
Acting
Born October 14, 1888 · Traver, California, USA
Paul Hurst (October 15, 1888 - February 27, 1953) was an American character actor of prodigious output who also directed and wrote silent films. Much of his early work was in low budget western films. A native of central California, Hurst had a first-hand knowledge of Western lore, growing up surrounded by the multi-million acre Lux & Miller ranches which ran cattle throughout the state. Visiting San Francisco as a young man, Hurst became involved in amateur theatricals and thereafter traveled to Los Angeles to join in the emerging film industry there. He began appearing in films as early as 1912, most of them Westerns. By 1916, he was directing them as well (some sources report that he served in the First World War as a member of the French Foreign Legion, but the dates of his film projects make this story highly suspect). In the early 1920s, Hurst wrote several scenarios for films he directed and appeared in. He proved adept at working as a director for some of the cheapest producers along Gower Gulch, where movies were normally shot on location in a week or less and where stunt men were often the highest paid folks on the set. Within a few years, he focused all of his energies into acting, notably becoming one of the few successes to emerge from Hollywood's Poverty Row. Hurst quickly became one of the more prolific and familiar characters in American movies. With his blocky build and squinty demeanor, and with a raspy voice that enhanced his memorability once sound pictures came in, Hurst played villains and cops and comedy sidekicks in more than 250 films. His most famous role was that of the deserter shot dead on the stairway of Tara by Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939). Hurst was the sidekick to Monte Hale in a number of B-Westerns. Former Gower Gulch veteran John Wayne hired Hurst for Big Jim McLain (1952) knowing that Hurst was ill with terminal cancer. In 1953, at the age of 64, due to his health problems, Paul Hurst committed suicide. Date of Death: 27 February 1953, Hollywood, California (suicide)
Outlaw's Paradise
1927

Blue Streak O'Neil
1926
The Fighting Ranger
1926

The Midnight Message
1926

Roaring Road
1926
The Law of the Snow Country
1926

Haunted Range
1926

The Demon Rider
1925
The Fighting Cub
1925
The Were-Tiger
1925

A Western Engagement
1925

Folly of Youth
1925

Branded a Bandit
1924

The Passing of Wolf MacLean
1924

Battling Bunyan
1924
The Man Who Would Not Die
1924
Golden Silence
1923
South of Northern Lights
1922

The Crow's Nest
1922

Table Top Ranch
1922

The Heart of a Texan
1922

Rangeland
1922

King Fisher's Roost
1921

Shadows of the West
1921

Lightning Bryce
1919

The Tiger's Trail
1919
Play Straight or Fight
1918

The Woman in the Web
1918

The Further Adventures of Stingaree
1917

The Railroad Raiders
1917

A Lass of the Lumberlands
1916

The Red Signal
1915

The Sun Shines Bright
1953

Toughest Man in Arizona
1952

Big Jim McLain
1952

Million Dollar Pursuit
1951

The Missourians
1950

The Old Frontier
1950

The Vanishing Westerner
1950

Pioneer Marshal
1949

Ranger of Cherokee Strip
1949

San Antone Ambush
1949

South of Rio
1949

Outcasts of the Trail
1949

Law of the Golden West
1949

Prince of the Plains
1949

Gun Smugglers
1948

Yellow Sky
1948

Son of God’s Country
1948

The Arizona Ranger
1948

Heart of Virginia
1948

Who Killed Doc Robbin?
1948

California Firebrand
1948

Madonna of the Desert
1948

Under Colorado Skies
1947

Angel and the Badman
1947

The Plainsman and the Lady
1946

Death Valley
1946

In Old Sacramento
1946

The Virginian
1946

Murder in the Music Hall
1946