Al St. John (also credited as Al Saint John and "Fuzzy" St. John; September 10, 1892 – January 21, 1963) was an early American motion-picture comedian. He was a nephew of

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

star

Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle (; March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter. He started at the Selig Polyscope Company and eventually moved to Keystone Studios, where he worked with Mabel ...

, with whom he often performed on screen. St. John was employed by

Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American producer, director, actor, and studio head who was known as the "King of Comedy" during his career. Born in Danville, Quebec, he started acting i ...

and also worked with many other leading players such as

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

and

Mabel Normand Amabel Ethelreid Normand (November 9, 1893 – February 23, 1930), better known as Mabel Normand, was an American silent film actress, comedienne, director and screenwriter. She was a popular star and collaborator of Mack Sennett in their K ...

. His film career successfully transitioned from the silent era into

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...

, and by the late 1930s and 1940s he was working predominantly in

Westerns The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...

, often portraying the scruffy comedy-relief character "Fuzzy Q. Jones". Among his notable performances in that role are in the "

Billy the Kid Henry McCarty (September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who was linked to nine murders: four for which he was solely res ...

" series of films released by the

Producers Releasing Corporation Producers Releasing Corporation (generally known as PRC) was the smallest and least prestigious of the 11 Hollywood film companies of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called " Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower St ...

from 1940 to 1946 and in that company's "

Lone Rider ''Lone Rider'' is a 2008 American Western (genre), Western television film. It was directed by David S. Cass Sr. and stars Lou Diamond Phillips and Stacy Keach. Plot Bobby Hattaway (Lou Diamond Phillips), an honored soldier, returns home after ...

" series from 1941 to 1943.

Early life, family and education

Alfred St. John was born in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana (Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As ...

. He was the only child of parents Walter St. John, who supported the family initially as a farm laborer and later as a house builder, and Nora N. St. John (née Arbuckle), who was the older sister of actor

. His uncle Roscoe was five years older than Alfred. In Los Angeles, he lived in the fashionable West Adams district at 4300 Victoria Park Drive in the neighborhood of Victoria Park.

Career

Young "Al" entered silent films in 1911 to work as an

extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

and in minor character roles. Soon, however, he graduated to co-starring and then to starring roles in comedy

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ar ...

for a variety of studios."Al St. John Veteran Film Comic Dies", extended obituary, ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...

'' (Phoenix), 22 January 1963, p. 24. ProQuest. St. John frequently appeared as Arbuckle's mischievously villainous rival for the attentions of leading ladies such as

and

Minta Durfee Araminta Estelle "Minta" Durfee (October 1, 1889 – September 9, 1975) was an American silent film actress from Los Angeles, California, possibly best known for her role in '' Mickey'' (1918). Biography She met Roscoe Arbuckle when he was att ...

. He worked with Arbuckle and

Charles Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered ...

in '' The Rounders'' (1914), although his most critically praised film during this period with Arbuckle remains '' Fatty and Mabel Adrift'' (1916). In France, he was billed as "Picratt". Al St

When Arbuckle formed his own production company, he brought St. John with him and recruited stage star

into his films, creating a formidable roughhouse trio. After Arbuckle was involved in a widely publicized scandal that prevented him from appearing in movies, he pseudonymously directed his nephew Al as a comic

leading man A leading actor, leading actress, or leading man or lady or simply lead (), plays a main role in a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person w ...

in silent and sound films such as ''The Iron Mule'' (1925) and ''Bridge Wives'' (1932). Dozens of St. John's early films were screened during the 56-film Arbuckle retrospective at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 2006. As St. John's screen career continued through the 1930s, he was increasingly cast as scruffy, bearded comic characters. He appears, for example, in this type of role in Buster Keaton's 1937 comedy short '' Love Nest on Wheels'', portraying the

hillbilly ''Hillbilly'' is a term historically used for White people who dwell in rural area, rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in the Appalachian region and Ozarks. As people migrated out of the region during the Great Depression, ...

character Uncle Jed. That year he began supporting cowboy stars Fred Scott and later Jack Randall, but most of his films were made for Poverty Row studio

(PRC). For that studio, he played "Fuzzy Q. Jones" in the ''

'' series starring Bob Steele, the ''Lone Rider'' series (starring George Houston and later Bob Livingston), and the ''Billy the Kid/Billy Carson'' series starring

Buster Crabbe Clarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe II (; February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983) was an American two-time Olympic swimmer and film and television actor. He won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for 400-meter freestyle swimming event, which launched his c ...

The name "Fuzzy" originally belonged to a different actor, John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight, who took on the role of "cowboy sidekick" before St. John. The studio first intended to hire Knight for the Western series, but then gave the role to St. John, who took on the nickname of his rival for his screen character. Exhibitors loved Fuzzy, who could be counted on to attract moviegoers. Fuzzy's character was the main box-office draw in these films when shown in England and Europe. These ultra-low-budget Westerns took only a bit more than a week to film, so that Crabbe and St. John made 36 films together in a surprisingly short time. When Crabbe left PRC (according to interviews, in disgust at the productions' increasingly low budgets), St. John was paired with new star

Lash LaRue Alfred "Lash" LaRue (June 15, 1917 – May 21, 1996) was a Western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s. Early life and education Born Alfred LaRue in Gretna, Louisiana in 1917, he was reared in various towns throughout Louisiana, ...

. Ultimately, St. John performed in more than 80 Westerns as Fuzzy. St. John also created a character, "Stoney", in the film '' The Law of the 45's'' that later appeared, but played by different actors (including

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

), in the continuing Western film series '' The Three Mesquiteers''.Pitts, Michael R. ''Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies, with a Filmography for Each'' McFarland, 2005, pp. 52–53. St. John acted in more than 350 films during his screen career, which spanned the years 1911 through 1952.

Final years

For a decade after the end of his motion-picture career, he made assorted personal appearances at fairs, rodeos, on television, and at overseas US

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

s. He also performed with traveling live-action productions such as the Tommy Scott

Wild West Show Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of co ...

."Al St. John, Western Star, Dies in Lyons", ''

The Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merge ...

'', 22 January 1963, p. 32.

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for l ...

Historical Newspapers, Ann Arbor, Michigan; subscription access through The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. St. John's death on January 21, 1963, occurred while he was touring with Scott. According to his obituaries, he suffered a massive

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at a

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the Parking lot, parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central Lobby (room), lo ...

Lyons, Georgia Lyons is a city in Toombs County, Georgia, Toombs County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 4,239 in 2020. The city is the county seat of Toombs County. History Lyons was founded as a depot on the Central of Georg ...

, as he prepared for a special appearance at a nearby

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

club. It was also widely reported in news accounts that the 70-year-old veteran entertainer died at the motel "in the arms of his wife, Flo-Bell Moore"."Al St. John, Western Film Comic, Dies", obituary ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', 22 January 1963, p. 4. ProQuest. After a private funeral service in Lyons, St. John's body was sent to

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

, for cremation. His ashes were then transferred to

Homosassa Springs, Florida Homosassa Springs is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Citrus County, Florida, United States. The population was 14,283 as of 2020, up from 13,791 at the 2010 census. Homosassa Springs is the principal community ...

, where they were "deposited" at Fuzzy and Flo-Bell's permanent residence on the couple's "Double F Ranch".

Filmography

* Al St. John filmography

References

External links