Kenne Duncan (February 17, 1903 – February 5, 1972) was a Canadian-born American B-movie character actor with more than 250 screen credits. Hyped professionally as the "Meanest Man in the Movies", the vast majority of his film appearances were Westerns, but he also acted in some horror, crime-drama and science-fiction films. He also appeared in several serials.
Early years Duncan was born Kenneth Duncan MacLachlan in Chatham, Ontario, Canada.
Before he became an actor, Duncan enjoyed riding, and for a time worked as a jockey. His racing accomplishments included winning the steeplechase at the Blue Bonnets raceway in Montreal.
Career Duncan may be best known for his work with Ed Wood. Duncan appeared in five Wood productions: Night of the Ghouls, Trick Shooting with Kenne Duncan, Crossroad Avenger, The Sinister Urge and The Lawless Rider, a film that Wood wrote and produced but with Yakima Canutt as the director. Duncan's final appearances on screen were Wood's low-budget The Sinister Urge and a bit part in an episode of Rawhide ("Incident of the Sharpshooter"). He also made television appearances, especially Westerns, such as The Cisco Kid, Bat Masterson, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp and Tombstone Territory. He retired from filmmaking in 1961 at age 58.
Duncan had a reputation as a womanizer with his female costars.Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992). pg. 114. . Actress Valda Hansen remarked: "Kenne Duncan kept whispering obscene things in my ear, over and over between takes, such as 'Do you like tongues?' ... Finally I had had enough of the old wolf, so I screamed over the mikes on the set 'Oh, shut up!' ... and everyone cracked up."Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992). pg. 90. . Filmmaker Ron Ashcroft recalled: "Kenne had a book, and it was quite thick, of the women that he had in bed. He said there was over a thousand in there. A thousand women."
Death On February 5, 1972, Duncan committed suicide by overdosing on barbiturates twelve days before his 69th birthday. His friend Ron Ashcroft recalled: "When he committed suicide, I couldn't believe it. He was tired of living. Just like George Sanders, he had seen everything, done everything. All he did was sit around and watch television."Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992). pg. 115. . Duncan is interred at Grand View Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.
Wood was named the executor of Duncan's estate, and he held a small memorial funeral in his backyard around the swimming pool. Wood and his wife and friends took turns walking onto the diving board, where each of them would deliver a brief eulogy.
Legacy Duncan was inducted into the Chatham-Kent Cultural Hall of Fame in October, 2026.
Selected filmography
Police Reporter (1928) A Man from Wyoming (1930) - Haley (uncredited) Derelict (1930) - Radio Man (uncredited) No Limit (1931) - Curly Andrews Grief Street (1931) - Newspaper Reporter (uncredited) Lovers Courageous (1932) - Cowboy (uncredited) Probation (1932) - Wedding Rehearsal Attendant (uncredited) The Mouthpiece (1932) - Office Worker (uncredited) Shadow River (1933) Undercover Men (1934) - Blake Hardy Gallant Defender (1935) - Goose Neck Smith (uncredited) From Nine to Nine (1936) - John Sommerset Thoroughbred (1936) - Chick Williams Cross My Heart (1937) - Steve King Make-Up (1937) - Lorenzo The Last Curtain (1937) - Garsatti The Colorado Kid (1937) - Sims Leather Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938, Serial) - Airdrome Captain The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938, Serial) - Blacksmith (Ch.13) (uncredited) Frontier Scout (1938) - Crandall - Henchman The Spider's Web (1938, Serial) - Ram Singh Fighting Thoroughbreds (1939) - Brady North of the Yukon (1939) - Henchman Meeker Buck Rogers (1939, Serial) - Lieutenant Lacy Man from