tedstrong.com

I guess I first saw Warren Oates in 1941 or Stripes. I must have been about 11 or 12. Those movies just helped to put him in my memory chips. I wasn't like "Oh, my God, Sergeant Hulka rules!" Then I probably saw Blue Thunder next. A couple years later. But Warren was dead by then. In fact, his last two films, Tough Enough and Blue Thunder were dedicated to his memory. And then, In the Heat of the Night. But all this time I didn't really know who he was, or pay attention to him at all.

Then I saw the Peckinpah films Ride the High Country and The Wild Bunch. Oates was in both those, and great. Then I saw him in The Thief Who Came to Dinner, an entertaining caper-comedy with Warren as an investigator trying to catch up Ryan O'Neal. It's not great, but it's fun, with a neat final scene between those two actors and it helps to show Oates' versatility.

I eventually saw Warren in the other two Peckinpah films he made, the disastrous and butchered Major Dundee and the insanely brilliant Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. In Garcia, he plays a ne'er do well piano player in Mex, trying to make some extra dollars by locating the already dead "Al," cutting off his head and bringing it in as proof to someone. It's frightening, and funny, the best of Oates and Peckinpah.

Alfredo GarciaHe was born July 5, 1928, in Depoy, Kentucky, a very small town, and attended high school in Louisville. He went on to the University of Kentucky and military service with the U.S. Marines.

In college he became interested in the theatre and in 1954 headed for New York to make his mark as an actor. However, his first real job in television was, as it had been for James Dean before him, testing the contest gags on the game show 'Beat the Clock." He did numerous menial jobs while auditioning, including serving as the hat-check man at the nightclub "21."

By 1957 he had begun appearing in live dramas such as "Studio One," but Oates' rural drawl seemed more fitted for the filmed Westerns that were proliferating at the time, so he moved to Hollywood and immediately began working steadily as an increasingly prominent supporting player, often as either craven or vicious types.

With his role as one of the Hammond brothers in the Sam Peckinpah masterpiece Ride the High Country (1962), Oates found a niche both as an actor and as a colleague of one of the most distinguished and distinctive directors of the period. Peckinpah used Oates repeatedly, and Oates, in large part due to the prominence given him by Peckinpah, became one of those rare character actors whose name and face is as familiar as those of many leading stars.

He began to play roles which, while still character parts, were also leads, especially for Monte Hellman in cult hits like The Shooting (1967), Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), Cockfighter (1974) and China 9, Liberty 37 (1978). Although never destined to be a traditional leading man, Oates remained one of Hollywood's most valued character players up until his sudden death from a heart attack on April 3, 1982, in Los Angeles, at the age of 53.

"Got to give props to Anchor Bay for finally releasing Two Lane Blacktop (on both DVD and VHS), I don't think that film was available since its original release date...  Great transfer with a sweet commentary by Hellman.  Good stuff." -- Kyle.

"Totally agree. Anchor Bay is a cool outfit that puts out a lot of stuff that was previously hard/impossible to find." -- Ted.

* NEW ARTICLE from The Oxford American: "An Ode to Warren Oates" by Jack Pendarvis.

Cockfighter DVD

Oates on TV

Oates on TV: http://www.tv-now.com/stars/waroates.html "Got to give props to Anchor Bay for finally releasing Two Lane Blacktop (on both DVD and VHS), I don't think that film was available since its original release date... Great transfer with a sweet commentary by Hellman. Good stuff." -- Kyle. Totally agree. Anchor Bay is a cool outfit that puts out a lot of stuff that was previously hard/impossible to find.

Newish: An article lent to us by Nic Dafis, an interview with Monte Hellman from Sight and Sound in 1971.

Brand New! A 1963 TV Guide article on Warren Oates as Ves Painter on the TV show Stoney Burke:

And a minor bit on Oates in the Kristy MacNichol-Oates telefilm My Old Man from TV Guide.

New! Warren Oates: Living on the Edge from Razor Magazine 2004!

Pictures/Photos/Pix/Gallery of Oates!

1998 Article on Oates from The Kentucky Explorer!

Melissa Holbrook Pierson's Essay on Oates!

Richard Luck's Essay on Oates, The Brown Dirt Cowboy!

David Thomson's Essay on Warren Oates.

Salon.com's Michael Sragow on Oates.

Great Interview with Oates.

Vincent Canby on Oates, Hellman and Two-Lane Blacktop.

