HAL TALIAFERRO
November 13th, 1895 -- February 10th, 1980

Above: A somewhat weather-beaten Hal Taliaferro snarls menacingly in this publicity still.

Hal Taliaferro was one of the most subtle, versatile, and likeable serial performers. His Wyoming drawl made him ideal for colorful sidekick parts, while his lanky, athletic frame suited him for heroic roles too. In addition, his sly, "I know more than I'm saying" look made him quite acceptable in villainous roles too. Like Ben Johnson, an actor he resembled in many other ways, Hal had the charisma necessary to play heroes, and was excellent whenever he did, but made himself an even greater name as a character actor.

Hal Taliaferro was born Floyd Taliaferro Alderson on his father's ranch in Sheridan, Wyoming. Like the above-mentioned Ben Johnson, Taliaferro was a cowboy almost from the cradle. His riding skills got him working in silent Westerns as early as 1915, as wrangler, stuntman, extra, and so forth. He served in the army during World War 1, then picked up his career again in 1921. A handsome cowboy who could do his own stunts was just what the doctor ordered for the western producers of that era, and Taliaferro, under the screen name of Wally Wales, ran off a long string of starring films for the next ten years or so. Some titles were DESERT OF THE LOST, CYCLONE COWBOY, and TEARIN' INTO TROUBLE. He continued his starring stint into the early years of the sound era, but his talkie films had lower budgets and were lower quality. Hal's first serial, and the only one in which he was top billed, was VOICE FROM THE SKY, made by Ben Wilson Production in 1930. There's a bit of a mystery around this cliffhanger; it appears to be permanently lost, and only a lobby card or so and the title on the Film Register show it even existed. We know it was a Western, though, and we can be sure Hal did a fine job in it.

Above: Hal Taliaferro with an unidentified actress in BREED OF THE WEST, one of his early sound Westerns.

Though Taliaferro never gave a bad performance in any role, the production starring films kept slipping further down on the quality scale, to the point where he was only able to get bit parts in more "respectable" films--even in serials, which were hardly high on the Hollywood social scale. Taliaferro played a henchman in MYSTERY SQUADRON (Mascot, 1933), a circus employee named Sandy in THE LOST JUNGLE (Mascot, 1934), and a construction worker in MYSTERY MOUNTAIN (Mascot, 1934). He left Mascot for RUSTLERS OF RED DOG (Universal, 1935), an excellent Western cliffhanger that featured him as one of Harry Woods' outlaw followers. Hal was once more a background player here, but he was credited (under his name of Wally Wales) and unmistakable in his moments onscreen. His next two roles were probably his oddest; he played a sentry in the underground kingdom of Murania in Gene Autry's PHANTOM EMPIRE (Mascot, 1935), and a guard in the jungle kingdom of Mu in CALL OF THE SAVAGE (Universal, 1935).

After persevering through all these small parts, Hal hit his stride with THE MIRACLE RIDER (Mascot, 1935). As Tom Mix's Texas Ranger pal, he aided in protecting the Ravenhead Indians from oil profiteer Charles Middleton. Taliaferro and the other Rangers got to round up the majority of Middleton's men at the end while Mix chased down Middleton himself in a thrilling climax. The very next year, Hal switched from Wally Wales to his more familiar screen name, and began his new career as a top character actor. His first serial as Hal Taliaferro was THE PAINTED STALLION (Republic, 1937), a big-scale, pseudo-historical Western. Wagonmaster Hoot Gibson and scout Ray Corrigan were determined on leading a wagon train to Santa Fe, despite the opposition of Mexican despot LeRoy Mason and his bandit henchmen. The pioneers were aided by a mysterious girl known as the Rider of the Painted Stallion (Jean Carmen), and by some real-life historical frontiersmen--Jack Perrin as Davy Crockett, Sammy McKim as a young Kit Carson, and Hal Taliaferro as Jim Bowie. A grinning, buckskin-clad Taliaferro did full justice to the role of the larger-than-life hero, always producing Bowie knives at opportune moments and taking obvious delight in all the slam-bang action.

Above: Hal Taliaferro, Hoot Gibson, and Jack Perrin examine one of the Rider of the Painted Stallion's arrows in THE PAINTED STALLION (Republic, 1937).

