Max Wagner
Acting
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.
Young Frankenstein
Villager (uncredited)
Terror in the Wax Museum
Music Hall Drunk (Uncredited)
Evil Roy Slade
Townsman (uncredited)
Support Your Local Gunfighter
Townsman Watching Fight (uncredited)
The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again
Barfly (uncredited)
True Grit
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
The Legend of Lylah Clare
Reporter (uncredited)
Rosemary's Baby
Man in Dream Sequence (uncredited)
Hang 'em High
Prisoner
Return of the Gunfighter
Barfly (uncredited)
A Big Hand for the Little Lady
Cashier (uncredited)
Gunpoint
The Great Race
Barfly (uncredited)
Shenandoah
Church Member
4 for Texas
Blackjack Dealer
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Spectator (uncredited)
To Kill a Mockingbird
Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Pressure Point
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Townsman (uncredited)
Sunrise at Campobello
Convention Delegate (uncredited)
Ice Palace
Party Guest (uncredited)
Public Pigeon No. 1
Police Detective (uncredited)
The Spirit of St. Louis
Reporter (uncredited)
Robbery Under Arms
Sergeant Goring
The Conqueror
Mongul Guard (uncredited)
I Died a Thousand Times
Deputy Charlie (uncredited)
Illegal
Bartender (uncredited)
East of Eden
Workman (uncredited)
The Country Girl
Expressman (uncredited)
The Great Diamond Robbery
Policeman (uncredited)
Donovan's Brain
Station Agent (uncredited)
Invaders from Mars
Army Sgt. Rinaldi
Flaming Feather
The Racket
Durko (uncredited)
The Secret of Convict Lake
Jack Purcell (uncredited)
Pier 23
Bar Patron (uncredited)
Frenchie
Drunk (uncredited)
Reign of Terror
Citizen (uncredited)
It Happens Every Spring
Umpire (uncredited)
The Red Pony
Bartender
Caught
Projectionist (uncredited)
Flaxy Martin
Charles McMahon
Shed No Tears
Second Investigating Detective (Uncredited)
The Sainted Sisters
Townsman (uncredited)
The Miracle of the Bells
Baggage Man
Half Past Midnight
Mike
Tycoon
Possessed
Man in Café (uncredited)
Sinbad the Sailor
Assistant Overseer (uncredited)
That Brennan Girl
Moving Man (uncredited)
It's a Wonderful Life
Cashier / Nick's Assistant Bouncer (uncredited)
Dick Tracy vs. Cueball
Bartender (uncredited)
The Truth About Murder
Henchman Mike (uncredited)
The Lost Weekend
Mike (uncredited)
Fallen Angel
Bartender (uncredited)
Radio Stars on Parade
George
Circumstantial Evidence
Truck Driver
A Medal for Benny
Jake (uncredited)
Hi, Beautiful
Sailor (uncredited)
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Military Police Driver (uncredited)
Boss of Boomtown
Sergeant George Dunne
Undercover: How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines
Rudy the Sailor
A Night to Remember
Policeman Temple (uncredited)
Panama Hattie
Jailer (uncredited)
Overland to Deadwood
Buck
Mexican Spitfire's Elephant
Villa Luigi Headwaiter
The Palm Beach Story
Tom's Best Man (uncredited)
Sabotage Squad
Recruiting Sergeant
The Talk of the Town
Moving Man (uncredited)
Matri-Phony
Guard (uncredited)
The Spoilers
Deputy (uncredited)
Come on Danger
Tough Guy
Moontide
Fisherman (uncredited)
The Wife Takes a Flyer
Sergeant
Obliging Young Lady
Jack - Diner Counterman (uncredited)
The Mexican Spitfire's Baby
Bartender
Texas
Fats Delaney
Cyclone on Horseback
Jamison
Ride on Vaquero
Partner
The Mad Doctor
Cab Driver (Uncredited)
Trail of the Vigilantes
Joe
The Bank Dick
Shirtless Ditchdigger (uncredited)
Hired Wife
Streetcar Conductor
Men Against the Sky
Max - Radioman
Rhythm on the River
Cherry's Cabbie
Wildcat Bus
Bus Driver Jackson (uncredited)
Lucky Partners
