He was Ginger Rogers’ love interest in Roxie Hart (1942) and played opposite Gene Tierney in China Girl (1942) for Henry Hathaway. He starred in Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942) with Maureen O’Hara, playing a role originally intended for Tyrone Power. He was given the lead in an “A” when he top-lined Orchestra Wives (1942) with Ann Rutherford, a film best remembered today for giving a co-star role to Glenn Miller. Montgomery was teamed with Carole Landis in Cadet Girl (1941). Fox then starred him in some B Westerns: Last of the Duanes (1941), Riders of the Purple Sage (1941), and The Cowboy and the Blonde (1941). Montgomery was promoted to leading roles in a melodrama written by Dalton Trumbo, Accent on Love (1941). Montgomery was fourth-billed in a “B” about pilots, Charter Pilot (1940) with Lloyd Nolan and Lynn Bari, and third-billed in Jennie (1940). He had a small role in Star Dust (1940), and a bigger one in Young People (1940), Shirley Temple’s last film for Fox. His first film at the studio was The Cisco Kid and the Lady (1939), the first of the Cisco Kid series. In 1939, he signed with 20th Century Fox, which billed him as George Montgomery. He worked on Republic’s (relatively) big budget Man of Conquest (1939). Tidal Wave (1939), and I Was a Convict (1939), but mostly it was films such as South of the Border (1939) and In Old Monterey (1939) with Autry, Saga of Death Valley (1939) Wall Street Cowboy (1939), Frontier Pony Express (1939), Rough Riders’ Round-up (1939) and In Old Caliente (1939) with Rogers The Night Riders (1939) with John Wayne. He was in some non-Westerns such as The Mysterious Miss X (1939), S.O.S. He went back to Westerns in Southward Ho (1939) and The Arizona Kid (1939) with Rogers. tall, weighs 210 lb., rides well, is superlatively handsome.”
#PATHFINDER MOVIE GEORGE MONTGOMERY FULL#
That year, Life included him in a photo montage of “Hollywood’s Movie-struck Kids” and described Montgomery, still using his full name, as “6 ft.
In 1938, he appeared as one of the six men suspected of being the titular hero in The Lone Ranger. He was in an African adventure tale Hawk of the Wilderness (1938) with Herman Brix and the bigger-budgeted Army Girl (1938).
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These included Springtime in the Rockies (1937) with Autry The Purple Vigilantes (1938) with Robert Livingston the serial The Lone Ranger (1938) Outlaws of Sonora (1938) with Livingston The Old Barn Dance (1938) and Gold Mine in the Sky (1938) with Autry Under Western Stars (1938), with Roy Rogers Pals of the Saddle (1938) with John Wayne Billy the Kid Returns (1938), Come On, Rangers (1938) and Shine On, Harvest Moon (1938) with Rogers. He followed this with bit parts and additional stunt work as “George Letz” in mostly low-budget films. Republic PicturesĪt Republic Pictures, his cowboy skills gained him stunt work and a small acting part at the age of 18 in a 1935 Gene Autry film, The Singing Vagabond. Two days after his arrival there, he was working as a stunt man on a Greta Garbo film at MGM, Conquest (1937). Therefore, he left Montana for Hollywood. Montgomery was more interested in a career in film than in a college education.
He was active in school athletics and majored in interior design, but he left after one year. Letz boxed as a heavyweight for a short while before enrolling in the University of Montana in Missoula. He was reared on a large ranch, where he learned to ride horses and work cattle as a part of daily life. He was born in Brady, in Pondera County, northern Montana near Great Falls. Montgomery was born George Montgomery Letz in 1916, the youngest of 15 children of Ukrainian immigrant parents, who were ethnic Germans from near Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine. George Montgomery (born George Montgomery Letz, Aug– December 12, 2000) was an American actor, painter, director, producer, writer, sculptor, furniture craftsman, and stuntman who is best remembered as an actor in Western film and television.