Nelson McDowell (August 14, 1870 – November 3, 1947) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 170 films between 1917 and 1945.
McDowell was born in
Greenville, Missouri
Greenville is a city located on U.S. Route 67 near the intersection with Route D and E in Wayne County, Missouri, United States, along the St. Francis River. The population was 443 at the 2020 census. Greenville was incorporated and founded as t ...
. His parents were N. B. McDowell and Anne Hampton. He attended Leadville (Colorado) High School and Normal College in Freemont, Nebraska, before earning A.B. and D.D.S. degrees from
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
in Chicago. Prior to embarking on a theatrical career, McDowell had a career in dentistry. In 1901, he was appointed professor of orthodontics at the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...
.
In 1902, McDowell acted on stage in Chicago and in Lincoln, Nebraska. His film debut came in 1910 with Biograph.
McDowell died in
Hollywood, California
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...
after he shot himself.
Partial filmography
* ''
The Scarlet Car
''The Scarlet Car'' is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney, Edith Johnson and Franklyn Farnum. The film was written by William Parker, based upon the novel ''The Scarlet Car'' by Richard Harding ...
Cupid the Cowpuncher
''Cupid the Cowpuncher'' is a 1920 American comedy film directed by Clarence G. Badger and written by Edfrid A. Bingham. It is based on the 1907 novel ''Cupid: The Cow-Punch'' by Eleanor Gates. The film stars Will Rogers, Helene Chadwick, Andre ...
'' (1920)
* ''
Going Some
''Going Some'' is a lost 1920 silent film directed by Harry Beaumont. It stars Cullen Landis, Helen Ferguson, Kenneth Harlan and Lillian Hall. It was released by Goldwyn Pictures.''Pictorial History of the Silent Film'', p.195 c.1953 by Daniel ...
The Last of the Mohicans
''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is a historical romance written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826.
It is the second book of the ''Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinder ...
'' (1920)
* ''
Home Stuff
''Home Stuff'' is a 1921 American silent comedy film directed by Albert H. Kelley and starring Viola Dana, Tom Gallery and Josephine Crowell.Munden p.360
Cast
* Viola Dana as Madge Joy
* Tom Gallery as Robert Deep
* Josephine Crowell as 'Ma' ...
'' (1921)
* ''
Shadows of Conscience
''Shadows of Conscience'' is a 1921 American silent Western film directed by John P. McCarthy and starring Russell Simpson, Barbara Tennant and Gertrude Olmstead.Connelly, p. 250.
Cast
* Russell Simpson as Jim Logan
* Landers Stevens as Wad ...
'' (1921)
* ''
The Silent Call
''The Silent Call'' is a 1961 American drama film directed by John A. Bushelman and written by Tom Maruzzi. The film stars Gail Russell (in her final role), David McLean, Roger Mobley, Roscoe Ates, Milton Parsons and Dal McKennon.
It was rele ...
'' (1921)
* ''
The Girl Who Ran Wild
''The Girl Who Ran Wild'' is a 1922 American comedy-drama film directed by Rupert Julian. It is a black and white silent film released by Universal which is based on the 1863 novella ''M’liss: An Idyll of Red Mountain'' by Bret Harte. It is a r ...
'' (1922)
* ''
Oliver Twist
''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...
Blood Test
A blood test is a laboratory analysis performed on a blood sample that is usually extracted from a vein in the arm using a hypodermic needle, or via fingerprick. Multiple tests for specific blood components, such as a glucose test or a cholester ...
'' (1923)
* ''
Pioneer Trails
''Pioneer Trails'' is a 1923 American silent Western film directed by David Smith and starring Cullen Landis, Alice Calhoun, and Bertram Grassby
Bertram Grassby (23 December 1880 – 7 December 1953) was an English actor. He appeared i ...
'' (1923)
* ''
The Ridin' Kid from Powder River
''The Ridin' Kid from Powder River'' is a 1924 American silent Western film directed by Edward Sedgwick and starring Hoot Gibson. It was based on a novel by Henry Herbert Knibbs and produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Plot
As des ...
'' (1924)
* ''
Galloping Gallagher
''Galloping Gallagher'' is a 1924 American silent Western film directed by Albert S. Rogell and starring Fred Thomson, Hazel Keener, and Frank Hagney. The film was originally five reels
A reel is an object around which a length of another ...
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
The Phantom Bullet
''The Phantom Bullet'' is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Clifford Smith and starring Hoot Gibson. It was produced by Carl Laemmle and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Cast
* Hoot Gibson as Chick Farlane
* Eileen Percy as Ja ...
The Frontier Trail
''The Frontier Trail'' is a lost 1926 American silent Western film directed by Scott R. Dunlap and starring Harry Carey.
Plot
Cast
* Harry Carey - Jim Cardigan
* Mabel Julienne Scott - Dolly Mainard
* Ernest Hilliard - Captain Blackwell
* ...
