Rod Cameron
Encyclopedia
Rod Cameron was a Canadian
-born movie actor whose career extended from the 1930s to the 1970s. He appeared in horror
, war
, action
and science fiction
movies, but is best remembered for his many Western
s.
Cameron was born Nathan Roderick Cox in Calgary, Alberta. He moved to Hollywood as a young man and started out as a stuntman and bit player for Paramount Pictures
. His early films include Heritage of the Desert with Donald Woods
and Russell Hayden
, Rangers of Fortune with Fred MacMurray
, and Henry Aldrich for President with Jimmy Lydon. He also played bit roles at Universal Pictures
, including in If I Had My Way, starring Bing Crosby
and Gloria Jean
.
In 1943, Rod Cameron gained star status in action serials for Republic Pictures
. As crime-busting federal agent Rex Bennett, Cameron battled enemy terrorists in 15 weekly episodes of G-Men vs the Black Dragon
. He was already working in another serial when audience reaction to Black Dragon made him a hit. Cameron was so popular that the studio turned the new production into another Rex Bennett adventure, Secret Service in Darkest Africa
, with Cameron again battling against Axis agents.
When cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown
left Universal Pictures
for Monogram Pictures
, Rod Cameron replaced him as Universal's western series star. Tall and rugged, Cameron looked good in the saddle and was very popular. Universal soon gave him straight character roles in feature films, including Salome, Where She Danced and River Lady
both co-starring fellow Canadian Yvonne DeCarlo.
Universal reorganized and downsized its activities in 1947, leaving Cameron and other contract players unemployed. He was hired by Monogram Pictures
for a long string of outdoor action pictures.
In 1949, he appeared with Bonita Granville
in the comedy film Strike It Rich, filmed about Tyler
, Kilgore
, and Lindale
, Texas
.
Cameron starred in three syndicated
television series: City Detective
(1953–1955), State Trooper
(1956–1959), and the COronado 9
(1960–1961). In City Detective, Cameron appeared as the tough New York City
police lieutenant Bart Grant. In State Trooper, a 1950s-style western
-themed crime drama, Cameron starred as Rod Blake, a member of the Nevada State Police based in Las Vegas
. In COronado 9, set in the San Diego
areas, Cameron appeared as Dan Adams, a private detective. State Trooper in particular was known for its notable guest stars despite not being affiliated with a network. Cameron himself guest starred in many westerns, such as Laramie
and also in dramatic series. He continued to work in motion pictures and television into the 1970s. He also guest starred in season 2 of The Rockford Files.
, publicly acclaimed Cameron as the bravest man he had ever seen.
Cameron died in Gainesville, Georgia
, aged 73. The location of his ashes is unknown. He was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-born movie actor whose career extended from the 1930s to the 1970s. He appeared in horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
, action
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
movies, but is best remembered for his many Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
s.
Cameron was born Nathan Roderick Cox in Calgary, Alberta. He moved to Hollywood as a young man and started out as a stuntman and bit player for Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. His early films include Heritage of the Desert with Donald Woods
Donald Woods (actor)
Donald Woods was a Canadian-born American film and television actor whose career spanned six decades....
and Russell Hayden
Russell Hayden
Russell "Lucky" Hayden was an American film and television actor.He was born as Hayden Michael "Pate" Lucid, son of Francis J...
, Rangers of Fortune with Fred MacMurray
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
, and Henry Aldrich for President with Jimmy Lydon. He also played bit roles at Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
, including in If I Had My Way, starring Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and Gloria Jean
Gloria Jean
Gloria Jean is an American singer and actress who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films between 1939 and 1959. She also made radio, television, stage, and nightclub appearances.-Career:...
.
In 1943, Rod Cameron gained star status in action serials for Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
. As crime-busting federal agent Rex Bennett, Cameron battled enemy terrorists in 15 weekly episodes of G-Men vs the Black Dragon
G-Men vs the Black Dragon
G-Men vs The Black Dragon is a Republic Pictures Movie serial. It is noteworthy among adventure serials as containing an unusually high number of fistfights, all staged by director William Witney and a team of stuntmen....
