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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.
as Villager (uncredited)
as Music Hall Drunk (Uncredited)
as Townsman (uncredited)
as Townsman Watching Fight (uncredited)
as Barfly (uncredited)
as Barfly (uncredited)
as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
as Reporter (uncredited)
as Man in Dream Sequence (uncredited)
as Prisoner
as Barfly (uncredited)
as Cashier (uncredited)
as Barfly (uncredited)
as Church Member
as Blackjack Dealer
as Spectator (uncredited)
as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
as Townsman (uncredited)
as Convention Delegate (uncredited)
as Party Guest (uncredited)
as Police Detective (uncredited)
as Reporter (uncredited)
as Sergeant Goring
as Mongul Guard (uncredited)
as Deputy Charlie (uncredited)
as Bartender (uncredited)
as Townsman (uncredited)
as Workman (uncredited)
as Expressman (uncredited)
as Policeman (uncredited)
as Station Agent (uncredited)
as Sergeant Rinaldi
as Durko (uncredited)
as Jack Purcell (uncredited)
as Bar Patron (uncredited)
as Drunk (uncredited)
as Citizen (uncredited)
as Umpire (uncredited)
as Bartender
as Projectionist (uncredited)
as Charles McMahon
as Second Investigating Detective (Uncredited)
as Townsman (uncredited)
as Baggage Man
as Mike
as Man in Café (uncredited)
as Assistant Overseer (uncredited)
as Moving Man (uncredited)
as Cashier / Nick's Assistant Bouncer (uncredited)
as Bartender (uncredited)
as Henchman Mike (uncredited)
as Mike (uncredited)
as Bartender (uncredited)
as George
as Truck Driver
as Jake (uncredited)
as Sailor (uncredited)
as Military Police Driver (uncredited)
as Sergeant George Dunne
as Rudy the Sailor
as Policeman Temple (uncredited)
as Jailer (uncredited)
as Buck
as Villa Luigi Headwaiter
as Tom's Best Man (uncredited)
as Recruiting Sergeant
as Moving Man (uncredited)
as Guard (uncredited)
as Deputy (uncredited)
as Tough Guy
as Fisherman (uncredited)
as Sergeant
as Jack - Diner Counterman (uncredited)
as Bartender
as Fats Delaney
as Jamison
as Partner
as Cab Driver (Uncredited)
as Joe
as Shirtless Ditchdigger (uncredited)
as Streetcar Conductor
as Max - Radioman
as Cherry's Cabbie
as Bus Driver Jackson (uncredited)
as Waiter (uncredited)
as Sweeney, Driver (uncredited)
as Ship Porter (uncredited)
as Bill - Policeman in Car 43
as Cowboy
as Burglar
as Guard (uncredited)
as Highway Patrol Officer
as Jim
as Soldier
as Headwaiter - Mexican Pete's
as Truck Driver
as Police Lt. Joe Wilson
as Gangster (uncredited)
as Policeman (uncredited)
as Bet Placing Taxi Driver (uncredited)
as Workman
as Thug
as Headwaiter
as Brings in Rustler
as Sailor at Wrestling Match
as Hanley's Strong-Arm Man
as Salesman
as Guest
as Nolan's Henchman (uncredited)
as Boss Mechanic
as Visitor (uncredited)
as Joe - Truck Driver-Henchman
as Marine Corporal (uncredited)
as Guest
as Tough Casino Decoy
as Hobo
as Henchman Kincaid
as Chinatown Barker
as Brakeman
as Sam Johnson - Milk Man (uncredited)
as Blackie
as Jake - Trucker in Cafe (uncredited)
as Ernie - Counter Girl's Boyfriend
as Party Guest (uncredited)
as Baggage Man (uncredited)
as Joey
as Shakey
as Prison Runner
as Marine
as School Bus Driver (uncredited)
as Truck Driver in Diner (uncredited)
as Dan - Corridor Guard (uncredited)
as Cell Block E Convict (uncredited)
as Chuck Cannon
as Diner Trying to Date Helen
as Man Outside Hotel
as Fireman
as Sam, Second Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)
as Lester - O'Bannion's Driver
as Actor Impersonating Kruger in Newsreel (uncredited)
as Pirate (uncredited)
as Soldier
as Bennie
as Drunken Brawler
as Davis
as Henchman
as Reporter
as Milkman's Helper on Dock
as Himself (uncredited)
as Pug O'Leary
as Gibson
as Sailor
as Reporter
as Gangster
as Taxi Driver Henchman
as Reporter
as Morley
as Taxicab Driver
as Simmons
as Convict Football Player
as Hold-Up Man
as Reporter
as Evans - Bob's Chauffeur
as Slade
as Max
as Ernest Dallas
as Slade
as Grip
as Policeman in Car (uncredited)
as Pete
as Bob
as Reporter (uncredited)
as Vorobiov
as Military Policeman
as Radio Operator (uncredited)
as Thug
as Ferguson - Pilot
as Sargento de Policia
as Convict Road Laborer (extra)
as A Hood
as Bartender
as Student
as Sophomore
as Student
