Joel McCrea
Biography
One of the great stars of American Westerns, and a very popular leading man in non-Westerns as well. He was born and raised in the surroundings of Hollywood and as a boy became interested in the movies that were being made all around. He studied acting at Pomona College and got some stage experience at the Pasadena Community Playhouse, where other future stars such as Randolph Scott, Robert Young, and Victor Mature would also get their first experience. He worked as an extra after graduation from the University of Southern California in 1928 and did some stunt work. In a rare case of an extra being chosen from the crowd to play a major role, McCrea was given a part in The Jazz Age. A contract at MGM followed, and then a better contract at RKO. Will Rogers took a liking to the young man (they shared a love of ranching and roping) and did much to elevate McCrea's career. His wholesome good looks and quiet manner were soon in demand, primarily in romantic dramas and comedies, and he became an increasingly popular leading man. He hoped to concentrate on Westerns, but several years passed before he could convince the studio heads to cast him in one. When he proved successful in that genre, more and more Westerns came his way. But he continued to make a mark in other kinds of pictures, and proved himself particularly adept at the light comedy of Preston Sturges, for whom he made several films. By the late Forties, his concentration focused on Westerns, and he made few non-Westerns thereafter. He was immensely popular in them, and most of them still hold up well today. He and Randolph Scott, whose career strongly resembles McCrea's, came out of retirement to make a classic of the genre, Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962). Scott stayed retired thereafter; McCrea made a couple of appearances in small films afterwards, but was primarily content to maintain his life as a gentleman rancher. He was married for fifty-seven years to actress Frances Dee, who survived him.
Foreign Correspondent
John Jones
Sullivan's Travels
John L. Lloyd 'Sully' Sullivan
The Most Dangerous Game
Robert "Bob" Rainsford
The Palm Beach Story
Tom Jeffers
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick 'Buffalo Bill' Cody
Union Pacific
Capt. Jeff Butler
Dead End
Dave
The Virginian
The Virginian
Ramrod
Dave Nash
Colorado Territory aka Vogelfrei
Wes McQueen
My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock
Self (archive footage)
78/52
Johnny Jones (archive footage)
I'm King Kong!: The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper
Self - from Most Dangerous Game (archive footage) (uncredited)
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
Self
Self
Mustang Country
Dan
The Great American Cowboy
Narrator (voice)
Cry Blood, Apache
Pitcalin as an Older Man
Portrait eines Produzenten - David O. Selznick in Hollywood
Actor 'Bird of Paradise' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ride the High Country
Steve Judd
The Gunfight at Dodge City
Bat Masterson
Fort Massacre
Sgt. Vinson
Die Rache des Texaners
John Cord
The Tall Stranger
Ned Bannon
Gunsight Ridge
Mike Ryan
Trooper Hook
Sgt. Clovis Hook
The Oklahoman
Dr. John M. Brighton
Der Held von Texas
Sam Houston
Wichita
Wyatt Earp
Stranger on Horseback
Judge Richard 'Rick' Thorne
Black Horse Canyon
Del Rockwell
Border River
Clete Mattson
The Lone Hand
Zachary Hallock
Shoot First
Taine
The San Francisco Story
Rick Nelson
Cattle Drive
Dan Mathews
Hollywood Story
Joel McCrea
Frenchie
Sheriff Tom Banning
Saddle Tramp
Chuck Conner
Stars in My Crown
Josiah Doziah Gray
The Outriders
Will Owen
Colorado Territory aka Vogelfrei
Wes McQueen
Konterbande
Kip Davis
Four Faces West
Ross McEwen
Ramrod
Dave Nash
The Virginian
The Virginian
The Great Moment
William Thomas Green Morton
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick 'Buffalo Bill' Cody
The More the Merrier
Joe Carter
The Palm Beach Story
Tom Jeffers
The Great Man's Lady
Ethan Hoyt
Sullivan's Travels
John L. Lloyd 'Sully' Sullivan
Breakdowns of 1940
Self (archive footage)
Foreign Correspondent
John Jones
Primrose Path
Ed Wallace
He Married His Wife
T.H. Randall
Espionage Agent
Barry Corvall
Union Pacific
Capt. Jeff Butler
Wells Fargo
Ramsay MacKay
Dead End
Dave
Woman Chases Man
Kenneth Nolan
Internes Can't Take Money
James Kildare
Banjo on My Knee
Ernie Holley
Come and Get It
Richard Glasgow
Adventure in Manhattan
George Melville
These Three
Dr. Cardin
Barbary Coast
Jim Carmichael
Woman Wanted
Tony Baxter
Our Little Girl
Dr. Donald Middleton
The Richest Girl in the World
Anthony "Tony" Travers
Gambling Lady
Garry Madison
Chance at Heaven
Blacky Gorman
Jimmy Watt
Bed of Roses
Dan
David Phelps
Himself (uncredited)
Jacobs 'Jake' Van Riker Pell
The Sport Parade
Sandy Brown
The Most Dangerous Game
Robert "Bob" Rainsford
Bird Of Paradise
Johnny Baker
The Lost Squadron
Red
Business and Pleasure
Lawrence Ogle
Girls About Town
Jim Baker
John 'Jack' Neville
Born to Love
Barry Craig
Kept Husbands
Richard 'Dick' Brunton
The Silver Horde
Boyd Emerson
Framed
Waiter at the Casino Club (uncredited)
Dynamite
Marco - Her Boy Friend
So This Is College
Bruce Nolan (Babs' fiancé)
The Divine Lady
Extra (uncredited)
Rapsodia de Juventud
Peter
