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Rand Brooks

Biography

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.

Actor

The Sex Symbol

1974

as Edward Kelly (voice)

In Like Flint

1967

as Missle Control Officer (uncredited)

Stagecoach to Dancers' Rock

1962

as Quint Rucker

Comanche Station

1960

as Station Man

Stump Run

1959

The Last Hurrah

1958

as Votes Tallyman (uncredited)

The Challenge of Rin Tin Tin

1958

Crash of Moons

1954

as Andrews

Silver Needle in the Sky

1954

as Ranger Andrews

Born to the Saddle

1953

as John Grant

The Maverick

1952

as Trooper Barnham

Behind Southern Lines

1952

as Captain Loomis

Montana Incident

1952

as Dave Connors

Man from the Black Hills

1952

as Fake Jimmy Fallon

Waco

1952

as Al

The Steel Fist

1952

as Captain Giorg Nicholoff

The Gunman

1952

as Jud Calvert

Yukon Manhunt

1951

as Len Kaufman

Heart of the Rockies

1951

as Jim Corley

Bunco Squad

1950

as Robert (uncredited)

Riding High

1950

as Henry Early

The Vanishing Westerner

1950

as Sanderson's First Victim

Black Midnight

1949

as Daniel Jordan

The Wyoming Bandit

1949

as Jimmy Howard

Ladies of the Chorus

1948

as Randy Carroll

Joan of Arc

1948

as Jean d'Arc, Joan's older brother

Sundown in Santa Fe

1948

as Tom Wyatt

Strange Gamble

1948

as Lucky Jenkins

False Paradise

1948

as Lucky Jenkins

Borrowed Trouble

1948

as Lucky Jenkins

Sinister Journey

1948

as Lucky Jenkins

The Dead Don't Dream

1948

as Lucky Jenkins

Silent Conflict

1948

as Lucky Jenkins

Kilroy Was Here

1947

as Rodney Meadows

Hoppy's Holiday

1947

as Lucky Jenkins

The Marauders

1947

as Lucky Jenkins

Dangerous Venture

1947

as Lucky Jenkins

Unexpected Guest

1947

as Lucky Jenkins

The Devil's Playground

1946

as Lucky Jenkins

Fool's Gold

1946

as Lucky Jenkins

The Great Morgan

1945

as Film Character (uncredited)

Lady in the Dark

1944

as Ben

Ditch and Live

1944

as T / Sgt. Ryan

High Explosive

1943

as Jimmy Baker

Air Force

1943

as Co-Pilot (uncredited)

The Sombrero Kid

1942

as Philip Martin

Fingers at the Window

1942

as Young Reporter (uncredited)

The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine

1942

Cowboy Serenade

1942

as Jim Agnew

Niagara Falls

1941

as Honeymooner

Lady Scarface

1941

as James 'Jimmy' Powell

Life with Henry

1941

as Daniel Gordon (uncredited)

The Son of Monte Cristo

1940

as Hans Mirbach

The Girl from Avenue A

1940

as Steve

Florian

1940

as Victor

And One Was Beautiful

1940

as Joe Havens

Northwest Passage

1940

as Eben Towne

Laddie

1940

as Peter Dover

Andy Hardy's Dilemma: A Lesson in Mathematics... and Other Things

1940

as Mechanic (uncredited)

Balalaika

1939

as Crying Soldier (uncredited)

Babes in Arms

1939

as Jeff Steele

Dancing Co-Ed

1939

as Steve (uncredited)

Thunder Afloat

1939

as Listener (uncredited)

The Old Maid

1939

as Jim

Gone with the Wind

1939

as Charles Hamilton

Dramatic School

1938

as Pasquel Jr.

Love Finds Andy Hardy

1938

as Young Man on Bandstand (uncredited)

Rand Brooks

Actor

Videos

Documentaries

Directing

Crew