Joe Sawyer

Canadian actor (1906–1982)

Jeane Wood
(m. 19??; div. 19??)

June Sawyer

(m. 1937; died 1960)

Joe Sawyer (born Joseph Sauers, August 29, 1906 – April 21, 1982) was a Canadian film actor.^[1] He appeared in more than 200 films between 1927 and 1962,^[2] and was sometimes billed under his birth name.

Early life

Sawyer was born August 29, 1906, as Joseph Sauer^[3] in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. His parents were German. In his 20s he went to Los Angeles to pursue a career in films.^[4]

Career

Sawyer gained acting experience in the Pasadena Playhouse.^[5] Productions in which he performed there included Quinneys, The Wolves, and White Wings.^[6]

Popular roles that he portrayed included Sergeant Biff O'Hara in the Rin Tin Tin television program,^[2] a film, and on radio. On Stories of the Century in 1954, he portrayed Butch Cassidy, a role which he repeated in the 1958 episode "The Outlaw Legion" of the syndicated western series Frontier Doctor. Sawyer also appeared on ABC's, Maverick, Sugarfoot, Peter Gunn, and Surfside 6 as well as NBC's Bat Masterson.

Death

Sawyer died April 21, 1982, in Ashland, Oregon, from liver cancer. He was 75.^[5] His interment was in Oregon.

