Job Actor
Years active 1913-1956
Known for Dim hoodlums, characters with more brawn than brains
Top Roles Strabo, Shakespeare, Inspector John Guild, Harry, Blossom
Top GenresDrama, Comedy, Romance, Crime, Musical, Mystery
Top TopicsPre-Code Cinema, Book-Based, Gangsters
Top Collaborators (Producer), (Producer), , (Director)
Shares birthday with Robert Shaw, Fred C. Newmeyer, Robert Aldrich  see more..

Nat Pendleton Overview:

Character actor, Nat Pendleton, was born Nathaniel Greene Pendleton on Aug 9, 1895 in Davenport, IA. Pendleton died at the age of 72 on Oct 12, 1967 in San Diego, CA and was laid to rest in Cypress View Mausoleum and Crematory Cemetery in San Diego, CA.

MINI BIO:

Playing dumb, made Nat Pendleton one of the most popular American supporting actors of the 1930s. Tall, dark and handsome in a faintly bemused-looking way, Pendleton, brother of actor Gaylord Pendleton, was in reality an Olympic wrestling champion and all-around smart guy with a college degree. In films, however, he was soon playing dim hoodlums and other characters with more brawn than brain to whom the truth dawned but slowly. When demands for his services declined in the post-war period, he slipped away from show business into early retirement. He died from a heart attack.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Illustrated Dictionary of Film Character Actors).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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BlogHub Articles:

'What A Character!' blogathon:

By carole_and_co on Dec 16, 2017 From Carole & Co.

Early last month, I announced plans to participate in this year's "What A Character!" blogathon, designed to honor the foot soldiers of film (and TV) acting -- the supporting players who helped make Carole Lombard and other stars shine. I did so several years ago, honoring Walter Connolly (http://ca... Read full article


Know Your Character Actor –

By smumcountry on May 21, 2016 From Smum County

May 21, 2016 by smumcounty Nathaniel Greene Pendleton was born on August 9th, 1895 in Davenport Iowa but his family soon after moved to New York where Nat was enrolled at the Brooklyn Poly Prep High School. At six feet tall, he quickly demonstrated his physical prowess there by becoming a star of th... Read full article


The affable brute:

on Nov 10, 2013 From Comet Over Hollywood

in 1935. Whether he?s an affable lug or a dangerous mobster, the face of the dark-haired 6 foot character actor is one film fans recognized in the 1930s and 1940s. Character actor acted in uncredited roles and in the supporting cast from 1926 to 1947. But before Pendleton... Read full article


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Nat Pendleton Quotes:

Shiner Ward: Listen, if you're so hard up, try talkin' to yourself.
Joe Skopapoulos: I did, but I couldn't get no answers.


Bill Raymond: There were screams inside! You gotta admit that it's in the longitude of my profession to make with an investigatory reaction there to- What am I saying?


Sadie Horn: Say, mister! Who in the name o' Jerusalem air ye, anyway?
Joe Skopapoulos: Joe Skopapoulos.
Sadie Horn: Huh?
Joe Skopapoulos: Skopapoulos! Skopapoulos!
Sadie Horn: Wut air ye? Eyetalian?
Joe Skopapoulos: Naw, I'm of Greek accent.


read more quotes from Nat Pendleton...



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Nat Pendleton Facts
Wrestled for the United States at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium, earning a silver medal, and lost only one match due to a controversial point-decision. After the Games he became a professional wrestler and was a big fan favorite, which led to Hollywood.

On the 1920 census he was living in Manhattan with his Puerto Rican first wife Juanita Alfonzo (age 22) and her brother Ramon Alfonso (age 13). He was working as a sports manager.

He was usually cast as a circus strongman, brutish thug, dump cop or dense buffoon, but he had a college degree and in 1933 wrote the script for Deception (1933), in which he starred--unsurprisingly--as a wrestler.

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