Robert Howard Young (September 15, 1917 – September 10, 1951) professionally known as Clifton Young, was an American film actor.

Early years

Young was the son of Edward A. and Eva (Clifton) Young. His father started him in vaudeville when he was 5 years old. When he was 7, he began acting in ''Our Gang'' comedies. Young was drafted into the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, serving in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

.Clifton Young Bio at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

. Retrieved November 27, 2021.

Career

Young played "Bonedust" in nineteen ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

'' films from 1925 to 1931, his most notable film being '' School's Out''. As an adult, to avoid confusion with established star Robert Young, he took his mother's maiden name, Clifton, as his screen name. Young became a contract player at

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

, landing small parts in a number of 1940s

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

and

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

films. Notable credits include '' Nora Prentiss'', '' Pursued'', ''

Possessed Possessed may refer to: Possession * Possession (disambiguation), having some degree of control over something else ** Spirit possession, whereby gods, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body *** ...

'', '' Dark Passage'', and ''

Blood on the Moon ''Blood on the Moon'' is a 1948 RKO black-and-white "psychological" Western film noir starring Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston and Walter Brennan. Directed by Robert Wise, the cinematography is by Nicholas Musuraca. The m ...

''. Maltin, Leonard and Bann, Richard W. (1977, rev. 1992). ''The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang'', p. 281. New York: Crown Publishing/Three Rivers Press. While at Warners, Young was featured prominently in the

Joe McDoakes ''Joe McDoakes'' is an American Short film, short-film comedy series produced and directed by Richard L. Bare for Warner Bros. A total of 63 black and white, black-and-white, live action, live-action, reel#Motion picture terminology, one-reel fil ...

comedy shorts. He played a variety of roles: a craven mobster in ''So You Want to Be a Detective'', a department-store clerk in ''So You're Going on Vacation'', and memorably as "Homer," Joe's brash, know-it-all office colleague in several McDoakes reels. One of Young's last films was the

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and Rodeo, rodeo performer. Following early work under his given name, first as a c ...

western '' Trail of Robin Hood'' (1950), in which he played a sneering villain.

Death

Young died on September 10, 1951, in a hotel fire that started when he fell asleep while smoking.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Clifton 1917 births 1951 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male child actors American male film actors Deaths from fire in the United States Hal Roach Studios actors Military personnel from New York (state) United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers Actors from Schenectady, New York