Selected filmography

The Public Enemy (1931) as Pool player (uncredited)
New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford (1931) as Willis the Newspaper Reporter (uncredited)
Surrender (1931) as Sergeant Muller
Maker of Men (1931) as Bennett the Monroe Coach (uncredited)
Arsene Lupin (1932) as Leroux (uncredited)
Shopworn (1932) as Construction Camp Worker (uncredited)
Young Bride (1932) as Library Patron Seeking Aphrodite (uncredited)
Huddle (1932) as Slater
Forgotten Commandments (1932) as Ivan Ivanovitch Petroff (uncredited)
Olsen's Big Moment (1933) as 'Dapper' Danny Reynolds
Hold Your Man (1933) as Policeman at Reformatory (uncredited)
College Humor (1933) as Tex Roust
The Stranger's Return (1933) as Farmhand (uncredited)
Three Cornered Moon (1933) as Swimming Pool Instructor (uncredited)
Golden Harvest (1933) as Farmhand (uncredited)
Saturday's Millions (1933) as Coach
Ace of Aces (1933) as Capt. Daly
College Coach (1933) as Holcomb
Eskimo (1933) as Sergeant Hunt (uncredited)
Blood Money (1933) as Red (uncredited)
Jimmy and Sally (1933) as Slug Morgan (uncredited)
Son of a Sailor (1933) as Slug (uncredited)
Jimmy the Gent (1934) as Mike (uncredited)
Wharf Angel (1934) as Sailor on 'The Coyote' (uncredited)
Looking for Trouble (1934) as Henchman Max Stanley
Sing and Like It (1934) as Gunner – Hood
Stamboul Quest (1934) as Soldier Escorting Doktor (uncredited)
The Notorious Sophie Lang (1934) as Building Guard (uncredited)
Death on the Diamond (1934) as Spencer
The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) as Carl Trask (uncredited)
Against the Law (1934) as McManus (uncredited)
Gridiron Flash (1934) as Coach Eversmith
The Prescott Kid (1934) as Marshal Willoughby
College Rhythm (1934) as Spud Miller (uncredited)
Behold My Wife! (1934) as Morton (uncredited)
The Westerner (1934) as Bob Lockhart
The Band Plays On (1934) as Mr. Thomas
Sequoia (1934) as Forest Ranger (uncredited)
The Whole Town's Talking (1935) as Nick, Mannion's Henchman (uncredited)
Car 99 (1935) as Whitey
Eight Bells (1935) as Gates (uncredited)
Air Hawks (1935) as Henchman (uncredited)
The Informer (1935) as Barty Mulholland
The Arizonian (1935) as Henchman Keeler
Broadway Gondolier (1935) as 'Red'
Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935) as Ambulance Driver (uncredited)
Little Big Shot (1935) as Doré's Henchman #1
Special Agent (1935) as Ned Rich
Moonlight on the Prairie (1935) as Luke Thomas
I Found Stella Parish (1935) as Chuck
Frisco Kid (1935) as Slugs Crippen
Man of Iron (1935) as Crawford
Freshman Love (1936) as Coach Kendall
The Petrified Forest (1936) as Jackie
The Leathernecks Have Landed (1936) as Sgt. Regan
The Walking Dead (1936) as Trigger Smith
The Country Doctor (1936) as Joe, Logger lifting log (uncredited)
Pride of the Marines (1936) as Tennessee
Big Brown Eyes (1936) as Jack Sully
Special Investigator (1936) as Jim 'Jimmy' Plummer
And Sudden Death (1936) as Police Sgt. Sanborn
High Tension (1936) as Terry Madden
A Son Comes Home (1936) as First Truck Driver (uncredited)
Crash Donovan (1936) as Henchman (uncredited)
Murder with Pictures (1936) as Inspector Bacon
Two in a Crowd (1936) as Bonelli's Henchman
Rose Bowl (1936) as Announcer (uncredited)
The Accusing Finger (1936) as Father Reed – the Priest
Great Guy (1936) as Burton
Black Legion (1937) as Cliff Moore
Navy Blues (1937) as Chips
Motor Madness (1937) as Steve Dolan
They Gave Him a Gun (1937) as Doyle – Gangster (uncredited)
San Quentin (1937) as 'Sailor Boy' Hansen
Slim (1937) as Wilcox
Midnight Madonna (1937) as Wolfe
A Dangerous Adventure (1937) as Dutch
Reported Missing (1937) as 'Brad' Martin
The Lady Fights Back (1937) as Swede Jannsen
Tarzan's Revenge (1938) as Olaf Punch
Stolen Heaven (1938) as Bako
Passport Husband (1938) as Duke Selton
Always in Trouble (1938) as Buster Mussendorfer
The Storm (1938) as Kelly – Wireless Operator
Heart of the North (1938) as Red Crocker
Gambling Ship (1938) as Tony Garzoni
My Son Is a Criminal (1939) as Policeman (uncredited)
You Can't Get Away with Murder (1939) as Red
The Lady and the Mob (1939) as Blinky Mack
Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) as Werner Renz
Union Pacific (1939) as Shamus (uncredited)
Inside Information (1939) as Detective Grazzi
Frontier Marshal (1939) as Curley Bill
I Stole a Million (1939) as Billings
Rio (1939) as Prison Guard (uncredited)
Sabotage (1939) as Gardner
The Roaring Twenties (1939) as Sergeant Pete Jones
Man from Montreal (1939) as Biff Anders
The Grapes of Wrath (1940) as Keene Ranch foreman
Honeymoon Deferred (1940) as Detective James
The House Across the Bay (1940) as Charley