. He was already working in another serial when audience reaction to Black Dragon made him a hit. Cameron was so popular that the studio turned the new production into another Rex Bennett adventure, Secret Service in Darkest Africa
Secret Service in Darkest Africa
Secret Service in Darkest Africa is a Republic movie serial. It was Republic's thirtieth serial, of the sixty-six produced by the studio....
, with Cameron again battling against Axis agents.
When cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown
Johnny Mack Brown
Johnny Mack Brown was an All-American college football player and film actor originally billed as John Mack Brown at the height of his screen career.-Early life:...
left Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
for Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
, Rod Cameron replaced him as Universal's western series star. Tall and rugged, Cameron looked good in the saddle and was very popular. Universal soon gave him straight character roles in feature films, including Salome, Where She Danced and River Lady
River Lady (film)
River Lady is a 1948 adventure film directed by George Sherman and starred Yvonne De Carlo. It was filmed on the Universal Studios Backlot.-Summory:Synopsis:...
both co-starring fellow Canadian Yvonne DeCarlo.
Universal reorganized and downsized its activities in 1947, leaving Cameron and other contract players unemployed. He was hired by Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
for a long string of outdoor action pictures.
In 1949, he appeared with Bonita Granville
Bonita Granville
Bonita Granville was an American film actress and television producer.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Granville was the daughter of stage actors, and made her film debut at the age of nine in Westward Passage...
in the comedy film Strike It Rich, filmed about Tyler
Tyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
, Kilgore
Kilgore, Texas
Kilgore is a city in Gregg and Rusk Counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the home of Kilgore College, and was also the childhood home of famous classical pianist Van Cliburn...
, and Lindale
Lindale, Texas
Lindale is a city in Smith County, Texas, United States. The town had an estimated population of 5,024 in 2006. It is part of the Tyler, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
Cameron starred in three syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
television series: City Detective
City Detective (TV series)
City Detective is a half-hour syndicated crime drama starring Rod Cameron as 43-year-old Bart Grant, a tough 1950s New York City police lieutenant. The first of three consecutive Rod Cameron series, City Detective aired between January 1, 1953 and May 10, 1955...
(1953–1955), State Trooper
State Trooper (TV series)
State Trooper is a half-hour television crime drama set in the 1950s American West, starring Rod Cameron as Rod Blake, an officer of the Nevada State Troopers. The series aired 104 episodes in syndication from September 25, 1956, to June 25, 1959...
(1956–1959), and the COronado 9
COronado 9
Coronado 9 is a syndicated crime drama set in San Diego, California, starring Rod Cameron as Dan Adams, a former United States Navy intelligence officer turned private detective. Coronado 9 is Adams's address; the numeral 9 on a rock shown near his front door in the opening credits denotes the...
(1960–1961). In City Detective, Cameron appeared as the tough New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
police lieutenant Bart Grant. In State Trooper, a 1950s-style western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
-themed crime drama, Cameron starred as Rod Blake, a member of the Nevada State Police based in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
. In COronado 9, set in the San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
areas, Cameron appeared as Dan Adams, a private detective. State Trooper in particular was known for its notable guest stars despite not being affiliated with a network. Cameron himself guest starred in many westerns, such as Laramie
Laramie (TV series)
Laramie is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1959 to 1963. Laramie was a Revue Studios production which originally starred John Smith as Slim Sherman, Robert Fuller as Jess Harper, Hoagy Carmichael as Jonesy and Robert Crawford, Jr...
and also in dramatic series. He continued to work in motion pictures and television into the 1970s. He also guest starred in season 2 of The Rockford Files.
Personal life
Cameron's private life was colorful; in a highly publicized marital scrap, he divorced his wife to marry her mother. Hence his former director, William WitneyWilliam Witney
William Nuelsen Witney was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the movie serials he co-directed with John English for Republic Pictures such as Daredevils of the Red Circle, Zorro's Fighting Legion and Drums of Fu Manchu.He directed many Westerns during his career,...
, publicly acclaimed Cameron as the bravest man he had ever seen.
Cameron died in Gainesville, Georgia
Gainesville, Georgia
-Severe Weather:Gainesville sits on the very fringe of Tornado Alley, a region of the United States where severe weather is common. Supercell thunderstorms can sweep through any time between March and November, but are concentrated most in the spring...
, aged 73. The location of his ashes is unknown. He was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
.