Texas (1939) - Speed Dennison Mickey the Kid (1939) - Henchman (uncredited) Overland with Kit Carson (1939, Serial) - Trapper (uncredited) The Fighting Renegade (1939) - Henchman (uncredited) Trigger Fingers (1939) - Henchman Johnson Flaming Lead (1939) - Larry - Ranch Hand Westbound Stage (1939) - Capt. Jim Wallace Emergency Squad (1940) - Jack (uncredited) Texas Renegades (1940) - Bill Willis The Sagebrush Family Trails West (1940) - Bart Wallace The Cheyenne Kid (1940) - Chet Adams Billy the Kid Outlawed (1940) - David Hendricks Murder on the Yukon (1940) - Tom - Henchman Covered Wagon Trails (1940) - Henchman Blaine Pinto Canyon (1940) - Fred Jones Land of the Six Guns (1940) - Max I Take This Oath (1940) - Car-Rental Clerk (uncredited) The Kid from Santa Fe (1940) - Joe Lavida Frontier Crusader (1940) - The Mesa Kid Sky Bandits (1940) - Brownie - Henchman Deadwood Dick (1940, Serial) - Two-Gun - Henchman (Ch. 7) (uncredited) Billy the Kid Outlawed (1940) - Dave Hendricks Roll Wagons Roll (1940) - Captain Clay Arizona Gang Busters (1940) - Sheriff Dan Kirk Trailing Double Trouble (1940) - Bob Horner The Green Archer (1940, Serial) - Michael Bellamy (uncredited) Billy the Kid's Gun Justice (1940) - Henchman Bragg Souls in Pawn (1940) - J.W. Carlton Buck Privates (1941) - Sergeant on Sidewalk with Sgt. Collins (uncredited) White Eagle (1941, Serial) - Kirk (uncredited) Outlaws of the Rio Grande (1941) - Marshal Bob Day Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) - Barnett - Chief Henchman [Ch. 2-10] The Spider Returns (1941, Serial) - Ram Singh, Wentworth's Hindu Chauffeur Billy the Kid in Santa Fe (1941) - Henchman Scotty The Texas Marshal (1941) - Henchman Lefty (uncredited) The Deadly Game (1941) - Henchman #2 Dynamite Canyon (1941) - Henchman Rod The Apache Kid (1941) - Henchman Benton (uncredited) King of the Texas Rangers (1941, Serial) - Nick - Henchman [Chs. 1–4,6-9] Billy the Kid Wanted (1941) - Henchman (uncredited) Riding the Sunset Trail (1941) - Jay Lynch The Lone Rider Fights Back (1941) - Barfly (uncredited) A Missouri Outlaw (1941) - Henchman Pete Chandler Billy the Kid's Round-Up (1941) - Henchman Joe (uncredited) Texas Man Hunt (1942) - Henchman Lake The Lone Rider and the Bandit (1942) - Saloon Henchman (uncredited) Code of the Outlaw (1942) - Plug - Henchman Raiders of the West (1942) - Harris - Dandy Gambler (uncredited) Heart of the Rio Grande (1942) - Train Passenger (uncredited) The Man with Two Lives (1942) - Jess Fowler The Lone Rider in Cheyenne (1942) - Deputy Walt Westward Ho (1942) - Henchman Dallas (uncredited) Perils of Nyoka (1942, serialCline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.) - Abu The Sombrero Kid (1942) - Pete Raymond - Henchman (uncredited) Law and Order (1942) - Henchman Durgan The Secret Code (1942, Serial) - Marvin [Chs.1-3,5-6] Isle of Missing Men (1942) - Bob Henderson Foreign Agent (1942) - Tom, Federal Agent (uncredited) Overland Stagecoach (1942) - Posse Rider (uncredited) Texas to Bataan (1942) - Captain Anders Valley of Hunted Men (1942) - Nazi (uncredited) Outlaws of Boulder Pass (1942) - Henchman Mulie Red River Robin Hood (1942) - Henchman Ed Rance Trail Riders (1942) - Marshal Frank Hammond The Valley of Vanishing Men (1942, Serial) - Logan (uncredited) The Sundown Kid (1942) - Henchman The Kid Rides Again (1943) - Cowboy in Saloon (uncredited) Cheyenne Roundup (1943) - Express Rider (uncredited) Santa Fe Scouts (1943) - Hoodlum (uncredited) Wild Horse Stampede (1943) - Hanley Wolves of the Range (1943) - Henchman Adams Daredevils of the West (1943, Serial) - George Hooker [Ch. 9] Days of Old Cheyenne (1943) - Henchman Pete The Avenging Rider (1943) - Blackie Border Buckaroos (1943) - Tom Bancroft Wolves of the Range (1943) - Henchman Adams Fugitive of the Plains (1943) - R. J. Cole Batman (1943, Serial) - Fred - the Mechanic [Ch. 5-6] (uncredited) The