Women Without Names (1940) as Principal Keeper Grimley (uncredited)
Dark Command (1940) as Bushropp
King of the Lumberjacks (1940) as Jigger, a Lumberjack
Lucky Cisco Kid (1940) as Bill Stevens
Wildcat Bus (1940) as Burke
The Long Voyage Home (1940) as Davis
Melody Ranch (1940) as Jasper Wildhack
The Border Legion (1940) as Jim Gulden
Santa Fe Trail (1940) as Kitzmiller
The Lady from Cheyenne (1941) as Sheriff 'Noisy' Burkett, Henchman (uncredited)
Sergeant York (1941) as Sergeant Early
Down in San Diego (1941) as Dutch
Belle Starr (1941) as John Cole
Tanks a Million (1941) as Sgt. William Ames
Last of the Duanes (1941) as Bull Lossomer
Down Mexico Way (1941) as Allen
Swamp Water (1941) as Hardy Ragan
They Died with Their Boots On (1941) as Sergeant Doolittle
You're in the Army Now (1941) as Sergeant Madden
Hay Foot (1942) as Sergeant Ames
Brooklyn Orchid (1942) as Eddie Corbett
Sundown Jim (1942) as Ben Moffitt
Wrecking Crew (1942) as Fred Bunce
Fall In (1942) as Sgt. William Ames
The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942) as Eddie Corbett
The Outlaw (1943) as Charley Woodruff
Prairie Chickens (1943) as Albertson
Taxi, Mister (1943) as Eddie Corbett
Buckskin Frontier (1943) as Brannigan
Cowboy in Manhattan (1943) as Louie
Hit the Ice (1943) as Buster
Alaska Highway (1943) as Roughhouse
Yanks Ahoy (1943) as Sgt. Ames
Let's Face It (1943) as Sergeant Wiggins
Sleepy Lagoon (1943) as Lumpy
Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943) as Karl Straeder
Tornado (1943) as Charlie Boswell
Moon Over Las Vegas (1944) as Joe
Hey, Rookie (1944) as Sergeant
South of Dixie (1944) as Ernest Hatcher
Raiders of Ghost City (1944) as Idaho Jones
The Singing Sheriff (1944) as Squint
High Powered (1945) as Spike Kenny
Brewster's Millions (1945) as Hacky Smith
The Naughty Nineties (1945) as Bailey
Deadline at Dawn (1946) as Babe Dooley
Gilda (1946) as Casey
Joe Palooka, Champ (1946) as Lefty
The Runaround (1946) as Hutchins
Inside Job (1946) as Police Capt. Thomas
G.I. War Brides (1946) as Sgt. Frank Moraski
Christmas Eve (1947) as Private Detective Gimlet
Roses Are Red (1947) as Police Lt. Rocky Wall
Big Town After Dark (1947) as Monk
A Double Life (1947) as Det. Pete Bonner
If You Knew Susie (1948) as Zero Zantini
Here Comes Trouble (1948) as Officer Ames
Half Past Midnight (1948) as Det. Lt. Joe Nash
Fighting Father Dunne (1948) as Steve Davis
Coroner Creek (1948) as Frank Yordy
Fighting Back (1948) as Police Sgt. Scudder
The Untamed Breed (1948) as Hoy Keegan
Two Knights from Brooklyn (1949) as Eddie Corbett (archive footage)
The Lucky Stiff (1949) as Tony
Kazan (1949)
Tucson (1949) as Tod Bryant
The Gay Amigo (1949) as Sergeant McNulty
Stagecoach Kid (1949) as Thatcher
Pinky (1949) as Sandz Jepson
Deputy Marshall (1949) as Eli Cressett / Colt Redwood
And Baby Makes Three (1949) as Motorcycle Cop (uncredited)
The Traveling Saleswoman (1950) as Cactus Jack
Blondie's Hero (1950) as Sgt. Gateson
Operation Haylift (1950) as George Swallow
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek (1950) as Jake
The Flying Missile (1950) as Quartermaster 'Fuss' Payne
Pride of Maryland (1951) as Knuckles
Comin' Round the Mountain (1951) as Kalem McCoy
As You Were (1952) as Sgt. Ames
Indian Uprising (1952) as Sgt. Maj. Phineas T. Keogh
Red Skies of Montana (1952) as R.A. (Pop) Miller
Deadline – U.S.A. (1952) as Whitey Franks (uncredited)
Mr. Walkie Talkie (1952) as Sgt. Ames
It Came from Outer Space (1953) as Frank Daylon
Taza, Son of Cochise (1954) as Sgt. Hamma
Riding Shotgun (1954) as Tom Biggert
Johnny Dark (1954) as Carl Svenson
The Kettles in the Ozarks (1956) as Bancroft Baines
The Killing (1956) as Mike O'Reilly
The Challenge of Rin Tin Tin (1958) as Sgt. 'Biff' O'Hara
North to Alaska (1960) as Land Commissioner
How the West Was Won (1962) as Riverboat Officer (uncredited)

References

^ "Few Names Are 'Box-Office'". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York, Brooklyn. September 19, 1935. p. 21. Retrieved November 16, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b Landesman, Fred (2004). The John Wayne Filmography. McFarland. p. 211. ISBN 9780786432523. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
^ family member
^ Levy, Bill. Lest We Forget: The John Ford Stock Company. BearManor Media. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "JOE SAWYER, FILM AND TV ACTOR; Joe Sawyer, 75, Created Role Of Sgt. O'Hara in 'Rin Tin Tin'". The New York Times. United Press International. May 25, 1982. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
^ "Is Villain". The Pasadena Post. November 2, 1928. p. 10. Retrieved July 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.