Tom Tyler
Tom Tyler was an American actor known for his leading roles in low-budget Western films, and for his portrayal of superheroes in movie serials The Adventures of Captain Marvel and The Phantom. Tyler also played the mummy Kharis in 1940's The Mummy's Hand, a popular film in the Universal Monsters franchise.
Early years
Tyler was born either Vincent Markowski or Vincentas Markauskas in Port Henry, Essex County, New York to Lithuanian-American parents, Helen and Frank Markowski. he had two brothers: Frank Jr. and Joe and two sisters: Katherine and Maliane. His father and older brother worked as coal miners for the Witherbee Sherman Company.In 1913, his family moved to Hamtramck, Michigan, where he attended St. Florian Elementary School and Hamtramck High School. After graduating from high school, he left home and made his way west, finding work as a seaman on a merchant steamer in the U.S. Merchant Marine, a coal miner in Pennsylvania, a lumberjack in the Pacific Northwest, and even a prizefighter.
Weightlifting
Tyler was an amateur weightlifter sponsored by the Los Angeles Athletic Club during the late 1920s. He set a new world's amateur record for the right-hand clean and jerk by lifting. In 1928, he won the Amateur Athletic Union heavyweight weightlifting championship, lifting —a record that stood for fourteen years.Early film career
Around 1924, Tyler arrived in California and found work in the film industry as a prop man and extra. His first screen appearances as an extra included Three Weeks, Leatherstocking, and Wild Horse Mesa. In 1925, Tyler was signed to a contract with Film Booking Offices of America to star in a series of Western adventures with a starting salary of about $75 per week. His first starring role was in Let's Go, Gallagher. Over the next four years, he starred in 28 additional Westerns for FBO, including The Masquerade Bandit, The Sonora Kid, The Texas Tornado, The Avenging Rider, and Pride of the Pawnee. While romance was generally underplayed in these early Westerns, a number of up-and-coming heroines—including Doris Hill, Jean Arthur, and Nora Lane—contributed to the overall appeal of Tyler's films, which enjoyed critical praise and were popular with Saturday-matinée audiences. His four years with FBO gave him valuable riding and acting experience, and made him a popular cowboy hero in the latter years of the silent-film era.In 1929, Tyler signed with producer W. Ray Johnston of Syndicate Pictures, where he made his last eight silent films, including The Man from Nevada, Pioneers of the West, The Canyon of Missing Men, and Call of the Desert. Producer Johnston shrewdly recognized that there was still a market for new silent westerns, because many small-town theaters had not yet converted to the new talking pictures.
In 1930, Tyler was loaned out to Mascot Pictures for his first "all-talking" sound film, The Phantom of the West, a ten-chapter cliffhanger featuring a mysterious secret villain and numerous stunts and action sequences. Kermit Maynard, brother of Ken Maynard, was Tyler's stunt double in the more dangerous sequences. In 1931, Tyler made his first Syndicate sound film, West of Cheyenne; his baritone speaking voice recorded well, despite his awkward delivery of lines. Tyler concluded his Syndicate tenure with Rider of the Plains and God's Country and the Man. He was also strongly considered for the role of Tarzan by MGM in their ''Tarzan the Ape Man''
Monogram Pictures
Ray Johnston retired Syndicate and renamed the company Monogram Pictures. He signed Tom Tyler to an eight-picture contract as part of the company's sagebrush series. These typical low-budget "quickies" included Man from Death Valley, Single-Handed Sanders, The Man from New Mexico, and Honor of the Mounted, each made for about $8000. All of his Monogram films received critical and popular support. At the time, a small studio would sign a cowboy star for only one year; the studio would then offer a new series with a new cowboy. When Monogram signed Bob Steele to star in the next season's series, Tyler signed with Universal for three serials: Jungle Mystery, Clancy of the Mounted, and Phantom of the Air. During this period he also starred in four low-budget Westerns for John R. Freuler's Monarch Pictures, including The Forty-Niners, When a Man Rides Alone, Deadwood Pass, and War of the Range.Reliable Pictures and Victory Pictures
In 1934, Tyler signed a two-year contract with Harry S. Webb's Reliable Pictures for eighteen low-budget Western films, tailored as second features on double bills for second- and third-tier movie houses. These films included Mystery Ranch, The Silver Bullet, Born to Battle, Silent Valley, Fast Bullets, and Santa Fe Bound. Despite a few well-done scenes and some good performances by supporting players such as Slim Whitaker, Charles King, Earl Dwire, and even the silent-era "Hebrew" comedian Max Davidson, most of these films were of average quality with production shortcomings that restricted the effectiveness of Tyler's performances. By 1936, companies such as Republic Pictures and Paramount Pictures were producing larger-budget, better-quality Western films with impressive exterior locations that overshadowed the type of Poverty Row low-budget offerings that brought Tyler to fame.In 1936, Tyler signed a two-year contract with Sam Katzman's new Victory Pictures for eight Western films, each budgeted at about $6000. The first five of these films were directed by Bob Hill and included Cheyenne Rides Again with Lucile Browne and Feud of the Trail, in which Tyler played a dual role. Two of the Victory features co-starred Tyler's wife, Jeanne Martel: Orphan of the Pecos and Lost Ranch, the latter containing a rare scene in which Tyler lip syncs two songs, "Tucson Mary" and "Home on the Range". Following Brothers of the West, Katzman did not renew Tyler's contract, replacing him with Tim McCoy as the company's Western star until Katzman suspended production in 1939.
