Charles Starrett

Acting

Charles Starrett

Born — Died

1903-03-28 — 1986-03-22

Place of birth

Athol, Massachusetts, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

60 titles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Charles Robert Starrett (March 28, 1903 – March 22, 1986) was an American actor best known for his starring role in the Durango Kid western series. When he retired he held the record for starring in the longest-running string of feature films (131 titles, half of them being "Durango Kid" films, for Columbia Pictures). A graduate of Worcester Academy in 1922, Starrett went on to study at Dartmouth College. While on the Dartmouth football team he was hired to play a football extra in the film The Quarterback (1926). Bitten by the acting bug, Starrett played minor roles in films and leading roles in stage plays. In 1928, he was a member of the Walker Comp…

Known for

The Mask of Fu Manchu poster
5.4

The villainous Dr. Fu Manchu races against a team of Englishmen to find the tomb of Ghengis Khan, because he wants to use the relics to cause an uprising in the East to wipe out the white race.

The Mask of Fu Manchu

1932

Gentlemen Are Born poster
7.3

A well-cloistered and protected-against-reality group of college students get their diplomas in the heart of the Great Depression, and quickly learn that the piece of paper the diploma is written on is worth about eighteen-dollars-a-week in the job-market...for the lucky ones. Some of them fare even worse.

Gentlemen Are Born

1934

Horsemen of the Sierras poster
7.0

When Robin Grant inherits a valuable range, certain evil interests try their best to kill off Robin and claim the land for themselves. US Marshall Steve Saunders comes to the boy's rescue.

Horsemen of the Sierras

1949

Riders of Black River poster
10.0

Former Texas Ranger Wade Patterson returns to his home town, only to find that the territory is in the grip of cattle rustlers. For a while, it looks as though heroine Linda Holden is in cahoots with the bad guys, but Patterson quickly clears her name and takes on the crooks himself.

Riders of Black River

1939

So Red the Rose poster
7.8

During the American Civil War, Valette Bedford waits patiently for her husband Duncan Bedford, to return home, praying that she will not become a widow.

So Red the Rose

1935

Cyclone Prairie Rangers poster
9.0

It's World War 2 and saboteurs are out to destroy the ranchers food crop. Steve Travis and sidekick Cannonball have been called in to investigate. Avoiding the attempts on his life by the gang, Steve uses a pair of eyeglasses to discover their leader, a supposedly deaf mute shoe repairman.

Cyclone Prairie Rangers

1944

Film credits

1950s · 6 titles

Bonanza Town poster
6.3

Using marked bills, Steve is looking for the supposedly dead Henry Hardison. Coming to Bonanza Town he gets a job with the town boss Crag Bozeman and gets paid with marked bills. He suspects Hardison is Boseman's boss and he is right as Hardison and his men are now planning to get rid of both him and the Durango kid.

Bonanza Town

1951

Trail of the Rustlers poster
7.3

Charles Starrett goes up against an entire family of criminals posing as respectable citizens in this entry in Columbia's long-running Durango Kid Western series.

Trail of the Rustlers

1950

The Kid from Amarillo poster
7.0

Charles "Durango" Starrett and his pal Smiley Burnette go after smugglers. Our heroes travel incognito across the Mexican border to beard the leader of the gang in his den.

The Kid from Amarillo

1951

Outcasts of Black Mesa poster
9.0

Our Hero is accused of a crime he didn't commit. Once again, he breaks jail to find the real culprits. And once again, he dons his Durango Kid disguise, whereupon stunt-double Jock Mahoney swings into action. Outcasts of Black Mesa is distinguished by the presence of a relative newcomer to the film game, leading lady Martha Hyer.

Outcasts of Black Mesa

1950

Across the Badlands poster
7.0

Charles Starrett once more hits the trail as "The Durango Kid" in Columbia's Across the Badlands. By now, the formula was a well-oiled machine: Starrett becomes a lawman, is challenged by the local criminal element, and ultimately goes beyond the law as the masked Durango.

Across the Badlands

1950

Smoky Canyon poster
7.5

Mahoney is a sheep man who's framed for the murder of a rancher. It's all part of a scheme by a dishonest cattleman who hopes to extenuate a range war for his own profit. The Durango Kid helps clear Mahoney's name.

Smoky Canyon

1952

1940s · 24 titles

Horsemen of the Sierras poster
7.0

When Robin Grant inherits a valuable range, certain evil interests try their best to kill off Robin and claim the land for themselves. US Marshall Steve Saunders comes to the boy's rescue.

