Sunset Carson (born Winifred Maurice Harrison or Michael Harrison; November 12, 1920 – May 1, 1990) was an American B-western

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make ...

of the 1940s.

Early life, acting

Carson was born on November 12, 1920, at

Gracemont, Oklahoma Gracemont is a town in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 318 at the 2010 census. The town name is a portmanteau of Grace and Montgomery, the names of two friends of the first postmaster, Alice L. Bailey. Geography Gracem ...

, as either Winifred Maurice Harrison or Michael Harrison, to Maurice Greely Harrison and Azalee Belle McAdams. He moved to Plainview, Texas, as a child (per the 1930 US Census Hale County, Texas). Carson became an accomplished rodeo rider in his youth. For a time he worked in a western show owned by early cowboy actor

Tom Mix Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent films. He ...

. In 1940 he traveled to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

, where he competed in rodeos for two years. After his return to the U.S., he played small parts in the 1943 film ''

Stage Door Canteen The Stage Door Canteen was an entertainment venue for American and Allied servicemen that operated in the Broadway theatre district of New York City throughout World War II. Founded by the American Theatre Wing (ATW) in 1942, the entertainers we ...

'', and the big budget 1944 film ''

Janie Janie may refer to: * Janie (given name) * ''Janie'' (1944 film), an American romantic comedy * ''Janie'' (2006 film), a short *Janie, West Virginia Janie is an unincorporated community and former coal town known as Mordue in Boone County, We ...

'', both having him billed as "Michael Harrison". Catching the attention of

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City a ...

executive Lou Grey, he was signed to a contract and given his own series of B-westerns beginning in 1944, changing his name to "Sunset Carson".

Fame and career climb

Within two years, Carson was on the top-10 list of money makers for western stars. He was given a horse named "Cactus", and starred in a string of semi-successful western genre films. In 1944 he starred in '' Bordertown Trail'', '' Code of the Prairie'', and '' Firebrands of Arizona'' opposite

Smiley Burnette Lester Alvin Burnett (March 18, 1911 – February 16, 1967), better known as Smiley Burnette, was an American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and ...

. In 1945 (the peak of his career), his first film was ''

Sheriff of Cimarron ''Sheriff of Cimarron'' is a 1945 American Western film directed by Yakima Canutt, written by Bennett Cohen, and starring Sunset Carson, Linda Stirling, Olin Howland, Riley Hill, Jack Ingram and Tom London. It was released on February 28, 194 ...

'', followed by ''

Santa Fe Saddlemates ''Santa Fe Saddlemates'' is a 1945 American Western film directed by Thomas Carr and written by Bennett Cohen. Starring Sunset Carson, Linda Stirling, Olin Howland, Roy Barcroft, Bud Geary and Kenne Duncan, it was released on June 2, 1945, by ...

'', ''

Bells of Rosarita '' Bells of Rosarita '' is a 1945 American musical Western film starring Roy Rogers and directed by Frank McDonald. Plot Cowboy balladeer Roy Rogers meets Sue Farnum (Dale Evans), a girl returning from back East, who is cheated out of her in ...

'', ''

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what is now the state of Kans ...

'', '' Bandits of the Badlands'', ''

Rough Riders of Cheyenne ''Rough Riders of Cheyenne'' is a 1945 American Western film directed by Thomas Carr and written by Elizabeth Beecher. The film stars Sunset Carson, Peggy Stewart, Mira McKinney, Monte Hale, Wade Crosby and Michael Sloane. The film was rel ...

'', and '' The Cherokee Flash''. In 1946, Carson began the year strong, starring in ''

Days of Buffalo Bill ''Days of Buffalo Bill'' is a 1946 American Western film directed by Thomas Carr and written by William Lively and Doris Schroeder. The film stars Sunset Carson, Peggy Stewart, Tom London, James Craven, Rex Lease and Edmund Cobb. The film ...

'' and '' Alias Billy the Kid''. He followed those with '' The El Paso Kid'', '' Red River Renegades'', and '' Rio Grande Raiders''. However, by the end of 1946, Carson and Republic Pictures were having disputes. He claimed the disputes were over his contract. Republic Pictures would later claim that he was fired by Republic creator and executive officer

Herbert Yates Herbert John Yates (August 24, 1880 – February 3, 1966) was the founder and president of Republic Pictures, who had western stars John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers under contract. Between the years 1935 and 1959, Republic, under Yates' ...

after attending a studio function while intoxicated and in the company of an underage girl. By year’s end, he and Republic had parted company. He would never again achieve any large degree of acting success.

Career decline, retirement and death

In 1948 he starred for

Astor Pictures Astor Pictures was a motion picture distribution company in the United States from 1930 to 1963. It was founded by Robert M. Savini (29 August 1886 – 29 April 1956). Astor specialized in film re-releases. It later released independently ma ...

in '' Fighting Mustang'', '' Deadline'', and ''

Sunset Carson Rides Again ''Sunset Carson Rides Again'' is a 1948 American Western film produced and directed by Oliver Drake and shot on his own ranch. Filmed in 1947 in Kodachrome on 16mm film, the film was the first of Drake's Yucca Pictures Corporation to star Sun ...

''. Then in 1949 he starred in ''

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio ...

'', and in 1950 he starred as the lead character, for the last time, in ''

Battling Marshal ''Battling Marshal'' is a 1950 American western film directed by Oliver Drake and starring Sunset Carson, Pat Starling and Lee Roberts.Pitts p.23 It was distributed by the low-budget company Astor Pictures. Main cast * Sunset Carson as Marshal ...