With no starring roles being offered to him, Tyler took a job with the Wallace Brothers Circus in 1938. He returned to Hollywood and appeared in supporting roles and bit parts in several feature films, including John Ford's Stagecoach with John Wayne, Drums Along the Mohawk with Henry Fonda, Gone With the Wind with Clark Gable, The Westerner with Gary Cooper, John Ford's The [Grapes of Wrath (film)|The Grapes of Wrath] , and Buck Privates with Abbott and Costello. His most unusual role was that of the mummy Kharis in Universal's The Mummy's Hand, in which he was cast because the studio felt he resembled a younger Boris Karloff to match stock footage of Karloff from The Mummy.
Republic Pictures and popular serials
In 1941, Tyler signed a two-year contract with Republic Pictures to star in 13 films in the popular Three Mesquiteers series in the role of Stony Brooke opposite Bob Steele playing Tucson Smith, and Rufe Davis or Jimmie Dodd playing Lullaby Joslin. Tyler's $150-per-week salary during the first year was increased to $200 per week for the second year. These final 13 films in the Three Mesquiteers series represent some of Tyler's best work, and his last leading roles: Outlaws of Cherokee Trail, Gauchos of El Dorado, West of Cimarron, Code of the Outlaw, Raiders of the Range, Westward Ho, The Phantom Plainsmen, Shadows on the Sage, Valley of Hunted Men, Thundering Trails, The Blocked Trail, Santa Fe Scouts, and Riders of the Rio Grande, the last film in the series.During this period Republic, which failed to secure the rights to Superman, purchased the rights to the comic-book superhero Captain Marvel. In his late 30s at the time, the muscular Tyler was in good shape and was offered the title role at $250 per week for four weeks' work. In the title role in The Adventures of Captain Marvel, Tyler portrayed the first film adaptation of a comic-book superhero.
Tyler's last leading role was in the Columbia Pictures serial The Phantom, based on Lee Falk's comic strip. In costume, Tyler bore a striking resemblance to the Phantom character. Columbia filmed a sequel to The Phantom more than a decade later with actor John Hart wearing the Phantom costume. Unbeknownst to producer Sam Katzman, the studio's rights to the Phantom property had already lapsed. Katzman was forced to salvage the film by renaming the lead character "Captain Africa" and filming additional scenes, with Hart wearing a new costume that only vaguely resembled the Phantom outfit. The patchwork was released as The Adventures of Captain Africa, and footage of Tom Tyler's Phantom appears in some of the long shots.
Later years
The Phantom was Tom Tyler's last starring film. In 1943, the 40-year-old Tyler was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis, limiting his mobility and confining him to occasional supporting roles in Western films, including San Antonio with Errol Flynn; They Were Expendable, Red River, and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon with John Wayne; Badman's Territory with Randolph Scott; Masked Raiders, Riders of the Range, Rio Grande Patrol, and Road Agent with Tim Holt; six westerns filmed concurrently in 1950, co-starring Russell Hayden and James Ellison; Trail of Robin Hood with Roy Rogers; and Best of the Badmen with Robert Ryan. Tyler was one of the John Ford Stock Company, appearing in six of the director's films.Beginning in 1950, Tyler transitioned to television work, finding minor roles on The Lone Ranger, Dick Tracy, The Cisco Kid, The Range Rider, and The Roy Rogers Show. He also co-starred with Tom Keene in an unsold TV pilot, Crossroad Avenger, written and directed by Ed Wood.
