Editing Rory Calhoun (section)

== Life and career ==
=== 1922–1943: Troubled early life ===
Francis Timothy McCown was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Elizabeth Cuthbert and Floyd Conley McCown,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://discover.familytreedna.com/y-dna/R-MC00/notable | title=FamilyTreeDNA Discover Notable }}</ref> a professional gambler. He spent his early years in [[Santa Cruz, California]].<ref name=sei/> He was of Irish ancestry.<ref name="sei">{{Cite news|last=Oliver|first=Myrna|date=April 29, 1999|title=Rory Calhoun; Handsome Actor Starred in 1950s Westerns, TV Series|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-apr-29-mn-32268-story.html|access-date=September 15, 2010}}</ref> At age 13, he stole a revolver, for which he was sent to the California Youth Authority's [[Preston School of Industry]] reformatory at [[Ione, California]]. He escaped while in the adjustment center (jail within the jail).<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Bawden |first1=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mG6oCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Rory+Calhoun%22+%22Frank+McCown%22&pg=PT43 |title=Conversations with Classic Film Stars: Interviews from Hollywood's Golden Era |last2=Miller |first2=Ron |date=April 1, 2016 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-6711-4 |pages=43 |language=en}}</ref>

He left home at 17 to escape beatings from his stepfather and began hot-wiring cars.<ref name="sei" />

After robbing several jewelry stores, he stole a car and drove it across state lines. This was a federal offense, so when he was recaptured, he was sentenced to three years in prison. He served his sentence at the [[United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners]] in Springfield, Missouri.<ref name="sei" /> He remained there until he was paroled shortly before his 21st birthday.<ref>''The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson'' by Robert Hofler, Carroll & Graf, 2005, p. 137 {{ISBN|0-7867-1607-X}}</ref>

Calhoun worked at a number of odd jobs, including as a mechanic, logger in California's redwoods, hard-rock miner in Nevada, cowboy in Arizona, fisherman, truck driver, crane operator, and forest firefighter.<ref name="hedda">{{cite news|last=Hopper|first=Hedda|title=Rory Roars On!|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=November 30, 1952|page=C10}}</ref>

=== 1944–1945: Early acting credits as Frank McCown ===
In January 1944, he met actor [[Alan Ladd]] while riding horseback in the [[Hollywood Hills]]. Impressed with Calhoun's physique, Ladd introduced him to his wife [[Sue Carol]], who was a [[talent agent]]. She arranged for him to have a screen test at [[20th Century Fox]], and he was cast in uncredited roles for ''[[Something for the Boys (film)|Something for the Boys]]'' (1944) and ''[[Sunday Dinner for a Soldier]]'' (1944).<ref name="calhoun">{{cite news|last=Calhoun|first=Rory|title=My Dark Years|work=The Washington Post and Times-Herald|date=August 28, 1955|id={{ProQuest|148706189}}}}</ref><ref name="vallance1999" /> He had a one-line role in a [[Laurel and Hardy]] comedy, ''[[The Bullfighters]]'' (1945), credited under the name Frank McCown.

He also appeared in ''[[Where Do We Go from Here? (1945 film)|Where Do We Go from Here?]]'' (1945), ''[[The Great John L.]]'' (1945) (as [[Gentleman Jim Corbett]]), and ''[[Nob Hill (film)|Nob Hill]]'' (1945).

"I liked the money it brought in," said Calhoun. "And I felt it would be nice to go back to forestry with a neat bank roll when these fellows found me out. I never had any feeling I'd make good."<ref name="hedda"/>

=== 1945–1949: Change to Rory Calhoun and partnership with David O. Selznick ===
Shortly afterward, the Ladds hosted a party attended by [[David O. Selznick]] employee [[Henry Willson]], an agent who was known for representing young actors. Willson signed McCown to a contract with Selznick's company Vanguard and his name was soon changed to Rory Calhoun.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Willis |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXCinWTJVacC&dq=%22Rory+Calhoun%22+%22Frank+McCown%22&pg=PA355 |title=Screen World 2000 |last2=Monush |first2=Barry |date=2001 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-1-55783-431-7 |pages=355 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> According to Calhoun, Selznick told him his first name should be "Rory... because you're a Leo, Leos are lions and lions roar." Selznick suggested either Donahue, Calhoun, or Callahan as a surname, and he picked Calhoun.<ref name="times">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-apr-29-mn-32268-story.html|title=Rory Calhoun; Handsome Actor Starred in 1950s Westerns, TV Series|first=Myrna|last=Oliver|date=April 29, 1999|access-date=March 29, 2018|newspaper=LA Times}}</ref> (In another account of the story, Selznick named him "Rory" because he helped put out roaring fire blazes when a firefighter and "Calhoun" because it sounded Irish.<ref name="calhoun" />)

