Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen was a British boxer-turned-Hollywood actor.
70 Facts About Victor McLaglen
2.
Victor McLaglen was known as a character actor, particularly in Westerns, and made seven films with John Ford and John Wayne.
3.
Victor McLaglen claimed to have been born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, although his birth certificate records 505 Commercial Road, Stepney in the East End of London as his true birthplace.
4.
Victor McLaglen's father, Andrew Charles Albert Mclaglen, was a missionary in the Free Protestant Church in South Africa, and was later a bishop of the Free Protestant Episcopal Church of England.
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The Victor McLaglen family is ultimately of Scottish origin, descended from a MacLachlan who settled in South Africa in the 19th century.
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Victor McLaglen was christened Andries Carel Albertus Victor McLaglen in Cape Town on 4 April 1851.
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One of ten siblings, Victor McLaglen had eight brothers and a sister.
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Victor McLaglen moved with his family to South Africa for a time, where his father was Bishop of Claremont.
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Victor McLaglen left home at 14 to join the British Army with the intention of fighting in the Second Boer War, but much to his chagrin, he was stationed at Windsor Castle in the Life Guards and was later forced to leave the army when his true age was discovered.
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Victor McLaglen briefly served as a constable in the Winnipeg Police Force in 1907.
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Between bouts, Victor McLaglen toured with a circus, which offered $25 to anyone who could go three rounds with him.
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Victor McLaglen returned to Britain in 1913, and during the First World War served as a captain with the 10th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment.
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Victor McLaglen served for a time as military assistant provost marshal for the city of Baghdad.
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Victor McLaglen continued boxing, and was named heavyweight champion of the British Army in 1918.
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Victor McLaglen's final fight was a loss by knockout to Arthur Townley in October 1920.
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Victor McLaglen finished his professional career with a record of 16 wins, eight losses, and a draw.
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Victor McLaglen was visiting a sporting club when spotted by a film producer who was looking for a boxer to play the lead in a film, The Call of the Road.
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Victor McLaglen was in the adventure films: Corinthian Jack and The Prey of the Dragon.
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Victor McLaglen followed it with The Sport of Kings.
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Victor McLaglen played leads in M'Lord of the White Road, In the Blood, The Boatswain's Mate, Women and Diamonds, and The Gay Corinthian.
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Victor McLaglen was in The Passionate Adventure, co-written by Alfred Hitchcock, and The Beloved Brute, The Hunted Woman, and Percy.
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Victor McLaglen's career took a surprise turn in 1925 when he moved to Hollywood.
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Victor McLaglen became a popular character actor, with a particular knack for playing drunks.
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Victor McLaglen usually played Irishmen, leading many film fans to mistakenly assume he was Irish rather than English.
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Victor McLaglen played one of the titular characters of The Unholy Three in Lon Chaney Sr.
26.
Victor McLaglen had a support part in Winds of Chance, directed by Frank Lloyd, then made The Fighting Heart at Fox, directed by John Ford.
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Victor McLaglen was in The Isle of Retribution, Men of Steel, and Beau Geste, playing Hank in the last.
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Victor McLaglen was top-billed in Mother Machree, directed by Ford.
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Victor McLaglen was top-billed in A Girl in Every Port, co-starring Robert Armstrong and Louise Brooks.
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Victor McLaglen starred in Hangman's House for Ford, a romantic drama set in Ireland, and The River Pirate, and Captain Lash.
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Victor McLaglen then made two films for Ford: Strong Boy and The Black Watch.
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Victor McLaglen was one of many Fox stars who had cameos in the musical Happy Days.
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Victor McLaglen made a musical with Walsh, Hot for Paris, then made On the Level.
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Victor McLaglen was borrowed by Paramount for Dishonored, starring Marlene Dietrich and directed by Joseph von Sternberg.
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Victor McLaglen was in Not Exactly Gentlemen and had a cameo in the short film The Stolen Jools.
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Victor McLaglen was in Annabelle's Affairs, Wicked, The Gay Caballero, and Devil's Lottery.