An interview with frequent Oates director, and pal, Monte Hellman.

From Charles Willeford, who wrote the Oates/Hellman picture Cockfighter: "Warren Oates died, at the age of 53, from a heart attack, and this affected me deeply for several weeks, as it always does when someone you admire, who is also younger than you, dies suddenly. I have survived three heart attacks, and part of my depression was caused by the recognition of my own mortality. Warren smoked, of course, and so do I. Most people with heart trouble smoke, as a way to defy the odds, but Warren did several movies after Cockfighter, both bad and good, and he could have worked as a character actor forever." For more on Oates, Hellman, Willeford and Cockfighter visit the Willeford site.

Information on Dillinger.

Richard Linklater gives 16 reasons to love the classic Two-Lane Blacktop.

Trivia:

  • Subject of the song by "Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes", title "Warren Oates", from their album "You Wanna Be There But You Don't Wanna Travel" phonogram 1994.
  • Sang in the backup chorus for "Rocket to Stardom," on Kris Kristofferson's 1975 album "Who's to Bless... Who's to Blame."
  • "His most successful films are probably those in which the morality is as cockeyed as his grin." -- British critic Neil Sinyard.

Films

1980s
Tough Enough (1983) .... James Neece
Blue Thunder (1983) .... Capt. Jack Braddock
The Border (1982) .... Red
Stripes (1981) .... Sergeant Hulka

1970s
1941 (1979) .... Colonel "Madman" Maddox
The Brink's Job (1978) .... Specs O'Keefe
China 9, Liberty 37 (1978) .... Matthew Severnack
American Raspberry (1977) .... Celebrity Sportsman
Sleeping Dogs (1977) .... Willoughby
Drum (1976) .... Hammond Maxwell
Dixie Dynamite (1976) .... Mack
92 in the Shade (1975) .... Dance
Rancho Deluxe (1975) (uncredited) .... Harmonica Player in Bar
Race with the Devil (1975) .... Frank Stewart
Cockfighter/Born to Kill (1974) .... Frank Mansfield
The White Dawn (1974) .... Billy
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) .... Bennie
Badlands (1973) .... Mr. Sargis
Dillinger (1973) .... John Dillinger
Kid Blue (1973) .... Reese Ford
Tom Sawyer (1973) .... Muff Potter
The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973) .... Dave
Chandler (1972) .... Chandler
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) .... G.T.O
The Hired Hand (1971) .... Arch Harris
Barquero (1970) .... Jake Remy
There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) .... Floyd Moon

1960s
Lanton Mills (1969) (12-minute Terrence Malick short film, co-starring Harry Dean Stanton)
Crooks and Coronets (1969) .... Marty Miller
The Wild Bunch (1969) .... Lyle Gorch
Smith! (1969) .... Walter Charlie
The Split (1968) .... Marty Gough
The Shooting (1967) .... Williett & Coin Gashade
Welcome to Hard Times (1967) .... Jenks
In the Heat of the Night (1967) .... Deputy Sam Wood
Return of the Seven (1966) .... Colbee
Shenandoah (1965) (uncredited) .... Billy Packer
Major Dundee (1965) .... O.W. Hadley
The Rounders (1965) (uncredited) .... Harley Williams
Mail Order Bride (1964) .... Jace
Hero's Island (1962) .... Wayte Giddens
Ride the High Country (1962) .... Henry Hammond
Private Property (1960) .... Boots
The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960) .... Eddie Diamond

1950s
Yellowstone Kelly (1959) .... Corporal
Up Periscope (1959) (uncredited) .... Kovacs