Horsemen of the Sierras

1949

Cyclone Prairie Rangers poster
9.0

It's World War 2 and saboteurs are out to destroy the ranchers food crop. Steve Travis and sidekick Cannonball have been called in to investigate. Avoiding the attempts on his life by the gang, Steve uses a pair of eyeglasses to discover their leader, a supposedly deaf mute shoe repairman.

Cyclone Prairie Rangers

1944

Lawless Plainsmen poster
7.0

In this western, a ranch foreman and the bosses son go to a saloon to slake their thirst and find themselves in the midst of a battle started by the feisty saloon owner's wicked ex-husband who loots the safe in the ensuing scuffle.

Lawless Plainsmen

1942

Sundown Valley poster
10.0

In this wartime western, an evil Nazi and his partner endeavor to sabotage a western gunsight plant.

Sundown Valley

1944

Robin Hood of the Range poster
6.5

Inasmuch as western star Charles Starrett gained screen fame as the Robin Hood-like "Durango Kid", it stands to reason that Starrett would head the cast of Robin Hood of the Range. The star plays Steve Marlowe, the foster son of railroad manager Henry Marlowe (Kenneth McDonald). When it becomes apparent that the railroad is using underhanded methods to drive local homesteaders off their land, Steve adopts the guise of "The Vulcan", a legendary champion of justice.

Robin Hood of the Range

1943

Cowboy from Lonesome River poster
7.0

This western features a singing cowboy, a brave hero, and a bumbling sidekick who band together to defeat a ruthless range boss.

Cowboy from Lonesome River

1944

Bandits of El Dorado poster
10.0

Wanted outlaws have mysteriously disappeared. Ranger Captain Henley and Steve have a plan to find them. Steve becomes a wanted man by faking the killing of Henley. Not only is he now in trouble as both the Rangers and the Mexican Rurales are after him, but Smiley knows him and may expose his masquerade to the bad guys.

Bandits of El Dorado

1949

Laramie poster
6.8

A major Indian uprising is expected and Wyoming military posts are alerted. Colonel Dennison is meeting with Chief Eagle and his son Running Wolf when Chief Eagle is mysteriously shot. Steve Holden, an agent for the government peace commission, with the aid of a wandering shoemaker, Smiley, discover the troubles and the Chief's murder have been instigated by Cronin, the regimental scout, for personal gain for he and his gang of outlaws.

Laramie

1949

Down Rio Grande Way poster
10.0

Slightly more elaborate than most Charles Starrett westerns, Down Rio Grande Way is set in the mid-19th century, when the Republic of Texas was poised to join the Union. Starrett plays Texas Ranger Steve Martin, who is dispatched to a "renegade" Texas country that refuses to become part of the good old USA. He discovers that the crux of the problem is a local tax collector who, with the help of a crooked newspaper editor, is systematically robbing the citizens of their hard-earned cash, all the while fomenting anti-American sentiments.

Down Rio Grande Way

1942

Cowboy Canteen poster
8.0

Song and comedy revue, featuring Western talents, along with a theatrical troupe taking their vacation on the Lazy B Ranch run by Steve Bradley. Steve is about to enter the army and he and Tex Coulter compete for the love of Connie Grey.

Cowboy Canteen

1944

Thundering Frontier poster
10.0

After a handful of non-formula westerns, Charles Starrett returned to the mixture as before in Thundering Frontier. Starrett plays Jim Fillmore, kind to old ladies, small animals and heroine Norma Belknap. In contrast, the villains are kind to no one, least of all struggling building contractor Square Deal Scottie, whose projects are continually targeted for demolition and his payroll is forever being stolen at gunpoint. A good 25 percent of the film's running time is given over to Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers, whose C&W croonings are pleasant but a bit much.

Thundering Frontier

1940

Desert Vigilante poster
7.0

Silver is being smuggled across the border and the secret passage goes through Betty Long's basement. When Steve arrives he gets tangled up with the rustlers who are now going to have the Durango Kid to contend with.

Desert Vigilante

1949

Landrush poster
9.0

The Durango Kid rides again in Columbia's Landrush. As ever, the masked do-gooder, alias Steve Harmon, is played by Charles Starrett. Bringing up the rear in every sense of the word is Harmon's comical sidekick Smiley Burnette. In this outing, Harmon dons his Durango garb to rescue a group of homesteaders from scurrilous villains. Musical relief is provided by Ozie Waters and his Colorado Rangers.

