This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points . Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. ( February 2022 )

Rand Brooks
Brooks in the trailer for Dramatic School , 1938
Born	( 1918-09-21 ) September 21, 1918 Wright City, Missouri , U.S.
Died	September 1, 2003 (2003-09-01) (aged 84) Santa Ynez, California , U.S.
Occupations	Actor producer rancher
Spouses	Lois Laurel ​ ​ ( m.  1948; div.  1978) ​ Hermine Brooks ​ ​ ( m.  1978; died 2003) ​
Children	2

Arlington Rand Brooks Jr. ^[1] (September 21, 1918 ? September 1, 2003) was an American film and television actor.

Early life [ edit ]

Brooks was born in Wright City, Missouri . He was the son of Arlington Rand Brooks, ^[2] a farmer. ^{[3] [a]} His mother and he moved to Los Angeles when he was four, ^[4] though he continued to spend summers in Wright City. ^[2] Brooks continued to make visits to his hometown of Wright City into the 1950s, up to and following the death of his father in 1950. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

His mother and his grandfather were actors. ^[8]

Career [ edit ]

Early career [ edit ]

After leaving school, Brooks got a screen test at MGM and was given a bit part in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938). ^[9] His big fame came with his part as Charles Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939), a role which he later admitted he despised; he wanted to play more macho parts. ^[10] He made $100 per week under contract at MGM, but when he was on loan to Selznick International Pictures for Gone with the Wind , he made $500 per week. ^[11]

After Gone With the Wind , he had relatively small parts in other movies including Babes in Arms , ^[12] then a regular role as Lucky in the Hopalong Cassidy series of Westerns in the mid-1940s; ^[13] Brooks succeeded Russell Hayden in the role. ^[14] Among the films, which starred William Boyd as Hopalong, were Hoppy's Holiday , The Dead Don't Dream , and Borrowed Trouble . He received positive notice for his work in Fool's Gold , with Variety reporting that he did "an excellent job." ^[15] In edited, half-hour versions of some of the films, he appeared in 12 of the 52 episodes of the Hopalong Cassidy television series. ^[13]

Military service [ edit ]

Brooks served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II , eventually reaching the rank of sergeant. ^[1] He trained at Buckley Field in Colorado, in March 1943 ^[16] and was stationed in Springfield, Missouri, as of May 1943. ^[17] Brooks was for a time at San Antonio Air Field. He trained for flying, but did some theatre work under General Arnold . ^[18] He was ill for a time during his service and in 1944 worked in recruitment in Louisiana. ^[19]

Post-military film and television work [ edit ]

In 1948, he co-starred with Adele Jergens and Marilyn Monroe in the low-budget, black-and-white Columbia Pictures film, Ladies of the Chorus . Brooks became the first actor to share an on-screen kiss with Monroe, who in a few years was one of the world's biggest movie stars. ^[4] Filmed in just 10 days, the film was released soon after its completion. ^{[20] [21]}

Variety called his performance in the 1952 film The Steel Fist "capable." ^[22]

Television brought new opportunities, again often in Westerns. He played Cpl. Randy Boone in the 1950s television series , The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin . ^{[4] [23]}

Brooks had guest roles in 1950s Western series, including Mackenzie's Raiders , ^[14] The Lone Ranger , Maverick , Gunsmoke , and Bonanza . ^[10] He appeared twice on the syndicated adventure series, Rescue 8 , ^[24] as well as on CBS 's Perry Mason courtroom drama series. ^[25]

In 1962, he directed and produced a movie about brave dogs, Bearheart , but the film was entangled in legal troubles due to his business manager's involvement in crimes such as forgery and graft. ^[4] The film was finally released in 1978, under the title Legend of the Northwest .

Brooks was one of the favorite leading men of Jane Withers . ^[26]

Post-entertainment career [ edit ]

After he left show business, Brooks owned and operated a private ambulance company, Professional Ambulance, in Glendale, California . He commented that he "died in more pictures than almost anyone" and that though he was never very big in show business, he was willing to return to it. ^[27] Brooks sold the ambulance company in 1994, and retired to his ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley , where he bred champion Andalusian horses . ^[4] He attended a Gone with the Wind reunion for Clark Gable 's birthday, along with Ann Rutherford and Fred Crane , in Cadiz, Ohio, in 1992. ^{[28] [11]}

Personal life [ edit ]

Variety reported that Brooks married Clover Barrick on April 18, 1945. ^[1]

He married Lois Laurel (d. 2017), ^[29] daughter of Stan Laurel , in 1949. ^{[10] [30]} Their son Arlington Rand Brooks III was born in September 1949. ^[31] Their daughter Laurel was born in August 1950 in Santa Monica, California . ^{[32] [10]}

Death [ edit ]

On September 1, 2003, Brooks died in Santa Ynez, California . ^{[33] [34]}

Partial filmography [ edit ]

Notes [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• Rand Brooks at IMDb
• Rand Brooks at Find a Grave
• Rand Brooks on the RadioGOLDINdex