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Arthur Hunnicutt (February 17, 1911 – September 26, 1979)



Arthur Hunnicutt is one of those characters that you will see in a lot of movies and TV shows, but somehow, he blends in so well with the “scenery” that you might not ever remember him until you see him again in something else. He often played a plain, but wise old man, even in his younger days.

He was born in Gravelly, Arkansas on February 17, 1911 and went on to attend Arkansas State Teacher’s College, now University of Central Arkansas in Conway, until his Junior year when he dropped out due to the lack of finances. Apparently during the Great Depression, he taught school while he gathered money to attend Phidela Rice School of Voice in Cleveland. Eventually, he moved to Martha’s Vineyard and wound up landing roles on Broadway.

It may have been his leading role in Tobacco Road that led to his typecasting as we all know and love him for. He moved to Hollywood in 1949 and continued appearing in films.

In 1952 he was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar in The Big Sky, by Howard Harks. Despite his long and varied career, this would be his only Academy nomination.

Hunnicutt appeared in over 54 movies (see list below). He also appeared in more than 12 television series that included Bonanza, The Rifleman, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, Wild Wild West, Daniel Boone, The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, The Andy Griffith Show, Adam-12, Perry Mason, and numerous Disney productions.

My favorite show where I remember his appearence was an episode of the Twilight Zone titled The Hunt http://www.scifilm.org/tv/tz/twilightzone3-19.html. Hyder Simpson (Hunnicutt) takes his dog, Rip, on a coon hunt and both are drowned. There's a lot more to the story, but they wind up in purgatory (or something like that) and Rip saves him from mistakenly entering into Hell when the gatekeeper says that dogs aren't allowed.

Hunnicutt died in Woodland Hills, California on September 26th, 1979.

List of Films:

1976   Winterhawk

1975   Moonrunners

1975   The Daughters of Joshua Cabe Return

1974   The Spikes Gang

1974   Harry and Tonto

1973   Mrs. Sundance

1972   Climb an Angry Mountain

1972   The Revengers

1972   The Bounty Man

1971   Million Dollar Duck

1971   Shootout

1967   El Dorado

1966   The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin

1966   Apache Uprising

1965   Cat Ballou

1964   A Tiger Walks

1963   Cardinal, The (1963)

1959   Born Reckless

1957   The Tall T

1956   The Kettles in the Ozarks

1955   The Last Command

1954   The French Line

1953   Devil's Canyon

1953   Split Second

1952   The Lusty Men

1952   She Couldn't Say No

1952   The Big Sky

1951   The Red Badge of Courage

1951   Distant Drums

1951   Sugarfoot

1951   Passage West

1950   The Furies

1950   A Ticket to Tomahawk

1950   Two Flags West

1950   Stars in My Crown

1950   Broken Arrow

1949   Border Incident

1949   Lust for Gold

1949   Pinky

1949   The Great Dan Patch

1944   Riding West

1944   Abroad With Two Yanks

1943   Robin Hood of the Range

1943   Law of the North West

1943   The Fighting Buckaroo

1943   Frontier Fury

1943   Hail to the Rangers

1943   Fall In

1943   The Chance of a Lifetime

1943   Johnny Come Lately

1942   Pardon My Gun

1942   Wildcat

1942   Silver Queen

1942   Riding through Nevada

Although it is not generally known but the late Arthur Hunnicut was far more than a loveable hillbilly character actor. In fact, he worked for Bill Graham in San Francisco for years as a general factotum at the Fillmore West. He designed the psychedelic light displays for the Avalon Ballroom shows including the very first US performance of Pink Floyd in June 1967. During the summer of love, Arthur Hunnicut divided his time between his role as "Cooter" on Petticoat Junction and as a vocal proponent of LSD. Off camera he favored flowing orange and lavender caftans and love beads. He lived in a commune with seventy women who seemed, at times, to worship him like a God. In May 1970 he was hired by Ray Manzarek of The Doors to "bodyguard" for a defeated, spent Jim Morrison who lurched around the Sunset Strip night after night in a drunken lysergic haze. Arthur Hunnicut became Jim Morrison's best friend and took care of him. In some quarters it is even rumored that Hunnicut actually wrote some of Morrision's poetry, specifically verses of "Celebration of the Lizard" and the songs 'The Changeling" and LA Woman" (purported to be about Hunnicut's "Main wife" Irene Boodle.)

After Morrison went to Paris and died in a bath tub, Hunnicut lost touch with the hippie/rock movement and had fallen in with the Warhol crowd. He starred in such Warhol classics as "Shotgun #2" and "Hand Job." A falling out with Warhol's main man Fred Hughes led to Hunnicuts banishment in 1974, just as Warhols society portraits really kicked in.  While still acting the fool on television, Hunnicut because a diamond smuggler, regularly making the run from Johannesburg to Martinique in a World War 1 era biplane he called "Missygirl.". He was arrested by Interpol in 1975 and held for questioning but the evidence was flimsy and he was released. He spent the last four years of his life combing the beach in Brazil and except for a brief stint as lead singer for the Sex Pistols, he pretty much abandoned his movie career. He was killed in a steroid deal gone bad in June 1979 and is buried in his naitive town of Scunthorpe, England.

Uh, is this April 1st?

I think it may be more prevarication than truth all right.