Max Wagner
Acting
🎂 1901-11-28
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Max Wagner (November 28, 1901 – November 16, 1975) was a Mexican-born American film actor who specialized in playing small parts such as thugs, gangsters, sailors, henchmen, bodyguards, cab drivers and moving men, appearing more than 400 films in his career, most without receiving screen credit. Newspaper gossip columnists noted his rise from playing "Gangster #4", with no lines, and not carrying a gun, to "Gangster #2", with both lines and a gun. Wagner was one of five children, all boys, of William Wallace Wagner, a railroad conductor, and Edith Wagner, a writer who provided dispatches for the Christian Science Monitor during the Mexican Revolution. When he was 10 years old, his father was killed by rebels and the family moved to Salinas, California, where he met John Steinbeck, who became a lifelong friend. Steinback based the character of the boy in his novel The Red Pony on Wagner. Under the name "Max Baron", Wagner acted in many Spanish-language versions of English-language films, which studios made as a matter of course in the early days of sound films, He also served as a Spanish language coach for other actors, and appeared in many of the "Mexican Spitfire" films starring Lupe Vélez, where he also served to monitor Velez's Spanish ad-libs for profanity. Other series that Wagner appeared in include the Charlie Chan films, and Tom Mix serials, as well as others made by Mascot Pictures Corporation. In the 1940s, Wagner was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in six films written and directed by Sturges, beginning with The Palm Beach Story In 1940 during the filming of "The Mad Doctor", Wagner was credited for driving 50,000 miles as an on-screen taxi driver on the studio back lots of Hollywood. Since his appearance as a cab driver in Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935), producers often cast him as a wise-cracking or henchman taxi driver. "I was cast as a taxi driver about five years ago", Wagner told a reporter. "And I was typed." In 1952, Wagner began to appear on television, in episodes of such shows as The Cisco Kid, Zane Grey Theater and Perry Mason, playing much the same kind of parts he played in the movies. He was a regular cast member on the western television series Gunsmoke, making nearly 80 appearances between 1959 and 1973. He also appeared in many episodes of The Rifleman, Bonanza, Cimarron Strip, The Wild Wild West and Maverick, including a guest-starring role in the 1959 Rifleman episode "Blood Brother." He also had roles in the original Star Trek and The Twilight Zone series. He appeared in more than 200 television episodes between 1952 and 1974. Notable film roles for Wagner include a supporting role in the cult science fiction classic Invaders from Mars (1953), an actor playing a gangster in the film-within-a-film segment of Bullets or Ballots (1936), and the bull farm attendant in the Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bullfighters (1945). Late in his career, he appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). He also occasionally composed music, such as the Mexican folk ballad "Pedro, Rudarte y Simon" in the Western film The Last Trail (1933). Wagner died of a heart attack in Hollywood in 1975.
Cast credits(187)
Derelict (uncredited)
1971
1958
Roller Coaster Operator
1959
Cashier / Nick's Assistant Bouncer (uncredited)
1946
Man in Dream Sequence (uncredited)
1968
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
1962
Spectator (uncredited)
1963
First Workman
1952
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
1969
Villager
1974
Prisoner
1968
Townsman (uncredited)
1962
Workman (uncredited)
1955
Barfly (uncredited)
1967
Guard (uncredited)
1940
Barfly (uncredited)
1965
Cashier (uncredited)
1966
Reporter (uncredited)
1968
Expressman (uncredited)
