a convalescing Confederate soldier. While scratching his back on a tent pole, he utters the line "These animules is driving me crazy!"
Three Texas Steers (1939) as Sheriff Brown
Rancho Grande (1940) as Tex
You're Next! (1940) as Mr. Tillson (uncredited)
The Cowboy from Sundown (1940) as Deputy Gloomy Day
Captain Caution (1940) as Chips
Chad Hanna (1940) as Ike Wayfish
Untamed (1940) as Bert Dillon
I Want a Divorce (1940) as Process Server (uncredited)
Fireman, Save My Choo Choo (Short) (1940) as Fireman
Bad Men of Missouri (1941) as Lafe
Sullivan's Travels (1941) as Hollywood Diner Counterman (uncredited)
I'll Sell My Life (1941) as Happy Hogan
Robin Hood of the Pecos (1941) as Jailer Guffy
She Knew All the Answers (1941) as Gas Station Attendant
Glove Affair (Short) (1941) as Uncle Tom
Ziegfield Girl (1941) as Janitor Changing Pictures (uncredited)
Mountain Moonlight (1941) as Gardener
Reg'lar Fellers (1941) as Emory McQuade
Birth of the Blues (1941) as Cab Driver (uncredited)
One Foot in Heaven (1941) as George Reynolds (uncredited)
The Palm Beach Story (1942) as Fourth Member, Ale and Quail Club
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine (1942) as Dan Kady
Can't Help Singing (1944) as Lemuel (uncredited)
The Great Moment (1944) as Morton's Sign Painter (uncredited)
Wild West (1946) as Soapy Jones
Colorado Serenade (1946) as Soapy
Driftin' River (1946) as Soapy Jones
Stars Over Texas (1946) as Soapy Jones
Tumbleweed Trail (1946) as Soapy Jones
West to Glory (1947) as Soapy Jones
Shadow Valley (1947) as Soapy Jones
Wild Country (1947) as Soapy Jones
Range Beyond the Blue (1947) as Soapy Jones
Black Hills (1947) as Soapy Jones
Check Your Guns (1948) as Soapy Jones
The Hawk of Powder River (1948) as Soapy Jones
The Westward Trail (1948) as Soapy Jones
Tornado Range (1948) as Soapy Jones
The Tioga Kid (1948) as Soapy Jones
Thunder in the Pines (1948) as Wheezer, Boomer's Head Logger
Inner Sanctum (1948) as Willie
Father's Wild Game (1950) as Rancher
Hills of Oklahoma (1950) as Dismal, the Cook
Honeychile (1951) as Bob
The Blazing Forest (1952) as Beans
Trail Guide (1952) as Stammering Man (uncredited)
Those Redheads from Seattle (1953) as Dan Taylor
The Stranger Wore a Gun (1953) as Jake Hooper, the Stage Driver (uncredited)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955) as Wagon Driver
Lucy Gallant (1955) as Clem Anderson, the Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956) as Scotty (uncredited)
Come Next Spring (1956) as Shorty Wilkins
The Birds and the Bees (1956) as Vendor (uncredited)
The Kettles in the Ozarks (1956) as Townsman (uncredited)
The Big Caper (1957) as Falkenburg (uncredited)
Short Cut to Hell (1957) as Road Driver (uncredited)
The Sheepman (1958) as Town Loafer (uncredited)
Cissie (TV Movie) (1959) as Papa
The Silent Call (1961) as Sid
The Ladies Man (1961) as Pet Shop Owner
The Errand Boy (1961) as Ralph the Prop Man (uncredited)
Musical performances
Ates performed these songs in his films:
Billy the Kid : "
Turkey in the Straw " (1930)
Remote Control : "
The Wedding March " (1930)
Renegades of the West : "
Farmer in the Dell " (1932)
Rancho Grande : "Dude Ranch Cow Hands" (uncredited, 1938)
Cowboy from Sundown : "The Craw-dad Song" (1940)
Captain Caution : "Hilda" (1940)
Colorado Serenade : "
Home on the Range " (1946)
Driftin' River : "Way Back in Oklahoma" (1946)
Wild West , also known as Prairie Outlaw : Song, "Elmer, The Knock-Kneed Cowboy" (1946)
Television career
In 1950, Ates appeared in his first television role as Deputy Roscoe on
ABC series
The Marshal of Gunsight Pass .
