1. John Agar is best known for starring alongside John Wayne in the films Sands of Iwo Jima, Fort Apache, and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.
34 Facts About John Agar
1. 2.
John Agar Wayne gave him several supporting roles in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
3.
John Agar was educated at the Harvard School for Boys in Chicago and Lake Forest Academy in Lake Forest, Illinois.
4.
John Agar graduated from Trinity-Pawling Preparatory School in Pawling, New York, but did not attend college.
5.
In 1941, John Agar joined the US Navy Air Corps, had basic training in Texas, and instructed in physical training at March Field in Riverside, California.
6.
John Agar was medically discharged from the Navy in 1943 due to an ear infection that affected his balance.
7.
John Agar was a sergeant and a physical training instructor when he left the USAAF in 1946.
8.
John Agar met Shirley Temple in 1943 when he was asked to escort her to a Hollywood party.
9.
John Agar was reunited with Temple for his second film, a suffragette drama Adventure in Baltimore, for RKO, which was a huge flop.
10.
John Agar made a low budget Arabian Knights film for Sam Katzman with Lucille Ball, The Magic Carpet.
11.
In 1952 John Agar was fired by Selznick for driving under the influence of alcohol, which affected his career with the large studios in Hollywood.
12.
John Agar was third billed in Woman of the North Country, a Western for Republic, and starred in Man of Conflict, an independent drama with Edward Arnold.
13.
John Agar had support roles in Bait, a Hugo Haas drama with Cleo Moore; The Rocket Man, a Charles Coburn comedy co-written by Lenny Bruce; and Shield for Murder, a film noir starring and co-directed by Edmond O'Brien.
14.
John Agar returned to leading roles in The Golden Mistress, an adventure film directed by Abner Biberman.
15.
John Agar began the association with Revenge of the Creature, the popular first sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon ; it was produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold.
16.
John Agar was borrowed by Lippert Pictures for The Lonesome Trail, then, at Universal, made a second film for Haas with Cleo Moore, Hold Back Tomorrow.
17.
John Agar remained in demand for low budget science fiction, horror and Western films.
18.
John Agar starred in The Daughter of Dr Jekyll for Edgar G Ulmer at Allied Artists, then made The Brain from Planet Arous for Howco International.
19.
John Agar starred in some low budget Westerns for Lippert's low budget Regal Films at Fox, Ride a Violent Mile and Frontier Gun.
20.
John Agar went to the Philippines to make Cavalry Command and did two for AIP, Jet Attack and Attack of the Puppet People.
21.
John Agar shot a television pilot in 1958 that was released as a feature film Destination Space.
22.
John Agar did Invisible Invaders for director Edward L Cahn who had made Jet Attack.
23.
John Agar could be seen in Journey to the Seventh Planet and Of Love and Desire.
24.
John Agar made some films for Larry Buchanan at AIP that were originally meant as made-for-television-movies, Curse of the Swamp Creature, Zontar, the Thing from Venus and Hell Raiders.
25.
John Agar had the lead in Women of the Prehistoric Planet and Night Fright.
26.
John Agar had small parts in some studio films like The St Valentine's Day Massacre with Jason Robards Jr.
27.
In 1944 John Agar escorted Temple to a party held by her boss at the time, David O Selznick.
28.
John Agar and Temple had a daughter together, Linda Susan John Agar, born 1948.
29.
However, the marriage foundered, in part because of John Agar's drinking and in part because of pressures of their high public profile.
30.
In 1953 John Agar was again arrested for drunk driving, and sentenced to 120 days in prison.
31.
John Agar supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election, and Ronald Reagan in 1980.
32.
John Agar was drinking at his friend and filmmaker Ed Wood's apartment one day in the late 1960s when the afternoon news program erroneously announced John Agar's obituary.
33.
John Agar died on April 7,2002, in Burbank, California from severe complications from emphysema, after being confined for months to an iron lung.
34.
The television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 has featured several of John Agar's films, including The Mole People, Women of the Prehistoric Planet and Revenge of the Creature.