Max Wagner
AKA: Maxwell Wagner
Birthday: 1901-11-28
Died: 1975-11-16
Birthplace: Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Max Wagner (November 28, 1901 – November 16, 1975) was a Mexican-born American film actor who specialized in playing small parts such as thugs, gangsters, sailors, henchmen, bodyguards, cab drivers and moving men, appearing more than 400 films in his career, most without receiving screen credit. Newspaper gossip columnists noted his rise from playing "Gangster #4", with no lines, and not carrying a gun, to "Gangster #2", with both lines and a gun.
Wagner was one of five children, all boys, of William Wallace Wagner, a railroad conductor, and Edith Wagner, a writer who provided dispatches for the Christian Science Monitor during the Mexican Revolution. When he was 10 years old, his father was killed by rebels and the family moved to Salinas, California, where he met John Steinbeck, who became a lifelong friend. Steinback based the character of the boy in his novel The Red Pony on Wagner.
Under the name "Max Baron", Wagner acted in many Spanish-language versions of English-language films, which studios made as a matter of course in the early days of sound films, He also served as a Spanish language coach for other actors, and appeared in many of the "Mexican Spitfire" films starring Lupe Vélez, where he also served to monitor Velez's Spanish ad-libs for profanity.
Other series that Wagner appeared in include the Charlie Chan films, and Tom Mix serials, as well as others made by Mascot Pictures Corporation. In the 1940s, Wagner was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in six films written and directed by Sturges, beginning with The Palm Beach Story
In 1940 during the filming of "The Mad Doctor", Wagner was credited for driving 50,000 miles as an on-screen taxi driver on the studio back lots of Hollywood. Since his appearance as a cab driver in Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935), producers often cast him as a wise-cracking or henchman taxi driver. "I was cast as a taxi driver about five years ago", Wagner told a reporter. "And I was typed."
In 1952, Wagner began to appear on television, in episodes of such shows as The Cisco Kid, Zane Grey Theater and Perry Mason, playing much the same kind of parts he played in the movies.
He was a regular cast member on the western television series Gunsmoke, making nearly 80 appearances between 1959 and 1973. He also appeared in many episodes of The Rifleman, Bonanza, Cimarron Strip, The Wild Wild West and Maverick, including a guest-starring role in the 1959 Rifleman episode "Blood Brother." He also had roles in the original Star Trek and The Twilight Zone series. He appeared in more than 200 television episodes between 1952 and 1974.
Notable film roles for Wagner include a supporting role in the cult science fiction classic Invaders from Mars (1953), an actor playing a gangster in the film-within-a-film segment of Bullets or Ballots (1936), and the bull farm attendant in the Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bullfighters (1945).
Late in his career, he appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). He also occasionally composed music, such as the Mexican folk ballad "Pedro, Rudarte y Simon" in the Western film The Last Trail (1933).
Wagner died of a heart attack in Hollywood in 1975.
Filmography
Character: Army Sgt. Rinaldi
Character: Taxi Driver Henchman
Character: Cab Driver (Uncredited)
Character: Sergeant Goring
Character: Convict Road Laborer (uncredited)
Character: Military Policeman
Character: Sam, Second Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)
Character: Cell Block E Convict (uncredited)
Character: Convict Football Player
Character: Evans - Bob's Chauffeur
Character: Ferguson - Pilot
Character: Tough Casino Decoy
Character: Gangster (uncredited)
Character: Milkman's Helper on Dock
Character: Nolan's Henchman
Character: Sailor at Wrestling Match
Character: Brings in Rustler
Character: Policeman (uncredited)
Character: Chinatown Barker
Character: Police Lt. Joe Wilson
Character: Bet Placing Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Character: Highway Patrol Officer
Character: Guard (uncredited)
Character: Mike (uncredited)
Character: School Bus Driver (uncredited)
Character: Diner Trying to Date Helen
Character: Cashier / Nick's Assistant Bouncer (uncredited)
Character: Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Character: Drunken Brawler
Character: Headwaiter - Mexican Pete's
Character: Hanley's Strong-Arm Man
Character: Townsman (uncredited)
Character: Lester - O'Bannion's Driver
Character: Moving Man (uncredited)
Character: Bartender (uncredited)
Character: Policeman (uncredited)
Character: Shirtless Ditchdigger (uncredited)
Character: Streetcar Conductor
Character: Sweeney, Driver (uncredited)
Character: Max - Radioman
Character: Waiter (uncredited)
Character: Cherry's Cabbie
Character: Bus Driver Jackson (uncredited)
Character: Ship Porter (uncredited)
Character: Projectionist (uncredited)
Character: Bill - Policeman in Car 43
Character: Sergeant George Dunne
Character: Rudy the Sailor
Character: Deputy (uncredited)
Character: Recruiting Sergeant
Character: Himself (uncredited)
Character: Reporter (uncredited)
Character: Radio Operator (uncredited)
Character: Baggage Man (uncredited)
Character: Jack - Diner Counterman (uncredited)
Character: Villa Luigi Headwaiter
Character: Visitor (uncredited)
Character: Jailer (uncredited)
Character: Man Outside Hotel
Character: Joe - Truck Driver-Henchman
Character: Military Police Driver (uncredited)
Character: Jack Purcell (uncredited)
Character: Policeman Temple
Character: Citizen (uncredited)
Character: Truck Driver in Diner (uncredited)
Character: Actor Impersonating Kruger in Newsreel (uncredited)
Character: Jake (uncredited)
Character: Dan - Corridor Guard (uncredited)
Character: Tom's Best Man (uncredited)
Character: Music Hall Drunk (Uncredited)
Character: Henchman Kincaid
Character: Pirate (uncredited)
Character: Durko (uncredited)
Character: Blackjack Dealer
Character: Policeman in Car (uncredited)
Character: Moving Man (uncredited)
Character: Bartender (uncredited)
Character: Second Investigating Detective (Uncredited)
Character: Deputy Charlie (uncredited)
Character: Drunk (uncredited)
Character: Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Character: Workman (uncredited)
Character: Townsman (uncredited)
Character: Umpire (uncredited)
Character: Jake - Trucker in Cafe (uncredited)
Character: Townsman Watching Fight (uncredited)
Character: Station Agent (uncredited)
Character: Sam Johnson - Milk Man (uncredited)
Character: Party Guest (uncredited)
Character: Charles McMahon
Character: Spectator (uncredited)
Character: Barfly (uncredited)
Character: Ernie - Counter Girl's Boyfriend
Character: Barfly (uncredited)
Character: Bartender (uncredited)
Character: Guard (uncredited)
Character: Bar Patron (uncredited)
Character: Henchman Mike (uncredited)
Character: Cashier (uncredited)