Been meaning to do a piece on Hank Worden for quite a while. He turned up in an episode of The Lone Ranger last night, so I figured now’s the time.
His real name was Norton Earl Worden, and he was born in Rolfe, Iowa in 1901. He grew up on a ranch in Montana, attended both Stanford University and the University of Nevada, served in the Army, and worked on the rodeo circuit as a bronco rider. While rodeoing in Madison Square Garden, he and Tex Ritter were chosen to play cowhands in Green Grow The Lilacs on Broadway.
Worden broke into the movies with Cecil B. DeMille’s The Plainsman in 1936, and was soon appearing in Tex Ritter’s B Westerns.
Hank had a small part in Howard Hawks’s Come And Get It (1936), and they say Hawks recommended Worden to John Ford. For Hawks, he did Red River (1948) and The Big Sky (1952). (Why wasn’t he in Rio Bravo?)
As a member of John Ford’s stock company, Worden’s in Stagecoach (1939), Fort Apache (1948), Three Godfathers (1948), Wagonmaster (1950), The Searchers (1956, up top) and more.
Hank continued to work with John Wayne — as part of his stock company. Their last picture together was Cahill, US Marshall in 1973.
He turns up in so much stuff: a couple of the Ma and Pa Kettle movies, Hellfire (1949), The Quiet Gun (1957), Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957), One-Eyed Jacks (1961‚ Marlon Brando killed him off way too early), Smokey And The Bandit (1977) and Clint Eastwood’s Bronco Billy (1980). On TV, he was on The Lone Ranger, Bonanza, Wagon Train, Petticoat Junction, even a few episodes of Twin Peaks (his last role).
Hank Worden added something special to every movie he was in, but it’s Mose Harper in The Searchers that he’ll always be remembered for. And that’s not a bad thing at all.
* One of my favorite photos ever posted on this blog.
Always enjoyed watching Hank Worden .I wish he had a bigger part in ONE EYED JACKS .I watched him the other night in BIG JAKE ,one of my favourite John Wayne movies.He was also in another of my favourite films,BIG WEDNESDAY.
Great character actor and great post!
I love seeing Ol’ Mose pop up in other films! One of my favorites!
I think he’s in FORTY GUNS as well. This dude had a hell of an agent.
Such memories. It always puts a smile on my face to see Hank Worden.
Same here. I’m smiling just thinking about him.
The very definition of a character actor – someone with a highly distinctive yet offbeat look and sound.
The man is a Legend. Forever remembered as the Parson in The Alamo : “You never pray, do you Davy?”. Oddly my second favourite Worden role is was as a duplicitous horse-trader who tricks Gil Favor in an episode of Rawhide. The Western itself started to die when character actors like Hank Worden faded from the screen.
One of the reasons I prefer older movies to new ones is the lack of great character actors today.
In many ways the 1970’s was the last era of “Classical American Cinema”
Many others have stated this before me and will long after I’m gone.
All time great directors like Fuller,Aldrich and Siegel were still making superb
movies,in fact some of their very best.
Wonderful character actors like Mr Worden,Royal Dano Elisha Cook and
L.Q. Jones were still working on a regular basis.
Furthermore there was a new breed of splendid character actors emerging
like Matt Clark,Billy Green Bush,Luke Askew and Bo Hopkins,I really miss
those guys.
John and Nick, you really nailed it. I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I work on the commentary for Charley Varrick, one of my favorite (70s) movies. It’s got such a great supported cast — Bob Steele, Norman Fell, Sheree North, William Schallert, Felicia Farr, Hope Summers, Tom Tully — in a way we just don’t see anymore.
The Outfit may have an even better cast. Some terrific folks in that one.
……and Woodrow Parfrey,also unforgettable in THE OUTLAW JOSEY
WALES. What a line up that one had Matt Clark,Royal Dano,John Russell,
Sheb Woolley,John Davis Chandler and Bill McKinney another superb
character actor and a regular Eastwood “stock player”
Both Siegel and Eastwood knew how much these guys brought to the table.
I LOVE Matt Clark!
Hank Worden is one of my all-time favorite character actors and what a character actor he was. Hank was one of the most memorable unassuming scene stealers in the history of movies and TV. All he had to do was just stand there in any scene and you couldn’t help but notice him. He had a unique quirky look about him and when he opened his mouth he had a sing-song twangy voice like no other. John Wayne reportedly had occasional difficulties remaining in character when working with the naturally funny actor. He and Wayne worked no less than 18 times together over a period of 34 years.
His most memorable role is as Ol’ Mose Harper in THE SEARCHERS(1956). Hank added so much to what many consider the best Western ever made. Here he portrayed a Texas frontiersman Shakespearean fool like no other. Ol’ Mose was a tracker seer, who knew what it was all about.
After John Wayne’s death in 1979, I remember seeing an interview with Hank and Paul Fix on TV, concerning the life of John Wayne. Hank proved to have a sharp memory and spoke very articulately.
Hank Worden, we will never see anyone like him on the screen ever again. To His memory, “Thank Ya, Thank Ya Kindly.”
Will Wright, Russell Thorsen, and many more. I think it is usually the deep cast of character actors in a movie that really makes that movie for me. Hank Worden though was a real (and reel) ‘one off’!!
Totally agree Jerry – thanks to this site & others I now study the list of actors below the title as the movie starts and am happy when I see a strong supporting cast!
Sidonis (according to DVD Classik) have just announced a triple threat
3 of Randolph Scott’s top Columbia 40’s Westerns are being released on Blu
Ray.THE DESPERADOES,GUNFIGHTERS and CORONER CREEK.
To add insult to injury Sidonis will continue to have those horrendous
“forced” subtitles on these releases.
I cannot see any other reason why Sidonis continue to do this apart from
pissing off American,German and English Western fans.
It’s got nothing to do with contracts-ESC and Elephant continue to
release discs with removable subs.
As I’ve said a zillion times before this really is the sort of thing Mill Creek should
be releasing.
Now that is a BluRay set I would buy, no question, IF it was by anyone except Sidonis.
Warner Archive has a blu-ray of WILD ROVERS up for pre-order.
Texican ,you should enjoy WILD ROVERS .I have the DVD version and was almost going to watch it last night,but settled for THE SILVER WHIP instead .I have THE HANGING TREE BLU RAY on order .I wasn’t going to double dip as I already have the DVD ,but I see the trailer has a voice over from Gary Cooper and Maria Schell .He did the same on YOU’RE IN THE NAVY NOW ,probably as a promotion because I believe his company made them.
Has anyone seen THE CANADIANS with Robert Ryan ?I see WB Archive released it .
Gosh, where did you see about “THE CANADIANS”, Graham? I can’t see any mention on WA pre-orders. If that is being released in its original scope that would be huge news for John K especially. One of the films at the top of his wish list, I believe.
Jerry ,sorry but I was looking at a few things on the net including THE CANADIANS ,including Robert Ryan .Must have got it confused with something else.
Really had my hopes up for a while there, Graham!!