Fighting with Buffalo Bill
''Fighting With Buffalo Bill'' is a 1926 American silent Western film serial directed by Ray Taylor for Universal Pictures. The film is now considered to be lost.
Plot
Cast
* Wallace MacDonald as Ned Wheeler
* Elsa Benham as Doris Carberry ...
'' (1926)
* ''
The Ramblin' Galoot
''The Ramblin' Galoot'' is a 1926 American silent Western film. Directed by Fred Bain at the Poverty Row studios of Action Pictures, the film stars Buddy Roosevelt, Violet La Plante, and Frederick Lee. It was released on November 21, 1926.
Cas ...
Crossed Signals
''Crossed Signals'' is a 1926 American silent action film directed by J.P. McGowan and starring Helen Holmes, Henry Victor and Georgie Chapman.Munden p.155
Cast
* Helen Holmes as Helen Wainwright
* Henry Victor as Jack McDermott
* Georgie C ...
'' (1926)
* ''
Border Blackbirds
''Border Blackbirds'' is a 1927 American silent Western film directed by Leo D. Maloney and starring Maloney, Eugenia Gilbert and Nelson McDowell.
Cast
* Leo D. Maloney as Bart Evans
* Eugenia Gilbert as Marion Kingsley
* Nelson McDowell a ...
'' (1927)
* ''
Great Mail Robbery
''Great Mail Robbery'' is a 1927 American silent drama film directed by George B. Seitz. This film survives in the Library of Congress collection incomplete.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Coll ...
'' (1927)
* ''
The Bugle Call
''The Bugle Call'' is a 1927 American silent drama film directed by Edward Sedgwick and starring Jackie Coogan and Claire Windsor, which was released on August 6, 1927.
The Lost Film Files database lists this film as being lost.
Plot
Billy ...
'' (1927)
* ''
The Vanishing Rider
''The Vanishing Rider'' is a 1928 American silent Western film serial directed by Ray Taylor and featuring William Desmond and Ethlyne Clair. Boris Karloff was also in the cast. The film is now considered to be lost.
Plot
Cast
* William ...
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and n ...
The Code of the Scarlet
''The Code of the Scarlet'' is a 1928 American silent film, silent western film directed by Harry Joe Brown and starring Ken Maynard, Gladys McConnell and Ed Brady (actor), Ed Brady.Munden p.136 The title is also sometimes written as just ''Code o ...
Queen of the Northwoods
''Queen of the Northwoods'' is 1929 American silent Western film serial by Pathé, directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Storey, with a story by George Arthur Gray. Known cast members were Walter Miller, Ethlyne Clair and Frank Lackteen ...
'' (1929)
* ''
The Texas Ranger
''The Texas Ranger'' is a 1931 American pre-Code Western film directed by D. Ross Lederman.Guns for Hire'' (1932)
* ''
The Last of the Mohicans
''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is a historical romance written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826.
It is the second book of the ''Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinder ...
'' (1932)
* ''
Come On, Tarzan
''Come On, Tarzan'' is a 1932 American pre-Code western film starring Ken Maynard, Merna Kennedy, and Niles Welch.
A ranch foreman at odds with his female boss, fights outlaws who are killing horses for dog food.Taliaferro, John (2002). ''Ta ...
'' (1932)
* ''
The Scarlet Brand
''The Scarlet Brand'' is a 1932 American Western film directed by J.P. McGowan and starring Bob Custer, Betty Mack and Robert D. Walker.Pitts p.69
Cast
* Bob Custer as Bud Bryson
* Betty Mack as Ellen Walker
* Robert D. Walker as Bill Morse ...
The Dawn Rider
''The Dawn Rider'' is a 1935 American Western film starring John Wayne and directed by Robert N. Bradbury.
The film was later released in a colorized version on home video/DVD under the title ''Cold Vengeance''.
Plot
John Mason chases after ...
'' (1935)
* ''
Wilderness Mail
''Wilderness Mail'' is a 1935 American adventure film directed by Forrest Sheldon and written by Bennett Cohen and Robert Dillon. The film stars Kermit Maynard, Fred Kohler, Paul Hurst, Doris Brook, Syd Saylor and Dick Curtis. The film was relea ...
Roll Wagons Roll
''Roll Wagons Roll'' is a 1940 American Western film directed by Albert Herman and starring Tex Ritter, Nelson McDowell and Muriel Evans
Muriel Evans (born Muriel Adele Evanson; July 20, 1910 – October 26, 2000) was an American film a ...
'' (1940)
* ''
Lone Texas Ranger
''Lone Texas Ranger'' is a 1945 American Western film directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet starring Wild Bill Elliott in the role of Red Ryder and costarring as Little Beaver, actor ''(Bobby)'' Robert Blake. It was the eighth of twenty-three Red ...