Alan Bridge Explained

Al Bridge
Birth Name:Alfred Morton Bridge
Birth Date:February 26, 1891
Birth Place:Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting Place:Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
Occupation:Actor
Years Active:1905 - 1954
Spouse:Blanche Valarie Soules (married 1935-1945)

Alfred Morton Bridge (February 26, 1891  - December 27, 1957[1]) was an American character actor who played mostly small roles in over 270 films between 1931 and 1954. Bridge's persona was an unpleasant, gravel-voiced man with an untidy moustache. Sometimes credited as Alan Bridge, and frequently not credited onscreen at all, he appeared in many Westerns, especially in the Hopalong Cassidy series, where he played crooked sheriffs and henchmen.

Life and career

Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Philadelphia,[1] Bridge and his sister, who became actress Loie Bridge,[2] grew up with their mother and stepfather, a local butcher.[3] Having entered into vaudeville alongside his sister while still a teenager,[1] [4] Bridge served in the American infantry during World War I.[5] Picking up where they left off shortly thereafter, they toured the U.S. as a team until 1924. Among those who appeared alongside the Bridges during those years were future film players such as Emmett Lynn,[6] Harry Cheshire,[7] Chill Wills,[8] and Joan Crawford.[1]

In 1930, Bridge broke into movies by co-scripting the comedy short Her Hired Husband.[9] The following year he co-wrote and costarred in the Western, God's Country and the Man (aka A Man's Country and Rose of the Rio Grande).[10]

Bridge spent the next 25 years as a familiar face in B-Westerns and mainstream comedies and dramas. In the forties, Bridge was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in ten of the eleven American films that Sturges wrote and directed.[11] He is perhaps best remembered for his role as "The Mister", the chain-gang boss over Joel McCrea in Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels.[12] Bridge played against type as a kindly lawyer in Sturges' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek.[13]

Bridge's television work, which began in 1950 includes appearances on The Range Rider and The Gene Autry Show as well as other programs.

Personal life and death

Bridge married Blanche Valarie Soules December 24, 1935 at the United Christian Church of America in Los Angeles, California. She died April 19, 1945.[14]

Bridge died in Los Angeles at age 66. His remains are interred at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood.[15]

Selected filmography

Notes and References

  1. Book: Mayer, Geoff . Encyclopedia of American Film Serials . 2017-02-23 . McFarland . 978-0-7864-7762-3 . 57–58 . en.
  2. "Actress Loie Bridge Dies at 84," Los Angeles Times, March 10, 1974 https://www.newspapers.com/image/381501986/?article=8626c5ea-374e-4ffd-a008-59ccc61af1ed&focus=0.85379636,0.7683134,0.9760975,0.9714055&xid=3355&_ga=2.178929891.690596054.1604435973-1157292148.1569503008
  3. 1910 U.S. Census, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  4. "Victor Faust as the 'Tramp' and Alan Bridge as 'Jimmie Scarecrow', The Dodge City Globe Dodge City, Kansas, Jan. 17, 1907, https://www.newspapers.com/image/339708240/?terms=%22Alfred%20Bridge%22&match=1
  5. U.S. Veterans Administration grave marker, Valhalla Memorial Park, Burbank, California
  6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/655027298/?clipping_id=153327865 "Next Week at the Theatres"
  7. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-city-star/153323026/ "Next Week at the Theatres"
  8. https://books.google.com/books?id=vQwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT53&dq=%22of+course%22+%22al+and+loie+bridge%22 "Red Ripples"
  9. Webb, Graham (2020). Encyclopedia of American Short Films, 1926-1959. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 237. .
  10. Pitts, Michael R. (2005). Poverty Row Studios, 1929-1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 401. .
  11. Al Bridge appeared in Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Hail the Conquering Hero, The Great Moment, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, Unfaithfully Yours and The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend. He also appeared in I Married a Witch, which Sturges produced. He had earlier been in Diamond Jim, which Sturges wrote the screenplay for.
  12. Erickson, Hal Biography (Allmovie)
  13. Web site: Gallagher . Sean . Why "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" Is My Favorite Preston Sturges Film . The Joy and Agony of Movies . June 30, 2012 . 13 November 2021.
  14. "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994",, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CSVT-1TMM : Mon Mar 11 00:50:08 UTC 2024), Entry for Blanche Valarie Bridge and Charles Soules, 19 Apr 1945.
  15. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14000 Famous Persons by Scott Wilson

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