CINEFILER

Jennifer Holt

Born
November 10, 1920
Died
September 21, 1997
From Wikipedia Born Elizabeth Marshall Holt in Hollywood, California to actor Jack Holt and his wife, Margaret Woods. She and her brother Tim would both have careers in acting. She made her film debut using the stage name "Jacqueline Holt" in a 1941 western starring Hopalong Cassidy and went on to make forty-seven films during the 1940s. All but eight of her roles were in western films in which she appeared opposite cowboy stars such as Lash LaRue, Tex Ritter and Johnny Mack Brown. Holt made her final film in 1949 then in 1950 co-hosted a television show called Panhandle Pete and Jennifer which ran for one season. During the remainder of the 1950s she made occasional guest appearances on television western series such as The Gabby Hayes Show and Tales of Wells Fargo starring Dale Robertson. Although the popularity of western films had faded by the mid-1950s, during the 1970s western film festivals became popular with fans of the genre and she occasionally participated as a guest. Jennifer Holt was married several times, living for a while in Mexico and was in Dorset in England at the time of her death in 1997. Jennifer made a batch of westerns in the 1940s, primarily at Universal and PRC as the heroine to Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter, Rod Cameron, Buster Crabbe, Eddie Dean and Lash LaRue. Her first western was the Hopalong Cassidy STICK TO YOUR GUNS (Paramount, 1941). She also played the female lead in a couple of cliffhangers, ADVENTURES OF THE FLYING CADETS (Universal, 1943) and HOP HARRIGAN (Columbia, 1946). THE HAWK OF POWDER RIVER (Eagle-Lion/PRC, 1948) was Holt's favorite western role, as she portrayed the masked leader of a band of outlaws. She and most of her gang are gunned down by singing cowboy Eddie Dean in the film-ending shootout. Holt had several marriages, lived in the United States and Mexico, and resided in England at the time or her death in 1997. One of her marriages was to movie actor William Bakewell (1908-1993) whom she starred with in the HOP HARRIGAN chapter play. Bakewell may be best remembered as "Major Tobias Norton" in the 1950s Disney Fess Parker/Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier TV show. Even though her father Jack and brother Tim made scores of westerns and outdoorsy type films, Jennifer was never in any of their movies. And despite many reports throughout the years, an actor named David Holt (1927-2003) was NOT the brother of Jennifer and Tim Holt nor the son of Jack Holt. In the late 1940s - early 1950s, Jennifer hosted/participated in several television programs that originated in Chicago. One was her portrayal of "Aunt Judy" to the puppet "Uncle Mistletoe" in the 15 minute THE ADVENTURES OF UNCLE MISTLETOE which was broadcast locally and over ABC. Chicago department store Marshall Fields did this program in response to competitor Montgomery Ward's Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. After a couple years, Jennifer exited Mistletoe and did another children's program, PANHANDLE PETE AND JENNIFER, which originated from NBC in Chicago. That 15 minute series ran from 1950 - 1951.
Full Filmography
Acting
Stick to Your Guns
(1941)
June Winters
Private Buckaroo
(1942)
Joyce Mason
The Silver Bullet
(1942)
Nancy Lee
Deep in the Heart of Texas
(1942)
Nan Taylor
Broadway
(1942)
TWA Stewardess
Little Joe, the Wrangler
(1942)
Janet Hammond
The Old Chisholm Trail
(1942)
Mary Lee
Pardon My Sarong
(1942)
Girl on Bus with Tommy (uncredited)
Raiders of Sunset Pass
(1943)
Betty Matthews
Adventures of the Flying Cadets
(1943)
Andre Mason
Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground
(1943)
Kay Randolph
The Lone Star Trail
(1943)
Joan Winters
Hi, Buddy
(1943)
Miss Russell
Raiders of San Joaquin
(1943)
Jane Carter
Cheyenne Roundup
(1943)
Ellen Randall
Frontier Law
(1943)
Lois Rodgers
Cowboy in Manhattan
(1943)
Mitzi
Oklahoma Raiders
(1944)
Donna Ross, aka El Vengador
Guns of the Law
(1944)
Lillian Wilkins
Outlaw Trail
(1944)
Alice Thornton
Marshal of Gunsmoke
(1944)
Ellen Carey
Riders of the Santa Fe
(1944)
Carla Anderson
The Navajo Trail
(1945)
Mary Trevor
Gun Smoke
(1945)
Jane Condon
Beyond the Pecos
(1945)
Ellen Tanner
The Lost Trail
(1945)
Jane Burns
Renegades of the Rio Grande
(1945)
Dolores Salezar
Song of Old Wyoming
(1945)
Vicky Conway
Under Western Skies
(1945)
Charity
Trigger Fingers
(1946)
Jane Caldwell
Hop Harrigan: America's Ace of the Airways
(1946)
Gail Nolan
Moon Over Montana
(1946)
Gwynn Randal
Stage to Mesa City
(1947)
Margie Watson
Shadow Valley
(1947)
Mary Ann Jarvis
Buffalo Bill Rides Again
(1947)
Dale Harrington
Ghost Town Renegades
(1947)
Diane Trent
The Fighting Vigilantes
(1947)
Abby Jackson
Over the Santa Fe Trail
(1947)
Carolyn
Pioneer Justice
(1947)
Betty Walters
Trail of the Mounties
(1947)
Kathie McBain
Where the North Begins
(1947)
Mary Rockwell
The Tioga Kid
(1948)
Jenny Morgan
The Hawk of Powder River
(1948)
Vivian Chambers
Tornado Range
(1948)
Mary King
Range Renegades
(1948)
Belle Morgan
Beverly Hills Family Robinson
(1997)
Production Assistant
Data provided by TMDB