Harry Carey Jr. | |
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Carey in 1948
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Born |
Henry George Carey Jr. May 16, 1921 Saugus, Santa Clarita, California, U.S. |
Died | December 27, 2012 Santa Barbara, California, U.S. |
(aged 91)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1946–2012 |
Spouse(s) | Marilyn Fix (1944–2012, his death) |
Children | 4 |
Parent(s) | Harry Carey and Olive Carey |
Relatives | Father-in-law Paul Fix |
Military career | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/branch | United States Navy |
Signature | |
Henry George "Dobe" Carey Jr. (May 16, 1921 – December 27, 2012), known as Harry Carey Jr., was an American actor. He appeared in more than 90 films, including several John Ford Westerns, as well as numerous television series.
Carey was born in the Saugus neighborhood of Santa Clarita, California, the son of actor Harry Carey (1878–1947) and actress Olive Carey (1896–1988). As a child, he learned to speak Navajo. His maternal grandfather was vaudeville entertainer George Fuller Golden. As a boy, he was nicknamed "Dobe", short for adobe, because of the color of his hair. He grew up on his parent's ranch in Santa Clarita; they had horses and cattle. His family ranch was later turned into a historic park by the Los Angeles County and was named Tesoro Adobe Park.
He served with the United States Navy during World War II. He was a United States medical corpsman, but was later assigned to do work in motion pictures. For this assignment, he worked with John Ford on films for the U.S. Military. Both of his parents had appearances in Ford's films as well. After the war, however, he attempted a singing career to avoid acting, but was unsuccessful.
He married Marilyn Fix, daughter of actor Paul Fix, in 1944. The couple went on to have four children.
Carey began acting in the with his father. Carey collaborated frequently with director John Ford, who was a close friend. He appeared in such notable Ford films as 3 Godfathers (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). He became a respected character actor like his father. Carey appeared in many Westerns. He made four films with director Howard Hawks. The first was Red River, which featured both Carey and his father in separate scenes, followed by Monkey Business, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Rio Bravo. Carey is credited in Rio Bravo, but his scenes were cut. Carey speculated that Hawks either did not like Carey's outfit or cut the scene because Carey addressed Hawks as "Howard" instead of "Mr. Hawks".