Max Wagner

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

190

Gender

Male

Birthday

1901-11-28

Day of death

1975-11-16 (73 years old)

Place of Birth

Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico

Max Wagner

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Max Wagner (November 28, 1901 – November 16, 1975) was a Mexican-born American film actor who specialized in playing small parts such as thugs, gangsters, sailors, henchmen, bodyguards, cab drivers and moving men, appearing more than 400 films in his career, most without receiving screen credit. Newspaper gossip columnists noted his rise from playing "Gangster #4", with no lines, and not carrying a gun, to "Gangster #2", with both lines and a gun. Wagner was one of five children, all boys, of William Wallace Wagner, a railroad conductor, and Edith Wagner, a writer who provided dispatches for the Christian Science Monitor during the Mexican Revolution. When he was 10 years old, his father was killed by rebels and the family moved to Salinas, California, where he met John Steinbeck, who became a lifelong friend. Steinback based the character of the boy in his novel The Red Pony on Wagner. Under the name "Max Baron", Wagner acted in many Spanish-language versions of English-language films, which studios made as a matter of course in the early days of sound films, He also served as a Spanish language coach for other actors, and appeared in many of the "Mexican Spitfire" films starring Lupe Vélez, where he also served to monitor Velez's Spanish ad-libs for profanity. Other series that Wagner appeared in include the Charlie Chan films, and Tom Mix serials, as well as others made by Mascot Pictures Corporation. In the 1940s, Wagner was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in six films written and directed by Sturges, beginning with The Palm Beach Story In 1940 during the filming of "The Mad Doctor", Wagner was credited for driving 50,000 miles as an on-screen taxi driver on the studio back lots of Hollywood. Since his appearance as a cab driver in Charlie Chan in Shanghai (1935), producers often cast him as a wise-cracking or henchman taxi driver. "I was cast as a taxi driver about five years ago", Wagner told a reporter. "And I was typed." In 1952, Wagner began to appear on television, in episodes of such shows as The Cisco Kid, Zane Grey Theater and Perry Mason, playing much the same kind of parts he played in the movies. He was a regular cast member on the western television series Gunsmoke, making nearly 80 appearances between 1959 and 1973. He also appeared in many episodes of The Rifleman, Bonanza, Cimarron Strip, The Wild Wild West and Maverick, including a guest-starring role in the 1959 Rifleman episode "Blood Brother." He also had roles in the original Star Trek and The Twilight Zone series. He appeared in more than 200 television episodes between 1952 and 1974. Notable film roles for Wagner include a supporting role in the cult science fiction classic Invaders from Mars (1953), an actor playing a gangster in the film-within-a-film segment of Bullets or Ballots (1936), and the bull farm attendant in the Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bullfighters (1945). Late in his career, he appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). He also occasionally composed music, such as the Mexican folk ballad "Pedro, Rudarte y Simon" in the Western film The Last Trail (1933). Wagner died of a heart attack in Hollywood in 1975.

