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)

The Time of Their Lives
The Time of Their Lives

1946

as Sgt. Makepeace

Saboteur
Saboteur

1942

as Plant Cafeteria Worker (uncredited)

A Foreign Affair
A Foreign Affair

1948

as M.P. Lieutenant (uncredited)

The Gazebo
The Gazebo

1959

as Stage Manager (uncredited)

The Pride of the Yankees
The Pride of the Yankees

1942

as Spectator (uncredited)

Backlash
Backlash

1956

as Sergeant Blane (uncredited)

Canyon Passage
Canyon Passage

1946

as Card Player (uncredited)

California
California

1947

as Stranger (uncredited)

Gun Belt
Gun Belt

1953

as Lynch Mob Member (uncredited)

In Old California
In Old California

1942

as Gold Strike Rider

The Mummy's Tomb
The Mummy's Tomb

1942

as Townsman (uncredited)

Ride, Vaquero!
Ride, Vaquero!

1953

as Deputy

The Prodigal
The Prodigal

1955

as Purveyor (uncredited)

The Gallant Legion
The Gallant Legion

1948

as Conductor

The Crimson Ghost
The Crimson Ghost

1946

as Bain

Corvette K-225
Corvette K-225

1943

as Coxswain

The Unholy Wife
The Unholy Wife

1957

as Mr. White (uncredited)

Idaho
Idaho

1943

as Henchman

Flame of Barbary Coast
Flame of Barbary Coast

1945

as Collingswood