Series TV/TV Movies/TV Mini-series/Notable TV Guest Appearances

  1. "Tales of the Unexpected" (1979) as "Harry" in: "Nothin' Short of Highway Robbery" ( # 8.3) 21 July 1985
  2. "The Blue and the Gray" (1982) (mini) TV Series .... Preacher/Maj. Welles
  3. "East of Eden" (1981) (mini) TV Series .... Cyrus Trask
  4. Baby Comes Home (1980) (TV) .... Michael Kramer
  5. My Old Man (1979) (TV) .... Frank Butler
  6. And Baby Makes Six (1979) (TV) .... Michael Kramer
  7. True Grit (1978) (TV) .... Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn
  8. "Black Beauty" (1978) (mini) TV Series .... Jerry Barker
  9. "Police Story" (1973) as "Richey Neptune" in: "Day of Terror, Night of Fear" ( # 5.4) 4 Mar 1978
  10. The African Queen (1977) (TV) .... Capt. Charlie Allnut
  11. "The Name of the Game" (1968) as "Lew Weatherford/John" in: "The Showdown" ( # 3.24) 19 Mar 1971
  12. The Reluctant Heroes (1971) (TV) .... Cpl. Leroy Sprague
  13. "The F.B.I." (1965) as "Richie Billings" in: "Turnabout" ( # 6.24) 7 Mar 1971
  14. The Movie Murderer (1970) (TV) .... Alfred Fisher
  15. "Lancer" (1968) as "Drago" in: "The Buscaderos" ( # 2.21) 17 Mar 1970
  16. "Lancer" (1968) as "Sheriff Val Crawford" in: "The Man Without a Gun" ( # 1.23) 25 Mar 1969
  17. Something for a Lonely Man (1968) (TV) .... Angus Duren
  18. The Mystery of Edward Sims (1968) (TV) .... John Blythe
  19. "Disneyland" (1954) as "John Blythe" in: "The Mystery of Edward Sims: Part 2" 7 Apr 1968
  20. "Disneyland" (1954) as "John Blythe" in: "The Mystery of Edward Sims: Part 1" 31 Mar 1968
  21. "Run for Your Life" (1965) as "Deputy Potter" in: "One Bad Turn" ( # 3.17) 10 Jan 1968
  22. "Cimarron Strip" (1967) as "Mobeetie" in: "Nobody" ( # 1.12) 7 Dec 1967
  23. "The Iron Horse" (1966) as "Hode Avery" in: "The Return of Hode Avery" ( # 2.8) 4 Nov 1967
  24. "Cimarron Strip" (1967) as "Mobeetie" in: "The Battleground" ( # 1.4) 28 Sep 1967
  25. "Gunsmoke" (1955) as "Tate Crocker" in: "The Wreckers" ( # 13.1) 11 Sep 1967
  26. "Dundee and the Culhane" (1967) in: "The Turn the Other Cheek Brief" ( # 1.1) 6 Sep 1967
  27. "The Big Valley" (1965) as "Duke" in: "The Great Safe Robbery" ( # 2.10) 21 Nov 1966
  28. "Gunsmoke" (1955) as "Lafe" in: "The Mission" ( # 12.4) 8 Oct 1966
  29. "Shane" (1966) as "Kemp Spicer" in: "An Echo of Anger" ( # 1.4) 1 Oct 1966
  30. "The Monroes" (1966) as "Nick Beresford" in: "The Forest Devil" ( # 1.4) 28 Sep 1966
  31. "The Virginian" (1962) as "Buxton" in: "Ride to Delphi" ( # 5.2) 21 Sep 1966
  32. "The Virginian" (1962) as "Bowers" in: "One Spring Like Long Ago" ( # 4.24) 2 Mar 1966
  33. "The Big Valley" (1965) as "Korbie Kyles" in: "The Murdered Party" ( # 1.10) 17 Nov 1965
  34. "Lost in Space" (1965) as "Jimmy Hapgood" in: "Welcome Stranger" ( # 1.6) 20 Oct 1965
  35. "Rawhide" (1959) as "Jesse Gufler" in: "Hostage for Hanging" ( # 8.6) 19 Oct 1965
  36. "Twelve O'Clock High" (1964) as "Lt. Col. Jerry Troper" in: "The Hot Shot" ( # 2.6) 18 Oct 1965
  37. "Slattery's People" (1964) as "Stu Burns" in: "Rally Round Your Own Flag, Mister" ( # 2.5) 15 Oct 1965
  38. "Gunsmoke" (1955) as "Al Tresh" in: "Ten Little Indians" ( # 11.4) 9 Oct 1965
