Paul Hurst (1888-1953)

Alias:
Paul C. Hurst
Paul Causey Hurst

Birthplace:
Traver, California, USA

Born:
October 14, 1888

Died:
February 27, 1953

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)

Additional information:

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Director:
1915  The Red Signal
1916  A Lass of the Lumberlands
1917  The Further Adventures of Stingaree
1917  The Railroad Raiders
1918  Play Straight or Fight
1918  The Woman in the Web
1919  Lightning Bryce
1919  The Tiger's Trail
1921  King Fisher's Roost
1921  Shadows of the West
1922  Rangeland
1922  South of Northern Lights
1922  Table Top Ranch
1922  The Heart of a Texan
1923  Golden Silence
1924  Battling Bunyan
1924  Branded a Bandit
1924  The Passing of Wolf MacLean
1925  A Western Engagement
1925  The Demon Rider
1925  The Fighting Cub
1925  The Were-Tiger
1926  Blue Streak O'Neil
1926  Haunted Range
1926  Roaring Road
1926  The Fighting Ranger
1926  The Law of the Snow Country
1926  The Midnight Message
1927  Outlaw's Paradise

Producer:
1915  The Hazards of Helen: Episode13, The Escape on the Fast Freight
1915  The Red Signal
1916  A Lass of the Lumberlands
1917  The Further Adventures of Stingaree
1917  The Railroad Raiders
1918  Play Straight or Fight
1918  The Woman in the Web
1919  Lightning Bryce
1919  The Tiger's Trail
1921  King Fisher's Roost
1921  Shadows of the West
1922  Rangeland
1922  South of Northern Lights
1922  Table Top Ranch
1922  The Heart of a Texan
1923  Golden Silence
1924  Battling Bunyan
1924  Branded a Bandit
1924  The Passing of Wolf MacLean
1925  A Western Engagement
1925  The Demon Rider
1925  The Fighting Cub
1925  The Were-Tiger
1926  Blue Streak O'Neil
1926  Haunted Range
1926  Roaring Road
1926  The Fighting Ranger
1926  The Law of the Snow Country
1926  The Midnight Message
1927  Outlaw's Paradise

Scenario Writer:
1915  The Hazards of Helen: Episode13, The Escape on the Fast Freight
1915  The Red Signal
1916  A Lass of the Lumberlands
1917  The Further Adventures of Stingaree
1917  The Railroad Raiders
1918  Play Straight or Fight
1918  The Woman in the Web
1919  Lightning Bryce
1919  The Tiger's Trail
1921  King Fisher's Roost
1921  Shadows of the West
1922  Rangeland
1922  South of Northern Lights
1922  Table Top Ranch
1922  The Heart of a Texan
1923  Golden Silence
1924  Battling Bunyan
1924  Branded a Bandit
1924  The Passing of Wolf MacLean
1925  A Western Engagement
1925  The Demon Rider
1925  The Fighting Cub
1925  The Were-Tiger
1926  Blue Streak O'Neil
1926  Haunted Range
1926  Roaring Road
1926  The Fighting Ranger
1926  The Law of the Snow Country
1926  The Midnight Message
1927  Outlaw's Paradise

Story:
1915  The Hazards of Helen: Episode13, The Escape on the Fast Freight
1915  The Red Signal
1916  A Lass of the Lumberlands
1917  The Further Adventures of Stingaree
1917  The Railroad Raiders
1918  Play Straight or Fight
1918  The Woman in the Web
1919  Lightning Bryce
1919  The Tiger's Trail
1921  King Fisher's Roost
1921  Shadows of the West
1922  Rangeland
1922  South of Northern Lights
1922  Table Top Ranch
1922  The Heart of a Texan
1923  Golden Silence
1924  Battling Bunyan
1924  Branded a Bandit
1924  The Passing of Wolf MacLean
1925  A Western Engagement
1925  The Demon Rider
1925  The Fighting Cub
1925  The Were-Tiger
1926  Blue Streak O'Neil
1926  Haunted Range
1926  Roaring Road
1926  The Fighting Ranger
1926  The Law of the Snow Country
1926  The Midnight Message
1927  Outlaw's Paradise

Writer:
1915  The Hazards of Helen: Episode13, The Escape on the Fast Freight
1915  The Red Signal
1916  A Lass of the Lumberlands
1917  The Further Adventures of Stingaree
1917  The Railroad Raiders
1918  Play Straight or Fight
1918  The Woman in the Web
1919  Lightning Bryce
1919  The Tiger's Trail
1921  King Fisher's Roost
1921  Shadows of the West
1922  Rangeland
1922  South of Northern Lights
1922  Table Top Ranch
1922  The Heart of a Texan
1923  Golden Silence
1924  Battling Bunyan
1924  Branded a Bandit
1924  The Passing of Wolf MacLean
1925  A Western Engagement
1925  The Demon Rider
1925  The Fighting Cub
1925  The Were-Tiger
1926  Blue Streak O'Neil
1926  Haunted Range
1926  Roaring Road
1926  The Fighting Ranger
1926  The Law of the Snow Country
1926  The Midnight Message
1927  Outlaw's Paradise

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