Harry Carey, Jr., 1921-2012

Veteran western character actor Harry Carey, Jr. died on Thursday night at the age of 91. Carey was a staple in the movies of John Ford, which is something you might have noticed last week if you watched a fair deal of TCM. Carey narrated a piece on John Wayne that was presumably done some years back when Wayne was Star of the Month. The piece deals a lot with the movies that Wayne made with director John Ford, since Carey was in several of those and one would guess is how Carey became close friends to John Wayne. I believe the piece was being run specifically for the 1940s version of 3 Godfathers which stars Wayne and has Carey in a supporting role.

I have to admit I've never really mentioned Carey much around these parts, largely because I'm not particularly a fan of John Ford, or John Wayne, and westerns aren't my favorite genre, so I tend not to watch them as often. But Carey was in a lot of the westerns that are considered superlatives in the genre. There's The Searchers, Red River, and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon for starters. One western I've recommended that has Carey as a supporting character is Bandolero!, which I recommended nearly three years ago. (My how time flies.)

Later in his career Carey had a notable appearance in the non-western Gremlins. One other non-western with Carey in the cast that I've recommended before is the John Wayne version of Island in the Sky.