Buddy Roosevelt — Biographical Sketch (1927) 🇺🇸

Buddy Roosevelt came naturally by his ability both as an actor and as a Western star. He is a true product of the Western ranch, and he is the son of Charlotte Spooner, well-known as an opera singer. Buddy was born and raised in Meeker. Col., and his father was judge in Rio Blanco county, and known throughout the Rocky Mountain district as “Sandy.”

Buddy learned to ride before he learned anything else. During his career in the public schools in Meeker he rode nine miles to and from school daily. And they hadn’t a bronc too tough for him to ride by the time he got out of school. Shortly after he joined the C. B. Irwin Wild West Show he was identified by the cowboys as “the ridin’ fool,” a much cherished cowboy compliment.

Despite his ability in the saddle, Buddy found it hard to get work in Hollywood, and was forced to take a job as dishwasher in the Methodist Hospital in Los Angeles. Later he was engaged to double in stunts at Inceville for some of the leading feminine stars of the day, among them Dorothy Dalton, Louise Glaum, Enid Markey, Billie Burke, Bessie Barriscale and others.

Following a term in the navy during the war, Buddy returned to Los Angeles and took a job chopping wood at $3.50 a day, but shortly succeeded in getting a job at Universal City as all-around cowboy and stunt man. Eventually an offer came from Norman Dawn, who was going to Alaska to make a picture. It was “The Lure of the Yukon,” and Buddy was offered $350 a week.

His rise was rapid after that, for he met Lester F. Scott, Jr., who was looking about for a likely young Western star. The Scott-Roosevelt association brought much prosperity and developed young Roosevelt into a leader in his line.

Buddy really started his film career in a picture with William S. Hart, produced by Thomas H. Ince. Among his own photoplays which he considers his best were: “Ride ‘Em High,” “Between Dangers,” “The Fightin’ Comeback,” “Code of the Cow Country,” and “The Phantom Buster.”

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Buddy Roosevelt

Starring in

Pathewesterns

• Between Dangers
• The Fightin’ Comeback
• Code of the Cow Country
• The Phantom Buster
• Ride ‘Em High
• The Cowboy Cavalier

Collection: Motion Picture News, October 1927 (Booking Guide and Studio Directory)