Landrush

1946

Quick on the Trigger poster
6.5

Quick on the Trigger was Charles Starrett's second "Durango Kid" picture for 1949. It all begins when ousted sheriff Steve Warren (Starrett) is put on trial for the murder of heroine Nora Reed's (Helen Parrish) brother. Steve is innocent, of course, but he doesn't stand a chance against prosecuting attorney Garvey Yager (Lyle Talbot) -- especially since Yager is the real killer.

Quick on the Trigger

1948

Rough Ridin' Justice poster
10.0

Steve Holden and his men successfully raid a wagon train. Among the local ranchers who decide to stop the raiding are Virgil Trent and his daughter Gail. At a meeting, Sidney Padgett, Cannonball and other townspeople conclude that someone is tipping the gang off on important shipments. Trent volunteers to contact the outlaws. He meets Steve and persuades him to cross to the side of the law and protect the ranchers. Steve soon suspects Padgett and tricks him into revealing his identity as the secret leader of the bandits, and in a furious battle between Steve's men and the outlaws, the former win.

Rough Ridin' Justice

1945

The Stranger From Ponca City poster
7.5

A saddle-weary Steve Larkin, also the Duranko Kid, rides into Red Mound, a town filled with cattle rustlers. Cafe owner Smiley, befriends Steve and fills him in on the activities. Steve angers the rustler's leader, Flip Dugan when he purchases the old Atkins ranch which is supposedly haunted. Flip and his henchmen try to prevent the recording of the deed, but the Durango Kid and Deputy Marshal Tug Carter win the gun battle.

The Stranger From Ponca City

1947

Challenge of the Range poster
6.5

Charles Starrett once more dons the mask of mysterious do-gooder "The Durango Kid" in Columbia's Challenge of the Range. Wandering cowboy Steve Roper (Starrett) is hired by the Farmers Association to stem the activities of a group of gunmen who are driving ranchers off their land. The most likely suspect turns out to be innocent: the real culprits are within the Association itself. With the help of the chief suspect's son, Roper brings the crooks to justice.

Challenge of the Range

1949

The Return of the Durango Kid poster
8.7

A masked outlaw steals from bank robbers to help the poor.

The Return of the Durango Kid

1945

Overland to Deadwood poster
9.0

Cash Quinlan, owner of the Hauling Company, is the leader behind a gang of raiders who have been robbing stagecoaches between Mesquite and Deadwood. He hopes by doing so to drive his competitors out of business so that he can get the railroad franchise for himself.....

Overland to Deadwood

1942

Riders of the Northland poster
9.0

In this western, three Texas Rangers decide to do their part to save the world and join the Army, but before they can, they are sent to Alaska to destroy a secret Nazi operation involving a submarine refueling station. The outpost is located behind an impenetrable tangle of barbed wire. The rangers get a little help, and discover a traitor. Then to get through the wire, they start a cattle stampede and save the day.

Riders of the Northland

1942

South of the Chisholm Trail poster
10.0

When the ranchers of Bearcat are plagued by rustlers, Big Jim Grady offers to buy their herds from them at low-ball prices. Steve Haley suggests to the ranchers that they band together and drive their herds to Abilene, Kansas and get full price. Steve's friend Smiley "joins" the rustlers to learn who their leader is. Grady henchman Doc Walker asks Steve to help break up the cattle drive, and he agrees in order to keep tabs on the rustlers. The gang makes several attempts to take the trail herd but Steve, in his guise as the Durango Kid, intervenes and saves the cattle.

South of the Chisholm Trail

1947

Blazing Six Shooters poster
8.0

The story revolves around a valuable silver deposit, located between two ranches. Villain Lash Bender cooks up a scheme to gain control of both ranches so that he may have a clear field to the silver lode.

Blazing Six Shooters

1940

The Medico of Painted Springs poster
7.0

Medico of Painted Springs was the first of western hero Charles Starrett's appearances as frontier doctor Steven Monroe. Riding into a small town, Dr. Monroe finds himself smack-dab in the middle of a range war between cattlemen and sheepmen.

