Rex Lease

Rex Lease

1903-02-11 – 1966-01-03 (age 62) Central City [now part of Huntington], West Virginia, USA
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Biography

From Wikipedia

Rex Lloyd Lease (February 11, 1903 – January 3, 1966) was an American actor. He appeared in over 300 films, mainly in westerns.

Lease arrived in Hollywood in 1924. He found bit and supporting parts at Film Booking Office (FBO), Rayart, more, and was given the opportunity to play a few leads. His first film was A Woman Who Sinned (1924).

Rex's earliest westerns were a pair of Tim McCoy silents at MGM, one of which was The Law of the Range (1928) which had a very young Joan Crawford as the heroine and Rex as the "Solitaire Kid". Tim and Lease became friends, and over the next dozen or so years he appeared in seven more McCoy westerns.

He had a featured role in director Frank Capra's The Younger Generation (1929), a tale of a Jewish family that move to a more upscale neighborhood.

He successfully made the transition to talkies, and starred in melodramas, action flicks, old dark house mysteries, and comedies as well as a couple of western serials and about a dozen low-budget sagebrush yarns and outdoor adventures.

In between lead roles, Lease did featured parts in some B westerns. He was Hoot Gibson's brother in Cavalcade of the West (1936); Rex played the "Pecos Kid" in McCoy's Lightnin' Bill Carson (1936); and he worked in a couple of Tom Tylers, Ridin' On (1936) and Fast Bullets (1936). Rex's finale as a star had him teaming up with Rin-Tin-Tin Jr. in The Silver Trail (1937).

Though no longer afforded star billing, he continued in smaller roles into the 1950s in films and on TV.

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Known For

The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath

1940

as Cop (uncredited)

Backlash
Backlash

1956

as Sergeant Blane (uncredited)

Saboteur
Saboteur

1942

as Plant Cafeteria Worker (uncredited)

Canyon Passage
Canyon Passage

1946

as Card Player (uncredited)

Ride, Vaquero!
Ride, Vaquero!

1953

as Deputy

Roarin' Guns
Roarin' Guns

1936

as Jerry

The Gazebo
The Gazebo

1959

as Stage Manager (uncredited)

The Pride of the Yankees
The Pride of the Yankees

1942

as Spectator (uncredited)

Eagle Squadron
Eagle Squadron

1942

as German soldier

California
California

1947

as Stranger (uncredited)

Troopers Three
Troopers Three

1930

as Eddie Haskins

Chalk Marks
Chalk Marks

1924

as Bert Thompson

Nevada City
Nevada City

1941

as Masked Henchman

Arizona Terrors
Arizona Terrors

1942

as First Toll Collector Henchman

Haunted Ranch
Haunted Ranch

1943

as Rex Lease

A Foreign Affair
A Foreign Affair

1948

as M.P. Lieutenant (uncredited)

Midnight Morals
Midnight Morals

1932

as Preen Lazetti

Fast Bullets
Fast Bullets

1936

as Jimmy

The Crimson Ghost
The Crimson Ghost

1946

as Bain

Gun Belt
Gun Belt

1953

as Lynch Mob Member (uncredited)