
Acting
Frank McGrath
Born 1903-02-02 · Mound City, Missouri, USA
Benjamin Franklin McGrath (February 2, 1903 – May 13, 1967) was an American television and film actor and stunt performer who played the comical, optimistic cook with the white beard, Charlie B. Wooster, on the western series Wagon Train for five seasons on NBC and then three seasons on ABC. McGrath appeared in all 272 episodes in the eight seasons of the series, which had ended its run only two years before his death. McGrath's Wooster character hence provided the meals and companionship for both fictional trail masters, Ward Bond as Seth Adams and John McIntire as Christopher "Chris" Hale. McGrath was born in Mound City in Holt County in far northwestern Missouri. McGrath married Libby Quay Buschlen (1902–1978), a native of Ontario, Canada. He died May 13, 1967 at the age of sixty-four of a heart attack in Beverly Hills, California, and was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. CLR From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Acting credits
7.7As a Civil War veteran spends years searching for a young niece captured by Indians, his motivation becomes increasingly questionable.
The Searchers
1956
6.5After a demonstration of new PT boats, Navy brass are still unconvinced of their viability in combat, leaving Lt. "Rusty" Ryan frustrated. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, however, Ryan and his buddy Lt. Brickley are told they can finally take their squadron into battle. The PT boats quickly prove their worth, successfully shooting down Japanese planes, relaying messages between islands, and picking off a multitude of enemy ships.
They Were Expendable
1945
6.5When notorious pirate Henry Morgan is made governor of Jamaica, he enlists the help of some of his former partners in ridding the Caribbean of buccaneers. When one of them apparently abducts the previous governor's pretty daughter and joins up with the rebels, things are set for a fight.
The Black Swan
1942
6.8An ex-con seeks revenge on the man who put him in prison by planning a robbery of the latter's stagecoach, which is transporting gold. He enlists the help of a partner, who could be working for his nemesis.
The War Wagon
1967
6.7Indian scout Tom Jeffords is sent out to stem the war between the American settlers and Apaches in the late 1870s Arizona. He learns that the Indians kill only to protect themselves, or out of retaliation for white atrocities.
Broken Arrow
1950
6.9On the eve of retirement, Captain Nathan Brittles takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
1949
6.9A Native American Civil War hero returns home to fight for his people.
Devil's Doorway
1950
7.0There's a deficit of good, honest women in the West, and Roy Whitman wants to change that. His solution is to bring a caravan of over 100 mail-order brides from Chicago to California. It will be a long, difficult and dangerous journey for the women. So Whitman hires hardened, cynical Buck Wyatt to be their guide across the inhospitable frontier. But as disaster strikes on the trail, Buck just might discover that these women are stronger than he thinks.
Westward the Women
1951
7.0A dairy owner's son takes a job as milkman with a rival company.
The Milkman
1950
6.5Army despatch rider Hondo Lane discovers a woman and her son living in the midst of warring Apaches, and he becomes their protector.
Hondo
1953
7.0Owen Thursday sees his new posting to the desolate Fort Apache as a chance to claim the military honour which he believes is rightfully his. Arrogant, obsessed with military form and ultimately self-destructive, he attempts to destroy the Apache chief Cochise after luring him across the border from Mexico, against the advice of his subordinates.
Fort Apache
1948
7.0An experienced bounty hunter helps a young sheriff learn the meaning of his badge.
The Tin Star
1957
7.7A posse discovers a trio of men they suspect of murder and cow theft and are split between handing them over to the law or lynching them on the spot.
The Ox-Bow Incident
1943
6.7Young scout Breck Coleman leads a wagon train along the dangerous trail to Oregon as he tries to get the affection of the beautiful pioneer Ruth Cameron and plans his revenge on the harsh scoundrels who murdered a friend of his in the past.
The Big Trail
1930
6.0Roy Fleming is a small-town kiddie-ride operator who is deathly afraid of heights. After learning that his father has signed him up for the space program, Roy reluctantly heads for Houston, only to find out upon arriving that his job is as a janitor, not an astronaut. Anxious to live up to the expectations of his domineering father, Roy manages to keep up a facade of being an astronaut to his family and friends. When NASA decides to launch a layperson into space to prove the worthiness of a new automated spacecraft, Roy gets the chance to confront his fears.
The Reluctant Astronaut
1967
6.7Two young horse traders guide a Mormon wagon train to the San Juan Valley and encounter rugged terrain, the cutthroat Clegg gang, hospitable Navajo, and moral challenges on the journey.
Wagon Master
1950
6.0When Edward Creighton leads the construction of the Western Union to unite East with West, he hires a Western reformed outlaw and a tenderfoot Eastern surveyor. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation in 2000.
Western Union
1941
6.2Jesse W. Haywood (Don Knotts) graduates from dental school in Philadelphia in 1870 and goes west to become a frontier dentist. Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushing (Barbara Rhoades) is offered a pardon if she will track down a ring of gun smugglers. She tricks Haywood into a sham marriage as a disguise. Haywood inadvertently becomes the legendary "Doc the Haywood" after he guns down "Arnold the Kid".
The Shakiest Gun in the West
1968
6.1Two Mexican outlaws, Rio and Esqueda, raised as stepbrothers, have a showdown over the issue of whether to evict new settlers from their Texas border territory.
Ride, Vaquero!
1953
6.3An upstart outlaw baits a legendary gunslinger, now a marshal in love with a saloon keeper.
The Last Challenge
1967
6.3Dardo, a Robin Hood-like figure, and his loyal followers use a Roman ruin in Medieval Lombardy as their headquarters as they conduct an insurgency against their Hessian conquerors.
The Flame and the Arrow
1950
6.5Henry Fleming is a young Union soldier in the American Civil War. During his unit's first engagement, Henry flees the battlefield in fear. When he learns that the Union actually won the battle, shame over his cowardice leads him to lie to his friend Tom and the other soldiers, saying that he had been injured in battle. However, when he learns that his unit will be leading a charge against the enemy, Henry takes the opportunity to face his fears and redeem himself.
The Red Badge of Courage
1951
10.0US marshal Sundown Jim Majors main purpose in life is to bring a deadly frontier feud to a peaceful end. This requires him to clean out the local criminal element, which he does with determination.
Sundown Jim
1942
6.7After arriving in Texas to escape a scandal back east, lawyer Sam Houston just wants to hang out his shingle, keep a low profile, and stay out of any political intrigue. However, when President Jackson personally orders him to lead the fight for Texan independence, he overcomes his reluctance to become involved and leads his compatriots to a string of victories over the Mexican army.
The First Texan
1956