The Medico of Painted Springs

1941

Sagebrush Heroes poster
9.0

This Columbia western starring Charles Starrett finds Steve Randall (Charles Starrett) forming a radio show with Jimmy Wakely (Jimmy Wakely) and his Saddle Pals, and are in town for a rodeo. Reporter Connie Pearson (Constance Worth) persuades them to visit Marty Jones (Elvin Fields), a fatherless boy, who has been sent to a boy's home after stealing Steve's wallet, ran by Tom Goodwin (Forrest Taylor.) Marty tells Steve that the home is a phony and is a front for cattle rustlers. Steve passes the information on to Connie, who doesn't believe him, so he and Jimmy wire the ranch for sound. They are caught and Goodwin turns them over to Sheriff Barnes (Edmund Cobb), and then plans to skip the country

Sagebrush Heroes

1945

1930s · 30 titles

The Mask of Fu Manchu poster
5.4

The villainous Dr. Fu Manchu races against a team of Englishmen to find the tomb of Ghengis Khan, because he wants to use the relics to cause an uprising in the East to wipe out the white race.

The Mask of Fu Manchu

1932

Gentlemen Are Born poster
7.3

A well-cloistered and protected-against-reality group of college students get their diplomas in the heart of the Great Depression, and quickly learn that the piece of paper the diploma is written on is worth about eighteen-dollars-a-week in the job-market...for the lucky ones. Some of them fare even worse.

Gentlemen Are Born

1934

Riders of Black River poster
10.0

Former Texas Ranger Wade Patterson returns to his home town, only to find that the territory is in the grip of cattle rustlers. For a while, it looks as though heroine Linda Holden is in cahoots with the bad guys, but Patterson quickly clears her name and takes on the crooks himself.

Riders of Black River

1939

So Red the Rose poster
7.8

During the American Civil War, Valette Bedford waits patiently for her husband Duncan Bedford, to return home, praying that she will not become a widow.

So Red the Rose

1935

Westbound Mail poster
8.0

The gold mine belonging to "Gun" Barlow is worked out, and Barlow attempts to buy adjacent land, with the hopes his gold vein will continue, from town postmistress Marion Saunders who, keeping a vow she made to her father on his death-bed, refuses.

Westbound Mail

1937

Outlaws of the Prairie poster
4.0

Charles Starrett plays two-fisted frontiersman Dart Collins in this slick Columbia "B" western. Collins wants to find out who's behind a series of gold-shipment robberies. So does heroine Judy Garfield (Iris Meredith), whose stage transport business faces foreclosure if the holdups continue. It comes as no surprise that the crimes are being orchestrated by the very people who want to force Judy out of business.

Outlaws of the Prairie

1937

Mr. Skitch poster
7.3

After losing their Missouri home during the Great Depression, the Skitch family pulls up stakes and heads west to California to begin life anew. Comedy, released in 1933.

Mr. Skitch

1933

This Man Is Mine poster
5.9

The seemingly happy relationship between Tony and Jim is threatened when his manipulative, seductive former fiancee visits.

This Man Is Mine

1934

Outpost of the Mounties poster
10.0

In this adventure, a courageous Canadian Mountie must bring peace an embattled miner and an unscrupulous trader whose price mark-ups are beginning to hurt the community. They fight so frequently that when the avaricious proprietor is killed, the young man becomes the prime suspect.

Outpost of the Mounties

1939

Three on a Honeymoon poster
7.0

This romantic comedy takes place on an ocean liner. One of the few unattached passengers is heiress Joan Foster. Joan finds herself in the arms of the ship's second officer. Little does she know that he has been hired by her father to keep other men away from her.

Three on a Honeymoon

1934

Silence poster
7.7

A gray-haired convict, within the shadows of the gallows, tells his story to the prison chaplain beginning twenty years earlier when he was sent to prison for a crime he did not commit.

Silence

1931

The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi poster
5.2

A campus flirt who has been "pinned" by most of the boys of Sigma Chi fraternity falls for a no-nonsense athlete who doesn't have time for such diversions as women.

The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi

1933

Dodge City Trail poster
3.0

With the increasing popularity of Republic's sagebrush crooner Gene Autry, rival company Columbia found it necessary to add a musical element to this Charles Starrett Western released in early 1937. As Starrett himself was no singer, the studio hired Donald Grayson to warble Lonesome River, Out in the Cow Country and Pancho's Widow, all by Ned Washington and Sam H. Stept.

Dodge City Trail

1936

Two-Fisted Sheriff poster
3.8

This is a remake of Columbia's 1932 "Cornered" that starred Tim McCoy. Bob Pearson saves the life of his friend, Sheriff Dick Houston, who has captured two stagecoach bandits and is about to be shot from ambush by a third. Bob is found a few days later near the murdered body of cattleman Herrick with a gun in his hand.

