Richard Arlen

About

Leading man during Hollywood's silent film era who played the world-weary hero in many pictures of the '20s and '30s. His western credits include Wanted: Dead or Alive, Wagon Train, and Lawman.

Before Fame

He served in the Royal Canadian Flying Corps during WWI, though he never saw combat, and got a job at Paramount Pictures after falling off a bike and breaking his leg on their parking lot.

Trivia

Unlike most of his fellow actors, he leaped from silent pictures to talkies without a problem, and continued to play in adventure and western films into the 1940s.

Family Life

He was married three times. His second wife, Jobyna Ralston, was also a popular actress during the silent film era.

Associated With

He starred in the 1927 Oscar-winning film, Wings, which also featured a young man named Gary Cooper.