Movies News Talk
Not one actor has starred in more Wayne's films than well-known character actor Paul Fix from TV and cinema. Like Wayne himself, Fix was active in the business from the mid-1920s; he acted in more than 300 films, including 26 featuring John Wayne. One of Wayne's earliest leading parts, Three Girls Lost from 1931, had a minor but uncredited part for Fix, hence Fix and Wayne's first movie together was Fix later starred in two low-budget 1930s Westerns produced during John Wayne's still-searching for a name in Hollywood: Somewhere in Sonora and The Desert Trail.
Having starred 22 films with Ward Bond, John Wayne's second most often used co-star Following the breakout performance in Stagecoach, Wayne and Fix's working partnership endured until the 1940s. Fix made most of his John Wayne film appearances in the 1940s and the 1950s, including two that are generally considered as among Wayne's best Westerns, Tall in the Saddle and Red River. Fix had parts in 13 Wayne films in only the 1940s alone, occasionally making more than one movie a year with Wayne at that period. Among these appearances in John Wayne's non-Westerns were Wake of the Red Witch and The Fighting Seabees.
Given that Fix and Wayne were most recognized for Westerns and since most of their films together fell in this genre, it was appropriate that their last film together was a Western. Paul Fix was a preferred among companies and directors since he had discovered a niche for himself as a Western character actor. Fix could competently fulfill a range of characters in Westerns, his repertory changing with his career. He would commonly play bandits and gunslingers in his early years, but as he grew older he dropped into less action-oriented roles playing judges, bankers, ranchers, and occasionally the father of the protagonist's love interest.
Although it's only reasonable that a well-known Western character actor and the biggest star in the genre would cross paths occasionally, it's important to remember that their relationship was both personal and professional. Fix was a longstanding friend of Wayne's, having been close to the actor while they worked on their 1930s movie. Three Bad Men: John Ford, John Wayne, Ward Bond by Scott Allen Nollen claims Fix even had a hand in the evolution of Wayne's image via the advise he would offer throughout the early years of John Wayne's acting career.
Legendary movie icon John Wayne starred in well over 100 films between the 1920s and 1970s, most of which were Westerns or war films. That makes it not surprising that he would eventually wind up running across some of his old co-stars on another project at some point or another. Still, certain Hollywood stars started showing up regularly as Wayne's co-stars and collaborators.
John Ford and Maureen O'Hara were Wayne's most well-known movie collaborators, easily. Celebrated Western hero in his own right, Ford oversaw several of John Wayne's films including Rio Grande, The Quiet Man, and Stagecoach. Maureen O'Hara, the female lead in five John Wayne films, has made a unique contribution to the actor's repertoire. Neither, though, was almost the most frequent co-star of the Western mythology. Rather, the name belongs to a less-known actor in the business.
Although Wayne's films define Paul Fix's reputation, they do not fully or even half explain the success Fix discovered in Hollywood. After all, just 26 Movies count for a meager portion of his acting credits. Actually, Fix's career's major contribution came from a character in The Rifleman rather than from any John Wayne film. Fix portrayed Micah Torrence, the marshal of the town where the drama took place for all five seasons of the cherished ABC Western series starring Chuck Connors. Fix's most famous contribution to the Western TV show genre is The Rifleman's now iconic status.
Apart from his work in The Rifleman, guest roles in Western TV series like Gunsmoke and Bonanza, and John Wayne's films, Fix kept occupied as a character actor in many other productions. Easily among the most well-known films he has worked on was the highly regarded 1962 drama To Kill A Mockingbird. Fix portrayed the judge supervising the case at the heart of the Gregory Peck-led movie's storyline.
Film | Year of Release
Three girls lost: 1931
somewhere in Sonora, 1933
The Trail across the Desert | 1935
Pittsburg, 1942
In Old Oklahoma, 1943
tall in the saddle | 1944
1944 Fighting Seabees
Going back to Bataan in 1945
Barbary Coast | 1945: Flame of Discovery
Dakota; 1945
Dynasty | 1947
1948 | Angel and the Badman
Red River; 1948
1948: Wake of the Red Witch
She wore a yellow ribbon 1949.
1949: Fighting Kentuckian
1953 — Island in the Sky
Hondo, 1953
1954 – The High and the Mighty
1953 | The Sea Chase
Blood Alley | 1955
Journal Pilot | 1957
The Sons of Katie Elder 1965
The Dream | 1966
Undressed | 1969
Cahill, 1973 US Marshal | 1973