Rand Brooks

Arlington Rand Brooks Jr September 21 1918 September 1 2003 was an American film and television actor Brooks was born in Wright City Missouri He was the son of Arlington Rand Brooks a farmer His mother and he moved to Los Angeles when he was four though he continued to spend summers in Wright City Brooks continued to make visits to his hometown of Wright City into the 1950s up to and following the death of his father in 1950 His mother and his grandfather were actors After leaving school Brooks got a screen test at MGM and was given a bit part in Love Finds Andy Hardy 1938 His big fame came with his part as Charles Hamilton in Gone with the Wind 1939 a role which he later admitted he despised he wanted to play more macho parts He made 100 per week under contract at MGM but when he was on loan to Selznick International Pictures for Gone with the Wind he made 500 per week After Gone With the Wind he had relatively small parts in other movies including Babes in Arms then a regular role as Lucky in the Hopalong Cassidy series of Westerns in the mid1940s Brooks succeeded Russell Hayden in the role Among the films which starred William Boyd as Hopalong were Hoppys Holiday The Dead Dont Dream and Borrowed Trouble He received positive notice for his work in Fools Gold with Variety reporting that he did an excellent job In edited halfhour versions of some of the films he appeared in 12 of the 52 episodes of the Hopalong Cassidy television series In 1948 he costarred with Adele Jergens and Marilyn Monroe in the lowbudget blackandwhite Columbia Pictures film Ladies of the Chorus Brooks became the first actor to share an onscreen kiss with Monroe who in a few years was one of the worlds biggest movie stars Filmed in just 10 days the film was released soon after its completion Variety called his performance in the 1952 film The Steel Fist capable Television brought new opportunities again often in Westerns He played Cpl Randy Boone in the 1950s television series The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin Brooks had guest roles in 1950s Western series including Mackenzies Raiders The Lone Ranger Maverick Gunsmoke and Bonanza He appeared twice on the syndicated adventure series Rescue 8 as well as on CBSs Perry Mason courtroom drama series In 1962 he directed and produced a movie about brave dogs Bearheart but the film was entangled in legal troubles due to his business managers involvement in crimes such as forgery and graft The film was finally released in 1978 under the title Legend of the Northwest After he left show business Brooks ran a private ambulance company in Glendale California He commented that he died in more pictures than almost anyone and that though he was never very big in show business he was willing to return to it Brooks sold the ambulance company in 1994 and retired to his ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley where he bred champion Andalusian horses He attended a Gone with the Wind reunion for Clark Gables birthday along with Ann Rutherford and Fred Crane in Cadiz Ohio in 1992 On September 1 2003 Brooks died in Santa Ynez California