Alfred Morton Bridge (February 26, 1891 – December 27, 1957 ) was an American character actor who played mostly small roles in over 270 films between 1931 and 1954. Bridge's persona was an unpleasant, gravel-voiced man with an untidy moustache. Sometimes credited as Alan Bridge, and frequently not credited onscreen at all, he appeared in many Westerns, especially in the Hopalong Cassidy series, where he played crooked sheriffs and henchmen.
Life and career Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Philadelphia, Bridge and his sister, who became actress Loie Bridge,"Actress Loie Bridge Dies at 84," Los Angeles Times, March 10, 1974 https://www.newspapers.com/image/381501986/?article=8626c5ea-374e-4ffd-a008-59ccc61af1ed&focus=0.85379636,0.7683134,0.9760975,0.9714055&xid=3355&_ga=2.178929891.690596054.1604435973-1157292148.1569503008 grew up with their mother and stepfather, a local butcher.1910 U.S. Census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Having entered into vaudeville alongside his sister while still a teenager,"Victor Faust as the 'Tramp' and Alan Bridge as 'Jimmie Scarecrow', The Dodge City Globe Dodge City, Kansas, Jan. 17, 1907, https://www.newspapers.com/image/339708240/?terms=%22Alfred%20Bridge%22&match=1 Bridge served in the American infantry during World War I.U.S. Veterans Administration grave marker, Valhalla Memorial Park, Burbank, California Picking up where they left off shortly thereafter, they toured the U.S. as a team until 1924. Among those who appeared alongside the Bridges during those years were future film players such as Emmett Lynn,"Next Week at the Theatres". The Kansas City Star. March 29, 1924. p. 4. Retrieved August 15, 2024. Harry Cheshire,"Next Week at the Theatres". The Kansas City Star. February 2, 1924. p. 3. Retrieved August 15, 2024. Chill Wills,"Red Ripples". The Billboard. November 20, 1943. p. 54. Retrieved August 15, 2024. and Joan Crawford.
In 1930, Bridge broke into movies by co-scripting the comedy short Her Hired Husband.Webb, Graham (2020). Encyclopedia of American Short Films, 1926-1959. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 237. . The following year he co-wrote and costarred in the Western, God's Country and the Man (aka A Man's Country and Rose of the Rio Grande).Pitts, Michael R. (2005). Poverty Row Studios, 1929-1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 401. .
Bridge spent the next 25 years as a familiar face in B-Westerns and mainstream comedies and dramas. In the forties, Bridge was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in ten of the eleven American films that Sturges wrote and directed.Al Bridge appeared in Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Hail the Conquering Hero, The Great Moment, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, Unfaithfully Yours and The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend. He also appeared in I Married a Witch, which Sturges produced. He had earlier been in Diamond Jim, which Sturges wrote the screenplay for. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as "The Mister", the chain-gang boss over Joel McCrea in Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels.Erickson, Hal Biography (Allmovie) Bridge played against type as a kindly lawyer in Sturges' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. In It's a Wonderful Life, he appears uncredited towards the end of the film as the sheriff who wants to arrest George Bailey, but eventually tears up the arrest warrant.
Bridge's television work, which began in 1950 includes appearances on The Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show as well as other programs.
Personal life and death Bridge married Blanche Valarie Soules on December 24, 1935 at the United Christian Church of America in Los Angeles, California. She died on April 19, 1945."California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CSVT-1TMM : Mon Mar 11 00:50:08 UTC 2024), Entry for Blanche Valarie Bridge and Charles Soules, 19 Apr 1945.
