John Agar

John Agar

1921-01-31 – 2002-04-07 (age 81) Chicago, Illinois, USA
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Biography

John G. Agar (January 31, 1921 – April 7, 2002) was an American actor. He starred alongside John Wayne in the films Sands of Iwo Jima and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, but was later relegated to B movies, such as Tarantula, The Mole People, The Brain from Planet Arous, Flesh and the Spur, and Hand of Death. He also starred with Lucille Ball in the 1951 movie The Magic Carpet.

Agar was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Lillian (nΓ©e Rogers) and John Agar, Sr., a meat packer (see Agar Hams). He was educated at the Harvard School for Boys in Chicago and Lake Forest Academy in Lake Forest, Illinois and graduated from Trinity-Pawling Preparatory School in Pawling, New York, but did not attend college. He and his family moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1942, following his father’s death. During World War II he served in the Army Air Corps, and he was a sergeant at the time he left the army in 1946.

He was Shirley Temple's first husband (1945–1950), and they worked together in Fort Apache. His marriage to Temple lasted five years and they had one daughter together, Linda Susan Agar, who was later known as Susan Black, taking the surname of her stepfather Charles Alden Black. Following his divorce from Temple, Agar was married in 1951 to model Loretta Barnett Combs (1922–2000). They remained married until her death in 2000. They had two sons, Martin Agar and John G. Agar III. Agar died on April 7, 2002 at Burbank, California of complications from emphysema. He was buried beside his wife at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California.

Agar made six movies with John Wayne: Fort Apache, Sands of Iwo Jima, Big Jake, Chisum, The Undefeated and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. He also made two movies with Shirley Temple, Fort Apache and Adventure in Baltimore, also starring Robert Young.

He is mentioned in the Frank Zappa song "The Radio is Broken" from the album The Man From Utopia (1983).

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Known For

Fort Apache
Fort Apache

1948

as 2nd Lt. Michael Shannon O'Rourke

King Kong
King Kong

1976

as City Official

Chisum
Chisum

1970

as Amos Patton

The Undefeated
The Undefeated

1969

as Christian

Miracle Mile
Miracle Mile

1989

as Ivan Peters

Big Jake
Big Jake

1971

as Bert Ryan

Nightbreed
Nightbreed

1990

as Gas Station Attendant / Victim

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

1949

as Lt. Flint Cohill

Fear
Fear

1990

as Leonard Scott Levy

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

1967

as Dion O'Bannion

Body Bags
Body Bags

1993

as Dr. Lang

Jet Attack
Jet Attack

1958

as Capt. Tom Arnett

Sands of Iwo Jima
Sands of Iwo Jima

1950

as PFC Peter T. 'Pete' Conway

Young Fury
Young Fury

1964

as Dawson

The Movie Orgy
The Movie Orgy

1968

as Self (archive footage)

The Mole People
The Mole People

1956

as Dr. Roger Bentley

Star in the Dust
Star in the Dust

1956

as Sheriff Bill Jorden

Creepy Classics
Creepy Classics

1987

as Bob Westley - (archive footage)

Tarantula
Tarantula

1955

as Dr. Matt Hastings