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Alan Bridge

{{Short description|American actor (1891–1957)}}

{{Use American English|date=March 2022}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Al Bridge

| image = Alan Bridge in Dick Tracy's Dilemma (1947) 2.jpg

| caption = Bridge in Dick Tracy's Dilemma (1947)

| birth_name = Alfred Morton Bridge

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1891|02|26|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1957|12|27|1891|02|26|mf=yes}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| resting_place = Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery

| other_names =

| occupation = Actor

| years_active = 1905–1954

| spouse = Blanche Valarie Soules (married 1935-1945)

}}

Alfred Morton Bridge (February 26, 1891 – December 27, 1957{{Cite book |last=Mayer |first=Geoff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3CYSDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Alfred+Morton+Bridge%22&pg=PA57 |title=Encyclopedia of American Film Serials |date=2017-02-23 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-7762-3 |pages=57–58 |language=en}} ) 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,[https://www.newspapers.com/image/655027298/?clipping_id=153327865 "Next Week at the Theatres"]. The Kansas City Star. March 29, 1924. p. 4. Retrieved August 15, 2024. Harry Cheshire,[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-city-star/153323026/ "Next Week at the Theatres"]. The Kansas City Star. February 2, 1924. p. 3. Retrieved August 15, 2024. Chill Wills,[https://books.google.com/books?id=vQwEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22of+course%22+%22al+and+loie+bridge%22&pg=PT53 "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). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZGDwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237 Encyclopedia of American Short Films, 1926-1959]. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 237. {{ISBN|9781476681184}}. 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). [https://books.google.com/books?id=F8OSCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA401 Poverty Row Studios, 1929-1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies]. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 401. {{ISBN|0-7864-2319-6}}.

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 [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:8413~T1 Biography (Allmovie)] Bridge played against type as a kindly lawyer in Sturges' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek.{{cite web |last1=Gallagher |first1=Sean |title=Why "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" Is My Favorite Preston Sturges Film |url=https://lipranzer.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/why-the-miracle-of-morgans-creek-is-my-favorite-preston-sturges-film/ |website=The Joy and Agony of Movies |date=June 30, 2012 |access-date=13 November 2021}}

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.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}} 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

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References

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External links

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  • {{IMDb name|0108653}}
  • {{Tcmdb name}}
  • {{Find a Grave|7993173}}

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Category:1891 births

Category:1957 deaths

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:American male film actors

Category:Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery

Category:Male actors from Pennsylvania

Category:Male Western (genre) film actors

Category:Military personnel from Pennsylvania

Category:Military personnel from Philadelphia

Category:United States Army personnel of World War I

Category:Western (genre) television actors