Bill Cody, Jr.

Bill Cody Jr. (April 18, 1925 – August 11, 1989) was an American motion picture child actor.

Born William Joseph Cody Jr. in Los Angeles, California, where his father Bill Cody was a cowboy star of B-movie westerns, the youngster was reportedly 7 years old when he accompanied his father on a personal appearance tour throughout the United States. Bill Cody Jr. was nine years old when he began appearing in films, the first four of which were with his father.

Billed simply as Billy Jr. for his first screen appearance, a featured role in Ray Kirkwood's first Bill Cody western, Frontier Days, released late in 1934 by Spectrum Pictures, the 9-year-old was cast as the younger brother of leading lady Ada Ince. As fresh Bart Wilson, whose father is murdered by despicable outlaws seeking control of the family ranch, Billy delivered a lively performance which prompted Kirkwood to include him in future Cody westerns. He was his father's virtual co-star in The Vanishing Riders, in which both Codys masquerade as ghost riders to demoralize a superstitious gang of rustlers led by Wally Wales. By the time he appeared in his father's final Spectrum release, Outlaws of the Range, such trade publications as Film Daily were commenting on his "fine, natural performance, which should win him a legion of fans."

Both Codys made personal appearances with a wild west show in 1935, after which Ray Kirkwood announced plans for a 1936-37 series of eight westerns co-starring the father and son. In February 1936, production on the first film in the new series, The Reckless Buckarooo, was halted when an altercation between Kirkwood and his backer - Monarch Laboratories - reportedly resulted in the producer's being removed from the set and replaced by director Harry Fraser. By the first of March, Fraser had finished shooting the picture, but Kirkwood could not secure financing for the continuation of the series. An exceptionally likable western, The Reckless Buckaroo proved to be Bill Cody's final starring role and the last time the father and son worked together.

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