Known For

  • Columbo

    Columbo

  • The Twilight Zone

    The Twilight Zone

  • The Rifleman

    The Rifleman

  • Moontide

    Moontide

  • The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

    The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp

  • Half Past Midnight

    Half Past Midnight

  • Rockabye

    Rockabye

  • Chatterbox

    Chatterbox

  • It's a Wonderful Life

    It's a Wonderful Life

  • Frenchie

    Frenchie

  • Texas

    Texas

  • Reno

    Reno

  • Fallen Angel

    Fallen Angel

  • Matri-Phony

    Matri-Phony

  • Night Waitress

    Night Waitress

  • Before Dawn

    Before Dawn

  • The Abbott and Costello Show

    The Abbott and Costello Show

  • Numbered Men

    Numbered Men

  • The Country Girl

    The Country Girl

  • Flashing Oars

    Flashing Oars

  • Tarnished Angel

    Tarnished Angel

  • Hell Bent for Love

    Hell Bent for Love

  • Young Frankenstein

    Young Frankenstein

  • The Miracle Rider

    The Miracle Rider

  • To Kill a Mockingbird

    To Kill a Mockingbird

  • Caught

    Caught

  • The Ghost Breakers

    The Ghost Breakers

  • Fifth Avenue Girl

    Fifth Avenue Girl

  • Rosemary's Baby

    Rosemary's Baby

  • That Brennan Girl

    That Brennan Girl

  • Hired Wife

    Hired Wife

  • Shed No Tears

    Shed No Tears

  • The Good Bad Girl

    The Good Bad Girl

  • Evil Roy Slade

    Evil Roy Slade

  • Bullets or Ballots

    Bullets or Ballots

  • They Drive by Night

    They Drive by Night

  • The Bank Dick

    The Bank Dick

  • Robbery Under Arms

    Robbery Under Arms

  • The Mad Doctor

    The Mad Doctor

  • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

    The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

  • True Grit

    True Grit

  • Tycoon

    Tycoon

  • Charlie Chan in Shanghai

    Charlie Chan in Shanghai

  • Hang 'em High

    Hang 'em High

  • Gunpoint

    Gunpoint

  • The First Auto

    The First Auto

  • It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

    It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

  • Love on a Bet

    Love on a Bet

  • Sinbad the Sailor

    Sinbad the Sailor

  • Maid's Night Out

    Maid's Night Out

  • Illegal

    Illegal

  • The Conqueror

    The Conqueror

  • Name the Woman

    Name the Woman

  • Charlie Chan in Panama

    Charlie Chan in Panama

  • The Grapes of Wrath

    The Grapes of Wrath

  • Millionaire Playboy

    Millionaire Playboy

  • Mary Burns, Fugitive

    Mary Burns, Fugitive

  • The Big Game

    The Big Game

  • Going Wild

    Going Wild

  • The Great Race

    The Great Race

  • Dick Tracy vs. Cueball

    Dick Tracy vs. Cueball

  • I'll Tell the World

    I'll Tell the World

  • East of Eden

    East of Eden

  • Obliging Young Lady

    Obliging Young Lady

  • The Lost Weekend

    The Lost Weekend

  • Invaders from Mars

    Invaders from Mars

  • Shenandoah

    Shenandoah

  • Many Unhappy Returns

    Many Unhappy Returns

  • The Talk of the Town

    The Talk of the Town

  • The Roaring Twenties

    The Roaring Twenties

  • Possessed

    Possessed

  • Flaming Feather

    Flaming Feather

  • 4 for Texas

    4 for Texas

  • The Racket

    The Racket

  • The Legend of Lylah Clare

    The Legend of Lylah Clare

  • The Spirit of St. Louis

    The Spirit of St. Louis

  • Donovan's Brain

    Donovan's Brain

  • The Spoilers

    The Spoilers

  • A Big Hand for the Little Lady

    A Big Hand for the Little Lady

  • The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek

    The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek

  • Stage Door

    Stage Door

  • The Palm Beach Story

    The Palm Beach Story

  • Support Your Local Gunfighter

    Support Your Local Gunfighter

  • You Only Live Once

    You Only Live Once

  • Black Legion

    Black Legion

  • Professor Beware

    Professor Beware

  • Off the Record

    Off the Record

  • San Quentin

    San Quentin

  • The Arkansas Traveler

    The Arkansas Traveler

  • Alcatraz Island

    Alcatraz Island

  • The Thrill Seekers

    The Thrill Seekers

  • A Medal for Benny

    A Medal for Benny

  • Panama Hattie

    Panama Hattie

  • Return of the Gunfighter

    Return of the Gunfighter

  • The Red Pony

    The Red Pony

  • The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again

    The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again

  • The Secret of Convict Lake

    The Secret of Convict Lake

  • The Miracle of the Bells

    The Miracle of the Bells

  • Pressure Point

    Pressure Point

  • Reign of Terror

    Reign of Terror

  • I Died a Thousand Times

    I Died a Thousand Times

  • The Gracie Allen Murder Case

    The Gracie Allen Murder Case

  • Terror in the Wax Museum

    Terror in the Wax Museum

  • A Night to Remember

    A Night to Remember

  • Ice Palace

    Ice Palace

  • Step Lively, Jeeves!

    Step Lively, Jeeves!

