Max Wagner
Known For: Acting
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: November 28, 1901
Day of Death: November 16, 1975 (74 years old)
Place of Birth: 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.
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Actor Guard (uncredited)
Matri-Phony

Actor Buck
Overland to Deadwood

Actor Tough Guy
Come on Danger

Actor Deputy (uncredited)
The Spoilers

Actor Recruiting Sergeant
Sabotage Squad

Actor Sergeant
The Wife Takes a Flyer

Actor Jack - Diner Counterman (uncredited)
Obliging Young Lady

Actor Villa Luigi Headwaiter
Mexican Spitfire's Elephant

Actor Jailer (uncredited)
Panama Hattie

Actor Policeman Temple (uncredited)
A Night to Remember

Actor Fisherman (uncredited)
Moontide

Actor Tom's Best Man (uncredited)
The Palm Beach Story

Actor Moving Man (uncredited)
The Talk of the Town
1941
1940

Actor Jim
The House Across the Bay

Actor Highway Patrol Officer
Millionaire Playboy

Actor Truck Driver
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk

Actor Guard (uncredited)
The Grapes of Wrath

Actor Soldier
Charlie Chan in Panama

Actor Headwaiter - Mexican Pete's
Mexican Spitfire

Actor Joe
Trail of the Vigilantes

Actor Cowboy
Buck Benny Rides Again

Actor Shirtless Ditchdigger (uncredited)
The Bank Dick

Actor Streetcar Conductor
Hired Wife

Actor Sweeney, Driver (uncredited)
They Drive by Night

Actor Max - Radioman
Men Against the Sky

Actor Waiter (uncredited)
Lucky Partners

Actor Cab Driver (Uncredited)
The Mad Doctor

Actor Cherry's Cabbie
Rhythm on the River

Actor Ship Porter (uncredited)
The Ghost Breakers

Actor Bus Driver Jackson (uncredited)
Wildcat Bus

Actor Bill - Policeman in Car 43
Pop Always Pays

Actor Burglar
You Can't Fool Your Wife
1939

Actor Boss Mechanic
Wings of the Navy

Actor Nolan's Henchman (uncredited)
Fast and Loose

Actor Sailor at Wrestling Match
Mr. Moto in Danger Island

Actor Brings in Rustler
The Return of the Cisco Kid

Actor Policeman (uncredited)
Fifth Avenue Girl

Actor Headwaiter
The Girl from Mexico

Actor Thug
The Gracie Allen Murder Case

Actor Police Lt. Joe Wilson
Reno

Actor Gangster (uncredited)
The Roaring Twenties

Actor Bet Placing Taxi Driver (uncredited)
The Day the Bookies Wept

Actor Salesman
I'll Tell the World

Actor Hanley's Strong-Arm Man
Money to Loan

Actor Workman
Our Leading Citizen

Actor Guest
Cafe Society

Actor Visitor (uncredited)
Off the Record

Actor Joe - Truck Driver-Henchman
Scouts to the Rescue
1938

Actor Jake - Trucker in Cafe (uncredited)
Born to Be Wild

Actor Hobo
The Arkansas Traveler

Actor Sam Johnson - Milk Man (uncredited)
Maid's Night Out

Actor Brakeman
Cocoanut Grove

Actor Tough Casino Decoy
Tarnished Angel

Actor Chinatown Barker
Professor Beware

Actor Guest
Little Tough Guys in Society

Actor Blackie
Penrod and His Twin Brother

Actor Henchman Kincaid
Painted Desert
1937

Actor Joey
Step Lively, Jeeves!

Actor Party Guest (uncredited)
Alcatraz Island

Actor Gus
God's Country and the Woman

Actor Ernie - Counter Girl's Boyfriend
Many Unhappy Returns

Actor Cell Block E Convict (uncredited)
We Who Are About to Die

Actor Shakey
Border Cafe

Actor Marine
Wings Over Honolulu

Actor School Bus Driver (uncredited)
The Great O'Malley

Actor Chuck Cannon
Smart Blonde

Actor Prison Runner
San Quentin

Actor Baggage Man (uncredited)
Stage Door

Actor Truck Driver in Diner (uncredited)
Black Legion

Actor Dan - Corridor Guard (uncredited)
You Only Live Once
1936

Actor Reporter
Love on a Bet

Actor Bennie
The Crime Patrol

Actor Sam, Second Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)
Walking on Air

Actor Davis
Two in Revolt

Actor Milkman's Helper on Dock
Paddy O'Day

Actor Diner Trying to Date Helen
Night Waitress

Actor Pug O'Leary
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell

Actor Drunken Brawler
The Girl from Mandalay

Actor Lester - O'Bannion's Driver
Love Begins at Twenty

Actor Soldier
Sons o' Guns

Actor Fireman
The Girl on the Front Page

Actor Himself (uncredited)
Chatterbox

Actor Henchman
The House of a Thousand Candles

Actor Man Outside Hotel
The Big Game

Actor Actor Impersonating Kruger in Newsreel (uncredited)
Bullets or Ballots

Actor Pirate (uncredited)
Dancing Pirate
1935
1934

Actor Reporter
Name the Woman

Actor Ernest Dallas
Hell Bent for Love

Actor Convict Football Player
Gridiron Flash

Actor Evans - Bob's Chauffeur
Blind Date

Actor Max
The Personality Kid

Actor Grip
Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen

Actor Simmons
The Oil Raider

Actor Slade
The Lost Jungle

Actor Slade
The Lost Jungle

Actor Hold-Up Man
She Had to Choose