  39. "A Man Called Shenandoah" (1965) as "Sergeant Ryder" in: "The Fort" ( # 1.3) 27 Sep 1965
  40. "Branded" (1965) as "Perce/Frank Clampett" in: "Judge Not" ( # 2.1) 12 Sep 1965
  41. "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre" (1963) as "Joe Grover" in: "The War and Eric Kurtz" ( # 2.17) 5 Mar 1965
  42. "The Virginian" (1962) as "Roy Judd" in: "A Slight Case of Charity" ( # 3.21) 10 Feb 1965
  43. "Gunsmoke" (1955) as "Speeler" in: "Circus Trick" ( # 10.20) 6 Feb 1965
  44. "Slattery's People" (1964) as "Eugene Henson" in: "Question: What's a Requiem for a Loser?" ( # 1.14) 8 Jan 1965
  45. "The Fugitive" (1963) as "Hanes McClure" in: "Devil's Carnival" ( # 2.14) 22 Dec 1964
  46. "Rawhide" (1959) as "Weed" in: "The Race" ( # 7.1) 25 Sep 1964
  47. "The Outer Limits" (1963) as "Reese Fowler" in: "The Mutant" ( # 1.25) 16 Mar 1964
  48. "Gunsmoke" (1955) as "Deke Bassop" in: "The Bassops" ( # 9.21) 22 Feb 1964
  49. "The Fugitive" (1963) as "Herbie" in: "Rat in a Corner" ( # 1.21) 18 Feb 1964
  50. "Combat!" (1962) as "Stark" in: "The Pillbox" ( # 2.17) 7 Jan 1964
  51. "The Twilight Zone" (1959) as "Cpl. Langsford" in: "The 7th Is Made up of Phantoms" ( # 5.10) 6 Dec 1963
  52. "The Virginian" (1962) as "Corbie" in: "Stopover in a Western Town" ( # 2.10) 27 Nov 1963
  53. "Rawhide" (1959) as "Rabbit Waters" in: "Incident of the Prophecy" ( # 6.9) 21 Nov 1963
  54. "The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters" (1963) as "Eldon Bishop" in: "The Day of the First Suitor" ( # 1.3) 29 Sep 1963
  55. "Stoney Burke" (1962) TV Series .... Vesper Painter
  56. "77 Sunset Strip" (1958/I) as "Orville" in: "Terror in a Small Town" ( # 5.3) 26 Oct 1962
  57. "The Untouchables" (1959) as "Artie 'The Firecracker' Krebs" in: "Pressure" ( # 3.26) 14 June 1962
  58. "Bonanza" (1959) as "Paul Magruder" in: "The Mountain Girl" ( # 3.33) 13 May 1962
  59. "Target: The Corruptors" (1961) as "Billy Joe" in: "Journey Into Mourning" ( # 1.27) 13 Apr 1962
  60. "The Rifleman" (1958) in: "Day of Reckoning" ( # 4.28) 9 Apr 1962
  61. "Thriller" (1960) as "Hugo Wheeler" in: "The Hollow Watcher" ( # 2.20) 12 Feb 1962
  62. "Gunsmoke" (1955) as "Chris Kelly" in: "The Do-Badder" ( # 7.15) 6 Jan 1962
  63. "Gunsmoke" (1955) as "Sweet Billy Cathcart" in: "Marry Me" ( # 7.13) 23 Dec 1961
  64. "The Lawless Years" (1959) in: "Artie Moon" ( # 3.16) 25 Aug 1961
  65. "Stagecoach West" (1960) as "Tom Lochlin" in: "The Renegades" ( # 1.37) 20 June 1961
  66. "Bat Masterson" (1958) as "Cat Crail" in: "Meeting at Mimbers" ( # 3.27) 13 Apr 1961
  67. "Laramie" (1959) as "Pete" in: "Two for the Gallows" ( # 2.24) 11 Apr 1961
  68. "The Case of the Dangerous Robin" (1960) in: "Baubles and Bullets" ( # 1.19) 20 Feb 1961
  69. "Gunsmoke" (1955) as "Jep Scooper" in: "Love Thy Neighbor" ( # 6.20) 28 Jan 1961
  70. "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958) as "Clem Robinson" in: "The Last Retreat" ( # 3.16) 11 Jan 1961
  71. "Stagecoach West" (1960) as "Billy Goe" in: "Object: Patrimony" ( # 1.13) 3 Jan 1961
  72. "Thriller" (1960) as "Benny aka Retard" in: "Knock Three-One-Two" ( # 1.13) 13 Dec 1960
  73. "Hawaiian Eye" (1959) as "Al" in: "The Contenders" ( # 2.12) 30 Nov 1960
  74. "Lawman" (1958) in: "The Second Son" ( # 3.11) 27 Nov 1960