Bridge died in Los Angeles at the age 66. His remains are interred at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood.Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14000 Famous Persons by Scott Wilson
Selected filmography
God's Country and the Man (1931) - Livermore Rider of the Plains (1931) - Deputy Bill Gaines The Ridin' Fool (1931) - Nikkos Partners of the Trail (1931) - Henchman (uncredited) Galloping Thru (1931) - Sandy Thompson South of Santa Fe (1932) - Henchman Bully Police Court (1932) The Forty-Niners (1932) - Squaw O'Hara Spirit of the West (1932) - Tom Fallon Unholy Love (1932) - Police Sergeant (uncredited) A Man's Land (1932) - Steve - Rustler Million Dollar Legs (1932) - Secret Emissary #3 (uncredited) The Hurricane Express (1932, Serial) - Carlson The Thirteenth Guest (1932) - Policeman (uncredited) Broadway to Cheyenne (1932) - Al Blonde Venus (1932) - Bouncer (uncredited) Cowboy Counsellor (1932) - Sheriff Matt Farraday Slightly Married (1932) - Tenant (uncredited) The Devil Horse (1932) - Curley Bates - Henchman The Wyoming Whirlwind (1932) - Steve Cantrell When a Man Rides Alone (1933) - Montana Slade The Cheyenne Kid (1933) - Denver Ed Drum Taps (1933) - Lariat Smith The Thundering Herd (1933) - Catlee - Pruitt's Henchman Sucker Money (1933) - George Hunter Black Beauty (1933) - Hack Driver Son of the Border (1933) - Tupper The Lone Avenger (1933) - Burl Adams Sunset Pass (1933) - Tom Fighting Texans (1933) - Gus Durkin Fighting with Kit Carson (1933, Serial) - Henchman Reynolds [Chs. 1–7, 10, 12] The Trail Drive (1933) - Henchman Bucko (uncredited) Murder on the Campus (1933) - Grimes, City Editor (uncredited) Twin Husbands (1933) - Highway Patrolman (uncredited) Public Stenographer (1934) - Detective Scott (uncredited) Good Dame (1934) - Patrol Car Cop (uncredited) Looking for Trouble (1934) - Lineman (uncredited) The Trumpet Blows (1934) - Policeman (uncredited) Honor of the Range (1934) - Townsman (uncredited) We're Not Dressing (1934) - Ship's Officer - Rescue Party (uncredited) Burn 'Em Up Barnes (1934, Serial) - Henchman Tucker [Chs. 3-12] (uncredited) The Curtain Falls (1934) - Mover (uncredited) Mystery Mountain (1934) - Tom Henderson North of Arizona (1935) - George Tully Outlaw Rule (1935) - Deputy Bat Lindstrom Transient Lady (1935) - Sheriff Angel Verner Circumstantial Evidence (1935) - John Cassidy (uncredited) Alias Mary Dow (1935) - Ditch-Digger (uncredited) Silent Valley (1935) - Jim Farley The Headline Woman (1935) - Baker, Editor (uncredited) The Murder Man (1935) - Judge John C. Garfield (uncredited) The Adventures of Rex and Rinty (1935, Serial) - Henchman Mitchell [Chs. 1–6, 10] Diamond Jim (1935) - Poker Player on Train (uncredited) The Gay Deception (1935) - Jail Attendant (uncredited) Confidential (1935) - Hanover - Walsh's Henchman Valley of Wanted Men (1935) - Ranger Sergeant Parsons Melody Trail (1935) - Matt Kirby Rendezvous (1935) - Sergeant (uncredited) The New Frontier (1935) - Kit A Night at the Opera (1935) - Immigration Inspector (uncredited) Gallant Defender (1935) - Salty Smith The Adventures of Frank Merriwell (1936, Serial) - Henchman Black The Bridge of Sighs (1936) - Ballistics Expert (uncredited) The Lawless Nineties (1936) - Steele Fast Bullets (1936) - Travis The Music Goes 'Round (1936) - Police Inspector (uncredited) Call of the Prairie (1936) - Sam Porter These Three (1936) - Mrs. Walton's Chauffeur (uncredited) And So They Were Married (1936) - Motorcycle Cop (uncredited) Public Enemy's Wife (1936) - Swartzman Mary of Scotland (1936) - (uncredited) Crash Donovan (1936) - Desk Sergeant (uncredited) They Met in a Taxi (1936) - Detective (uncredited) The Three Mesquiteers (1936) - Olin Canfield Ace Drummond (1936, Serial) - Paul Wyckoff Trail Dust (1936) - Tom Babson Dodge City Trail (1936) - Dawson Jungle Jim (1937, Serial) - Slade Westbound Mail (1937) - 'Bull' Feeney