Calhoun was under contract with Selznick's company Vanguard, being used to do screen tests and make public appearances. His first public appearance in the film capital was as [[Lana Turner]]'s escort to the premiere of [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Spellbound (1945 film)|Spellbound]]'' (1945), a Selznick production. The glamorous blonde and her handsome companion attracted the paparazzi, and photos appeared in newspapers and fan magazines.

In 1945, Calhoun returned to prison after punching a detective.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Tempo: Black-sheep Rory Calhoun comes clean in soap role|author=Dorsey, Helen|work=Chicago Tribune|date=April 25, 1982|page=n1}}</ref>

Calhoun did not appear in a film for a year before being lent to producer [[Sol Lesser]] for ''[[The Red House (film)|The Red House]]'' (1947) with [[Edward G. Robinson]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Grand and Temple to Co-Star for RKO – Will Share Leads in 'Bachelor and Bobby-Sox' – Danny Kaye Film Due Today at Astor|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1946/04/18/archives/grand-and-temple-to-costar-for-rko-will-share-leads-in-bachelor-and.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 18, 1946|page=22|access-date=March 24, 2018}}</ref> He was then loaned to Paramount's [[Pine-Thomas]] [[second feature]] studio to play the lead in ''[[Adventure Island (film)|Adventure Island]]'' (1947) with fellow Selznick contractee [[Rhonda Fleming]].

Calhoun was announced for a film called ''Jet Pilot'' with Fleming, [[Guy Madison]], and other Selznick contract players,<ref>{{cite news|title=Granger Listed for 2 Film Roles: Will Co-Star With Joan Evans and Have Lead in 'Earth and High Heaven' for Goldwyn|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/09/13/archives/granger-listed-for-2-film-roles-will-costar-with-joan-evans-and.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 13, 1948|page=17|access-date=March 24, 2018}}</ref> but it was not made. Instead, he was third lead in ''[[That Hagen Girl]]'' (1947) with [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Shirley Temple]].<ref>Hofler, Robert. (2009). ''The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson''. Starkville Press. pp. 141–142.</ref>

[[Sam Newfield]], who used Calhoun in ''Adventure Island'', cast him again in ''[[Miraculous Journey]]'' (1948). For [[Monogram Pictures|Monogram]], Guy Madison and he were in ''[[Massacre River (film)|Massacre River]]'' (1949). At Fox, Calhoun played a second lead in ''[[Sand (1949 film)|Sand]]'' (1949)

In February 1949, Selznick did a deal with [[Warner Bros.]], lending them seven of his stars, including Calhoun; they took over half his pictures for the rest of his contract with Selznick.<ref>{{cite news|title=Selznick Stars To Do Movies for Warners|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/02/21/archives/selznick-stars-to-do-movies-for-warners.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 21, 1949|page=18|access-date=March 24, 2018}}</ref> He played the villain in ''[[Return of the Frontiersman]]'' (1950) and was hero of Monogram's ''[[County Fair (1950 film)|County Fair]]'' (1950).

=== 1950–1954: 20th Century Fox and stardom ===
In August 1950, Calhoun signed a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox.<ref>{{cite news|last=Brady|first=Thomas F.|title=Boyer Gets Role in Drama at Fox – Will Play 65-Year-Old Doctor in Studio's 'Scarlet Pen' – Preminger Is Directing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/08/17/archives/boyer-gets-role-in-drama-at-fox-will-play-65yearold-doctor-in.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 17, 1950|page=24|access-date=March 24, 2018}}</ref> He had made no films for Selznick. "I didn't worry about it because it was like a long vacation with pay", he said later.<ref name="hedda"/>

During Calhoun's contract with 20th Century Fox, he was in ''[[A Ticket to Tomahawk]]'' (1950) and was second male lead in ''[[I'd Climb the Highest Mountain]]'' (1951) with [[Susan Hayward]] and ''[[Meet Me After the Show]]'' (1951) with [[Betty Grable]].

