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Monte Hale
Monte Hale (born Samuel Buren Ely) was an American B-Western film star and country musician. Sometimes reported to have been born in San Angelo, Texas, he was actually born in Ada, Oklahoma but grew up in Shawnee, Oklahoma, attending Washington Grade School and Shawnee High School. (Texas birthplace reportedly sounded better for the movies). After working as a laborer at various jobs in Ada and Enid OK Herod Ely settled in Shawnee and became an evangelist with the Church of God. His oldest son, Buren, was known to use his musical talent during his father's services. The boy had gathered pecans and picked cotton to earn money to buy his first guitar. Soon he was singing and playing the guitar wherever he could find an audience. His parents had divorced and both had remarried with youngest brother Bobby going with his mother. In 1934, 16-year-old Buren left home as many boys did during the Depressions. He headed for Houston and found work playing his music. From there he went to Albuquerque working on a radio station. A man there convinced him to head to California but all he was able to do there was scratch together a small band and play at a winter resort dude ranch. After four years he returned to with the Texas Vaudeville and local rodeo shows. During World War II he got a job as a replacement guitarist with the Stars Over Texas Bond Drive joining several Republic Pictures celebrities and staff. This introduced him to western stars like Chill Wills and convinced Phil Isley to recommended him to Herbert Yates, head of Republic Pictures. Yates agreed to "test" him but he must fund his own trip. Some friends gave him $200 and he flew to Los Angeles.
It was 1944 and he signed with the company for seven years and changed his name from Buren Ely to "Monte Hale". He soon starred in his first major role in Home on the Range. He appeared in some of the first westerns filmed in color and was given use of Roy Rogers' musical sidekicks, the "Sons of the Pioneers" for one of his movies. He was often cast as a young cowboy with cameos by Don Barry, Allen Lane and Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Hale then played more traditional Western heroes in films set in the late 19th century. By 1947 the formula was set with Paul Hurst joining the series as Hale's sidekick and Riders of the Purple Sage providing the music. At this point he ceased playing the character named for himself.
Hale was also a recording star and appeared in a series of Western comics published by Fawcett Comics. Beginning in 1948 Hale had his own title with more than 50 issues. In fact, his comic book stardom lasted longer than his film stardom. Republic began cutting back on the Western genre moving to television. He finished his Republic contract with an appearance in the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans movies Trail of Robin Hood with fellow Republic stars Rex Allen and Rocky Lane.
Hale made many public appearances at rodeos and other Western shows. He played a villain role in the 1954's Yukon Vengeance. His last movie appearance was in Giant in 1956, where part of his job was to teach James Dean to use a lariat. He appeared in a few television roles and movies up until 1966. On November 12, 2004, for his work in movies, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was also instrumental in the foundation of what is now the Autry National Center of the American West.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 1.508 |
Birthday | 1919-06-08 |
Place of Birth | Ada, Oklahoma, USA |
Also Known As |
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1956
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Giant
7.6/700
Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict and dirt-poor cowboy Jett Rink both woo Leslie Lynnton, a beautiful young woman from Maryland who is new to Texas. She m...
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Giant
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1945
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Bandits of the Badlands
3.5/3
Sunset Carson is a wandering cavalier who rides into the Badlands. Hallie Wayne is bedeviled by bandits who've been raiding the livestock of her ranch...
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Bandits of the Badlands
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1949
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Ranger of Cherokee Strip
0/0
Having been framed for murder, the half-breed Joe Bearclaws (Douglas Kennedy) escapes from jail and Ranger Steve Howard (Monte Hale) goes after him. H...
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Ranger of Cherokee Strip
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1946
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Out California Way
6/1
Newcomer Monte Hale is tying to just get a job in western films when he meet young Danny McCoy and his sister Gloria. Danny is trying to get his horse...
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Out California Way
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1945
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The Purple Monster Strikes
3.8/3
A Martian invader crashes his spaceship conveniently close to the workshop of a scientist who is developing an interplanetary craft. If the extraterr...
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The Purple Monster Strikes
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1976
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Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
9/1
A Western-genre narrative, loosely woven from old clips from B-Western features.
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Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
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1950
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Trail of Robin Hood
5.2/4
Retired actor Jack Holt is raising Christmas trees for sale at a cost which permits every family to have one. A commercial tree company tries to drive...
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Trail of Robin Hood
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1946
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The Phantom Rider
6/1
A new town doctor arrives at the same time as local Indians needprotection from troublemaking looters.
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The Phantom Rider
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1949
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Prince of the Plains
0/0
Banker Ned Owens refuses to call in the many unpaid loans made to the local ranchers as he knows they are being terrorized by a gang of crooks and una...
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Prince of the Plains
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1949
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Pioneer Marshal
0/0
Monte Hale is cast as Ted Post, a Texas marshal who's on the trail of embezzler Larry Forester (Myron Healey). His search takes him to a remote fronti...
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Pioneer Marshal

