Rod Cameron (actor)

Canadian film, television actor (1910–1983)

Rod Cameron (born Nathan Roderick Cox; December 7, 1910 – December 21, 1983) was a Canadian film and television actor whose career extended from the 1930s to the 1970s. He appeared in horror, war, action and science fiction movies, but is best remembered for his many westerns.

Cameron was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and grew up in New Jersey. He played on his high school basketball team and on a semi professional football team. Despite those activities and others such as swimming and playing ice hockey, he couldn't join the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Canada as a young man because he failed the physical examination.

Cameron moved to Hollywood as a young man and started out as a stuntman His early films include Heritage of the Desert with Donald Woods and Russell Hayden, Rangers of Fortune with Fred MacMurray, North West Mounted Police and Henry Aldrich for President with Jimmy Lydon. He also played bit roles at Universal Pictures, including in If I Had My Way, starring Bing Crosby and Gloria Jean. He appeared in a horror film The Monster and the Girl and played Jesse James in The Remarkable Andrew for Paramount. In 1943, Cameron gained star status in action serials for Republic Pictures. As crime busting federal agent Rex Bennett, Cameron battled enemy terrorists in 15 weekly episodes of G Men vs. the Black Dragon. He was already working in another serial when audience reaction to Black Dragon made him a hit. He appeared in another Rex Bennett adventure, Secret Service in Darkest Africa, with Cameron again battling against Axis agents. When cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown left Universal Pictures for Monogram Pictures, Cameron replaced him as Universal's western series star. Universal soon gave him straight character roles in feature films, including Salome, Where She Danced and River Lady both co starring fellow Canadian Yvonne De Carlo. During World War II Cameron played in Commandos Strike at Dawn and played a US Marine in Wake Island (1942) and Gung Ho! (1943). Universal reorganized as Universal International and downsized its activities in 1947, leaving Cameron and other contract players unemployed. He was hired by Monogram Pictures for a long string of outdoor action pictures. In 1948, he starred in Panhandle (a movie with a script co written by Blake Edwards) for Allied Artists. In 1949, Cameron appeared with Bonita Granville in the comedy film Strike It Rich. He then appeared in many westerns and other films for Republic Pictures including Santa Fe Passage (1955), and later The Gun Hawk (1963), Requiem for a Gunfighter (1965) and The Bounty Killer (1965). Cameron traveled to Europe in 1964 to play the lead in Spaghetti Westerns such as Bullets Don't Argue (1964) and Bullet in the Flesh (1965). He later appeared in such films as The Last Movie (1971), Evel Knievel (1971) and Psychic Killer (1975).

Cameron starred in three syndicated television series: City Detective (1953–1955), State Trooper (1956–1959), and the Coronado 9 (1960–1961). In City Detective, Cameron appeared as the tough New York City police Lieutenant Bart Grant. In State Trooper, a 1950s style western themed crime drama, Cameron starred as Lieutenant Rod Blake of the Nevada State Police. In Coronado 9, set in the San Diego area, Cameron appeared as Dan Adams, a private detective. Hal Erickson, in his book, Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947–1987, cited Cameron's business sense in confining his work in TV series to syndication: "A canny businessman, Cameron knew that his City Detective residuals wouldn't have been as fat had a major television network been claiming a percentage of the action, and as a result the actor vowed to remain in syndication for the rest of his TV career. By 1960, Cameron was drawing over $200,000 per annum in residuals [from his three syndicated programs] " As seen in issue No. 17 (Oct. 1952), the comic book featured two Rod Cameron stories, plus a one page humorous strip featuring the character Ambling Andy, and a story featuring Sam the Sheriff.

Cameron was married three times. His married his second wife, Angela Alves Lico, in 1950. They divorced in 1960 so that he could marry her mother, actress Dorothy Alves Lico ( Dorothy Eveleigh),

In the 1970s, Cameron became involved with efforts to treat alcoholism. He was active in the Alcoholism Council of San Fernando Valley in Van Nuys, California, and he spoke to groups about problems related to alcoholism. In his later years, he lived on Lake Lanier in northern Georgia. After an extended battle with cancer, Cameron died in a hospital in
nearby Gainesville, aged 73. He was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.