Harry Carey, Jr.

Harry Carey, Jr. (born Henry G. Carey; May 16, 1921) is an American film actor. He appeared in over 90 films. He is mostly remembered for appearing in Western films—notably those by his friend John Ford -- and in television programs.^[1]

Early life

Carey, Jr. was born in Saugus, California, the son of acclaimed actor Harry Carey (1878-1947) and actress Olive Fuller Golden (1896-1988). As a boy he was nicknamed "Dobe" (short for "adobe", from the color of his hair), by which he is still known to family, friends, and a large number of fans.

Career

A respected character actor, like his father, he acted in a large number of Western genre films. They both appeared in the acclaimed 1948 film, Red River, though they never shared a scene. Harry Carey, Jr. served with the United States Navy during World War II.^[1] Carey made four films with acclaimed film director Howard Hawks: Red River (1948), Monkey Business (1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and Rio Bravo (1959).^[1]

He also made 10 movies with actor John Wayne, starting with Red River and ending with Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973).^[1]

Carey was a good friend of and frequent collaborator with famed director John Ford and became a regular in what is commonly called the John Ford Stock Company. He appeared in such notable Ford films as: 3 Godfathers (1948); She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949); Wagon Master (1950); Rio Grande (1950); The Long Gray Line (1955); Mister Roberts (1955); The Searchers (1956); Two Rode Together (1961); and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). He would later write a book about the Ford "stock company" called: "Company of Heroes: My Life As An Actor in the John Ford Stock Company".^[1]

In the 1950s, he became familiar to youthful television audiences in the starring role of ranch counselor "Bill Burnett" on the hit serials Spin and Marty, seen on Walt Disney's celebrated Mickey Mouse Club between 1955 and 1957.^[2] In the 1960s, Harry Jr. moved into more television work, appearing on such shows as Have Gun - Will Travel, The Legend of Jesse James, Wagon Train (based on the film Wagon Master), Gray Ghost, Whispering Smith, Tombstone Territory, The Rounders (in the episode "A Horse on Jim Ed Love"), Bonanza, The Wonderful World of Disney, and Gunsmoke.^[1]

A DVD version of the Adventures of Spin & Marty was released in December 2005 as part of the fifth wave of the Walt Disney Treasures series. On the 50th anniversary of the serial's premiere, Carey is interviewed by Leonard Maltin as a DVD bonus feature about his experiences shooting the hit series.

In 1990, he appeared in the hit film Back to the Future Part III, in an American Old West saloon scene set in 1885.

Carey appeared in Tales from the Set, a series of video interviews about various people he had worked with during his career. The series debuted at the Epona Festival, a festival devoted to horses, in France, October 11-14th, 2007. Subsequently it has appeared for sale in download links on various fan websites and Amazon.

In 2009, Carey and his partner Clyde Lucas completed Trader Horn: The Journey Back, a remembrance of Carey's father's adventure film of the 1930s. The younger Carey had at age 8 accompanied his father to Africa for the filming of Trader Horn, the first major studio motion picture filmed in Africa.

After 53 years as an actor, Carey attempted his first writing and producing project with a feature called Comanche Stallion, a western fantasy film that John Ford had considered making in the early 1960s, based on the 1958 book by Tom Millstead. Participating actors James Arness, Rance Howard, and Robert Carradine.. ^[3][4]

Awards

For his contribution to the television industry, Harry Carey Jr. has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6363 Vine Street. In 2003, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Bibliography

• Carey, Harry Jr. Company of Heroes: My Life As An Actor in the John Ford Stock Company. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. 1994. ISBN 0810828650
• Marona, Christopher (Photographer) and Harry Carey, Jr. (Foreword). Colorado Cowboys. Englewood, Colorado: Westcliffe Publishers. 1996. ISBN 1565791525

References

External links

• Harry Carey, Jr. official site
• Soledad Productions (Carey's production company)
• Comanche Stallion
• Harry Carey, Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
• Trader Horn: The Journey Back