Ted Mapes
| Ted Mapes | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
John Tylor Mapes November 25, 1901 St. Edward, Nebraska, United States |
| Died | September 9, 1984 (aged 82) Burbank, California, United States |
| Occupation | Actor, stuntman |
| Years active | 1929–69 |
Ted Mapes was an American character actor, who was also a prolific stuntman and body double. Born on November 25, 1901 in St. Edward, Nebraska, he moved to Los Angeles in his mid-20s, and entered the film industry in 1929, first as a grip, and then as a stuntman and actor. He doubled for many famous actors, including Jimmy Stewart and Gary Cooper. His film and television career spanned forty years, during which time he appeared in hundreds of films and television shows, either as an actor, stuntman or body double. After his career in front of the camera ended in 1969, Mapes became an advocate for animal safety in films, working as an observer on sets for the American Humane Association.
Born John Tylor Mapes, he grew up on the farm and ranch owned by his father. At some point in his mid-20s, he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked for a moving company. When he was on a job moving John Barrymore's affects off the Samuel Goldwyn studio, he learned that studio grips were making twice his rate of pay. Shortly after he became a grip, working on film crews for the next five years.
While working as a grip on the 1935 Christy Cabanne film, One Frightened Night, he received his first bit role, that of a masked killer. His first official role came later that year, in the drama, The Silent Code. While he would be cast in almost 70 films over the next 25 years, most of those roles were in smaller roles. Mapes spent the rest of the 1930s acting in several film serials, including The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (for which he also did stunts), which is considered by some as the finest serial ever shot at Columbia Pictures;The Lone Ranger Rides Again, Dick Tracy's G-Men, Zorro's Fighting Legion, Son of Zorro, Adventures of Captain Marvel, and Adventures of Red Ryder. Mapes was up for the lead in Red Ryder, but the role eventually went to Don "Red" Barry.
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