American actor (1928?2022)
Clu Gulager
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Gulager in 2015
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Born
| William Martin Gulager
(
1928-11-16
)
November 16, 1928
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Died
| August 5, 2022
(2022-08-05)
(aged 93)
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Alma mater
| Baylor University
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Occupation(s)
| Actor, director
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Years active
| 1947?2019
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Spouse
|
(
m.
1952; died 2003)
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Children
| |
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Relatives
| Will Rogers
(first cousin once removed)
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William Martin Gulager
(
;
[1]
November 16, 1928 ? August 5, 2022), better known as
Clu Gulager
, was an American television and film actor and director born in
Holdenville, Oklahoma
. He first became known for his work in television, appearing in the co-starring role of William H. Bonney (
Billy the Kid
) in the 1960?1962
NBC
television series
The Tall Man
and as Emmett Ryker in another NBC
Western
series,
The Virginian
. He later had a second career as a horror film actor, including a lead part in
Dan O'Bannon
's
The Return of the Living Dead
(1985). He also was in
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
(1985). In 2005 he started acting in his son's horror films ? the
Feasts
films and
Piranha 3DD
? in his 80s.
Gulager's first major film role was in
Don Siegel
's
The Killers
(1964) with
Lee Marvin
and
Ronald Reagan
in his only movie role as a villain, followed by a supporting part in the racing film
Winning
(1969) opposite
Paul Newman
and
Joanne Woodward
; in
Peter Bogdanovich
's drama
The Last Picture Show
(1971); and opposite
John Wayne
in
McQ
(1974). In the 1980s, Gulager appeared in several horror films, such as
The Initiation
(1984) and the zombie comedy
The Return of the Living Dead
(1985). In 2005, he appeared in the horror film
Feast
, as well as its sequels. He also appeared in the independent film
Tangerine
(2015) and in
Quentin Tarantino
's
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
(2019), which was his final film role.
Gulager directed the short film
A Day with the Boys
, which was nominated for the
Palme d'Or
for Best Short Film at the 1969
Cannes Film Festival
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Gulager was born in
Holdenville, Oklahoma
, on November 16, 1928, the son of John Delancy Gulager, who had been an actor before settling down to practice law in nearby
Muskogee
.
[2]
His paternal grandmother, Martha Schrimsher Gulager, was a sister of Mary Schrimsher, the mother of
Will Rogers
, making Gulager and Rogers first cousins, once removed.
[2]
[3]
He was
Cherokee
, having been an enrolled citizen of the
Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
.
[4]
[5]
His Cherokee nickname was given to him by his father for the
clu-clu
birds (known in English as
martins
,
[4]
like his middle name) that were nesting at the Gulager home at the time of his birth.
[6]
From 1946 to 1948, Gulager served in the
United States Marine Corps
at
Camp Pendleton
.
[7]
After attending
Northeastern State University
in
Tahlequah, Oklahoma
, Gulager transferred to the
Baptist
-affiliated
Baylor University
in
Waco, Texas
, where he graduated.
[8]
[9]
He won a one-year scholarship to study abroad in
Paris
, where he worked under
Jean-Louis Barrault
, a French actor and director. In 1952, he returned to Baylor. On June 19, 1952, he married fellow actor
Miriam Byrd-Nethery
. The couple had two sons,
John
and
Tom
, and remained married until her death in 2003.
[2]
Career
[
edit
]
In 1958 he appeared as Roy Carter in the episode "The Return of Roy Carter" (written by
Gene Roddenberry
, creator of
Star Trek
) in the Western television series
Have Gun ? Will Travel
starring
Richard Boone
.
Gulager stated, "
Lew Wasserman
saw me on a
Playhouse 90
episode where I played an
Elvis Presley
-type character. I became the first contract player at
Universal
".
[7]
In the spring of 1959, he signed with
MCA-TV
, where he appeared as Tommy Pavlock in the episode "The Immigrant" of NBC's series
The Lawless Years
, a 1920s crime drama. In the fall of 1959, he appeared in the episode "The Temple of the Swinging Doll" of
NBC
's short-lived espionage drama
Five Fingers
, starring
David Hedison
.
[10]
On June 3, 1959, he guest-starred as the unscrupulous photographer Elliott Garrison in "The Andrew Hale Story" on NBC's
Wagon Train
. On October 11, 1959, Gulager appeared as a
U.S. Navy
sailor in the "Appointment at Eleven" episode of
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
and again as an escaped convict in "Pen Pal" on November 1, 1960. On
The Untouchables
, he played the role of real-life vicious mob killer
Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll
. Gulager was hailed for his utterly chilling performance as the psychopathic Coll. Late in 1959, he was cast as Beau Chandler in the episode "Jessie Quinn" of the NBC Western series
Riverboat
, starring
Darren McGavin
and
Burt Reynolds
. The episode is a tale of intrigue involving the
Texas Revolution
. Capt. Holden attempts to send weapons to
Sam Houston
, but forces of
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
in
Mexico
threaten to blow up Holden's vessel, the
Enterprise
.
From 1960 to 1962, Gulager played
Billy the Kid
in
The Tall Man
, opposite
Barry Sullivan
as Sheriff
Pat Garrett
. The episodes portray Billy as a sympathetic character without resorting to the "misunderstood young man" theme used in such films as
The Outlaw
(1943) and
The Left Handed Gun
(1958). In 1961, Gulager guest-starred in another NBC Western,
Whispering Smith
,
Audie Murphy
's only attempt at series television. Gulager portrayed Deputy Sheriff Emmett Ryker from 1964 to 1968 on
The Virginian
,
the 90-minute Western series in which he starred with
James Drury
,
Doug McClure
,
Lee J. Cobb
,
Roberta Shore
,
Randy Boone
,
Gary Clarke
, and
Diane Roter
. Gulager appeared more than 60 times in other roles in film and television, including the film
Winning
(1969) and the
CBS
series
Three for the Road
. He also appeared several times on NBC's
Bonanza
. He starred with
Lee Marvin
,
Ronald Reagan
,
John Cassavetes
, and
Angie Dickinson
in
The Killers
(1964), teaming with Marvin as a pair of ruthless hit men.
