Tim McCoy
Acting
Biography
One of the great stars of early American Westerns. McCoy was the son of an Irish soldier who later became police chief of Saginaw, Michigan, where McCoy was born. He attended St. Ignatius College in Chicago and after seeing a Wild West show there, left school and found work on a Wyoming ranch. He became an expert horseman and roper and developed a keen knowledge of the ways and languages of the Indian tribes in the area. He competed in numerous rodeos, then enlisted in the U.S. Army when America entered the First World War. He was commissioned and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. At the end of World War I, he returned to his ranch in Wyoming, only to be called by Governor Bob Carry to the post of Adjutant General of Wyoming, a position he held until 1921. The position carried with it the rank of Brigadier General (a brevet promotion) and it has been reported that this made him the youngest general officer in the U.S. Army. His reputation as a friend to the Wind River Reservation Indians, both Arapahoe and Shoshone, preceded him and in 1922, he was asked by the head of Famous Players-Lasky, Jesse L. Lasky, to provide Indian extras for the Western extravaganza, The Covered Wagon (1923). He resigned from the state position and recruited several hundred Indians to the Utah movie location. When the film wrapped, he was asked to choose several Indians to accompany him to Hollywood. There the production company developed a live 'prologue' to be presented just prior to the movie showing. The idea was a success and McCoy and his Indian group toured the U.S. and eventually, Europe as well. After touring this country and Europe with the Indians as publicity, McCoy returned to Hollywood and used his connections to obtain further work in the movies, both as a technical advisor and eventually as an actor. MGM speedily signed him to a contract to star in a series of Westerns and McCoy rapidly rose to stardom, making scores of Westerns and occasional non-Westerns. He retired from the army and from films after the war, but emerged in the late 1940s for a few more films and some television work. In 1942 he ran for the Republican Nomination for the U.S. Senate in Wyoming. He was defeated and returned to Hollywood and an uncertain future. In 1946 he sold his Wyoming ranch and moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania and the life of the gentleman farmer. While living there, he met and married Danish writer Inga Arvad. He later built a home in Nogales, Arizona where Inga subsequently died in 1973. He spent his later years as a retired rancher. He died at the U.A. Army hospital at Ft. Hauchuca, Arizona on January 29 1978 at the age of 86. Inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1974. During World War I, he served as an artillery officer in the US Army in France. Spouse Inga Arvad (1945 - 1973) (her death) Alice Miller (? - 1931) (divorced) (3 children)
Known For
Based on the famous book by Jules Verne the movie follows Phileas Fogg on his journey around the world. Which has to be completed within 80 days, a very short period for those days.
Around the World in 80 Days
Tim Corwin- an agent for the Cattlemen's Association- is assigned to look into a range war between settlers and powerful cattle baron Walton.
Roarin' Guns
Lightning Bill Carson and sidekick Magpie are after Burrows, the man that killed a friend of theirs. Burrows is after the Arden ranch and his gang are rustling their cattle. Bill is robbing Burrows while posing as the mysterious Phantom and it's not long before the two collide.
Texas Wildcats
Auto race champ Tim Dawson and his brother Billy are fired by boss Turnberg when they won't throw an important race to his son Carl. Pop Reeves, a competitor, finds that Turnberg had bribed his top man, Rogan, to lose, and fires him, and hires the Dawsons. His daughter Ann falls for Tim, yet it's Billy that wants her and proposes to her. She says no and declares herself to Tim. At the next big race, Rogan tries to cause Billy to smash, but he does instead, then accuses Tim of being responsible before dying. A police detective decides that Tim had done it so his brother could win, and leaves him one option, his brother must lose the upcoming Indy 500 or he'll know Tim's guilty.
Straightaway
To prevent a lynching, Ranger Tim lets two outlaws go saying he will get them later. This gets him kicked out of the Rangers and he goes across the border and joins Big George's gang who are running contraband. But the outlaw Jimmy overhears Tim tell his sister that the dismissal was a fake. Big George and his gang then go after Tim and trap him in a cabin.
The Traitor
A Professor has an invention that will bring down planes causing them to crash and Dawson is forcing him to use it on those carrying money. When Tim arrives to investigate he is mistaken for a noted outlaw. So he assumes that identity to force Dawson to make him a partner. But just as a plane bringing Tim help is arriving, his true identity is revealed and while he is a prisoner, Dawson forces the Professor to start his machine.
Ghost Patrol
Capt. Robert Kelly holds off the foreign mob single-handed and makes good his escape during the Boxer rebellion.
Foreign Devils
Before he was killed, Martin hid a half million dollars worth of bonds on his ranch. Brainard, who killed him, Inspector Carson posing as Sam Brown, and Martin's niece Margaret all want the ranch, and it's being sold at auction.
Straight Shooter
A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props. By extension this provides a general history of Hollywood's Golden Age and the legendary studio system.
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Two ex-cons plan to kill the range rider marshal who sent them to prison and, when their plan fails, join forces with their former boss, a crooked saloon owner who has the same idea.
Forbidden Trails
John Dale and Abner Hawkins are members of Andrew Jackson's Tennessee Militia, assigned to make peace with the Creek Indian tribe in general and the treacherous White Snake in particular.
The Frontiersman
A Treasury Department engraver is being held captive by a counterfeiting gang that wants him to make counterfeit plates for them. A lawman is sent to rescue him.
Phantom Ranger
When the South loses the war, Confederate veteran O'Meara goes West, joins the Sioux, takes a wife and refuses to be an American but he must choose a side when the Sioux go to war against the U.S. Army.
Run of the Arrow
Motor patrolman Tim Conlon and his partner Bumps O'Neill vie for the attentions of Helen Regan, daughter of a fellow cop.
Police Car 17
When newspaper reporter Tim Collins, of the "Post", is slugged while investigating the shooting of a big-time gambler, he sets out to get his man with such determination that he ends up in jail. There, he discovers a "parole racket" which involves a crooked politician, and he faces death to get the story for his paper.
Hold the Press
Marshal Tim Smith is sent to Rawhide to battle rustlers. When the outlaw gang attempts to kill the new Marshal, they get the wrong man. Tim puts his identification on the dead man and poses as a known outlaw. This gets him into the gang where he is given the job of posing as the new Marshal.
Texas Renegades
Railroad Detective Tim Weston, charmed by Helen Glenn, agrees to clear her ex-convict father, John Glenn, of a murder and a robbery he did not commit. Complications quickly arrive and Weston finds himself hunted rather than being the hunter. A lost film.
Beyond the Law
A gunfighter takes the identity of a murdered judge in order to avenge his death.
Requiem for a Gunfighter
A Western-genre narrative, loosely woven from old clips from B-Western features.
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
A wounded cowboy catches rustlers who use a trick branding iron.