While on the Dartmouth College football team, Charles Starrett was hired
to play a football extra in
The Quarterback (1926). Impressed by the job, Starrett got
the acting bug and next went into vaudeville, then regional stage work
and finally to Broadway. Spotted by a Paramount talent scout, Starrett
was signed to play the romantic lead in
Fast and Loose (1930). For the next couple of
years he would be busy, but his roles were unremarkable. In 1933 he
would be one of the people who helped organize the Screen Actors Guild.
In 1936 he would sign with Columbia and over the next 16 years star in
115 westerns. Appearing in as many films as he did, he was usually
called "Steve" something - such was life on the "B" circuit. During the
1940s Starrett would always be among the top ten western stars. After
playing assorted sheriffs and rangers, he would become well known for
his role as the "Durango Kid". Never ask where he kept the white horse
and the clothes, but he could change outfits and horses before the gun
could clear the leather. The Durango Kid first appeared in 1940, and
towards the end of his career he would play the Durango Kid in almost
every film, even though he was starting to show his age. When the "B"
movie westerns rode off into the sunset in the early 1950s, Starrett
hung up his spurs for good.
The Kid from Broken Gun(1952)as Steve Reynolds, The Durango Kid
Junction City(1952)as Steve Rollins, Durango Kid
The Rough, Tough West(1952)as Steve Holden, The Durango Kid
Laramie Mountains(1952)as Steve Holden, The Durango Kid
The Hawk of Wild River(1952)as Steve Martin, The Durango Kid
The Old Wyoming Trail(1937)
The Cowboy Star(1936)
Screen Snapshots, Series 28, No. 9: Hollywood's Happy Homes(1949)as Self
Screen Snapshots, Series 18, No. 9(1939)as Self - Horse Owner
The Mystery of Durango(2022)as The Durango Kid
Action Heroes of the Wild West(1992)as Self
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch(1976)as The Durango KId