He went to Ventura to star in a Western ''[[Rogue River (film)|Rogue River]]'' (1951).

He was promoted to co-star for ''[[With a Song in My Heart (film)|With a Song in My Heart]]'' (1952) with Hayward and ''[[Way of a Gaucho]]'' (1952) with [[Gene Tierney]], directed by [[Jacques Tourneur]].

Calhoun was promoted to star in the Westerns ''[[The Silver Whip]]'' (1953) with [[Dale Robertson]] and [[Robert Wagner]] and ''[[Powder River (film)|Powder River]]'' (1953) with [[Corinne Calvet]]. He was in ''[[How to Marry a Millionaire]]'' (1953) as  [[Betty Grable]]'s love interest, then was back to second male leads in ''[[River of No Return]]'' (1954) as [[Marilyn Monroe]]'s boyfriend, who loses her to [[Robert Mitchum]]. Both films were big hits. Calhoun then left Fox.

=== 1954–1956: Freelancing and Universal Studios ===
Calhoun starred in a Western, ''[[The Yellow Tomahawk]]'' (1954). He went to Columbia for ''[[A Bullet Is Waiting]]'' (1954).

Calhoun went to Universal for which he made a Western, ''[[Four Guns to the Border]]'' (1954). He stayed there to star in the musical ''[[Ain't Misbehavin' (film)|Ain't Misbehavin']]'' (1955). Also in 1955, Calhoun and [[Julie Adams]] co-starred in the film ''[[The Looters (1955 film)|The Looters]]''.<ref>Laura King Van Dusen, "Movie Making", ''Historic Tales from Park County: Parked in the Past'' (Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2013); {{ISBN|978-1-62619-161-7}}, pp. 182–183.</ref> He then co-starred with Jeff Chandler in ''[[The Spoilers (1955 film)|The Spoilers]]'' (1955). While filming ''The Spoilers'', Calhoun's conviction history became public when his mugshot appeared on the May 1955 cover of [[Confidential (magazine)|''Confidential'']] magazine.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Barbas|first=Samantha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zwhODwAAQBAJ&q=smoky+calhoun+actor&pg=PT154|title=Confidential Confidential: The Inside Story of Hollywood's Notorious Scandal Magazine|date=September 4, 2018|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=978-0-912777-56-6|language=en}}</ref> When the news came out, he received an offer to play The Champion on ''[[Climax!]]'' and [[RKO Pictures|RKO]] asked him to be in ''[[The Treasure of Pancho Villa]]'' (1955). Ultimately, the disclosure had no negative effect on Calhoun's career and only served to solidify his "bad boy" image.<ref name="calhoun"/>

In 1956, he appeared on the TV show ''[[Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre|Zane Grey Theatre]]''. At Universal, he was in ''[[Red Sundown]]'' (1956) and ''[[Raw Edge]]'' (1956).
He wrote the story for the film ''[[Shotgun (1955 film)|Shotgun]]'' (1955) made by Allied Artists and tried to star in it, but Universal would not lend him. 
In late 1956, he arranged to pull out of his contract with Universal and said his fee was $75,000 per film.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last=Hopper|first=Hedda|date=January 27, 1957|title=Rory Calhoun: 'It's TV For Me!'|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|id={{ProQuest|180053179}}}}</ref>

===1957–1959: Producer and ''The Texan''===
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In 1957, Calhoun formed [[Rorvic Productions]], a production company, with his partner, [[Victor Orsatti]].<ref name=":0" />

He helped produce and starred in ''[[Flight to Hong Kong]]'' (1956), ''[[The Hired Gun (1957 film)|The Hired Gun]]'' (1957), ''[[Domino Kid]]'' (1957), and ''[[Apache Territory]]'' (1958).<ref name="vallance1999">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-rory-calhoun-1091185.html|location=London, UK|work=The Independent|first=Tom|last=Vallance|title=Obituary: Rory Calhoun|date=May 3, 1999}}</ref>

He made ''[[Utah Blaine]]'' (1957) for [[Sam Katzman]] and ''[[The Big Caper]]'' (1957) for [[Pine-Thomas]]. For [[Kirk Douglas]]' company, he appeared in ''[[Ride Out for Revenge]]'' (1958), and he returned to Universal for ''[[The Saga of Hemp Brown]]'' (1958).

