Glenn Strange

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Glenn Strange
Born	George Glenn Strange August 16, 1899(1899-08-16) Weed in Otero County, New Mexico Territory, U.S.
Died	September 20, 1973 (aged 74) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1930–1973
Height	6'5"
Spouse(s)	(1) Flora Hooper Strange, (2) Not known, (3) Minnie Thompson Strange (1937-1973, his death)
Children	Harry Glenn Strange Janine Laraine Strange

Glenn Strange (August 16, 1899 – September 20, 1973) was an American actor who appeared mostly in Western films. He is best known for playing the Frankenstein Monster in three Universal films during the 1940s and for his role as Sam Noonan, the bartender on CBS's Gunsmoke television series. Strange was of Irish and Cherokee descent and was a cousin of the Western film star and narrator Rex Allen.

Strange was born some thirteen years prior to New Mexico statehood near Alamogordo in tiny Weed in Otero County northeast of El Paso, Texas. He was born as George Glenn Strange, the fourth child of William Russell Strange and the former Sarah Eliza Byrd. He was a great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson (eight generations) of Pocahontas and John Rolfe of Virginia.

Strange grew up in tiny Cross Cut (formerly known as Cross Out) in Brown County (county seat: Brownwood), some fifty miles east of Abilene in West Texas. His father was a bartender and later a rancher. Strange learned by ear how to play the fiddle and guitar. By the time he was twelve, young Glenn was performing at cowboy dances. By 1928, he was on radio in El Paso. He was a young rancher, but in 1930, he came to Hollywood as a member of the radio singing group, Arizona Wranglers. Strange joined the singers after having appeared at a rodeo in Prescott in Yavapai County in central Arizona. Another Strange cousin, Taylor McPeters, or "Cactus Mack" was also part of the Wranglers. Strange's Arizona connection prevailed when he guest starred in the 1958 episode "Chain Gang" of the syndicated western series 26 Men true stories about the Arizona Rangers.

Strange procured his first motion picture role in 1932 and literally appeared in hundreds of films during his lifetime. In 1949, he portrayed Butch Cavendish, who wiped out all of the Texas Rangers, except one, the role of Clayton Moore in The Lone Ranger.

Strange appeared twice as Jim Wade on Bill Williams's syndicated western series geared to juvenile audience's The Adventures of Kit Carson. He also appeared twice as "Blake" in the syndicated western The Cisco Kid. In 1954, he played Sheriff Billy Rowland in Jim Davis's syndicated western series Stories of the Century. Strange appeared six times in 1956 in multiple roles on Edgar Buchanan's syndicated Judge Roy Bean. In 1959, he appeared in another western syndicated series, Mackenzie's Raiders, in the episode entitled "Apache Boy". Strange first appeared on Gunsmoke in 1959 and assumed several roles on the long-running program before he was cast as the bartender.

Frankenstein's Monster

Glenn Strange and Boris Karloff in House of Frankenstein. Make-up designed by Jack Pierce.

In 1942, he appeared in The Mad Monster for Producers Releasing Corporation. In 1944, Glenn was cast in Universal's House of Frankenstein as Frankenstein's Monster, a role created by Boris Karloff in the 1931 version of Frankenstein. Strange was coached by Boris Karloff for hours when they both appeared in the 1944 release House of Frankenstein.

Strange recounted a personal anecdote in the documentary, Ted Newson's 100 Years of Horror (1996). On the movie set of House of Frankenstein (1944), Lon Chaney, Jr., got him extremely inebriated. In the climactic scene, Strange had to be stuck for hours in "deep quicksand" (which was actually cold mud) waiting for the cameras to roll. Chaney who had a day off recommended that alcohol would keep Strange warm as he wore the influential Jack Pierce make-up for hours. Strange could barely get dressed after the day's shooting.

Strange went on to play the Frankenstein monster in two more Universal films, House of Dracula (1945) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), with Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr. He played an ape-like monster in The Bowery Boys horror-comedy Master Minds in 1949.

Boris Karoff's obituary in 1969 ran in newspapers with Glenn Strange's picture as Frankenstein's monster.

Gunsmoke (The Television Series): 1961-1973

Strange was 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed 220 pounds. His first wife was the former Flora Hooper. He was married for thirty-six years (1937–1973, his death) to his third wife, the former Minnie Thompson (1911–2004). The couple had two children, Harry Glenn Strange (born 1938) of Klamath Falls, Oregon, and Janine Laraine Strange (born 1939) (whereabouts not known). Strange died of lung cancer in Los Angeles, California, just after declining health had compelled him to leave his role on Gunsmoke. Strange had from time to time collaborated on various tunes with western actor Eddie Dean, including the opening title song for Dean's Tumbleweed Trail (1942). Dean sang at Strange's funeral service as a final tribute to the actor. Strange was interred at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery.

In 1975, two years after Strange's death, his Gunsmoke costar Buck Taylor named his third son "Cooper Glenn Taylor" after his friend Glenn Strange.

External links

• Glenn Strange Biography and Filmography at the Internet Movie Database
• Glenn Strange, the B western villain
• TV.com biography
• SSDI search information
• Glenn Strange appears on Abbott and Costello's television program
• Glenn Strange's Make-Up Recreated on You Tube