Tim McCoy

Acting · 0.5 popularity

Age

135

Movies

Born: April 10, 1891 – January 29, 1978
From: Saginaw, Michigan, USA

Biography

One of the great stars of early American Westerns. McCoy was the son of an Irish soldier who later became police chief of Saginaw, Michigan, where McCoy was born. He attended St. Ignatius College in Chicago and after seeing a Wild West show there, left school and found work on a Wyoming ranch. He became an expert horseman and roper and developed a keen knowledge of the ways and languages of the Indian tribes in the area. He competed in numerous rodeos, then enlisted in the U.S. Army when America entered the First World War. He was commissioned and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. At the end of World War I, he returned to his ranch in Wyoming, only to be called by Governor Bob Carry to the post of Adjutant General of Wyoming, a position he held until 1921. The position carried with it the rank of Brigadier General (a brevet promotion) and it has been reported that this made him the youngest general officer in the U.S. Army. His reputation as a friend to the Wind River Reservation Indians, both Arapahoe and Shoshone, preceded him and in 1922, he was asked by the head of Famous Players-Lasky, Jesse L. Lasky, to provide Indian extras for the Western extravaganza, The Covered Wagon (1923). He resigned from the state position and recruited several hundred Indians to the Utah movie location. When the film wrapped, he was asked to choose several Indians to accompany him to Hollywood. There the production company developed a live 'prologue' to be presented just prior to the movie showing. The idea was a success and McCoy and his Indian group toured the U.S. and eventually, Europe as well. After touring this country and Europe with the Indians as publicity, McCoy returned to Hollywood and used his connections to obtain further work in the movies, both as a technical advisor and eventually as an actor. MGM speedily signed him to a contract to star in a series of Westerns and McCoy rapidly rose to stardom, making scores of Westerns and occasional non-Westerns. He retired from the army and from films after the war, but emerged in the late 1940s for a few more films and some television work. In 1942 he ran for the Republican Nomination for the U.S. Senate in Wyoming. He was defeated and returned to Hollywood and an uncertain future. In 1946 he sold his Wyoming ranch and moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania and the life of the gentleman farmer. While living there, he met and married Danish writer Inga Arvad. He later built a home in Nogales, Arizona where Inga subsequently died in 1973. He spent his later years as a retired rancher. He died at the U.A. Army hospital at Ft. Hauchuca, Arizona on January 29 1978 at the age of 86. Inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1974. During World War I, he served as an artillery officer in the US Army in France. Spouse Inga Arvad (1945 - 1973) (her death) Alice Miller (? - 1931) (divorced) (3 children)

Works

96 films

Around the World in 80 Days

19566.7

Forbidden Trails

19415.6

Ghost Patrol

19364.8

The Traitor

19368.0

Run of the Arrow

19576.1

Border Caballero

19366.2

Aces and Eights

19365.6

Roarin' Guns

19367.7

Hollywood: The Dream Factory

19727.3

Texas Renegades

19408.0

The Thundering Herd

19259.0

Lightnin' Bill Carson

19367.0

Requiem for a Gunfighter

19657.5

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

19768.5

Speed Wings

19349.0

The Law of the Range

19284.7

California

19277.5

Heroes of the Flames

19319.0

Cornered

19327.5

The Gunman From Bodie

19415.3

Riding Wild

19358.0

Straightaway

19338.0

Down Texas Way

19426.5

Man Of Action

19338.0

Below the Border

19425.5

Justice of the Range

19359.0

The Fighting Fool

1932

Voice in the Night

19347.0

The Prescott Kid

19348.0

The Frontiersman

19279.0

Phantom Ranger

19384.7

Arizona Bound

19414.2

Hollywood on Parade

19326.5

Lightning Carson Rides Again

19385.3

The Texas Marshal

19418.0

The Desert Rider

19298.0

Gun Code

19408.0

Texas Cyclone

19324.5

Code of the Cactus

19396.2

Two-Fisted Law

19324.8

Hold the Press

1933

Hell Bent for Love

193410.0

Beyond the Law

19349.0

Bulldog Courage

19356.0

Fighting for Justice

19328.0

Straight Shooter

19395.5

Trigger Fingers

19397.5

Outlaws of the Rio Grande

19419.0

Foreign Devils

19278.0

Daring Danger

193210.0

Riders of Black Mountain

19409.0

The Fighting Renegade

19396.8

Fighting Shadows

19356.5

Riders of the West

19426.5

Code of the Rangers

193810.0

Silent Men

19339.0

The Man from Guntown

193510.0

Riders of the Dark

19289.0

The Whirlwind

19338.0

Six-Gun Trail

19384.3

Winners Of The Wilderness

19277.7

Arizona Gang Busters

19406.5

Outlaws' Paradise

19398.0

The Fighting Marshal

19316.6

Two Gun Justice

19387.5

West of the Law

19426.3

The Indians Are Coming

19306.3

A Man's Game

193410.0

Morgan's Last Raid

19298.0

The Western Code

19329.0

The Westerner

19348.0

Police Car 17

19335.5

War Paint

19267.0

Ghost Town Law

19426.0

Frontier Crusader

19404.3

Texas Wildcats

19398.0

End of the Trail

19326.5

Beyond the Sierras

19287.0

The Bushranger

192810.0

The Outlaw Deputy

19358.0

The Adventurer

19287.0

The Riding Tornado

19327.0

The One Way Trail

193110.0

Spoilers of the West

19277.0

The Overland Telegraph

19299.0

Law Beyond the Range

19357.0

The Revenge Rider

19358.0

Rusty Rides Alone

19339.0

Sioux Blood

19299.0

The Lion's Den

19368.0

Square Shooter

19356.2

Injun Talk

1946

Shotgun Pass

19318.0

West of Rainbow's End

19387.5

Wyoming

19288.0

The Man Who Would Not Die

1924