''. By the following year, his career was all but over as a leading actor of the day. For the next several years he obtained small bit parts. Years later, he played the lead in a B-movie called ''

The Marshal of Windy Hollow ''The Marshal of Windy Hollow'' is a 1972 American Western film directed by Jerry Whittington and starring Sunset Carson. The film is unique in that it reunites several well-known B movie actors from 1940s Westerns for one last outing. Plot ...

'' (1972), a film that co-starred a host of old time actors, including

Ken Maynard Kenneth Olin Maynard (July 21, 1895 – March 23, 1973) was an American actor and producer. He was mostly active from the 1920s to the 1940s and considered one of the biggest Western stars in Hollywood. Maynard was also an occasional screenwrit ...

Tex Ritter Woodward Maurice Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John, grandsons Jason an ...

, and

Bill Cody, Jr. Bill Cody Jr. (April 18, 1925 – August 11, 1989) was an American motion picture child actor. Born William Joseph Cody Jr. in Los Angeles, California, where his father Bill Cody was a cowboy star of B-movie westerns, the youngster was re ...

He then had a bit part in the film ''Buckstone County Prison'' in 1978, and another bit part in the 1985

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univ ...

movie ''Alien Outlaw'' (his last film role). He toured for five years with "Tommy Scott's Country Music Circus". In the early 1980s, Carson hosted ″Six-Gun Heroes″, a South Carolina Educational TV (SCETV) show produced by Jim Welch presenting classic B Westerns which still airs on many PBS affiliates across the US. In 1985, Carson appeared in an episode of the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...

Simon & Simon ''Simon & Simon'' is an American crime drama television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981, to September 16, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS, and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two disparate brothers who oper ...

''.

Death

Carson retired to

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

. He died there on May 1, 1990. He was survived by his fifth wife and his two children. He is buried at Highland Memorial Gardens in Jackson, Madison County, Tennessee.

Filmography

* '' Call of the Rockies'' (1944) co-starred Kirk Alyn,

* '' Bordertown Trail'' (1944) * '' Code of the Prairie'' (1944) co-starred Roy Barcroft * '' Firebrands of Arizona'' (1944) co-starred

Roy Barcroft Roy Barcroft (born Howard Harold Ravenscroft; September 7, 1902 – November 28, 1969) was an American character actor famous for playing villains in B-Westerns and other genres. From 1937 to 1957, he appeared in more than 300 films for R ...

* ''

'' (1945) co-starred

Linda Stirling Linda Stirling (born Louise Schultz; October 11, 1921 – July 20, 1997) was an American showgirl, model, and actress. In her later years, she had a second career as a college English professor for more than two decades. She is most famous ...

* ''

'' (1945) co-starred Roy Barcroft,

Kenne Duncan Kenne Duncan (February 17, 1903 – February 5, 1972) was a Canadian-born American B-movie character actor. Hyped professionally as "The Meanest Man in the Movies," the vast majority of his over 250 appearances on camera were Westerns, bu ...

, Linda Stirling * ''

'' (1945) co-starred Roy Rogers, Red Barry, Rocky Lane and

Gabby Hayes Gabby is a given name, usually a short form of Gabriel or Gabrielle or Gabriella. Gabby or Gabbie may refer to: People with the name * Gabby Chaves (born 1993), Colombian-American racing driver * Guy Gabaldon (also "Gabby"; 1926–2006), ...

* ''

'' (1945) co-starred Kenne Duncan, Monte Hale * '' Bandits of the Badlands'' (1945) co-starred Monte Hale * ''

'' (1945) co-starred Monte Hale, Kenne Duncan * '' The Cherokee Flash'' (1945) co-starred Linda Stirling, Roy Barcroft * ''

'' (1946) * '' Alias Billy the Kid'' (1946) co-starred Roy Barcroft * '' The El Paso Kid'' (1946) * '' Red River Renegades'' (1946) co-starred Kenne Duncan * '' Rio Grande Raiders'' (1946) co-starred Linda Stirling,

Bob Steele (actor) Bob Steele (born Robert Adrian Bradbury; January 23, 1907 – December 21, 1988) was an American actor. He also was billed as Bob Bradbury Jr.. Early life Steele was born in Portland, Oregon, into a vaudeville family. His parents were Robert No ...

Tris Coffin Tristram Chockley Coffin (August 13, 1909 – March 26, 1990) was a film and television actor from the latter 1930s through the 1970s, usually in westerns or other B-movie action-adventure productions. Early years Coffin's mother was actre ...

, Kenne Duncan,

Bobby Barber Bobby Barber (December 18, 1894 – May 24, 1976) was an American actor who appeared in over 100 films. Barber is notable for his work as a foil for Abbott and Costello on and off screen. Biography Barber was born Robert S. Barbera in New York. ...

* '' Fighting Mustang'' (1948) * '' Deadline'' (1948) * ''

'' (1948) co-starred

Ron Ormond Ron Ormond (born Vittorio Di Naro, August 29, 1910 – May 11, 1981) was an American author, showman, screenwriter, film producer, and film director of Western, musical, and exploitation films. Following his survival of a 1968 plane crash, Or ...

* ''

'' (1949) * ''

'' (1950)McGillis, Roderick (2009). He Was Some Kind of Man: Masculinities in the B Western. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 4. . * ''

'' (1972) * ''Buckstone County Prison'' (1978) * ''Alien Outlaw'' (1985)

References

External links

* *
Sunset Carson
at b-westerns.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Sunset Male Western (genre) film actors Male actors from Oklahoma American male film actors 1920 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American male actors