After his "guest hero" role in PAINTED STALLION, Taliaferro took on another dynamic part in THE LONE RANGER (Republic, 1938). As Bob Stuart, one of five Texans sworn to overthrow their state's tyrannical finance commissioner (Stanley Andrews), Hal was certainly a co-hero if not the hero. That distinction went to the Lone Ranger, a man of mystery who aided the struggles of the Texans and their companions (and was secretly one of the valiant five). SPOILERS AHEAD! The ranks of the heroic Texans were thinned by death as the serial progressed, with Jim Clark (George Montgomery) dying in Chapter Six. In Chapter Eleven, Stuart's uncle, who manufactured the Lone Ranger's special silver bullets, was killed by six of Andrews' henchmen, and Stuart set out to take revenge. He found the six men playing poker in a cantina and joined their game, anteing up with a silver bullet. The villains went for their guns, but Hal managed to dispatch all but one in the ensuing battle. The surviving baddie was about to finish Taliaferro with a shotgun when the Lone Ranger showed up and plugged the henchman. Mortally wounded himself, Stuart then passed away, leaving his three comrades (Lane Chandler, Herman Brix, and Lee Powell) to carry on the fight. The silver bullet showdown was one of the most dramatic moments in this classic serial, and Taliaferro's attitude of subdued wrath as he laid out the bullets was one of the factors that made it so successful.

Above: Lynne Roberts, heroine in THE LONE RANGER (Republic, 1938), is flanked by (from left to right) Hal Taliaferro, Herman Brix, George Montgomery, Lane Chandler, and Lee Powell. Chief Thundercloud, as Tonto, is in the background.

Hal was now a very busy man, working steadily in B-westerns and the occasional non-western on a steady basis. He only managed a brief appearance (as a good-natured townsman) in THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF WILD BILL HICKOCK (Columbia, 1938) with William Elliott, but played an important part in Elliott's next serial, OVERLAND WITH KIT CARSON (Columbia, 1939). As Jim Stewart, a trading post owner, Taliaferro seemed like a cheery, dependable ally for Kit Carson (Elliott) but also acted rather suspicious from time to time. The good guys--and the audience--wondered from time to time whether Hal could be the mysterious Pegleg, a ruthless outlaw bent on controlling the Western territories, but in the end they found that Taliaferro was innocent of any wrongdoing.

ADVENTURES OF RED RYDER (Republic, 1940) gave Taliaferro a very meaty role as Cherokee Sims, foreman of the Circle R ranch and good friend to "Red" Ryder (Don Barry), son of the ranch's owner. When Red's father (William Farnum) was gunned down on the orders of corrupt banker Calvin Drake (Harry Worth), Red and Cherokee set out to bring down the men responsible for the killings and keep Drake from taking over the Circle R and other ranch land. The ungrammatical but savvy Cherokee was a big help to Red, but in the eleventh chapter, while Cherokee and Deputy Lawson (Gene Alsace) were pursuing Drake's henchman One-Eye (Bob Kortman), a shot knocked the cowhand from his horse. Rising to his feet as Red rode up, Cherokee said he'd only been creased, but collapsed on walking a few steps. As Red bent over him, Cherokee whispered "I can't finish the job" and died. The talent of Barry and Taliaferro made this moment one of the most emotional death scenes in any serial, and when Red avenged his pard by plugging One-Eye with Cherokee's gun and carved a last notch for his friend, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Above: Don Barry assists Hal Taliaferro while Harry Worth, gun drawn, looks on. This scene never actually appeared in ADVENTURES OF RED RYDER (Republic, 1940).

Cherokee was the last good guy Hal would play for a while, at least in cliffhangers. His next serial, KING OF THE MOUNTIES (Republic, 1942), featured him as a minor henchman named Ed Johnson, who spied on RCMP headquarters at the command of Axis saboteurs. The Hopalong Cassidy B-western LUMBERJACK gave him an even nastier heavy role, and his next three serial parts were in the same vein. HAUNTED HARBOR (Republic, 1944) featured him as Lawson, owner of the Ship's Cafe in a South Seas port, who was involved in shady gold-smuggling activities. Whether carrying out the orders of chief villain Roy Barcroft, provoking a fight with hero Kane Richmond (and being soundly thrashed) or threatening to crush heroine Kay Aldridge's hand in a vise, Hal was thoroughly despicable in HARBOR, in fact, Lawson was probably his most rotten serial bad guy.