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Victor McLaglen was one of many stars in Murder at the Vanities.
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At Columbia, Victor McLaglen starred in The Captain Hates the Sea with John Gilbert.
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In 1945, Victor McLaglen said that winning the Oscar had no economic benefit and that he didn't know where it was because his son had taken it to college for use as a paperweight.
40.
Victor McLaglen stayed at Fox to support Robert Taylor in This Is My Affair, and notably, Shirley Temple in Wee Willie Winkie directed by John Ford at Fox.
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Victor McLaglen had a cameo in Ali Baba Goes to Town.
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Victor McLaglen returned to Britain for We're Going to Be Rich with Gracie Fields.
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Victor McLaglen supported Nelson Eddy in Let Freedom Ring at MGM, and was in Ex-Champ.
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Victor McLaglen supported Brian Aherne in Captain Fury, and starred in Full Confession for John Farrow at RKO, the latter film being somewhat a remake of The Informer.
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At Universal, Victor McLaglen teamed with Basil Rathbone in Rio and Jackie Cooper in The Big Guy.
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Victor McLaglen was top-billed in Edward Small's South Seas adventure, South of Pago Pago.
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Victor McLaglen remained top-billed for Diamond Frontier and Broadway Limited.
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Victor McLaglen starred in Powder Town, and went to Fox to support Gene Tierney in China Girl.
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Victor McLaglen was one of many stars in Forever and a Day, and had a support role in Tampico and Roger Touhy, Gangster.
50.
Victor McLaglen was a villain in Bob Hope's The Princess and the Pirate, and he was in Rough, Tough and Ready.
51.
Victor McLaglen began to be exclusively a supporting actor, with parts in Love, Honor and Goodbye, Whistle Stop with George Raft and Ava Gardner, Calendar Girl, The Michigan Kid, and The Foxes of Harrow.
52.
Victor McLaglen was back with John Ford for Fort Apache with John Wayne and Henry Fonda.
53.
Victor McLaglen was later nominated for another Oscar, this time for a Best Supporting Actor for his role opposite John Wayne in The Quiet Man.
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Victor McLaglen continued to be in demand as a support actor in action films: Fair Wind to Java with Fred MacMurray and Prince Valiant with James Mason and Robert Wagner.
55.
Victor McLaglen went to Britain for Trouble in the Glen, an unsuccessful attempt to do for Scotland what The Quiet Man did for Ireland.
56.
Victor McLaglen had a rare late career lead role in City of Shadows at Republic with Patricia Crowley, and he was second-billed in Bengazi, but he went back to supports with Lady Godiva of Coventry.
57.
Victor McLaglen had a cameo in Around the World in 80 Days with David Niven and Cantinflas, then had another lead in The Abductors, directed by his son, Andrew V McLaglen.
58.
Toward the end of his career, Victor McLaglen made several guest appearances on television, particularly in Western series such as Have Gun, Will Travel and Rawhide.
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The episodes in which Victor McLaglen guest-starred were both directed by his son, Andrew, who later became a film director frequently directing John Wayne.
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Victor McLaglen went to Italy for Gli Italiani sono matti and had a good part in Sea Fury, shot in England with Stanley Baker.
61.
Victor McLaglen described it in a press interview as promoting "Americanism".
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Victor McLaglen said it was organized to fight communists and others "opposed to the American ideal", both inside and outside the country.
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Victor McLaglen was attacked by some on the left as fascist, which he denied.
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Victor McLaglen said he was a "patriot of the good old-fashioned American kind".
65.
Andrew Victor McLaglen was a television and film director who worked on several film projects with John Wayne.
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Andrew's children, Mary and Josh Victor McLaglen, are both film producers and directors.
67.
Enid Lamont Victor McLaglen died in 1942 as a result of a horse-riding accident.
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Victor McLaglen had by that time become a naturalized US citizen.
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Victor McLaglen's cremated remains are interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, in the Garden of Memory, Columbarium of Eternal Light.
70.
On 8 February 1960, Victor McLaglen received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1735 Vine Street, for his contributions to the motion-picture industry.