Ates appeared on television in multiple roles. He was cast as Henry Wilson in the episode "The Census Taker" of the
syndicated western series
The Cisco Kid , and he also appeared that same year in the
Gale Storm sitcom,
My Little Margie and
Boston Blackie . He appeared on
Gail Davis 's
Annie Oakley series as Curly Dawes, the telegraph operator.
[9]
In 1958, Ates was cast as "Old Timer" in the episode "The Sacramento Story" of
NBC 's
Wagon Train . In 1959, Ates appeared in western series
The Restless Gun ,
State Trooper , and
Buckskin . He had a nameless role as a barfly in the 1958 episode of "Maverick" called "Gun-Shy", a spoof of the series Gunsmoke. In 1960, he was cast as Fenton in the episode "Hot Ice Cream" of
Charles Bronson 's ABC series
Man with a Camera , as Lou Nugget in "The Fabulous Fiddle" of
Scott Brady 's syndicated
Shotgun Slade , and as Deputy Boak in "The Missing Queen" of
Andrew Duggan 's ABC crime drama
Bourbon Street Beat , set in
New Orleans .
Later roles
From 1958 to 1960, Ates appeared five times on
CBS 's
Alfred Hitchcock Presents mystery series.
[10]
In 1960, Ates appeared as a guest in the presentation of the life story of honorary
Hollywood mayor
Johnny Grant on NBC's
This Is Your Life biography series with host
Ralph Edwards .
Ates's last credited roles were in 1961 as a drunk in
Robert Stack 's ABC series
The Untouchables and as sheriffs in
The Red Skelton Show . His final screen appearance in
Jerry Lewis 's 1961 film
The Errand Boy was uncredited.
Family and death
Ates was married three times. After his divorce from the former Clara Callahan, he married Leonore Belle Jumps in 1949. She died in 1955.
[11] In December 1960, Ates married model Beatrice Heisser.
[12]
[13]
Ates died of lung cancer at the age of 67 at the
West Valley Community Hospital in
Encino, California .
[2] He is
entombed at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park in
Glendale, California .[
citation needed ]
Television Appearances
References
^ "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZDV-BGV : 25 December 2021), Rosco Blevel Ates, 1917-1918.
^
a
b
c
"Roscoe Ates, 67, Comedian, Dies. Veteran Of Movies Played Stuttering Cowboy Roles" .
New York Times . March 2, 1962.
^
"Roscoe Ates": Biography by Hal Erickson" . allmovie.com. Retrieved March 1, 2009 .
^
a
b Slide, Anthony (2012).
The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville . Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 15.
ISBN
9781617032509 . Retrieved February 28, 2018 .
^
"Exits and Entrances" . Oakland Tribune . California, Oakland. September 25, 1929. p. 20. Retrieved February 27, 2018 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"(untitled brief)" . The Times . Indiana, Munster. August 4, 1930. p. 8. Retrieved February 27, 2018 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Rosco Ates" . Internet Broadway Database . The Broadway League. Archived from
the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2018 .
^
"Roscoe Ates and Big Stage Revue at The New Bradford Friday and Saturday" . Bradford Evening Star and The Bradford Daily Record . Pennsylvania, Bradford. September 22, 1938. p. 12. Retrieved February 27, 2018 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Annie Oakley" . retroland.com. Archived from
the original on December 10, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2010 .
^
"Roscoe Ates Filmography" . Fandango.com. Retrieved March 1, 2009 .
^
"Mrs. Roscoe Ates" .
New York Times . May 20, 1955.
^
"Marriages" .
Variety . January 11, 1961. p. 62.
^ Parish, James Robert (1978).
Hollywood Character Actors . Westport, CN: Arlington House Publishers. p. 37.
ISBN
0870003844 .
External links
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