Slim Cole
{{Short description|American actor (born 1892)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Slim Cole
| birth_name = Nathan Cole Hebert
| birth_date = {{birth date|1892|05|06}}
| birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Actor, stuntman
| years_active = 1915–1932
| spouse = Katherine Fay (m. 1915-1921)
| other_names = King Cole
| family = Nathan Cole (grandfather)
}}
Nathan Cole Hebert (born May 6, 1892, date of death unknown), known as Slim Cole and sometimes credited as King Cole,{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/138636171/?terms=%22slim+cole%22|title=St. Louisan Quitting a Career in Which a Man Is Old at 29|date=5 Nov 1922|website=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}} was an American actor and stuntman who appeared in a string of B-movie westerns during Hollywood's silent era.{{Cite book|last=Katchmer|first=George A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnGeCQAAQBAJ&dq=charles+slim+cole&pg=PA67|title=A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses|date=2015-05-20|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-0905-8|language=en}}
Biography
= Early years =
Slim was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Joseph Hebert and Hallie Cole.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/137700365/?terms=%22hallie+cole%22|title=Rotogravure Picture Section|date=18 Apr 1920|website=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}} His mother's father, Nathan Cole, was once mayor of St. Louis.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/572583807/?terms=%22nathan+cole+hebert%22|title=St. Louisan Star in 'The Shiek' Movie Play|date=29 Nov 1921|website=St. Louis Globe-Democrat|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}} Joseph Hebert, Slim's father, died when Slim was a toddler, and he was raised by his mother in the Los Angeles area.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/204565635/?terms=%22hallie+cole%22|title=Cole Heir in Need, Heart Is Broken|date=16 May 1913|website=The St. Louis Star and Times|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/619166537/?terms=%22slim+cole%22|title=Screen Life in Hollywood|date=27 Sep 1932|website=The Morning Union|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/380293756/?terms=%22slim+cole%22|title=Adventurer of Films Added to Gish Cast|date=18 Jul 1926|website=The Los Angeles Times|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}
= Career as a forest ranger =
While working as a forest ranger in the San Bernardino Mountains, he learned how to ride a motorcycle, a skill that would serve him well when he entered the motion picture industry around 1915.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/517445646/?terms=%22slim+cole%22|title='The Texas Bad Man' Now Showing at Seltzer Theatre|date=12 Nov 1932|website=The Daily News|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}} "They laughed at me when I started patrolling the forests on motorcycle, but after I got the knack for following old trails and making new ones, I showed them that I could cover as much territory as four rangers on mounted horses."
= Career in Hollywood =
After being spotted by a motion picture director, Slim was soon in demand for his willingness to perform all sorts of death-defying stunts. He often worked with fellow stunt performer and actress Grace Cunard. Early on, he was employed by Charlie Chaplin's studio.{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/380559095/?terms=%22slim+cole%22|title=Out of Luck|date=13 Jan 1918|website=The Los Angeles Times|language=en|access-date=2020-03-17}}
In 1922, he briefly returned to St. Louis with the ambition of starting a motion picture industry in his hometown. He also aimed to give his body a rest after years of being roughed up on the job. "I'm getting too old for the business," he told a reporter with The St. Louis Post Dispatch. "I'm only 29, but I've been through a lot, and I don't have to wait for a psychic hunch."
He did continue to act, but his roles got smaller and smaller until he was pretty much only landing bit parts.
= Personal life =
Cole married Katherine Fay in 1915; the couple divorced in 1921.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23326944/nathancolehebertdivorce1921/|title=Says Husband Spurned Meal; Divorces Him|date=May 21, 1921|work=The Los Angeles Times|access-date=2020-03-17|pages=15}} After his last film was released in 1932, it's unknown what happened to Cole.
Partial filmography
{{div col}}
- His Day Out (1918)
- A Dog's Life (1918)
- Shoulder Arms (1918)
- Smashing Barriers (1919)
- Where Is This West? (1923)
- Beasts of Paradise (1923)
- The Ghost City (1923)
- Reckless Speed (1924)
- Ridin' Pretty (1925)
- The Great Circus Mystery (1925)
- The Fighting Ranger (1925)
- Prowlers of the Night (1926)
- Desert Dust (1927)
- The Texas Bad Man (1932)
- The Last Frontier (1932)
- Gold (1932)
{{div col end}}