  • The Daring Young Man

    The Daring Young Man

  • It Happens Every Spring

    It Happens Every Spring

  • God's Country and the Woman

    God's Country and the Woman

  • Smart Blonde

    Smart Blonde

  • The Great Diamond Robbery

    The Great Diamond Robbery

  • Sons o' Guns

    Sons o' Guns

  • Circumstantial Evidence

    Circumstantial Evidence

  • Pier 23

    Pier 23

  • Lucky Partners

    Lucky Partners

  • Wings of the Navy

    Wings of the Navy

  • Rhythm on the River

    Rhythm on the River

  • Paddy O'Day

    Paddy O'Day

  • Trail of the Vigilantes

    Trail of the Vigilantes

  • The Great O'Malley

    The Great O'Malley

  • Cock of the Air

    Cock of the Air

  • The Mexican Spitfire's Baby

    The Mexican Spitfire's Baby

  • Money to Loan

    Money to Loan

  • Cafe Society

    Cafe Society

  • Wings Over Honolulu

    Wings Over Honolulu

  • Suicide Fleet

    Suicide Fleet

  • Renegades of the West

    Renegades of the West

  • Overland to Deadwood

    Overland to Deadwood

  • The Lost Jungle

    The Lost Jungle

  • Sabotage Squad

    Sabotage Squad

  • Blind Date

    Blind Date

  • Penrod and His Twin Brother

    Penrod and His Twin Brother

  • Arizona to Broadway

    Arizona to Broadway

  • Mr. Moto in Danger Island

    Mr. Moto in Danger Island

  • Flaxy Martin

    Flaxy Martin

  • The Girl from Mandalay

    The Girl from Mandalay

  • Sunrise at Campobello

    Sunrise at Campobello

  • The House Across the Bay

    The House Across the Bay

  • The Wife Takes a Flyer

    The Wife Takes a Flyer

  • Buck Benny Rides Again

    Buck Benny Rides Again

  • The Fighting Marines

    The Fighting Marines

  • Public Pigeon No. 1

    Public Pigeon No. 1

  • Gridiron Flash

    Gridiron Flash

  • The Day the Bookies Wept

    The Day the Bookies Wept

  • The Sainted Sisters

    The Sainted Sisters

  • The Girl from Mexico

    The Girl from Mexico

  • Dr. Socrates

    Dr. Socrates

  • 3 Kids and a Queen

    3 Kids and a Queen

  • The Man Who Wouldn't Talk

    The Man Who Wouldn't Talk

  • Love Begins at Twenty

    Love Begins at Twenty

  • Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen

    Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen

  • Dancing Pirate

    Dancing Pirate

  • Hi, Beautiful

    Hi, Beautiful

  • Radio Stars on Parade

    Radio Stars on Parade

  • Cocoanut Grove

    Cocoanut Grove

  • Little Tough Guys in Society

    Little Tough Guys in Society

  • Cyclone on Horseback

    Cyclone on Horseback

  • Mexican Spitfire

    Mexican Spitfire

  • We Who Are About to Die

    We Who Are About to Die

  • Making Good

    Making Good

  • Born to Be Wild

    Born to Be Wild

  • The Adventures of Frank Merriwell

    The Adventures of Frank Merriwell

  • Men Against the Sky

    Men Against the Sky

  • Our Leading Citizen

    Our Leading Citizen

  • She Had to Choose

    She Had to Choose

  • Wildcat Bus

    Wildcat Bus

  • Scouts to the Rescue

    Scouts to the Rescue

  • Undercover: How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines

    Undercover: How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines

  • Walking on Air

    Walking on Air

  • The Return of the Cisco Kid

    The Return of the Cisco Kid

  • The Lost Jungle

    The Lost Jungle

  • The Truth About Murder

    The Truth About Murder

  • Fast and Loose

    Fast and Loose

  • Two in Revolt

    Two in Revolt

  • The Crime Patrol

    The Crime Patrol

  • The World and the Flesh

    The World and the Flesh

  • Ride on Vaquero

    Ride on Vaquero

  • The Girl on the Front Page

    The Girl on the Front Page

  • Pop Always Pays

    Pop Always Pays

  • Painted Desert

    Painted Desert

  • The Last of the Vargas

    The Last of the Vargas

  • You Can't Fool Your Wife

    You Can't Fool Your Wife

  • The Personality Kid

    The Personality Kid

  • Mexican Spitfire's Elephant

    Mexican Spitfire's Elephant

  • Border Cafe

    Border Cafe

  • Come on Danger

    Come on Danger

  • The Oil Raider

    The Oil Raider

  • The House of a Thousand Candles

    The House of a Thousand Candles

  • Boss of Boomtown

    Boss of Boomtown

  • The Relay

    The Relay