Law Rides Again (1943) - Sheriff Jeff Wagon Tracks West (1943) - Henchman (uncredited) Blazing Frontier (1943) - Homesteader Clark (uncredited) Trail of Terror (1943) - Henchman Tom Swing Shift Maisie (1943) - Charlie - Ann's Blind Date (uncredited) Blazing Guns (1943) - Henchman Red Higgins The Man from the Rio Grande (1943) - Henchman Overland Mail Robbery (1943) - Hank (uncredited) Canyon City (1943) - Turner - Henchman (uncredited) In Old Oklahoma (1943) - Indignant Businessman on Train (uncredited) Pistol Packin' Mama (1943) - Doorman (uncredited) Raiders of Sunset Pass (1943) - Henchman Tex Pride of the Plains (1944) - Snyder - Henchman Hands Across the Border (1944) - Deputy (uncredited) The Fighting Seabees (1944) - Construction Worker (uncredited) Captain America (1944, Serial) - Ed Graham [Ch. 14] (uncredited) Beneath Western Skies (1944) - Deputy Barrow Mojave Firebrand (1944) - Tony Webb Hidden Valley Outlaws (1944) - Henchman Ben Bannon The Laramie Trail (1944) - Bud's Partner (uncredited) Outlaws of Santa Fe (1944) - Chuck - Henchman Tucson Raiders (1944) - Henchman (voice, uncredited) The Tiger Woman (1944, serialCline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.) - Gentry - Henchman [Chs. 7, 11] Silent Partner (1944) - Gangster (uncredited) Man from Frisco (1944) - Foreman (uncredited) Marshal of Reno (1944) - Adams - Henchman Secrets of Scotland Yard (1944) - Steward (uncredited) The Girl Who Dared (1944) - Dr. Paul Dexter Song of Nevada (1944) - Thompson's Wagon-Race Driver (uncredited) Haunted Harbor (1944, Serial) - Gregg Stagecoach to Monterey (1944) - Joe - Henchman San Fernando Valley (1944) - Horse Thief (uncredited) Cheyenne Wildcat (1944) - Henchman Pete My Buddy (1944) - Convict (uncredited) Storm Over Lisbon (1944) - Paul-Deresco Aide End of the Road (1944) - Al Herman Sheriff of Sundown (1944) - Arthur Wilkes - Secretary Vigilantes of Dodge City (1944) - Henchman Dave Brewster Brazil (1944) - Cab Driver (uncredited) Thoroughbreds (1944) - (uncredited) Sheriff of Las Vegas (1944) - Whitey - Henchman Manhunt of Mystery Island (1945, Serial) - Sidney Brand Corpus Christi Bandits (1945) - Spade - Henchman The Phantom Speaks (1945) - Murder Victim (uncredited) Flame of Barbary Coast (1945) - Gambler (uncredited) Santa Fe Saddlemates (1945) - Brazos Kane A Sporting Chance (1945) - Boarder Bells of Rosarita (1945) - Kidnapper (uncredited) The Chicago Kid (1945) - Al Road to Alcatraz (1945) - Servant Trail of Kit Carson (1945) - Trigger Chandler Oregon Trail (1945) - Johnny Slade - Henchman Hitchhike to Happiness (1945) - Man in Bar (uncredited) The Purple Monster Strikes (1945, Serial) - Charles Mitchell [Chs. 1–2, 10] Love, Honor and Goodbye (1945) - Counter Man (uncredited) Rough Riders of Cheyenne (1945) - Lance - Henchman Dakota (1945) - Henchman (uncredited) Wagon Wheels Westward (1945) - Henchman Joe The Scarlet Horseman (1946, Serial) - Henchman (uncredited) The Phantom Rider (1946, Serial) - Ben Brady - Henchman A Guy Could Change (1946) - Frank Hanlon California Gold Rush (1946) - Henchman Felton Sheriff of Redwood Valley (1946) - Henchman Jackson Home on the Range (1946) - Henchman #2 Rainbow Over Texas (1946) - Henchman Pete McAvoy Sun Valley Cyclone (1946) - Dow In Old Sacramento (1946) - Deputy (uncredited) Man from Rainbow Valley (1946) - Tracy's Partner Traffic in Crime (1946) - Henchman (uncredited) My Pal Trigger (1946) - Croupier Night Train to Memphis (1946) - Asa Morgan Red River Renegades (1946) - Henchman Hackett Conquest of Cheyenne (1946) - Geologist McBride G.I. War Brides (1946) - (uncredited) The Mysterious Mr. Valentine (1946) - Sam Priestly Rio Grande Raiders (1946) - Steve - Henchman Roll on Texas Moon (1946) - Henchman Brannigan The Crimson Ghost (1946, Serial) - Dr. Chambers [Chs. 1–2, 8] Santa Fe Uprising (1946) - Henchman Sioux City Sue (1946) - Crawley (uncredited)