Acting
Paul Hurst
EN, XX cinema · 236 credits
Born
14 October 1888
Died
27 February 1953 (aged 64)
Birthplace
Traver, California, USA
Also known as Paul Causey Hurst · Paul C. Hurst
Paul Hurst (October 15, 1888 - February 27, 1953) was an American character actor of prodigious output who also directed and wrote silent films. Much of his early work was in low budget western films. A native of central California, Hurst had a first-hand knowledge of Western lore, growing up surrounded by the multi-million acre Lux & Miller ranches which ran cattle throughout the state. Visiting San Francisco as a young man, Hurst became involved in amateur theatricals and thereafter traveled to Los Angeles to join in the emerging film industry there. He began appearing in films as early as 1912, most of them Westerns. By 1916, he was directing them as well (some sources report that he served in the First World War as a member of the French Foreign Legion, but the dates of his film projects make this story highly suspect). In the early 1920s, Hurst wrote several scenarios for films he directed and appeared in. He proved adept at working as a director for some of the cheapest producers along Gower Gulch, where movies were normally shot on location in a week or less and where stunt men were often the highest paid folks on the set. Within a few years, he focused all of his energies into acting, notably becoming one of the few successes to emerge from Hollywood's Poverty Row. Hurst quickly became one of the more prolific and familiar characters in American movies. With his blocky build and squinty demeanor, and with a raspy voice that enhanced his memorability once sound pictures came in, Hurst played villains and cops and comedy sidekicks in more than 250 films. His most famous role was that of the deserter shot dead on the stairway of Tara by Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939). Hurst was the sidekick to Monte Hale in a number of B-Westerns. Former Gower Gulch veteran John Wayne hired Hurst for Big Jim McLain (1952) knowing that Hurst was ill with terminal cancer. In 1953, at the age of 64, due to his health problems, Paul Hurst committed suicide. Date of Death: 27 February 1953, Hollywood, California (suicide)
Known for
Filmography
The Sun Shines Bright
as Jimmy Bagby
Big Jim McLain
as Mr. Lexiter
Million Dollar Pursuit
as Ray Harvey
The Missourians
as John X. Finn
The Old Frontier
as Skipper Horton
The Vanishing Westerner
as Waldorf Worthington
Ranger of Cherokee Strip
as Sheriff Jug Mason
Prince of the Plains
as Sheriff Hank Hartley
Pioneer Marshal
as Huck Homer
San Antone Ambush
as Happy Daniels
South of Rio
as Andy Weems
Law of the Golden West
as Otis Ellis
Outcasts of the Trail
as Doc Meadowlark
Who Killed Doc Robbin?
as Jailer
The Arizona Ranger
as Ben Riddle
Madonna of the Desert
as Pete Connors
Son of God’s Country
as Eli Walker
Gun Smugglers
as Sergeant Hasty Jones
California Firebrand
as Chuck Waggoner
Yellow Sky
as Drunk (uncredited)
Heart of Virginia
as Whit Galtry
Angel and the Badman
as Frederick Carson
Under Colorado Skies
as Lucky John Hawkins
Death Valley
as Sergeant Dailey
In Old Sacramento
as Stagecoach Driver
Murder in the Music Hall
as Hobarth
Steppin' in Society
as Cookie
Scared Stiff
as Sheriff
The Big Show-Off
as Herbert Trafagan, aka "The Devil", a wrestler
Dakota
as Captain Spotts
Midnight Manhunt
as Murphy
Summer Storm
as Orloff
Girl Rush
as Muley
Something for the Boys
as Defense Plant Foreman (uncredited)
Barbary Coast Gent
as Jake Compton
The Ghost That Walks Alone
as Sheriff Slim Carson
The Ox-Bow Incident
as Monty Smith
Hi'ya, Chum
as Archie Billings
December 7th
as World War I Ghost Soldier
Calaboose
as Ed the bartender
The Sky's the Limit
as Dock Foreman (uncredited)
Coney Island
as Louie
Night in New Orleans
as Sergeant Casper Riordan
Dudes Are Pretty People
as Two-Gun
Sundown Jim
as Broderick
Pardon My Stripes
as Feets
Petticoat Politics
as Slats O'Dell
Tall, Dark and Handsome
as Biff Sage
Caught in the Draft
as Sgt. Burns
Virginia
as Thomas
The Great Mr. Nobody
as Michael O'Connor
The Parson of Panamint
as Jake Waldren
This Woman Is Mine
as Second Mate Mumford
The Westerner
as Chickenfoot
Spring Parade
as Headwaiter
Edison, the Man
as Sheriff
Castle on the Hudson
as Guard (uncredited)
They Drive by Night
as Pete Haig (uncredited)
Torrid Zone
as Daniels
Star Dust
as Mac, Amalgamated Lab Tech
South to Karanga
as Slats
Gone with the Wind
as Yankee Deserter
Broadway Serenade
as Reynolds, a Drunk
Remember?
