Hank Worden


Hank Worden was an American cowboy-turned-character actor who appeared in many Westerns, including a dozen John Ford films, such as The Searchers, and the TV series The Lone Ranger.

Biography

Worden was born in Rolfe, Iowa, and raised on a cattle ranch near Glendive. He was educated as an engineer at Stanford University and the University of Nevada. He enlisted in the U.S. Army hoping to become an Army Air Force aviator but failed to pass flight school. An expert horseman, he toured the country in rodeos as a saddle bronc rider. During one ride his horse landed atop him and fractured his neck, but aside from a temporary soreness, Worden did not know the severity of the damage until x-rayed 20 years later. While participating in a rodeo at Madison Square Garden in New York, he and fellow cowboy Tex Ritter were chosen to appear in the Broadway play Green Grow the Lilacs. Following the run of the play, Worden drove a cab in New York City, and then worked on dude ranches as a wrangler and as a guide on the Bright Angel trail of the Grand Canyon.
A chance encounter with actress Billie Burke at a dude ranch led her to recommend him to several film producers. Worden made his film debut as an extra in Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman. By this time, Tex Ritter had become a star, and Worden played sidekick roles in a number of Ritter's Westerns. In several of his early appearances, Worden was billed as "Heber Snow", until he reverted to his real name. A small part in Howard Hawks's Come and Get It led to a number of later appearances for that director, who also recommended him to director John Ford.
Worden eventually became a member of the John Ford Stock Company, and was directed by Ford twelve times in films and television. The connection with Ford led to an association with actor John Wayne, and Worden appeared in 17 of Wayne's films. Foremost among his collaborations with Wayne and Ford in The Searchers, the 1956 classic Western in which Worden portrayed his most memorable role, that of "Mose Harper," the Shakespearean fool who only longed for "a roof over head and a rocking chair by the fire."
Worden's best performances were given for demanding directors. He had a striking appearance: tall, thin, bald, his voice and mannerisms unforgettable to anyone who saw him. He worked steadily in television as well as films, appeared in six episodes of the TV series The Lone Ranger, long outliving Hawks, Ford and Wayne, and achieved some late notice as a senile hotel waiter in David Lynch's Twin Peaks TV series.
In 1992, Worden hosted and co-produced with director Clyde Lucas an independent special shown on the Nostalgia Channel and some PBS stations entitled Thank Ya, Thank Ya Kindly. The special looked back on Worden's career and featured guests Clint Eastwood, Paul Hogan, Harry Carey Jr., Ben Johnson, Frankie Avalon, Burt Kennedy and stuntman Dean Smith.
Widowed by his wife of 37 years, the former Emma Louise Eaton, in 1977, he later shared his house for several years with actor Jim Beaver. He died while taking a nap at his home in Los Angeles on December 6, 1992, aged 91. He was survived by his daughter, Dawn Henry, whom he and his wife had adopted as an adult.

Selected filmography

John Wayne films

Stagecoach as Cavalryman extra The Night Riders as Rancher A Lady Takes a Chance as Walter Angel and the Badman as Townsman Fort Apache as Southern RecruitRed River as Sims Reeves3 Godfathers as Deputy CurlyThe Fighting Kentuckian as Abner Todd The Quiet Man as Trainer in flashback The Searchers as Mose HarperThe Horse Soldiers as Deacon ClumpThe Alamo as ParsonMcLintock! as Curly FletcherTrue Grit as R. Ryan - Undertaker Chisum as Elwood - StationmasterRio Lobo as Hank - Hotel Clerk Big Jake as HankCahill U.S. Marshal as Albert

