FRANK McGRATH
Date of birth
Benjamin Franklin McGrath
February 2, 1903 in Mound City, Missouri, USA
Date of death
May 13, 1967 (age 64) in Hollywood, California, USA
Spouse
Libby Quay Buschlen McGrath (?-1967, his death)
Mini-Biography
Stuntman/actor Frank McGrath was born of Irish and Native American
heritage in Mound City, MO, February 2, 1903. In his pre-Hollywood earlier
years he had some experience with small time rodeos then went on to be a
jockey at midwest race-tracks.
When a Mexican track went broke, Frankie hopped a north-bound freight
train. As legend has it, a movie producer saw Frank jump from the train
and encouraged his entry into early film stuntwork.
Supposedly, at 16 years of age in 1919, Frank began his film career working and doubling
for Stan Laurel, Buster Keaton, Warner Baxter and J. Carroll
Naish, just to name a few. Frank was 5' 8" so his small frame and wiry movies also enabled
him to double a lot of female stars such as Gene Tierney.
In the ‘30s and ‘40s McGrath began to get small speaking roles along with his
stuntwork. He can be seen in “Rainbow Trail” (‘32) with George O’Brien,
“Western Union” (‘41), “Sundown Jim” (‘42), “Heldorado” (‘46), etc.
Frank and his long time friend, Terry Wilson, became part of John Wayne’s
stunt crew on “Hondo”, “Fort Apache”, “Rio Grande”, “Three Godfathers”,
“She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”, “The Searchers” and dozens more.
At the time, the TV series “Wagon Train” was being prepped in ‘57. Frank
was ready for retirement after more than 40 years in the business but his
friend, actor Ward Bond, was very persuasive and instrumental in getting
Frank cast as irascible cook Charlie Wooster. An 8 year run on “Wagon Train”
brought belated fame and recognition to Frank and Terry Wilson, making
them popular guest stars at many top rodeos and fairs across America and
Canada.
Frank kept working as an actor after “Wagon Train” ended its run and played
Uncle Lucius on the “Tammy” TV series. Over the years Frank worked on
such classic westerns as “Westward the Women”, “Devil’s Doorway”, “Naked
Spur”, “Tin Star”, “Last Challenge” and many non-westerns including
the best ever version of “The 3 Musketeers” (‘48) starring Gene Kelly.
Frank was a rascal, known to like his booze, but he was one of the most
respected stuntmen in Hollywood, a man who played hard but got the job
done. Stuntman Chuck Roberson, in his book THE FALL GUY (‘80), wrote,
“Frank had a fondness for large quantities of Seagrams gin and bitters.
Known to millions of television viewers as ornery little Charlie Wooster on
‘Wagon Train’, he was ornery long before that.
He loved to start fights, then leave someone else to finish them, or be
finished by them. A friendship with McGrath could be hazardous to (your)
health. Everybody liked McGrath, but damn, you had to be careful around
him.”
Sadly for all of us, Frank passed away of a heart attack May 13, 1967,
but is still seen worldwide in “Wagon Train” reruns and almost nightly in a
John Wayne film being shown somewhere.
He left his mark and helped pave the way for stuntmen to come.
Information from Western Clippings
Also see:
Wikipedia- Full Biography
Information from IMDb
Filmography
Actor
1968 The Shakiest Gun in the West...Mr. Hiram Remington
1967 The Pistolero of Red River...Ballard Weeks
1967 The Reluctant Astronaut...Plank
1967 Tammy and the Millionaire...Uncle Lucius
1967 The War Wagon...Bartender
1967 The Big Valley (TV series)– Plunder at Hawk's Grove (1967) … Buster
1967 Gunfight in Abilene...Ned Martin
1966 The Virginian (TV series)– Linda (1966) … Neddie Henshaw
1965-1966 Tammy (TV series)...Uncle Lucius
1957-1965 Wagon Train (TV series)...Charlie Wooster
1965 The Sword of Ali Baba...Pindar
1958 Tales of Wells Fargo (TV series)– The Most Dangerous Man Alive (1958) … Jake Rivers
1957 Hell Bound...Detective (uncredited)
1957 The Tin Star...Jim Clark, Stagecoach Driver (uncredited)
1956 The Boss...Saloon Patron (uncredited)
1956 Cheyenne (TV series)– Quicksand (1956) … John Pike
1956 The Searchers...Ranger (uncredited)
1953 Hondo...Lowe's Partner (uncredited)
1953 Ride, Vaquero!..Pete
1951 Westward the Women...Outrider (uncredited)
1951 Slaughter Trail...Jamora (uncredited)
1951 Across the Wide Missouri...St. Leger (uncredited)
1951 Night Into Morning...Irate Driver (uncredited)
1951 The Red Badge of Courage...Captain (uncredited)
1950 The Milkman...Man (uncredited)
1950 Devil's Doorway...Posse Member (uncredited)
1950 Broken Arrow...Barfly (uncredited)
1950 Wagon Master...Posse Member (uncredited)
1949 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon...Bugler/Indian (uncredited)
1949 Mighty Joe Young...Cowboy (uncredited)
1949 Big Jack...Posse Member (uncredited)
1948 My Hero...Dispatch Rider (uncredited)
1948 Half Past Midnight...Taxi Driver (uncredited)
1948 Fort Apache...Cpl. Derice (uncredited)
1948 Alias a Gentleman..Murph (uncredited)
1946 Heldorado...Bearded Man Next to Carnival Jail (uncredited)
1945 They Were Expendable...Slim Bearded CPO (uncredited)
1943 The Ox-Bow Incident...Posse Member (uncredited)
1942 Sundown Jim...Outlaw
1941 Riders of the Purple Sage...Pete
1941 Western Union...Posse Rider (uncredited)
1940 High School...Student in Fight (uncredited)
1935 Under the Pampas Moon...Minor Role (uncredited)
1932 Robbers' Roost...Mexican (uncredited)
1932 The Rainbow Trail...Horseman (uncredited)
Stunts
1967 The War Wagon (stunts - uncredited)
1957 The Wings of Eagles (stunts - uncredited)
1956 The Searchers (stunts - uncredited)
1954 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (stunts - uncredited)
1953 Hondo (stunts - uncredited)
1953 The Naked Spur (stunts - uncredited)
1952 MacDonald of the Canadian Mounties (stunts - uncredited)
1952 Apache War Smoke (stunts - uncredited)
1951 Westward the Women (stunts - uncredited)
1950 Rio Grande (stunts - uncredited)
1950 Devil's Doorway (stunts - uncredited)
1950 Wagon Master (stunts - uncredited)
1950 Side Street (stunts - uncredited)
1949 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (stunts - uncredited)
1948 Three Godfathers (stunt double: Pedro Armendariz - uncredited)
1948 The Three Musketeers (stunts - uncredited)
1948 Fort Apache (stunts - uncredited)
1941 Western Union (stunts - uncredited)
1940 High School (stunts - uncredited)
1939 Hollywood Cavalcade (stunts - uncredited)
1934 Elinor Norton (stunts - uncredited)
1932 The Rainbow Trail (stunt double - uncredited)
1925 Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (stunt performer - uncredited)