1944

The Big Bonanza
5.5/2
Having been falsely court marshaled for cowardice and sentenced to prison by the Army, Jed Kilton escapes and heads to Nevada Springs to see his kid b...
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The Big Bonanza
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1946
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Home on the Range
0/0
Two brothers settle a wilderness, one builds the largest cattle ranch in the state while the other creates a game preserve to protect the wild life. T...
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Home on the Range
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1946
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Man from Rainbow Valley
0/0
When unscrupulous rodeo promoter Colonel Winthrop gets the idea of capturing "Outlaw" and making him a show horse, his niece Kay North tricks Monte in...
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Man from Rainbow Valley

1966
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The Chase
7.1/290
The escape of Bubber Reeves from prison affects the inhabitants of a small Southern town.
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The Chase
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1949
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San Antone Ambush
4/1
Just after the Civil War a Texan and his men are fighting a ruthless Commissioner and his excessive taxes. After a Lieutenant is falsely accused of a...
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San Antone Ambush
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1948
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The Timber Trail
0/0
Monte Hale is a stagecoach driver for Jed Baker's stage-line. Jed believes his brother, Ralph, is behind the many hold-ups of his stagecoaches but has...
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The Timber Trail

1949
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South of Rio
0/0
The town of Rio Blanco is the center of a fight over the statehood issue and is a perfect setup for Lon Bryson and Chuck Bowers, who organize a couple...
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South of Rio

1948
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Son of God’s Country
0/0
Bill Sanger has his men out raiding and killing to obtain the ranches along the route that he knows the new railroad will use. He then kills the edito...
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Son of God’s Country

1948
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California Firebrand
3/1
Directed by Philip Ford in 1948. When cowboy Monte Hale (Monte Hale) returns home to investigate his uncle's murder, he's mistaken for a fierce outlaw...
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California Firebrand

1950
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The Missourians
6/1
In the little town of Dorado, widely known as a town with no crime and no bank to rob, young Polish-born Steve Kovacs is fighting a two-edged sword of...
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The Missourians

1950
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The Old Frontier
0/0
Monte Hale is cast as town marshal Barney Regan. It is Barney's formidable task to round up a gang of bank robbers and expose the "Mr. Big" behind all...
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The Old Frontier

1946

California Gold Rush
6/1
California Gold Rush is set in 1849. Ryder heads to Sutter's Mill, where he must contend with claim-jumping and treachery.
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California Gold Rush

1945
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Colorado Pioneers
0/0
An interesting entry in Republic Pictures' long-running "Red Ryder" B-Western series, this film is not about hardy settlers braving the Colorado winte...
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Colorado Pioneers

1946
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Sun Valley Cyclone
5/1
In this western, Red Ryder rounds up a gang of horse thieves who have been stealing cavalry horses.
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Sun Valley Cyclone

1945

Rough Riders of Cheyenne
0/0
Sunset returns to find the Carson-Sterling feud still going. Sterling has been killed and it's not long before Andrew Carson is murdered. To end the f...
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Rough Riders of Cheyenne

1947
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Along the Oregon Trail
0/0
The period is the 1840's and Greg Thurston is out to establish his own empire out of a large area of the west. He needs rifles to give to the Indians...
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Along the Oregon Trail
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1947
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Last Frontier Uprising
0/0
Singing cowboy Monte Hale plays "himself" in the Republic western Last Frontier Uprising. Actually, he's not really himself, but a federal agent, disp...
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Last Frontier Uprising

1947
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Under Colorado Skies
0/0
Monte Hale has been working as a teller in a Texas bank during the summer to earn money for his medical college expenses during the upcoming year. He...
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Under Colorado Skies
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1950
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The Vanishing Westerner
2/1
Posing as wanted men, Chris and Waldorf get hired by Sanderson. He sends them to kill the Sheriff but puts blanks in their guns. When they arrive some...
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The Vanishing Westerner

1949

Law of the Golden West
6/1
Young Buffalo Bill Cody goes after the murderer of his father and uncovers a land-grab conspiracy.
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Law of the Golden West

1949
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Outcasts of the Trail
0/0
Legendary lawman Pat Garrett wins the Fourth of July buckboard race in a small Nevada town against the unscrupulous Fred Smith and pretty Lavinia Whit...
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Outcasts of the Trail
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1954
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Yukon Vengeance
1/1
In this north-western set in the Yukon, a Mountie must investigate the violent deaths of three mail carriers.
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Yukon Vengeance

1996
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Return to 'Giant'
6.1/4
In the summer of 1955, an army of cameramen, lighting techs and movie stars descended on the small, west Texas town of Marfa to film what has become,...
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Return to 'Giant'

1976
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It's Showtime
7/1
A collection of film clips profiling animal actors.
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