Richard Arlen

Richard Arlen born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore was an American film and television actor He served as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Flying Corps during World War I After the war he went to the oilfields of Texas and Oklahoma and found work as a tool boy He was thereafter a messenger and sporting editor of a newspaper before going to Los Angeles to act in films but no producer wanted him He was a delivery boy for a film laboratory when the motorcycle which he was riding landed him a broken leg outside the Paramount Pictures lot A sympathetic film director gave him his start as an extra He appeared at first in silent films before making the transition to talkies His first important film role was in Vengeance of the Deep He took time out from his Hollywood career to teach as a United States Army Air Forces flight instructor in World War II Arlen is best known for his role as a pilot in the Academy Awardwinning Wings with Clara Bow Charles Buddy Rogers Gary Cooper El Brendel and his second wife Jobyna Ralston whom he married in 1927 He was among the more famous residents of the celebrity enclave Toluca Lake California He married New York socialite Margaret Kinsella in 1946 In 1939 Universal teamed him with Andy Devine for a series of 14 Bpictures mostly actioncomedies with heavy reliance on stock footage from largerscale films They are informally known as the Aces of Action series which is how the stars were billed in the trailers When Arlen left the studio in 1941 the series continued with Devine teamed with a variety of other actors In the 1950s and early 1960s Arlen was active in television having guest starred in several anthology series including Playhouse 90 The Loretta Young Show The 20th Century Fox Hour and in three episodes of the series about clergymen Crossroads In 1960 Arlen was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star at 6755 Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the film industry In 1968 he appeared on Petticoat Junction playing himself The episode was called Wings and it was in direct reference to the 1927 silent movie Wings Arlen appeared in westerns such as Lawman Branded Bat Masterson Wanted Dead or Alive Wagon Train and Yancy Derringer and in such dramaadventure programs as Ripcord Whirlybirds Perry Mason The New Breed Coronado 9 and Michael Shayne