  75. "The Rifleman" (1958) as "Marty Ryan" in: "Miss Millie" ( # 3.8) 15 Nov 1960
  76. "Have Gun - Will Travel" (1957) as "Harrison" in: "The Poker Fiend" ( # 4.9) 12 Nov 1960
  77. "The Westerner" (1960) as "Drunk" in: "Jeff" ( # 1.1) 30 Sep 1960
  78. "Outlaws" (1960) as "Billy Hooton" in: "Thirty a Month" ( # 1.1) 29 Sep 1960
  79. "Gunsmoke" (1955) as "Seth Pickett" in: "Small Water" ( # 6.3) 24 Sep 1960
  80. "Wrangler" (1960) as "Shep Martin" in: "Affair at the Trading Post" ( # 1.3) 18 Aug 1960
  81. "Tate" (1960) in: "Before Sunup" ( # 1.8) 17 Aug 1960
  82. "Johnny Ringo" (1959) as "Burt Scanlon" in: "Single Debt" ( # 1.31) 12 May 1960
  83. "The Rifleman" (1958) in: "The Prodigal" ( # 2.31) 26 Apr 1960
  84. "Rawhide" (1959) as "Marco" in: "Incident of the Dancing Death" ( # 2.23) 8 Apr 1960
  85. "77 Sunset Strip" (1958/I) as "Dink Strahman" in: "Blackout" ( # 2.23) 11 Mar 1960
  86. "Bronco" (1958) as "Private Hurd Maple" in: "Every Man a Hero" ( # 2.12) 23 Feb 1960
  87. "The Twilight Zone" (1959) as "Driver" in: "The Purple Testament" ( # 1.19) 12 Feb 1960
  88. "Tombstone Territory" (1957) as "Vic Reel" in: "The Target" ( # 3.17) 29 Jan 1960
  89. "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958) as "George Aswell" in: "Angela" ( # 2.18) 9 Jan 1960
  90. "The Rebel" (1959) as "Troy Armbruster" in: "School Days" ( # 1.7) 15 Nov 1959
  91. "Wagon Train" (1957) as "Silas Carpenter" in: "The Martha Barham Story" ( # 3.6) 4 Nov 1959
  92. "The Rifleman" (1958) as "Jud Malackie" in: "Bloodlines" ( # 2.2) 6 Oct 1959
  93. "Trackdown" (1957) as "Norvil" in: "Back to Crawford" ( # 2.36) 9 Sep 1959
  94. "Bat Masterson" (1958) as "Sonny Parsons" in: "Lottery of Death" ( # 1.27) 13 May 1959
  95. "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958) as "Seth Blake" in: "Amos Carter" ( # 1.36) 9 May 1959
  96. "The Rough Riders" (1958) as "Frank Day" in: "The Rifle" ( # 1.31) 7 May 1959
  97. "Buckskin" (1958) as "Charlie" in: "Charlie, My Boy" ( # 1.32) 6 Apr 1959
  98. "Black Saddle" (1959) as "Deputy Simms" in: "Client: Steele" ( # 1.10) 21 Mar 1959
  99. "Trackdown" (1957) as "Kelly" in: "Fear" ( # 2.26) 18 Mar 1959
  100. "Tombstone Territory" (1957) as "Bob Pickett" in: "Whipsaw" ( # 2.1) 13 Mar 1959
  101. "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958) as "Billy Clegg" in: "The Legend" ( # 1.27) 7 Mar 1959
  102. "Trackdown" (1957) as "Lute Borden" in: "Bad Judgment" ( # 2.19) 28 Jan 1959
  103. "Gunsmoke" (1955) as "Jed Hakes" in: "Snakebite" ( # 4.15) 20 Dec 1958
  104. "Playhouse 90" (1956) in: "Seven Against the Wall" ( # 3.12) 11 Dec 1958
  105. "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958) as "Jesse Cox" in: "Die by the Gun" ( # 1.14) 6 Dec 1958
  106. "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin" (1954) as "Deke" in: "The Epidemic" ( # 5.10) 21 Nov 1958
  107. "The Rifleman" (1958) as "Andrew Shelton" in: "The Marshal" ( # 1.4) 21 Oct 1958
  108. "Have Gun - Will Travel" (1957) as "Half Brother" in: "Three Sons" ( # 1.34) 10 May 1958
  109. "Studio One" (1948) as "Card Player" in: "The Night America Trembled" ( # 10.1) 9 Sep 1957

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