Other appearances

Barbary Coast as Barfly / Townsman For the Service as Henchman Ghost-Town Gold as Mr. Crabtree Come and Get It as Lumberjack The Plainsman as Deadwood Townsman Trouble in Texas as Hank a Dancer Hittin' the Trail as Sidekick HankSing, Cowboy, Sing as HenchmanRiders of the Rockie as Henchman Riders of the Dawn as Deputy The Californian as Ruiz Man The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen as DeputyMoonlight on the Range as Ranch Hand Hollywood Round-Up as Saloon Set Extra Boss of Lonely Valley as Hank - Wagon Driver Tex Rides with the Boy Scouts as Henchman Sudden Bill Dorn as Barfly The Singing Outlaw as Bixby Cowhand Frontier Town as Henchman Buck The Last Stand as Rustler Playing Fiddle at Campfire Western Trails as Townsman Flaming Frontiers as Henchman Rollin' Plains as Henchman Squint The Stranger from Arizona as SkeeterWhere the Buffalo Roam as Man at Dance The Cowboy and the Lady as Cowhand Leonard Ghost Town Riders as Tom 'Cherokee' WaltonSundown on the Prairie as Henchman HankRollin' Westward as Slim ReganTimber Stampede as Photographer Oklahoma Frontier as Townsman Chip of the Flying U as Cowhand Reno as Townsman Northwest Passage as Ranger Tying Oars Viva Cisco Kid as Deputy Rancho Grande as Cowhand Riders of Pasco Basin as Townsman Shooting High as Townsman Beyond Tomorrow as Hospital Visitor Gaucho Serenade as Farmer Driving Jalopy Prairie Law as Jacobs - Homesteader Winners of the West as Drunk Cross-Country Romance as Wedding Witness The Range Busters as Cowhand Brigham Young as Mormon Cheering Porter Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride as Henry Haggerty Triple Justice as Townsman Outside Saloon Ride, Kelly, Ride as Slim Robbers of the Range as Stagecoach Attendant Border Vigilantes as Aunt Jennifer's Wagon Driver Last of the Duanes as Loafer Dude Cowboy as Man with Toothache Code of the Outlaw as Expectant Father Cowboy Serenade as Opie Riding the Wind as Duff BrickerJust Off Broadway as Comedian in Wings Deep in the Heart of Texas as Townsman Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground as Sleepy MartinBlack Market Rustlers as SlimSo Proudly We Hail! as Soldier on Troop Ship Flesh and Fantasy as Circus Spectator Jack London as New Year's Eve Party Guest Canyon City as Barfly The Woman of the Town as The Barber None Shall Escape as German Motorcycle Soldier Rationing as Man at Wedding Wyoming Hurricane as Cowboy Lumberjack as Lumberjack The Great Moment as Morton's Sign Painter - replaced Roscoe Ates National Barn Dance as Farmer at Barn Dance The Bullfighters as Mr. McCoy Abbott and Costello in Hollywood as Joe Frontier Gunlaw as Pete Lawless Breed as The DeputyThe Missing Lady as Flophouse Bum Undercurrent as Telegram Delivery Man Duel in the Sun as Dance- Floor Cowboy The Shocking Miss Pilgrim as Office Clerk The Sea of Grass as Bill - Salt Fork Townsman The Secret Life of Walter Mitty as Minor Role Prairie Express as Deputy ClintHigh Wall as Diner Customer Slippy McGee as Station Wagon Driver The Man from Texas as Churchgoer Lightnin' in the Forest as BartenderThe Sainted Sisters as Taub BeasleyHazard as Man in Cheap Hotel Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' as Clem Tap Roots as Cropper Whispering Smith as Murray's Ranchhand Yellow Sky as Rancher, Bank Customer Cover Up as Undertaker as Charley Streets of Laredo as Texas Ranger Hellfire as Witness Roseanna McCoy as Jacob When Willie Comes Marching Home as American Legionnaire Band Leader Father Is a Bachelor as Finnegan Wagon Master as Luke CleggCurtain Call at Cactus Creek as TownsmanFrenchie as Mr. Grady Sugarfoot as Johnny-Behind-the-StoveComin' Round the Mountain as Target JudgeJoe Palooka in Triple Cross as Hard-of-Hearing FarmerThe Man with a Cloak as First Carriage Driver Boots Malone as Gas Station Mechanic Woman of the North Country as Tom GordonThe Big Sky as PoordevilApache War Smoke as AmberSky Full of Moon as Cowhand The Lawless Breed as Kansas City Barfly Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation Powder River as Joe Crime Wave as Sweeney Ma and Pa Kettle at Home as Indian The Outcast as Bartender Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier as Cave bar patron The Road to Denver as Shad Ewing, Livery Stable Owner The Vanishing American as Shoie The Indian Fighter as Crazy Bear / Guardhouse KeeperDavy Crockett and the River Pirates as Fiddler Meet Me in Las Vegas as Joe Thunder Over Arizona as Old Jonas Accused of Murder as Les FullerThe Quiet Gun as SampsonSpoilers of the Forest as Pat CaseyDragoon Wells Massacre as Hopi CharlieThe Buckskin Lady as LonForty Guns as Marshal John ChisumSing, Boy, Sing as Girl's Father at Police Station The Notorious Mr. Monks as PeteToughest Gun in Tombstone as Liveryman Bullwhip as TexWild Heritage as Trail Drive Cowhand Sergeant Rutledge as Laredo One-Eyed Jacks as DocThe Music Man as Undertaker Good Times as KidThe President's Analyst as Dirty Old Man Big Daddy Zachariah as Old Cowboy Bedknobs and Broomsticks as Old Home Guardsman Black Noon as JosephEve of Aunt Agnes The Hanged Man as Ab WickesThe Legend of Frank Woods as SlimSmokey and the Bandit as Trucker with harmonica Which Way Is Up? as The FlunkyBig Wednesday as Shopping Cart Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as Old Lonely Hearts Club BandThey Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way as Butch CollinsEvery Which Way but Loose as Trailer Court ManagerBronco Billy as Station Mechanic Scream as JohnSoggy Bottom, U.S.A. as Old GeezerHammett as Pool Room AttendantFlush Island Fury as Gramps JebediahThe Ice Pirates as Elderly JasonUFOria as ColonelRunaway Train as Old Con Space Rage as Old codgerOnce Upon a Texas Train as Old TimerBig Bad John as Good Ole BoyAlmost an Angel as Pop, Patient in Hospital

Television