Al "Fuzzy" St. John
| Al St. John | |
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Al St. John in Who's Who on the Screen
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| Born |
Alfred St. John September 10, 1892 Santa Ana, California, U.S. |
| Died | January 21, 1963 (aged 70) Lyons, Georgia, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Occupation | Actor, stunt performer, director, writer |
| Years active | 1912-1962 |
| Spouse(s) | Lillian Marion Ball (October 5, 1914–March 19, 1923; divorced); 1 child June Price Pearce (1926–19??) Yvonne St. John (maiden name unknown; 19??–19??) Flo-Bell Moore (19??–1963; his death) |
| Parent(s) | Walter St. John Nora Arbuckle |
Al St. John (September 10, 1892 – January 21, 1963) was an American film actor. In his persona of Fuzzy Q. Jones, St. John basically defined the role and concept of "comical sidekick" to cowboy heroes from 1930 to 1951.
Born in Santa Ana, California to Walter St. John and Nora Arbuckle, he entered silent films around 1912 and soon rose to co-starring and starring roles in short comic films from a variety of studios. His uncle on his mother's side, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, may have helped him in his early days at Mack Sennett Studios, but talent kept him working. He was a remarkable acrobat. St. John frequently appeared as Arbuckle's mischievously villainous rival for the attentions of leading ladies such as Mabel Normand and worked with Arbuckle and Charles Chaplin in The Rounders (1914). The most critically praised film from St. John's period with Arbuckle remains Fatty and Mabel Adrift (1916) with Normand.
When Arbuckle formed his own production company, he brought St. John with him and recruited stage star Buster Keaton into his films, creating a formidable roughhouse trio. After Arbuckle was victimized by a trumped-up scandal that prevented him from appearing in movies, he pseudonymously directed his nephew Al as a comic leading man in silent and sound films such as The Iron Mule (1925) and Bridge Wives (1932). Dozens of St. John's early films were screened during the 56-film Arbuckle retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 2006.
During the sound era St. John was mainly seen as an increasingly scruffy and bearded comic character. He played this rube role in Buster Keaton's 1937 comedy Love Nest on Wheels. That same year he began supporting cowboy stars Fred Scott and later Jack Randall, but most of his films were made for Poverty Row studio Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC). For that studio, he played "Fuzzy Q. Jones" in the Billy the Kid series starring Bob Steele, the Lone Rider series (starring George Houston and later Bob Livingston), and the Billy the Kid/Billy Carson series starring Buster Crabbe.
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