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Al St. John
Actor

Al St. John

9 Sep 1893Born
21 Jan 1963Died
69Age at death
270Credits

Biography

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Al St. John (September 10, 1893 – January 21, 1963) in his persona of Fuzzy Q. Jones basically defined the role and concept of "comical sidekick" to cowboy heroes from 1930 to 1951. St. John also created a character, "Stoney," in the first of a continuing Western film series, The Three Mesquiteers, that was later played (at a low point in his own career) by John Wayne.

Born in Santa Ana, California, St. John entered silent films around 1912 and soon rose to co-starring and starring roles in short comic films from a variety of studios.

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His uncle, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, may have helped him in his early days at Mack Sennett Studios, but talent kept him working. He was slender, sandy-haired, handsome and a remarkable acrobat.

St. John frequently appeared as Arbuckle's mischievously villainous rival for the attentions of leading ladies like Mabel Normand, and worked with Arbuckle and Charles Chaplin in The Rounders (1914). The most critically praised film from St. John's period with Arbuckle remains Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916) with Normand.

The name Fuzzy originally belonged to a different actor, John Forrest “Fuzzy“ Knight, who took on the role of cowboy sidekick before St. John. As the studio first intended to hire Knight for the western series but then gave the role to St. John instead, he took on the nickname of his rival for his screen character.

In most of his films, screen time was set aside for St. John to do a sort of solo comedy act, emphasizing amazing pratfalls and acrobatics. He might "find" a bicycle on a fairground set, and do an astonishing sequence of acrobatic stunts on the cycle, or he might try to capture a rat, bat, skunk, gopher, or bug with hilarious and chaotic consequences. Another stunt which he used in nearly every Western was virtually his trademark: he would mount his horse in apparently the standard manner, but somehow wind up sitting facing backward, and often would ride off with the hero in this unusual orientation.

When Crabbe left PRC (according to interviews, in disgust at their increasingly low budgets), St. John was paired with new star Lash LaRue. Ultimately, St. John made more than 80 Westerns as Fuzzy. His last film was released in 1952. From that time on until his death in 1963 in Lyons, Georgia, he made personal appearances at fairs and rodeos, and travelled with the Tommy Scott Wild West Show. Altogether, Al St. John acted in 346 movies, spanning four decades from 1912 to 1952.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Al St. John, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known for

Filmography

The 80 most recent of 270 credits.

  1. 2006Buster Keaton: From Silents to ShortsFilm: (archive footage)
  2. 1981The Muppets Go to the MoviesFilm: Keystone Kop (archive footage) (uncredited)
  3. 1976Meanwhile, Back at the RanchFilm: (archive footage)
  4. 1962Crazy DaysFilm: Various (archive footage) (uncredited)
  5. 1957The Golden Age of ComedyFilm: archive footage
  6. 1952The Frontier PhantomFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  7. 1952The Black LashFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  8. 1951The Vanishing OutpostFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  9. 1951The Thundering TrailFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  10. 1950King of the BullwhipFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  11. 1950The Daltons' WomenFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  12. 1949Son of a BadmanFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  13. 1949Son of Billy the KidFilm: Sheriff Fuzzy
  14. 1949Outlaw CountryFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  15. 1948Frontier RevengeFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  16. 1948Mark of the LashFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  17. 1948Dead Man's GoldFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  18. 1947Cheyenne Takes OverFilm: Al 'Fuzzy' St. John
  19. 1947The Fighting VigilantesFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  20. 1947Return of the LashFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  21. 1947Stage to Mesa CityFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  22. 1947Ghost Town RenegadesFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  23. 1947Pioneer JusticeFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  24. 1947Border FeudFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  25. 1947Law of the LashFilm: Fuzzy
  26. 1946My Dog ShepFilm: Deputy Sheriff
  27. 1946Outlaws of the PlainsFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  28. 1946Overland RidersFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  29. 1946Prairie BadmenFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  30. 1946Ghost of Hidden ValleyFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  31. 1946Terrors on HorsebackFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  32. 1946Gentlemen With GunsFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  33. 1946Lightning RaidersFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  34. 1945Prairie RustlersFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  35. 1945Fighting Bill CarsonFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  36. 1945Border BadmenFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  37. 1945Rustlers' HideoutFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  38. 1945Stagecoach OutlawsFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  39. 1945Gangster's DenFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  40. 1945Shadows of DeathFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  41. 1945His Brother's GhostFilm: Andy Jones / Jonathan Fuzzy Jones
  42. 1944Oath of VengeanceFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  43. 1944I'm from ArkansasFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  44. 1944Wild Horse PhantomFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  45. 1944Fuzzy Settles DownFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  46. 1944The DrifterFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  47. 1944Valley Of VengeanceFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  48. 1944Thundering Gun SlingersFilm: Doc Jones
  49. 1944Frontier OutlawsFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  50. 1943Devil RidersFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  51. 1943Raiders of Red GapFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  52. 1943Blazing FrontierFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  53. 1943The RenegadeFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  54. 1943Cattle StampedeFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  55. 1943Law of the SaddleFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  56. 1943Wolves of the RangeFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  57. 1943Western CycloneFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  58. 1943Death Rides the PlainsFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  59. 1943Dead Men WalkFilm: Townsman Finding Kate's Body
  60. 1943Fugitive of the PlainsFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  61. 1943Wild Horse RustlersFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  62. 1943The Kid Rides AgainFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  63. 1942Outlaws of Boulder PassFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  64. 1942The Mysterious RiderFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  65. 1942Along the Sundown TrailFilm: Crandall - Lawyer (uncredited)
  66. 1942Overland StagecoachFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  67. 1942Border RoundupFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  68. 1942Prairie PalsFilm: Hank Stoner
  69. 1942Sheriff of Sage ValleyFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  70. 1942Law and OrderFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  71. 1942Texas JusticeFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  72. 1942Billy the Kid's Smoking GunsFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  73. 1942Jesse James, Jr.Film: Pop Sawyer
  74. 1942The Lone Rider in CheyenneFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  75. 1942Stagecoach ExpressFilm: Dusty Jenkins
  76. 1942Billy the Kid TrappedFilm: Fuzzy Jones
  77. 1942Valley of the SunFilm: Bearded Man Hurrying to Wedding (uncredited)
  78. 1942The Lone Rider and the BanditFilm: Fuzzy Q. Jones
  79. 1942Arizona TerrorsFilm: Hardtack
  80. 1941The Lone Rider Fights BackFilm: Fuzzy Jones

Biography and credits from TMDB. This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.