as Policeman
Bad Lands
as Curly Tom
Cafe Society
as Bartender
On Your Toes
as Variety Club Bartender
Each Dawn I Die
as Garsky
Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence
as Empire State Building Guard
Glove Slingers
as Chuck Brenner
Quick Millions
as Sheriff
Alexander's Ragtime Band
as Bill Mulligan
Topper Takes a Trip
as Charlie - the Bartender
In Old Chicago
as Mitch
Island in the Sky
as Happy
Secrets of a Nurse
as Arlington Bysshe 'Slice' Cavanaugh
Prison Break
as Soapy
Hold That Co-ed
as Slapsy
My Lucky Star
as Louie
Josette
as A. Adolphus Heyman
No Time to Marry
as Sergeant
The Last Express
as Asst. Dist. Atty. Springer
Trouble in Morocco
as Tiger Malone
Angel's Holiday
as Sgt. Murphy
Ali Baba Goes to Town
as Captain
Danger – Love at Work
as NYC policeman
Second Honeymoon
as Dennis Huggins
Wake Up and Live
as McCabe
Slave Ship
as Drunk
We Who Are About to Die
as Tip Fuller
You Can't Have Everything
as Truck Driver (uncredited)
You Can't Beat Love
as Foreman Butch Mehaffey
This Is My Affair
as Bowler
Super-Sleuth
as Motorcycle Cop
I'd Give My Life
1936
I'd Give My Life
as "Sport" Conly
Robin Hood of El Dorado
as Wilson
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
as 1st Deputy (uncredited)
North of Nome
as Carlson
To Mary - with Love
as Drunk
The Gay Desperado
as American Detective
Blackmailer
as Inspector Killian
Riffraff
as Belcher
The Gay Deception
as Bell Captain
Sequoia
as Bergman
Shadow of Doubt
as Lt. Sackville
Public Hero Number 1
as Rufe Parker
Maybe It's Love
as Expressman (uncredited)
The Daring Young Man
as Prison Guard
Carnival
as Policeman
Mississippi
as Hefty
Calm Yourself
as Detective Roscoe
The Case of the Curious Bride
as Fibo Morgan (uncredited)
Midnight Alibi
as Babe the Butcher
A Very Honorable Guy
as Butler
Tomorrow's Youth
as Detective
Take the Stand
as Denny O'Brien
Among the Missing
as Capt. W.F. 'Big Bill' Connors
Queen Christina
as Swedish Soldier Betting on 6 (uncredited)
The Big Race
as Skipper O'Neal
The Ballad of Paducah Jail
as Escaped Felon
Charlie Chan's Courage
as Undetermined Role
The Line-Up
as Detective Sgt. Doyle
The Sphinx
as Detective Terrence Aloysius Hogan
Terror Aboard
as Boatswain
Saturday's Millions
as Doc Maloney, Trainer
Day of Reckoning
as Harry
The Women in His Life
as Paul, Perez's Second Bodyguard
Grand Slam
as Man Who Speaks Final Line of the Film
Hold Your Man
as Aubrey C. Mitchell (uncredited)
Island of Lost Souls
as Capt. Donahue
The Big Stampede
as 'Arizona' Frank Bailey
The Thirteenth Guest
as Detective Grump
State's Attorney
as Police Captain Morgan
Men Are Such Fools
as Stiles
The Phantom President
as Sailor (uncredited)
Hold 'Em Jail
as Butch
The Secret Six
as Nick Mizoski - the Gouger
Bad Company
as Paul Hurst
That's My Line
as Mexican Bandit