Above: Duke Green grabs Kay Aldridge as Hal Taliaferro gets set to crush her hand in this still from HAUNTED HARBOR (Republic, 1944).

ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP (Republic, 1944) gave Hal the part of Baxter, an outlaw serving supposedly respectable businessman Hammond (Francis McDonald). Hammond, for his own gain, was out to stop Idaho from achieving statehood, and was continually thwarted by government agent George J. Lewis and newspaper editress Linda Sterling, who donned the disguise of the Black Whip from time to time. Taliaferro, teamed with John Merton, made a formidable henchman, and got off at least one line of dialogue that has gained immortality: when Stirling started to proclaim how Hal and his cohorts were the enemies of freedom and independence, Taliaferro responded with "Skip the Fourth of July speech, sister."

Above: John Merton takes a boot in the face from George J. Lewis as a rather demented-looking Hal Taliaferro tries to overpower Lewis in ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP (Republic, 1944).

The last of Taliaferro's three big bad guys parts was in FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 (Republic, 1945). As Matt Farrell, henchman of suave gangster Jim Belmont (George J. Lewis), Taliaferro delivered a priceless performance, contrasting his thick-witted character with Lewis's dapper sophisticate to hilarious effect. Though Farrell made a dependable ally for Lewis when the villain was taking on equally suave Federal agent Jerry Blake (Marten Lamont) in fistfights, the poor thug could not understand his boss's cultured tastes. This was evident especially in the first chapter, when Taliaferro parachuted onto a moving train and helped Lewis escape the law, but watched in disbelief as Lewis put off his jump from the train in order to listen to the closing strains of a symphony on the radio.

Above: A publicity portrait of Hal Taliaferro as Farrell in FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 (Republic, 1945).

Above: Hal Taliaferro gets the drop on Helen Talbot in FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 (Republic, 1945).

Hal was now reaching the end of his illustrious career and getting ready to retire. He closed out his cliffhanger work with an appropriate role: gold prospector Nugget in THE PHANTOM RIDER (Republic, 1945). Nugget was a crafty, canny old coot, who was only in second grade where "book larnin'" was concerned but who was an encyclopedia when it came to the ways of the West. Hero Robert Kent, a doctor who posed as an Indian spirit to bring a gang of outlaws to justice, found Nugget a very helpful aide, as did friendly chief Yellow Wolf (Chief Thundercloud) when Nugget cleverly rescued him from renegade tribesmen. In the final chapter, Nugget struck it rich but decided to remain in heroine Peggy Stewart's classroom until he at least learned how to sign checks. Taliaferro made this extremely quirky character memorable, loveable, intelligent, and humorous, and capped his brilliant serial career with one last unforgettable performance.

Above: Hal Taliaferro (left) grabs outlaw Jack O'Shea in this lobby card for the reissue version of THE PHANTOM RIDER (Republic, 1945).

Hal appeared in about fifteen more films after PHANTOM RIDER. Supposedly he made an uncredited appearance in one more serial, THE SCARLET HORSEMAN (Universal, 1946), but this is unverified. In any case, among his final roles was the part of a grizzled, veteran cowhand named "Old Leather" in Howard Hawks' RED RIVER. This was probably Hal's biggest A-movie part, and the good reviews he received for it could have probably helped him to become an character actor in major movies, but he was getting ready to retire, and did so in 1952, returning to Wyoming to run the family ranch. He returned to Hollywood one last time to appear in one of A. C. Lyles' all-star "throwback" westerns, LAW OF THE LAWLESS, in 1965. He then spent the last fifteen years of his life ranching and painting portraits on the side. A cowboy to the end, he died at his ranch in February of 1980.

Hal Taliaferro, Wally Wales, or whatever you want to call him, had an innate charm that even shone through his villainous roles. Again like Ben Johnson, he could play almost any character without submerging his own personality. Whether comedian or tragedian, hero or villain, Taliaferro was terrific at instilling a part with that personality of his and making it truly memorable.