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Jack Holt


1888 - 1951

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The actor Jack Holt launced a very successful film career from 1914 and he played many leading roles till the early 30's - most belonging to the Western genre - before he impersonated impressive support roles in later years.

After the school he attended the Virginia Military institute but was expelled because of bad behavior. 
It followed a time of disorientation and he earned his money as a gold miner in Alaska, as a railroad worker and delivered letters before he joined a touring company.

When he was in San Franciso he took over a stunt  and jumped over a cliff with a horse. The director was grateful for his favor and gave him a small part in this movie. 
Jack Holt went to Hollywood with the film crew and was busy as a stuntman again as well as a support actor for movies of John Ford and Grace Cunard. 

To his first movies belong "Salomy Jane" (14), "The Master Key" (14), "The Flash" (15) and "The Power of Fascination" (15).

Finally he got his own film serail and became a successful leading actor. To his well-known movies of the next years belong "His Majesty Dick Turpin" (16), "The Cry of Erin" (16), "The Desperado" (16), "The Unexpected" (16), "Mutiny" (16), "The Black Sheep of the Family" (16), "Joan the Woman" (17), "The Little American" (17), "Love Me" (18), "The Claw" (18), "Green Eyes" (18), "The Squaw Man" (18), "For Better, for Worse" (19) and "The Life Line" (19).

He underpinned his stardom in the 20's and took part in "The Sins of Rosanne" (20), "The Lost Romance" (21), "The Mask" (21), "North of the Rio Grande" (22), "On the High Seas" (22), "A Gentleman of Leisure" (23), "The Thundering Herd" (25), "The Enchanted Hill" (26), "The Blind Goddess" (26), "The Tigress" (27), "The Water Hole" (28) and "The Donovan Affair" (29).

The transition to the sound film era was no problem for him and he played impressive roles in the next years in movies like "Hell's Island" (30), "Subway Express" (31), "War Correspondent" (32), "Man Against Woman" (32), "Black Moon" (34), "The Awakening of Jim Burke" (35), "The Littlest Rebel" (35), "San Francisco" (36), "Under Suspicion" (37) and "Flight Into Nowhere" (38).

At the beginning of the 40's he appeared in movies like "Passport to Alcatraz" (40), "The Great Plane Robbery" (40), "Thunder Birds" (42) and "Cat People" (42) before he went to the US Army where he was responsible for buying horses because of his excellent horse knowledge. 
After the war he continued his film career and impersonated support roles in "They Were Expendeble" (45), "The Chase" (46), together with his son Tim Holt "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (48), although with his son "The Arizona Ranger" (48), "The Last Bandit" (49), "Red Desert" (49) and "Across the Wide Missouri" (51) - his last movie.

Jack Holt belonged to the co-founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) which is still responsible today for the Oscars awards. 

Besides his son Tim Holt, his daughter Jennifer Holt became also an actress. 
Jack Holt's impressive face was the model for Chester Gould's comic star Dick Tracy. Also the cartoonist Al Capp was inspired by Jack Holt's appearance when he created his figure "Fearless Fosdick".
 

Other movies with Jack Holt:
The Broken Coin (15) A Cigarette – That's All (15) Jewel (15) What the River Foretold (15) As the Twig Is Bent (15) Her Better Self (16) Born of the People (16) The Madcap Queen of Crona (16) The Dumb Girl of Portici (16) Behind the Mask (16) Naked Hearts (16) The Wire Pullers (16) The False Part (16) The Phone Message (16) Liberty (16) Brennon o' the Moor (16) The Princely Bandit (16) Saving the Family Name (16) The Chalice of Sorrow (16) The Better Man (16) Mister Vampire (16) Patria (17) The Cost of Hatred (17) Sacrifice (17) Giving Becky a Chance (17) The Inner Shrine (17) The Call of the East (17) The Secret Game (17) The Hidden Pearls (18) One More American (18) Headin' South (18) The Honor of His House (18) The White Man's Law (18) A Desert Wooing (18) The Marriage Ring (18) The Road Through the Dark (18) Cheating Cheaters (19) A Midnight Romance (19) The Woman Thou Gavest Me (19) A Sporting Chance (19) The Woman Michael Married (19) Kitty Kelly, M.D. (19) Victory (19) The Best of Luck (20) Crooked Streets (20) Held by the Enemy (20) Midsummer Madness (20) Ducks and Drakes (21) All Souls' Eve (21) After the Show (21) The Grim Comedian (21) The Call of the North (21) Bought and Paid For (22) While Satan Sleeps (22) The Man Unconquerable (22) Making a Man (22) Nobody's Money (23) The Tiger's Claw (23) The Cheat (23) The Marriage Maker (23) Don't Call It Love (23) The Lone Wolf (24) Wanderer of the Wasteland (24) Empty Hands (24) North of 36 (24) Eve's Secret (25) The Light of Western Stars (25) Wild Horse Mesa (25) The Ancient Highway (25) Sea Horses (26) Born to the West (26) Forlorn River (26) Man of the Forest (26) The Mysterious Rider (27) The Warning (27) The Smart Set (28) The Vanishing Pioneer (28) Court-Martial (28) Submarine (28) Avalance (28) Sunset Pass (29) Father and Son (29) Flight (29) Vengeance (30) The Border Legion (30) The Squealer (30) The Last Parade (31) Dirigible (31) White Shoulders (31) Fifty Fathoms Deep (31) A Dangerous Affair (31) Maker of Men (31) Behind the Mask (32) This Sporting Age (32) When Strangers Marry (33) The Woman I Stole (33) The Wrecker (33) Master of Men (33) Whirlpool (34) The Defense Rests (34) I'll Fix It (34) The Best Man Wins (35) Storm Over the Andes (35) Unwelcome Stranger (35) Dangerous Waters (36) Crash Donovan (36) End of the Trail (36) North of Nome (36) Trouble in Morocco (37) Roaring Timber (37) Outlaws of the Orient (37) Trapped by G-Men (37) Making the Headlines (38) Reformatory (38) Crime Takes a Holiday (38) Strange Case of Dr. Meade (38) Whispering Enemies (39) Trapped in the Sky (39) Fugitive at Large (39) Hidden Power (39) Outside the Three-Mile Limit (40) Fugitive from a Prison Camp (40) The Great Swindle (41) Holt of the Secret Service (41) Northwest Rangers (42) My Pal Trigger (46) Flight to Nowhere (46) Renegade Girl (46) The Wild Frontier (47) The Gallant Legion (48) The Strawberry Roan (48) Loaded Pistols (48) Brimstone (49) Task Force (49) The Daltons' Women (50) Return of the Frontiersman (50) King of the Bullwhip (50) 


 
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