1954
Bartender (uncredited)
1955
Projectionist (uncredited)
1949
Fats Delaney
1941
Guard (uncredited)
1942
Townsman Watching Fight (uncredited)
1971
Church Member
1965
Townsman (uncredited)
1972
Gangster (uncredited)
1939
Army Sgt. Rinaldi
1953
Diner Trying to Date Helen
1936
Mike (uncredited)
1945
Bartender (uncredited)
1945
Durko (uncredited)
1951
Blackjack Dealer
1963
Streetcar Conductor
1940
Barfly (uncredited)
1970
Station Agent (uncredited)
1953
Bartender
1949
Dan - Corridor Guard (uncredited)
1937
Moving Man (uncredited)
1942
Tough Casino Decoy
1938
Deputy Charlie (uncredited)
1955
Joe - Truck Driver-Henchman
1939
Moving Man (uncredited)
1946
Music Hall Drunk (Uncredited)
1973
Chinatown Barker
1938
Truck Driver
1945
Deputy (uncredited)
1942
Reporter (uncredited)
1957
Tom's Best Man (uncredited)
1942
1947
Drunk (uncredited)
1950
1962
Convict Football Player
1934
George
1945
Citizen (uncredited)
1949
Jake (uncredited)
1945
Townsman (uncredited)
1948
Military Police Driver (uncredited)
1944
Grip
1934
Police Lt. Joe Wilson
1939
Taxi Driver Henchman
1935
Truck Driver
1940
Mike
1948
Headwaiter
1939
Actor Impersonating Kruger in Newsreel (uncredited)
1936
Prison Runner
1937
Thug
1939
Henchman Mike (uncredited)
1946
Man Outside Hotel
1936
Pirate (uncredited)
1936
Rudy the Sailor
1943
Charles McMahon
1949
1966
Bus Driver Jackson (uncredited)
1940
Jack Purcell (uncredited)
1951
Baggage Man
1948
Umpire (uncredited)
1949
Bartender
1941
Burglar
1940
Sweeney, Driver (uncredited)
1940
Bet Placing Taxi Driver (uncredited)
1939
Jailer (uncredited)
1942
Ship Porter (uncredited)
1940
Convention Delegate (uncredited)
1960
1930
Visitor (uncredited)
1939
Assistant Overseer (uncredited)
1947
Reporter
1936
Chuck Cannon
1937
Truck Driver in Diner (uncredited)
1937
Salesman
1939
Baggage Man (uncredited)
1937
Jack - Diner Counterman (uncredited)
1942
Evans - Bob's Chauffeur
1934
Soldier
1940
Partner
1941
Joey
1937
Villa Luigi Headwaiter
1942
Fireman
1936
Sailor (uncredited)
1944
Gus
1937
Hobo
1938
Nolan's Henchman (uncredited)
1939
1952
Cell Block E Convict (uncredited)
1937
Sam, Second Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)
1936
Party Guest (uncredited)
1937
Boss Mechanic
1939
Policeman (uncredited)
1939
Brings in Rustler
1939
Bartender (uncredited)
1946
Workman
1939
Gibson
1935
Himself (uncredited)
1936
Convict Road Laborer (uncredited)
1930
Bartender
1927
Shirtless Ditchdigger (uncredited)
1940
Slade
1934
Radio Operator (uncredited)
1931
Max - Radioman
1940
Jake - Trucker in Cafe (uncredited)
1938
Hanley's Strong-Arm Man
1939
Buck
1942
Reporter
1935
Waiter (uncredited)
1940
Policeman (uncredited)
1954
Police Detective (uncredited)
1957
Sergeant
1942
Reporter
1935
Morley
1935
Sailor at Wrestling Match
1939
Pug O'Leary
1936
Cab Driver (Uncredited)
1940
Cowboy
1940
Jim
1940
Guest
1939
Ernest Dallas
1934
Ferguson - Pilot
1930
Brakeman
1938
Reporter (uncredited)
1932
Second Investigating Detective (Uncredited)
1948
School Bus Driver (uncredited)
1937
Bill - Policeman in Car 43
1940
Shakey
1937
Jamison
1941
Joe
1940
Party Guest (uncredited)
1960
Marine
1937
Guest
1938
Henchman Kincaid
1938
Reporter
1934
Fisherman (uncredited)
1942
Soldier
1936
Drunken Brawler
1936
Hold-Up Man
1934
Blackie
1938
Policeman in Car (uncredited)
1933
Pete
1933
Sailor
1935
Thug
1931
Slade
1934
Gangster
1935
Policeman Temple (uncredited)
1942
Vorobiov
1932
Ernie - Counter Girl's Boyfriend
1937
Highway Patrol Officer
1940
Milkman's Helper on Dock
1936
Henchman
1936
Cherry's Cabbie
1940
Headwaiter - Mexican Pete's
1940
Bob
1932
Tough Guy
1942
Sergeant Goring
1957
Max
1934
Sergeant George Dunne
1944
Recruiting Sergeant
1942
Bennie
1936
Lester - O'Bannion's Driver
1936
Bar Patron (uncredited)
1951
Sam Johnson - Milk Man (uncredited)
1938
Davis
1936
Simmons
1934
A Hood
1927
Student
1926
Military Policeman
1932
Student
1927
Sophomore
1927
