Rand Brooks

Birthday: 1918-09-21
Deathday: 2003-09-01
Birthplace: Wright City, Missouri, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

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

Brooks was born in Wright City, Missouri. He was the son of Arlington Rand Brooks, a farmer. His mother and he moved to Los Angeles when he was four, though he continued to spend summers in Wright City. 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. His mother and his grandfather were actors.

After leaving school, Brooks got a screen test at MGM and was given a bit part in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938). 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. 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.

After Gone With the Wind, he had relatively small parts in other movies including Babes in Arms, then a regular role as Lucky in the Hopalong Cassidy series of Westerns in the mid-1940s; Brooks succeeded Russell Hayden in the role. 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." In edited, half-hour versions of some of the films, he appeared in 12 of the 52 episodes of the Hopalong Cassidy television series.

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. Filmed in just 10 days, the film was released soon after its completion. Variety called his performance in the 1952 film The Steel Fist "capable."

Television brought new opportunities, again often in Westerns. He played Cpl. Randy Boone in the 1950s television series, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. Brooks had guest roles in 1950s Western series, including Mackenzie's Raiders, The Lone Ranger, Maverick, Gunsmoke, and Bonanza. He appeared twice on the syndicated adventure series, Rescue 8, as well as on CBS's Perry Mason courtroom drama series.

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. The film was finally released in 1978, under the title Legend of the Northwest.

After he left show business, Brooks ran a private ambulance company 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. Brooks sold the ambulance company in 1994, and retired to his ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, where he bred champion Andalusian horses. 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.

On September 1, 2003, Brooks died in Santa Ynez, California.

Credits

Year Title Character
1991-04-11 Rin-Tin-Tin: Hero of the West Cpl. Boone
1974-09-17 The Sex Symbol Edward Kelly (voice)
1967-03-15 In Like Flint Missle Control Officer (uncredited)
1962-10-01 Stagecoach to Dancers' Rock Quint Rucker
1960-03-01 Comanche Station Station Man
1959-12-12 Stump Run
1958-12-31 The Last Hurrah Votes Tallyman (uncredited)
1958-08-01 The Challenge of Rin Tin Tin
1954-07-10 Crash of Moons Andrews
1954-05-29 Silver Needle in the Sky Ranger Andrews
1953-03-15 Born to the Saddle John Grant
1952-12-14 The Maverick Trooper Barnham
1952-11-02 Behind Southern Lines Captain Loomis
1952-08-10 Montana Incident Dave Connors
1952-03-29 Man from the Black Hills Fake Jimmy Fallon
1952-02-24 Waco Al
1952-01-06 The Steel Fist Captain Giorg Nicholoff
1952-01-01 The Gunman Jud Calvert
1951-07-12 Yukon Manhunt Len Kaufman
1951-03-29 Heart of the Rockies Jim Corley
1950-09-01 Bunco Squad Robert (uncredited)
1950-04-12 Riding High Henry Early
1950-03-31 The Vanishing Westerner Sanderson's First Victim
1949-10-01 Black Midnight Daniel Jordan
1949-07-15 The Wyoming Bandit Jimmy Howard
1948-12-30 Ladies of the Chorus Randy Carroll
1948-12-22 Joan of Arc Jean d'Arc, Joan's older brother
1948-11-05 Sundown in Santa Fe Tom Wyatt
1948-10-08 Strange Gamble Lucky Jenkins
1948-09-10 False Paradise Lucky Jenkins
1948-07-23 Borrowed Trouble Lucky Jenkins
1948-06-11 Sinister Journey Lucky Jenkins
1948-04-30 The Dead Don't Dream Lucky Jenkins
1948-03-19 Silent Conflict Lucky Jenkins
1947-07-19 Kilroy Was Here Rodney Meadows
1947-07-18 Hoppy's Holiday Lucky Jenkins
1947-07-01 The Marauders Lucky Jenkins
1947-05-23 Dangerous Venture Lucky Jenkins
1947-03-28 Unexpected Guest Lucky Jenkins
1946-11-15 The Devil's Playground Lucky Jenkins
1946-10-09 Fool's Gold Lucky Jenkins
1945-01-01 The Great Morgan Film Character (uncredited)
1944-08-01 Resisting Enemy Interrogation Pilot
1944-02-10 Lady in the Dark Ben
1944-01-01 Ditch and Live T / Sgt. Ryan
1943-03-27 High Explosive Jimmy Baker
1943-03-20 Air Force Co-Pilot (uncredited)
1942-07-31 The Sombrero Kid Philip Martin
1942-04-22 Fingers at the Window Young Reporter (uncredited)
1942-03-27 The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
1942-01-30 Cowboy Serenade Jim Agnew
1941-10-17 Niagara Falls Honeymooner
1941-09-26 Lady Scarface James 'Jimmy' Powell
1941-01-23 Life with Henry Daniel Gordon (uncredited)
1940-12-05 The Son of Monte Cristo Hans Mirbach
1940-08-09 The Girl from Avenue A Steve
1940-06-05 Florian Victor
1940-04-05 And One Was Beautiful Joe Havens
1940-02-23 Northwest Passage Eben Towne
1940-01-18 Laddie Peter Dover
1940-01-01 Andy Hardy's Dilemma: A Lesson in Mathematics... and Other Things Mechanic (uncredited)
1939-12-15 Gone with the Wind Charles Hamilton
1939-12-15 Balalaika Crying Soldier (uncredited)
1939-10-10 Babes in Arms Jeff Steele
1939-09-29 Dancing Co-Ed Steve (uncredited)
1939-09-15 Thunder Afloat Listener (uncredited)
1939-08-16 The Old Maid Jim
1938-12-09 Dramatic School Pasquel Jr.
1938-07-22 Love Finds Andy Hardy Young Man on Bandstand (uncredited)