His final television appearances were in four episodes of The [Gene Autry Show] in 1952 and 1953.
Marriage
Tyler married actress Jeanne Martel, listed as Jeanne Martel-Pezoldt in in September 1937; they met the previous year while filming Santa Fe Bound, in which she was his leading lady. They appeared in two other films together in 1937, Lost Ranch and Orphan of the Pecos. According to a United States census, they were still married in May 1940; Tyler's own resumé, published in 1947, lists Martel as his wife.Death
In 1953 Tyler, suffering from severe rheumatoid arthritis and nearly destitute, moved back to Hamtramck and lived with his sister, Katherine Slepski. He died on May 1, 1954, aged 50, of heart failure and complications from scleroderma. He was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan. Tyler's last show-business credit was posthumous: an episode of Steve Donovan, Western Marshal called "Comanche Kid." It premiered on January 14, 1956, almost two years after Tyler's passing, but had been filmed as a pilot in 1950. In it, Tyler had difficulty drawing his gun because of his arthritis.Filmography
Three Weeks – Extra Leatherstocking – IndianWild Horse Mesa – Cowboy- Let's Go, Gallagher – Tom Gallagher
- The Wyoming Wildcat – Phil StoneThe Only Thing – Party Guest The Cowboy Musketeer – Tom LatigoBen-Hur: A Tale of the Christ – Charioteer Born to Battle – Dennis TerhuneThe Arizona Streak – Dandy CarrellWild to Go – Tom BlakeThe Masquerade Bandit – Jeff MortonThe Cowboy Cop – Jerry McGillTom and His Pals – Tom DuffyOut of the West – Tom HanleyRed Hot Hoofs – Tom BuckleyLightning Lariats – Tom PotterThe Sonora Kid – Tom MacReadyCyclone of the Range – Tom MacKaySplitting the Breeze – Death Valley DrakeTom's Gang – Dave CollinsThe Flying U Ranch – Señor Miguel GarcíaThe Cherokee Kid – Bill DuncanThe Desert Pirate – Tom CorriganThe Texas Tornado – Tom JonesWhen the Law Rides – Tom O'MalleyPhantom of the Range – Duke CarltonTerror Mountain – HimselfThe Avenging Rider – Tom LarkinTyrant of Red Gulch – Tom MastersTrail of the Horse Thieves – Vic StanleyGun Law – Tom O'BrienIdaho Red – Andy ThorntonThe Pride of Pawnee – Kirk StocktonThe Law of the Plains – O'BrienThe Man from Nevada – Jack CarterThe Phantom Rider – Dick CartwrightThe Lone Horseman – Jack GardnerPioneers of the West – Phil Sampson'Neath Western Skies – Tex McCloudCall of the Desert – Rex CarsonHalf Pint Polly – Don WilsonThe Canyon of Missing Men – Dave BrandonHer Man – Sailor The Phantom of the West – Jim LesterCheyenne (1931 film)|West of Cheyenne] – Tom LangdonGod's Country and the Man – Tex MaloneRider of the Plains – Blackie SaundersPartners of the Trail – Larry CondonThe Man from Death Valley – DaveTwo Fisted Justice – "Kentucky" CarsonBattling with Buffalo Bill – William CodyGalloping Thru – Tom McGuireSingle-Handed Sanders – Matt SandersThe Man from New Mexico – Jess RyderVanishing Men – Sheriff Doug BarrettHonor of the Mounted – Constable Tom HallidayJungle Mystery – Kirk MontgomeryThe Forty-Niners – "Tennessee" MatthewsWhen a Man Rides Alone – The Llano KidClancy of the Mounted – Sergeant Tom ClancyThe Phantom of the Air – Bob RaymondDeadwood Pass – TomWar of the Range – Tom BradleyRidin' Thru – Tom SaundersMystery Ranch – Bob MorrisFighting Hero – Tom HallTerror of the Plains – Tom LansingUnconquered Bandit – Tom MorganCoyote Trails – Tom RileyTracy Rides – Sheriff Tom TracyBorn to Battle – "Cyclone" Tom SaundersSilent Valley – Sheriff Tom HallThe Silver Bullet – Tom HendersonThe Laramie Kid – Tom TalbotRio Rattler – Tom DentonPowdersmoke Range – Sundown SaundersTrigger Tom – Tom HunterFast Bullets – Ranger Tom HiltonRidin' On – Tom RoarkeRoamin' Wild – Tom BartonPinto Rustlers – Tom EvansThe Last Outlaw – Al GossSanta Fe Bound – Tom CrenshawRip Roarin' Buckaroo – "Scotty" McQuadeThe Phantom of the Range – Jerry LaneCheyenne Rides Again – Tom "Cheyenne Tommy" WadeFeud of the Trail – Tom Wade / Jack GrangerMystery Range – Tom WadeOrphan of the Pecos – Tom RayburnBrothers of the West – Tom WadeLost Ranch – Tom WadeKing of Alcatraz – Gus BanshekStagecoach – Luke PlummerThe Night Riders – JacksonFrontier Marshal – Buck Newton Drums Along the Mohawk – Capt. Morgan Gone with the Wind – Commanding Officer During Evacuation The Grapes of Wrath – Deputy The Light of Western Stars – Sheriff Tom HawesBrother Orchid – Curley MatthewsThe Westerner – King EvansThe Mummy's Hand – KharisCherokee Strip – Frank LovellTexas Rangers Ride Again – Ranger Gilpin Buck Privates – Ring Announcer at Boxing Match Adventures of Captain Marvel – Captain MarvelBorder Vigilantes – Henchman YagerBad Men of Missouri – Deputy Sheriff Dave Outlaws of Cherokee Trail – Stony BrookeRiders of the Timberline – Henchman Bill SladeGauchos of El Dorado – "Stony" BrookeWest of Cimarron – Stony BrookeCode of the Outlaw – Stony BrookeValley of the Sun – GeronimoRaiders of the Range – Stony BrookeWestward Ho – Stony BrookeThe Phantom Plainsmen – Stony BrookeThe [Talk of the Town (1942 film)|The Talk of the Town] – Clyde BrackenShadows on the Sage – Stony BrookeValley of Hunted Men – Stony BrookeThundering Trails – Stony BrookeThe Blocked Trail – Stony BrookeSanta Fe Scouts – Stony BrookeRiders of the Rio Grande – Stony BrookeWagon Tracks West – ClawtoothThe Phantom – Jeffrey Prescott, the PhantomGun to Gun – Captain Haines The Navy Way – Triangle A Ranch Hand Boss of Boomtown – Jim WardLadies of Washington – Agent The Princess and the Pirate – Lieutenant Sing Me a Song of Texas – Steve AndrewsThey Were Expendable – Captain at Airport San Antonio – Lafe McWilliamsBadman's Territory – Frank JamesNever Say Goodbye – Policeman Cheyenne – PecosThe Dude Goes West – SpiggotyReturn of the Bad Men – Wild Bill YeagerRed River – Quitter The Golden Eye – Minor Role The Three Musketeers – 1st Traveller Blood on the Moon – Frank ReardonI Shot Jesse James – Frank JamesThe Younger Brothers – HatchThe Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend – Townsman Lust for Gold – Luke She Wore a Yellow Ribbon – Cpl. Mike QuayneMasked Raiders – Trig TrevettSquare Dance Jubilee – Henchman BuckSamson and Delilah – Gristmill Captain Riders of the Range – The Ringo KidThe Daltons' Women – Emmett DaltonHostile Country – Tom BradyMarshal of Heldorado – Mike TulliverCrooked River – Henchman WestonColorado Ranger – Henchman PeteWest of the Brazos – Henchman SamThe Lone Ranger – Jeff GarthFast on the Draw – Outlaw LeaderRio Grande Patrol – Chet YanceDick Tracy – CoffyheadTrail of Robin Hood – HimselfThe Cisco Kid – Sheriff Jim TurnerThe Great Missouri Raid – Allen ParmerBest of the Badmen – Frank JamesMysterious Island – Union Dispatch Rider The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok – SheriffThe [Roy Rogers Show] – Henchman / AndyBoston Blackie Road Agent – Larkin – HenchmanOutlaw Women – Chillawaka CharlieThe Lion and the Horse – Bud SabinWhat Price Glory – Capt. Davis Sky King – AlCowboy G-Men – Henchman CactusThe Range Rider – Shotgun Guard / IndianCow Country – PeteThe Gene Autry Show – Lanky henchman at Hideout / Slender Thug in the White Hat / Henchman Snake-Eye