Waiter (uncredited)
They Drive by Night
Sweeney, Driver (uncredited)
Pop Always Pays
Bill - Policeman in Car 43
The Ghost Breakers
Ship Porter (uncredited)
Buck Benny Rides Again
Cowboy
You Can't Fool Your Wife
Burglar
The Grapes of Wrath
Guard (uncredited)
Millionaire Playboy
Highway Patrol Officer
Charlie Chan in Panama
Soldier
The House Across the Bay
Jim
Mexican Spitfire
Headwaiter - Mexican Pete's
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
Truck Driver
Reno
Police Lt. Joe Wilson
The Roaring Twenties
Gangster (uncredited)
Fifth Avenue Girl
Policeman (uncredited)
The Day the Bookies Wept
Bet Placing Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Our Leading Citizen
Workman
The Gracie Allen Murder Case
Thug
The Girl from Mexico
Headwaiter
The Return of the Cisco Kid
Brings in Rustler
Mr. Moto in Danger Island
Sailor at Wrestling Match
Money to Loan
Hanley's Strong-Arm Man
I'll Tell the World
Salesman
Cafe Society
Guest
Fast and Loose
Nolan's Henchman (uncredited)
Wings of the Navy
Boss Mechanic
Off the Record
Visitor (uncredited)
Scouts to the Rescue
Joe - Truck Driver-Henchman
Submarine Patrol
Marine Corporal (uncredited)
Little Tough Guys in Society
Guest
Tarnished Angel
Tough Casino Decoy
The Arkansas Traveler
Hobo
Painted Desert
Henchman Kincaid
Professor Beware
Chinatown Barker
Cocoanut Grove
Brakeman
Maid's Night Out
Sam Johnson - Milk Man (uncredited)
Penrod and His Twin Brother
Blackie
Born to Be Wild
Jake - Trucker in Cafe (uncredited)
Many Unhappy Returns
Ernie - Counter Girl's Boyfriend
Alcatraz Island
Party Guest (uncredited)
Stage Door
Baggage Man (uncredited)
Step Lively, Jeeves!
Joey
Border Cafe
Shakey
San Quentin
Prison Runner
Wings Over Honolulu
Marine
The Great O'Malley
School Bus Driver (uncredited)
Black Legion
Truck Driver in Diner (uncredited)
You Only Live Once
Dan - Corridor Guard (uncredited)
God's Country and the Woman
Gus
We Who Are About to Die
Cell Block E Convict (uncredited)
Smart Blonde
Chuck Cannon
Night Waitress
Diner Trying to Date Helen
The Big Game
Man Outside Hotel
The Girl on the Front Page
Fireman
Walking on Air
Sam, Second Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)
Love Begins at Twenty
Lester - O'Bannion's Driver
Bullets or Ballots
Actor Impersonating Kruger in Newsreel (uncredited)
Dancing Pirate
Pirate (uncredited)
Sons o' Guns
Soldier
The Crime Patrol
Bennie
The Girl from Mandalay
Drunken Brawler
Two in Revolt
Davis
The House of a Thousand Candles
Henchman
Love on a Bet
Reporter
Chatterbox
Himself (uncredited)
Paddy O'Day
Milkman's Helper on Dock
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
Pug O'Leary
The Fighting Marines
Gibson
Mary Burns, Fugitive
Sailor
3 Kids and a Queen
Reporter
Dr. Socrates
Gangster
Charlie Chan in Shanghai
Taxi Driver Henchman
The Daring Young Man
Reporter
The Miracle Rider
Morley
The Oil Raider
Simmons
Gridiron Flash
Convict Football Player
She Had to Choose
Hold-Up Man
Name the Woman
Reporter
Blind Date
Evans - Bob's Chauffeur
The Lost Jungle
Slade
The Personality Kid
Max
Hell Bent for Love
Ernest Dallas
The Lost Jungle
Slade
Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen
Grip
Before Dawn
Policeman in Car (uncredited)
Arizona to Broadway
Pete
Rockabye
Reporter (uncredited)
Renegades of the West
Bob
The World and the Flesh
Vorobiov
Cock of the Air
Military Policeman
Suicide Fleet
Radio Operator (uncredited)
The Good Bad Girl
Thug
Going Wild
Ferguson - Pilot
The Last of the Vargas
Numbered Men
Convict Road Laborer (extra)
The Thrill Seekers
A Hood
The First Auto
Bartender
Flashing Oars
Student
The Relay
Sophomore
Making Good
Student