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
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 Bus Driver Jackson (uncredited)
Wildcat Bus
Actor Ship Porter (uncredited)
The Ghost Breakers
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
