CINEFILER

Rand Brooks

Born
September 21, 1918
Died
September 1, 2003
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.
Known For
Gone with the Wind
(1939)
Charles Hamilton
Joan of Arc
(1948)
Jean d'Arc, Joan's older brother
The Last Hurrah
(1958)
Votes Tallyman (uncredited)
In Like Flint
(1967)
Missle Control Officer (uncredited)
Lady Scarface
(1941)
James 'Jimmy' Powell
Air Force
(1943)
Co-Pilot (uncredited)
Comanche Station
(1960)
Station Man
Full Filmography
Acting
Dramatic School
(1938)
Pasquel Jr.
Love Finds Andy Hardy
(1938)
Young Man on Bandstand (uncredited)
Gone with the Wind
(1939)
Charles Hamilton
The Old Maid
(1939)
Jim
Thunder Afloat
(1939)
Listener (uncredited)
Dancing Co-Ed
(1939)
Steve (uncredited)
Babes in Arms
(1939)
Jeff Steele
Balalaika
(1939)
Crying Soldier (uncredited)
And One Was Beautiful
(1940)
Joe Havens
Florian
(1940)
Victor
Laddie
(1940)
Peter Dover
Andy Hardy's Dilemma: A Lesson in Mathematics... and Other Things
(1940)
Mechanic (uncredited)
Northwest Passage
(1940)
Eben Towne
The Son of Monte Cristo
(1940)
Hans Mirbach
The Girl from Avenue A
(1940)
Steve
Lady Scarface
(1941)
James 'Jimmy' Powell
Life with Henry
(1941)
Daniel Gordon (uncredited)
Niagara Falls
(1941)
Honeymooner
Cowboy Serenade
(1942)
Jim Agnew
The Sombrero Kid
(1942)
Philip Martin
Fingers at the Window
(1942)
Young Reporter (uncredited)
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
(1942)
Air Force
(1943)
Co-Pilot (uncredited)
High Explosive
(1943)
Jimmy Baker
Lady in the Dark
(1944)
Ben
Resisting Enemy Interrogation
(1944)
Pilot
Ditch and Live
(1944)
T / Sgt. Ryan
The Great Morgan
(1945)
Film Character (uncredited)
Fool's Gold
(1946)
Lucky Jenkins
The Devil's Playground
(1946)
Lucky Jenkins
Hoppy's Holiday
(1947)
Lucky Jenkins
Unexpected Guest
(1947)
Lucky Jenkins
Dangerous Venture
(1947)
Lucky Jenkins
The Marauders
(1947)
Lucky Jenkins
Kilroy Was Here
(1947)
Rodney Meadows
Joan of Arc
(1948)
Jean d'Arc, Joan's older brother
Ladies of the Chorus
(1948)
Randy Carroll
False Paradise
(1948)
Lucky Jenkins
The Dead Don't Dream
(1948)
Lucky Jenkins
Strange Gamble
(1948)
Lucky Jenkins
Silent Conflict
(1948)
Lucky Jenkins
Sinister Journey
(1948)
Lucky Jenkins
Borrowed Trouble
(1948)
Lucky Jenkins
Sundown in Santa Fe
(1948)
Tom Wyatt
The Wyoming Bandit
(1949)
Jimmy Howard
Black Midnight
(1949)
Daniel Jordan
Riding High
(1950)
Henry Early
The Vanishing Westerner
(1950)
Sanderson's First Victim
Bunco Squad
(1950)
Robert (uncredited)
Heart of the Rockies
(1951)
Jim Corley
Yukon Manhunt
(1951)
Len Kaufman
The Gunman
(1952)
Jud Calvert
Montana Incident
(1952)
Dave Connors
Waco
(1952)
Al
The Maverick
(1952)
Trooper Barnham
Man from the Black Hills
(1952)
Fake Jimmy Fallon
The Steel Fist
(1952)
Captain Giorg Nicholoff
Behind Southern Lines
(1952)
Captain Loomis
Born to the Saddle
(1953)
John Grant
Silver Needle in the Sky
(1954)
Ranger Andrews
Crash of Moons
(1954)
Andrews
The Challenge of Rin Tin Tin
(1958)
The Last Hurrah
(1958)
Votes Tallyman (uncredited)
Stump Run
(1959)
Comanche Station
(1960)
Station Man
Stagecoach to Dancers' Rock
(1962)
Quint Rucker
In Like Flint
(1967)
Missle Control Officer (uncredited)
The Sex Symbol
(1974)
Edward Kelly (voice)
Rin-Tin-Tin: Hero of the West
(1991)
Cpl. Boone
Crew
Directing
Data provided by TMDB