In 1958, on the recommendation of studio boss [[Desi Arnaz]], Calhoun co-produced and starred in the television series ''[[The Texan (TV series)|The Texan]]'', which aired on Monday evenings until 1960. He said in a 1959 article that the only two good films he made were ''With a Song in My Heart'' and ''How to Marry a Millionaire'', with the rest being "terrible".<ref>{{cite news|title=Rory Calhoun Final Finds His Audience|author= Vernon, Scott|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=May 24, 1959|page=sw25}}</ref>

Calhoun produced and wrote screenplays throughout his career. ''The Texan'' could have filmed a third year, but Calhoun wanted to concentrate on films.<ref>Billy Hathorn, "Roy Bean, Temple Houston, Bill Longley, Ranald Mackenzie, Buffalo Bill, Jr. and the Texas Rangers: Depictions of West Texans in Series Television, 1955 to 1967", ''[[West Texas Historical Review]]'', Vol. 89 (2013), pp. 110–112</ref> On March 26, 1959, he appeared as himself in the episode "Rory Calhoun, The Texan" on the sitcom ''[[December Bride]]'', starring [[Spring Byington]].

===1960s===
After ''The Texan'' ended, Calhoun starred in ''[[Thunder in Carolina]]'' (1960). He appeared on TV shows such as ''[[Gunsmoke]]'', ''[[Death Valley Days]]'', and ''[[Bonanza]]''.

Calhoun went to Spain for ''[[The Colossus of Rhodes (film)|The Colossus of Rhodes]]'' (1961) directed by [[Sergio Leone]]. (He was robbed during filming.<ref>{{cite news|title=Rory Calhoun Robbed|work=The Washington Post and Times-Herald|date=September 29, 1960|page=A21}}</ref>) He did ''[[The Treasure of Monte Cristo]]'' (1961) in Britain, then did ''[[Marco Polo (1962 film)|Marco Polo]]'' (1962) in Italy.

He returned to the U.S. to make several films for producer [[A.C. Lyles]], such as ''[[The Young and The Brave]]'' (1963), ''[[Young Fury]]'' (1965), and ''[[Apache Uprising]]'' (1965), as well as other films such as ''[[Face in the Rain]]'' (1963).

Calhoun was considered for the lead of James West in the 1965–1969 CBS series ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'', but the producers were not impressed with his screen test and instead chose [[Robert Conrad]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Roman | first=James W. | title=From Daytime to Primetime: The History of American Television Programs | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group | year=2005 | page=37}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nctc.net/hazard/conrad/shadoe/ | title=Shadoe Steele's Interview with Actor Robert Conrad | date=April 25, 2007 | website=nctc.net | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203431/http://www.nctc.net/hazard/conrad/shadoe/ | archive-date=September 27, 2007 | access-date=July 10, 2022}}</ref> He returned to Europe to make ''[[Our Men in Bagdad]]'' (1966) and ''[[The Emerald of Artatama]]'' (1969).

===Later career===
Calhoun continued to appear in both television and film throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including ''[[Thunder in Carolina]]'', ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'', ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'', ''[[Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series)|Hawaii Five-O]]'', ''[[Alias Smith and Jones]]'' and ''[[Starsky and Hutch]]''.
He also wrote the novels ''The Man From Padera'' (1979) and ''Cerrado'' (1980).

In 1982, Calhoun had a regular role on the soap opera ''[[Capitol (TV series)|Capitol]]'', having been persuaded to accept the role by his family after his regret over turning down a part on CBS's ''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodcultmovies.com/html/rory_calhoun_interview.html|title=Rory Calhoun Interview at Hollywood Cult Movies}}</ref> He stayed with the series until 1987.<ref>{{cite news | title= Rory Calhoun: Obituary | date= April 29, 1999 | url= http://archive.salon.com/people/obit/1999/04/29/calhoun/index.html | access-date= November 30, 2007 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090130020318/http://archive.salon.com/people/obit/1999/04/29/calhoun/index.html | archive-date= January 30, 2009 }}</ref>

Calhoun became known to a new generation for several roles in cult films such as ''[[Night of the Lepus]]'' (1972), ''[[Motel Hell]]'' (1980), ''[[Angel (1984 film)|Angel]]'' (1984), and its sequel ''[[Avenging Angel (1985 film)|Avenging Angel]]'' (1985), as well as ''[[Hell Comes to Frogtown]]'' (1987).

His final role was that of grizzled family patriarch and rancher Ernest Tucker in the film ''[[Pure Country]]'' (1992).