Rick Vallin

Rick Vallin (September 24, 1919 – August 31, 1977) was an actor who appeared in more than 150 films between 1938 and 1966.

Biography

Born Eric Efron in Russia, Vallin came to America while still young (1922).

He started his Hollywood career with an uncredited part in the film Freshman Year.[1]He later joined the Pasadena Playhouse in 1942, and the same year received his first co-star billing in the film The Panther's Claw together with Sidney Blackmer, and showed promising leading man material in Secrets of a Co-Edwith Otto Kruger. But what was seeming to be a career pointed to stardom, turned later into secondary roles in several B-movies and cliffhanger serials. For the most part, Vallin interpreted the hero's dullish sidekick, a secondary villain, or a prominent ethnic figure. In the minds of studio filmmakers, he had a tight B-movie image and found any advance to the "A" ranks almost impossible.

By the mid-1930s, Vallin had moved considerably down the credits list, until he became a mainstay in the Columbia Pictures serials and appeared in a few of the Bowery Boys 1940s capers. His successful union with Columbia also kept him active in minor roles in three Johnny Weissmuller's Jungle Jim movies, playing both sinister villains and savage natives.

Occasionally he showed up in such television series as Brave Eagle, Sheriff of Cochise, Bat Masterson, Jefferson Drum, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, The Lone Ranger and Wyatt Earp. He was also cast on The Adventures of Superman, as well in both The Gene Autry Show and The Roy Rogers Show. His last appearance was a guest role on Daniel Boone in 1966.

Vallin died in Los Angeles, California, at the age of fifty-seven. He is interred at Eden Memorial Park in Mission Hills, California.

Selected filmography

Films

• Freshman Year (1938)
• Dramatic School (1938)
• Desperate Cargo (1941)
• The Corsican Brothers (1941)
• The Panther's Claw (1942)
• Sleepytime Gal (1942)
• Flying with Music (1942)
• King of the Stallions (1942)
• Secrets of a Co-Ed (1942)
• Lady from Chungking (1942)
• Riders of the Rio Grande (1943)
• The East Side Kids Meet Bela Lugosi (1943)
• Isle of Forgotten Sins (1943)
• Smart Guy (1943)
• Dangerous Money (1946)
• Last of the Redmen (1947)
• Northwest Outpost (1947)
• Trail Blazers (1953)
• Jungle Jim (1948)
• Batman and Robin (serial) (1949)
• Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949)
• Tuna Clipper (1949)
• Comanche Territory (1950)
• Jungle Jim: Captive Girl (1950)
• Snow Dog (1950)
• When the Redskins Rode (1951)
• Son of Geronimo: Apache Avenger (1952)
• Woman in the Dark (1952)
• Strange Fascination (1952)
• Salome (1953)

Serials

• Perils of the Royal Mounted (1942)
• The Desert Hawk (1944)
• The Sea Hound (1947)
• Brick Bradford (1947)
• Batman and Robin (1949)
• Adventures of Sir Galahad (1949)
• Cody of the Pony Express (1950)
• Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951)
• King of the Congo (1952)
• Blackhawk (1952)
• Son of Geronimo (1952)
• The Adventures of Captain Africa (1955)
• Perils of the Wilderness (1956)

Television shows

• Annie Oakley (1954–56)
• The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1952–56)
• The Gene Autry Show (1953–54)
• The Roy Rogers Show (1953–57)
• The Adventures of Kit Carson (1952–53)
• Hopalong Cassidy (1952–54)
• The Lone Ranger (1955–57)
• Four Star Playhouse (1956)
• Highway Patrol (1957)
• Official Detective US TV series episode 'The Man With The Goatee' as Goatee (1957)
• The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (1957)
• Adventures of Superman (1955–57)
• M Squad (1958)
• Wyatt Earp (1955–60)
• Bat Masterson (1961)
• The Prisoner (1966)
• Daniel Boone (1966)