You Only Live Once (1937) - Guard (uncredited) Borderland (1937) - Dandy Morgan - Henchman Song of the City (1937) - Captain (uncredited) Two Gun Law (1937) - Kipp Faulkner Woman Chases Man (1937) - Process Server (uncredited) Married Before Breakfast (1937) - Police Driver (uncredited) One Man Justice (1937) - Red Grindy Wild West Days (1937) - Steve Claggett They Won't Forget (1937) - Mob Leader Outside Governor's Mansion (uncredited) Dead End (1937) - Policeman in Drina's Apartment (uncredited) Western Gold (1937) - Holman The Awful Truth (1937) - Motor Cop (uncredited) Springtime in the Rockies (1937) - Briggs Tim Tyler's Luck (1937, Serial) - Capt. Trowbridge [Ch. 1] (uncredited) Partners of the Plains (1938) - Scar Lewis Little Miss Roughneck (1938) - Sheriff Born to Be Wild (1938) - Kennedy - Trucker in Cafe (uncredited) Jezebel (1938) - New Orleans Sheriff (uncredited) Two Gun Justice (1938) - Sheriff Crime School (1938) - Mr. Burke Gunsmoke Trail (1938) - Sheriff chasing Loma Reformatory (1938) - Guard (uncredited) Highway Patrol (1938) - Jarvis The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938) - Blackie (uncredited) Flaming Frontiers (1938, Serial) - John Merkle [Chs. 6-7] (uncredited) Marie Antoinette (1938) - Official in Passport Office (uncredited) The Colorado Trail (1938) - Mark Sheldon Down in 'Arkansaw' (1938) - Jake Adventure in Sahara (1938) - Cpl. Dronov Call of the Rockies (1938) - Weston The Phantom Creeps (1939) - White Rose Sailor (uncredited) Devil's Island (1939) - Captain of the Guards (uncredited) Frontiers of '49 (1939) - Army Sergeant (uncredited) Risky Business (1939) - Cop (uncredited) The Oklahoma Kid (1939) - Would-Be Settler (uncredited) Romance of the Redwoods (1939) - Boss Whittaker Buck Rogers (1939, Serial) - Dynamo Room Floor Guard (uncredited) Blue Montana Skies (1939) - Marshal The Man from Sundown (1939) - Slick Larson Thunder Afloat (1939) - Fisherman (uncredited) No Place to Go (1939) - Frank Crowley Oklahoma Frontier (1939) - Kentuck (uncredited) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) - Senator Dwight (uncredited) The Roaring Twenties (1939) - Ship Captain (uncredited) The Stranger from Texas (1939) - Jeff Browning My Son Is Guilty (1939) - Police Lieutenant at Holdup (uncredited) West of Carson City (1940) - Foreman of the Jury (uncredited) My Little Chickadee (1940) - Barfly Drinking Straight Whiskey (uncredited) Pioneers of the Frontier (1940) - Marshal Larsen The Courageous Dr. Christian (1940) - Sheriff Blazing Six Shooters (1940) - Bert Karsin Dark Command (1940) - Slave Trader (uncredited) If I Had My Way (1940) - Doorman (uncredited) Passport to Alcatraz (1940) - James Carver (uncredited) Winners of the West (1940, Serial) - Captain [Ch. 13] (uncredited) When the Daltons Rode (1940) - Townsman (uncredited) Flowing Gold (1940) - Highway Patrolman (uncredited) Diamond Frontier (1940) - Guard (uncredited) Barnyard Follies (1940) - Policeman (uncredited) Christmas in July (1940) - Mr. Hillbeiner Santa Fe Trail (1940) - Palmyra Townsman (uncredited) The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1940, Serial) - Ship's Captain (uncredited) The Lone Rider Rides On (1941) - Bob Cameron The Face Behind the Mask (1941) - Flop House Manager (uncredited) The Kid's Last Ride (1941) - Bob Harmon, aka Jim Breeden The Lady Eve (1941) - First Steward (uncredited) Double Date (1941) - Sergeant O'Rourke (uncredited) The Lady from Cheyenne (1941) - Mr. Matthews The Lone Rider Rides On (1941) - Bob Cameron Road to Zanzibar (1941) - Colonial Policeman with Inspector (uncredited) Lady from Louisiana (1941) - Captain of Police (uncredited) The Big Boss (1941) - Minor Role (uncredited) Country Fair (1941) - (uncredited) Law of the Range (1941) - Jamison Rawhide Rangers (1941) - Rawlings Wild Geese Calling (1941) - Minor Role (uncredited) The Little Foxes (1941) - Dawson (uncredited)