Rand Brooks

Male
September 21, 1918

Arlington Rand Brooks Jr. (September 21, 1918 – September 1, 2003) was an American film and television actor. Brooks was born in Wright City, Missouri. He was the son of Arlington Rand Brooks, a farmer. His mother and he moved to Los Angeles when he was four, though he continued to spend summers in Wright City. Brooks continued to make visits to his hometown of Wright City into the 1950s, up to and following the death of his father in 1950. His mother and his grandfather were actors. After leaving school, Brooks got a screen test at MGM and was given a bit part in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938). His big fame came with his part as Charles Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939), a role which he later admitted he despised; he wanted to play more macho parts. He made $100 per week under contract at MGM, but when he was on loan to Selznick International Pictures for Gone with the Wind, he made $500 per week. After Gone With the Wind, he had relatively small parts in other movies including Babes in Arms, then a regular role as Lucky in the Hopalong Cassidy series of Westerns in the mid-1940s; Brooks succeeded Russell Hayden in the role. Among the films, which starred William Boyd as Hopalong, were Hoppy's Holiday, The Dead Don't Dream, and Borrowed Trouble. He received positive notice for his work in Fool's Gold, with Variety reporting that he did "an excellent job." In edited, half-hour versions of some of the films, he appeared in 12 of the 52 episodes of the Hopalong Cassidy television series. In 1948, he co-starred with Adele Jergens and Marilyn Monroe in the low-budget, black-and-white Columbia Pictures film, Ladies of the Chorus. Brooks became the first actor to share an on-screen kiss with Monroe, who in a few years was one of the world's biggest movie stars. Filmed in just 10 days, the film was released soon after its completion. Variety called his performance in the 1952 film The Steel Fist "capable." Television brought new opportunities, again often in Westerns. He played Cpl. Randy Boone in the 1950s television series, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. Brooks had guest roles in 1950s Western series, including Mackenzie's Raiders, The Lone Ranger, Maverick, Gunsmoke, and Bonanza. He appeared twice on the syndicated adventure series, Rescue 8, as well as on CBS's Perry Mason courtroom drama series. In 1962, he directed and produced a movie about brave dogs, Bearheart, but the film was entangled in legal troubles due to his business manager's involvement in crimes such as forgery and graft. The film was finally released in 1978, under the title Legend of the Northwest. After he left show business, Brooks ran a private ambulance company in Glendale, California. He commented that he "died in more pictures than almost anyone" and that though he was never very big in show business, he was willing to return to it. Brooks sold the ambulance company in 1994, and retired to his ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, where he bred champion Andalusian horses. He attended a Gone with the Wind reunion for Clark Gable's birthday, along with Ann Rutherford and Fred Crane, in Cadiz, Ohio, in 1992. On September 1, 2003, Brooks died in Santa Ynez, California.

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Rin-Tin-Tin: Hero of the West
6.90
movie1991United States
Character: Cpl. BooneCredit: Acting
Legend of the Northwest
6.90
movie1978United States
Credit: Director
The Sex Symbol
6.80
movie1974United States
Character: Edward Kelly (voice)Credit: Acting
The King's Pirate
6.80
movie1967United States
Credit: Dialogue Coach
In Like Flint
6.40
movie1967United States
Character: Missle Control Officer (uncredited)Credit: Acting
Stagecoach to Dancers' Rock
6.80
movie1962United States
Character: Quint RuckerCredit: Acting
Comanche Station
7.00
movie1960United States
Character: Station ManCredit: Acting
Stump Run
0.00
movie1959United States
Credit: Acting
The Last Hurrah
7.10
movie1958United States
Character: Votes Tallyman (uncredited)Credit: Acting
The Challenge of Rin Tin Tin
6.90
movie1958United States
Credit: Acting
Crash of Moons
6.10
movie1954United States
Character: AndrewsCredit: Acting
Silver Needle in the Sky
6.80
movie1954United States
Character: Ranger AndrewsCredit: Acting
Born to the Saddle
6.90
movie1953United States
Character: John GrantCredit: Acting
The Maverick
0.00
movie1952United States
Character: Trooper BarnhamCredit: Acting
Behind Southern Lines
0.00
movie1952United States
Character: Captain LoomisCredit: Acting
Montana Incident
0.00
movie1952United States
Character: Dave ConnorsCredit: Acting
Man from the Black Hills
0.00
movie1952United States
Character: Fake Jimmy FallonCredit: Acting
Waco
0.00
movie1952United States
Character: AlCredit: Acting
The Steel Fist
6.80
movie1952United States
Character: Captain Giorg NicholoffCredit: Acting
The Gunman
6.90
movie1952United States
Character: Jud CalvertCredit: Acting