Sweepstakes
as Bartender
The Single Sin
as Slug
The Secret Witness
as Officer Brannigan
Maker of Men
as Gabby
Kick In
as Detective Whip Fogarty
Paradise Island
as Beauty
Swellhead
as Mugsy
Borrowed Wives
as Bull Morgan
Hot Curves
as 'Slug', Baseball Player
The Runaway Bride
as Sergeant Daly
Officer O'Brien
as Captain Antrim
Lucky Larkin
as Pete Brierson
Mountain Justice
as Lem Harland
Shadow of the Law
as Pete Shore
The Third Alarm
as 'Beauty' Johnson
The Racketeer
as Mehaffy - Policeman
The California Mail
as Rowdy Ryan
The Lawless Legion
as Ramirez
Tide of Empire
as Poppy
Sailor's Holiday
as Jimmylegs
Oh, Yeah!
as Railroad-Yard Superintendent
His First Command
as Sgt. Westbrook
The Rainbow
as Pat
The Cossacks
as Sitchi
Lilac Time
as (uncredited)
The Devil's Saddle
as 'Swig' Moran
The Red Raiders
as Sergeant Murphy
The Valley of the Giants
as Randeau
Outlaw's Paradise
1927
Outlaw's Paradise
as McDonald, Director
Buttons
as Slugger McGlue
Roaring Road
as Checking Board Tabulator (uncredited), Director
Blue Streak O'Neil
Actor, Director
The Fighting Ranger
1926
The Fighting Ranger
Actor, Director
Haunted Range
Director
The Midnight Message
Director
The Demon Rider
Director
A Western Engagement
Director
Folly of Youth
Director
Branded a Bandit
Director, Story, Scenario Writer
Battling Bunyan
Director
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
as Emeralda's Torturer (uncredited)
Rangeland
Director, Writer
The Heart of a Texan
Director, Scenario Writer
Table Top Ranch
Director, Story, Scenario Writer
The Crow's Nest
Director
Shadows of the West
Director
King Fisher's Roost
Director, Story, Scenario Writer
Lightning Bryce
as Powder Solvang, Director
The Tiger's Trail
Director
Rimrock Jones
as Ike Bray
Smashing Through
as Stevens
The Railroad Raiders
as Steve Arnold (as Paul C. Hurst), Director, Writer
The Hazards of Helen
as Benton - a Foreman
The Further Adventures of Stingaree
as Howie, Director
A Lass of the Lumberlands
Actor, Director
Whispering Smith
as Murray Sinclair
Medicine Bend
as Murray Sinclair
Judith of the Cumberlands
as Blatchley Turrentine
The Diamond Runners
1916
The Diamond Runners
as Paul - the Brains of the I.D.B.
The Manager of the B & A
as Roger Oakley (as Paul C. Hurst)
The Girl Detective
as Blair / Thompson / Michaels / Snake Henely / Mike Donegal / Bat Dorgan / Kelly / Dalton / Blake
Stingaree
as Howie - Stingaree's Partner
The Red Signal
as Chief Dispatcher, Director
The Hazards of Helen: Episode13, The Escape on the Fast Freight
as A Trainman, Producer
The Vivisectionist
as Bart - Jardine's Servant
The Quicksands
1914
The Quicksands
as Captain Lanning - Osborn's Rival
The Plot at the Railroad Cut
as Benton, the Foreman
The Cave Men's War
as Red Axe
The Driver Of The Deadwood Coach
as Bad Bill - a Desperado