The Killers
was intended to be one of the early
made-for-TV movies
as part of a
Project 120
series of films that did not reach the airwaves,
[11]
but
NBC
deemed it too violent for broadcast; Universal released the film theatrically instead.
[12]
In 1971, Gulager appeared in
Peter Bogdanovich
's
The Last Picture Show
. In 1977, long after his role on
The Virginian
, he appeared in an episode of
Rod Taylor
's unsuccessful NBC Western series
The Oregon Trail
. Gulager also played the boss of
Susan Sarandon
in a 1977 film drama,
The Other Side of Midnight
. In 1981, he co-starred as Angela Channing's long-suffering nephew Chase Gioberti, opposite
Oscar
-winner
Jane Wyman
,
Lorenzo Lamas
,
William R. Moses
, and
Jamie Rose
, in the pilot episode of
The Vintage Years
, which was later retooled as the primetime soap opera
Falcon Crest
. When he was not rehired to continue with his role,
Robert Foxworth
took over the role until his firing in 1987.
[13]
In 1985, he was cast as Burt Wilson in
Dan O'Bannon
's
The Return of the Living Dead
. He was also a featured player in director
John Landis
' darkly comedic 1985 film noir satire,
Into the Night
, a film rife with insider
Hollywood
cameos, as an FBI agent who is a courier of a cache of clandestine funds, which he grudgingly delivers to secure the safety of the film's two romantic leads (
Michelle Pfeiffer
and
Jeff Goldblum
).
In 2005, Gulager appeared as a shotgun-toting bartender in
Feast
, followed by the film's two sequels,
Feast II: Sloppy Seconds
(2008), and
Feast III: The Happy Finish
(2009), all of which were directed by his son, John. He also had a minor role in the critically acclaimed independent film
Tangerine
(2015).
[14]
He had a role in the 2012 film
Piranha 3DD
. Gulager's final screen performance was as an unnamed book store owner in
Quentin Tarantino
's
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
in 2019.
Death
[
edit
]
Gulager died of natural causes at the
Los Angeles
home of his son John on August 5, 2022. He was 93.
[15]
[16]
[17]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Awards and nominations
[
edit
]
- The Virginian
(TV series) (1966) Bronze Wrangler Award for Best Fictional Television Drama ensemble cast
- A Day with the Boys
(1969) (director, short film) Nominated
Palme d'Or
?
Cannes Film Festival
"Best Short Film"
- Hunter's Blood
(1986) Nominated
Saturn Award
"Best Supporting Actor"
- Gulager is one of several "Oklahoma Walk of Fame" members represented on medallions in front of Tulsa's Circle Cinema.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Say How: G"
. National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled
. Retrieved
August 6,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
Michener, Judith "Gulager, William Martin (1928 ? ),"
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture
; accessed August 25, 2016.
- ^
"Clu" Gulager profile
Archived
February 19, 2019, at the
Wayback Machine
, psychotronicvideo.com; accessed February 12, 2019.
- ^
a
b
Conley, Robert J.
A Cherokee Encyclopedia
, University of Old Mexico Press, 2007. pg. 110.
- ^
"GULAGER, WILLIAM MARTIN (1928? )"
. Oklahoma Historical Society
. Retrieved
April 24,
2021
.
- ^
Profile
, clugulager.com; accessed September 2, 2018.
- ^
a
b
"THE TALL MAN - getTV Interview with Clu Gulager"
.
- ^
Hamilton, Anita (November 17, 2016).
"Celebrating Seniors ? Clu Gulager is 88, Part 1"
. Retrieved
December 29,
2019
.
- ^
Conley, Robert J. (2007).
A Cherokee Encyclopedia
. UNM Press.
ISBN
978-0-8263-3951-5
.
- ^
"Clu Gulager was insecure once, but not uncertain"
. Provo Daily Herald. January 23, 1967
. Retrieved
May 4,
2014
.
- ^
Smith, Cecil. (November 21, 1963) "Two-Part Show Is One Worth Look"
Los Angeles Times
- ^
p 167 Moore, Barbara, Bensman, Marvin R. & Van Dyke, Jim
Prime-time Television: A Concise History
Praeger (30 March 2006)
- ^
"www.falconcrest.org ? Deutscher FALCON CREST ? Fanclub / German FALCON CREST Fan Club"
.
www.falconcrest.org
.
- ^
Powers, John (July 7, 2015).
"Why Tangerine Is the Most Unlikely Hit of the Year"
.
Vogue
. Retrieved
March 20,
2018
.
- ^
Barnes, Mike (August 6, 2022).
"Clu Gulager, Actor in 'The Virginian,' 'The Last Picture Show' and 'Return of the Living Dead,' Dies at 93"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. Retrieved
August 6,
2022
.
- ^
Murphy, J. Kim (August 6, 2022).
"Clu Gulager, 'The Virginian' and 'Return of the Living Dead' Actor, Dies at 93"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
August 7,
2022
.
- ^
Haring, Bruce (August 6, 2022).
"Clu Gulager Dies: Veteran Horror Film Actor In 'Return Of The Living Dead' Was 93"
.
Deadline
. Retrieved
August 7,
2022
.
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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People
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