Two-Fisted Sheriff

1937

The Age for Love poster
9.0

A comedy-drama about marriage and divorce. A wife does not want children, her husband leaves her and marries a woman who does.

The Age for Love

1931

Lady and Gent poster
5.8

Stag Bailey, a slow-witted prizefighter, and his girlfriend, speakeasy hostess Puff Rogers, take over the upbringing of Ted Streaver after his father, Stag's manager, is killed.

Lady and Gent

1932

Desirable poster
7.2

A man meets the daughter of his lover and they begin to fall in love.

Desirable

1934

The Man from Sundown poster
10.0

The hero, Texas Ranger Larry Whalen, is on the trail of a mysterious outlaw leader.

The Man from Sundown

1939

One New York Night poster
7.5

Foxhall Ridgeway, arriving in New York City from the West, stumbles onto a murder in the hotel room next to his. He gets tangled up into the affair, and with the aid of Phoebe, the hotel telephone operator who takes a liking to him, and also Countess Louise Browssiloff, who innocently had left some personal belongings in the murdered man's room and is most anxious to recover the incriminating evidence, Foxhall solves the murder mystery.

One New York Night

1935

Start Cheering poster
6.9

After retiring from movies to get an education, a man discovers his ex-staff is trying to have him expelled.

Start Cheering

1938

Green Eyes poster
5.8

The owner of a large mansion in the country throws a costume party for some of his friends. However, the party turns sour when he is found stabbed to death in a closet. The police and a guest try to discover who committed the murder.

Green Eyes

1934

Colorado Trail poster
8.0

In this western a traveling gun ends up in a small town and rescues an important rancher. Out of gratitude the rancher hires him to protect his land and cattle from his violent rival. It is revealed that the gunman is the son of the ruthless rival; he therefore, loses his job and finds himself entangled in the midst of a range war. He must eventually face his father when the bad guy takes over the only trail to the market.

Colorado Trail

1938

The Silver Streak poster
6.9

A high-speed train becomes the star of the film as it rushes from Chicago to Hoover Dam to transport an iron lung to a needy patient.

The Silver Streak

1934

Law of the Plains poster
8.0

Rancher William Norton refuses to sell his cattle for half price, so saloon owner and gang leader Jim Fletcher, contrary to the orders from his secret boss Willard McGowan, the town banker, has his men rob and beat up Norton. Unknown to anyone, Marion, McGowan's adopted daughter is really the daughter of Norton, who disappeared as a young baby when she and her mother were passengers on a stagecoach held up by McGowan. Chuck Saunders, Norton's foreman, goes after the gang for robbing his boss and eventually uncovers the truth regarding Marion's heritage.

Law of the Plains

1938

One in a Million poster
5.7

A department store clerk, wrongly accused of stealing by her lecherous boss, becomes involved in a romantic relationship with the boss's son.

One in a Million

1935

Jungle Bride poster
5.5

Four survivors of a ship wreck are stranded on a deserted island, including a woman and the man she believes is responsible for the murder which her brother is in prison for.

Jungle Bride

1933

The Stranger from Texas poster
8.0

Things get under way when US marshal Tom (Starrett) finds himself in the midst of a range war. The villains are a band of rustlers who play both sides of the confrontation against one another, the better to move in and claim all the livestock.

The Stranger from Texas

1939

Undercover Men poster
6.3

For showing cowardice during a holdup, bank teller Bob Hunter is fired. He joins the Mounties and is assigned to look for those robbers. To have him work undercover, the Inspector's scheme is to have Bob supposedly kicked out of the Mounties.

Undercover Men

1934

The Cowboy Star poster
10.0

Tired of being a cowboy movie star, Yorke quits the movies and buys a ranch so he can be a real cowboy. But just as in his films trouble arrives. This time it's bank robber Sampson and his two cronies.

The Cowboy Star

1936

Code of the Range poster
8.0

Ford Beebe's "original screenplay" (he had used it before) finds the cattlemen, headed by "Calamity" Parker, opposing the use of their rangelands by sheepherders, with cattlemen Lee Jamison and Ed Randall in the dissenting minority and they offer sheepman Angus McLeod free grazing privileges. Saloon owner Barney Ross offers to keep the sheepmen off of the range and out of town if each cattleman will pay $500.

Code of the Range

1936