Nat Pendleton in 1935.
Whether he’s an affable lug or a dangerous mobster, the face of the dark-haired 6 foot character actor is one film fans recognized in the 1930s and 1940s.
Character actor Nat Pendleton acted in uncredited roles and in the supporting cast from 1926 to 1947.
But before Pendleton performed as Sandow the Great in the biographical film “The Great Ziegfeld” (1936), he was flexing his muscles for different reasons.
Pendleton’s fame originally came in the form of a silver medal in the super heavy weight freestyle wrestling division at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. That year, United States won 41 Gold, 27 Silver, and 27 Bronze medals, winning the medals by any of the 29 nations attending.
Pendleton lost only one match during the Olympics and turned pro after the games. In 1923, he was set to fight John “Tigerman” Pesek in Boston and lost, left with torn ligaments in his leg, according to “Legends of Pro Wrestling” by Tim Hornbaker.
After the loss, Pendleton turned to Hollywood.
Nat Pendleton wrestling
Pendleton first started on Broadway in the 1920s and went to Hollywood working for nearly all of major film studios: Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Columbia and MGM.
Nat Pendleton in “Buck Privates” (1941) playing his stereotypical dumb character.
MGM was where Pendleton’s career was most profitable, becoming a regular in film series “Dr. Kildare” and “The Thin Man.”
Due to his size, Pendleton was often cast as gangster brutes, stupid police officers and confused oafs.
Though the IQ level of Pendleton’s characters was never very high, Nat Pendleton was no idiot.
Graduating from Columbia University in 1916, Pendleton received an economics degree and spoke four languages. He was inducted into the Columbia wrestling all of fame in 2006.
Nat Pendleton as Joe the ambulance driver with Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie in “Calling Dr. Kildare” (1939)
His talent in Hollywood wasn’t limited to acting. He also wrote the screenplay for “Deception” (1932) where he played a wrestler in the film.
Aside from his wrestling skills on the mat, Pendleton may be a forgotten character actor, but he is one of my favorites. He is likable even as a ruthless mobster.
My favorite character of Pendleton’s is as ambulance driver Joe Wayman in the Dr. Kildare film series. Wayman is a lovable and humorous character. Of the 15 films, Pendleton’s character was replaced by Red Skelton. Though I enjoy Skelton, there was a hole left in the films without Pendleton’s character.
Another memorable role for Nat Pendleton is portraying the real-life strongman Sandow in “The Great Ziegfeld” (1936).
After acting in Hollywood since 1926, his last film role was in 1947 in the Abbot and Costello film “Buck Privates Come Home.” He passed away in 1967 at the age of 72.
This is part of the What a Character Blogathon
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