Rod Cameron

Rod Cameron (1910-1983) was a Canadian-born film and television actor whose career extended from the 1930s to the 1970s. He appeared in Horror, War, Action and Science Fiction films, but is best remembered for his many Westerns.


Vintage postcard, no. 216. Photo: Republic Pictures.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 692. Photo: Universal-International.


French postcard in the Entr'acte series by Éditions Asphodèle, Mâcon, no. 001/16. Rod Cameron and Yvonne de Carlo on the set of Frontier Gal (Charles Lamont, 1945). Caption: Rod Cameron and Yvonne de Carlo are besieged by autograph hunters as they film on location.

Star status in action serials for Republic Pictures

Rod Cameron was born Nathan Roderick Cox in Calgary, Canada, in 1910. He grew up in New Jersey. He played on his high school basketball team and on a semi-professional football team. Despite those activities and others such as swimming and playing ice hockey, he couldn't join the Royal Canadian Mounted Police because he failed the physical examination. He decided to seek fame and fortune as an actor in New York and initially grabbed some work as a labourer on the Holland Tunnel project in Manhattan. When no progress was made acting-wise, Cameron moved to Hollywood.

He made his "debut" in an unbilled bit in one of Bette Davis' scenes in The Old Maid (Edmund Goulding, 1939). Upon release, however, he discovered his bit in the scene had been deleted. He worked as a stuntman and bit player for Paramount Pictures as well as a stand-in for such stars as Fred MacMurray. His early films include Heritage of the Desert (Lesley Selander, 1939) with Donald Woods, Rangers of Fortune (Sam Wood, 1940) with Fred MacMurray, North West Mounted Police (Cecil B. DeMille, 1940) starring Gary Cooper, and Henry Aldrich for President (Hugh Bennett, 1941) with Jimmy Lydon.

He also played bit roles at Universal Pictures, including in If I Had My Way (David Butler, 1940), starring Bing Crosby and Gloria Jean. He appeared in a Horror film, The Monster and the Girl (Stuart Heisler, 1941) and played Jesse James in The Remarkable Andrew (Stuart Heisler, 1941) for Paramount. In 1943, Cameron gained star status in action serials for Republic Pictures.

As crime-busting secret agent Rex Bennett, Cameron battled enemy terrorists in 15 weekly episodes of G-Men vs the Black Dragon (Spencer Gordon Bennet, William Witney, William J O'Sullivan, 1943). He was already working on another serial when the audience reaction to Black Dragon made him a hit. Cameron was sufficiently popular for the studio to turn the new production into another Rex Bennett adventure, Secret Service in Darkest Africa (Spencer Gordon Bennet, 1943).

This time, clench-jawed Bennet faces the Nazis rather than the Japanese. As with the earlier instalment, Bennet is supported by characters from some of the allied nations in World War II. When cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown left Universal Pictures for Monogram Pictures, Cameron replaced him as Universal's Western series star with Fuzzy Knight as his comic sidekick. Tall and rugged, Cameron looked good in the saddle and was very popular.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Editore, no. 2385. Photo: Universal International.


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.L Photo: Republic Pictures.

A long string of outdoor action pictures

During World War II, Rod Cameron played in Commandos Strike at Dawn (John Farrow, 1942) starring Paul Muni, and played a US Marine in Wake Island (John Farrow, 1942) and Gung Ho! (Ray Enright, 1943), starring Randolph Scott. Universal also gave him roles in Salome, Where She Danced (Charles Lamont, 1945), Frontier Gal (Charles Lamont, 1945) and River Lady (George Sherman, 1948), all co-starring fellow Canadian Yvonne DeCarlo.

Universal reorganised as Universal-International and downsized its activities in 1947, leaving Cameron and other contract players unemployed. He was hired by Monogram Pictures for a long string of outdoor action pictures. In 1948, he starred in Panhandle (Lesley Selander, 1948), co-written by Blake Edwards, for Allied Artists, and with Bonita Granville in the comedy film Strike It Rich (Lesley Selander, 1949).

He then appeared in many Westerns and other films for Republic Pictures, including Santa Fe Passage (William Witney, 1955) with John Payne, and later The Gun Hawk (Edward Ludwig, 1963), Requiem for a Gunfighter (Spencer Gordon Bennet, 1965) and The Bounty Killer (Spencer Gordon Bennet, 1965) starring Dan Duryea.

Cameron travelled to Europe in 1964 to play the lead in Spaghetti Westerns such as Le pistole non discutono / Bullets Don't Argue (Mario Caiano, 1964) with Horst Frank, and Il piombo e la carne / Bullet in the Flesh (Marino Girolami, 1965).

In Germany, he made Winnetou und sein Freund Old Firehand / Winnetou and Old Firehand (Alfred Vohrer, 1966), starring Pierre Brice. He later appeared in such films as The Last Movie (Dennis Hopper, 1971), Evel Knievel (Marvin J. Chomsky, 1971) with George Hamilton, and the Horror film Psychic Killer (Ray Danton, 1975).


French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, offered by Les Carbones Korès "Carboplane", no. 696. Photo: Republic Pictures.


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.L Photo: Republic Pictures.

A colourful private life

Rod Cameron starred in three syndicated television series: City Detective (1953–1955), State Trooper (1956–1959), and Coronado 9 (1960–1961). In City Detective, Cameron appeared as the tough New York City police Lieutenant Bart Grant. In State Trooper, a 1950s-style Western-themed crime drama, Cameron starred as Lieutenant Rod Blake of the Nevada State Police. In Coronado 9, set in the San Diego area, Cameron appeared as Dan Adams, a private detective.

State Trooper, in particular, was known for its surprise endings and guest stars despite not being affiliated with a network. Hal Erickson, in his book, 'Syndicated Television: The First Forty Years, 1947-1987', cited Cameron's business sense in confining his work in TV series to syndication: "A canny businessman, Cameron knew that his City Detective residuals wouldn't have been as fat had a major television network been claiming a percentage of the action, and as a result the actor vowed to remain in syndication for the rest of his TV career.

By 1960, Cameron was drawing over $200,000 per annum in residuals [from his three syndicated programs]..." Cameron himself guest-starred in many TV Westerns, including six appearances on Laramie (1959), with John Smith and Robert Fuller, Bonanza (1959), and The Virginian (1962). Cameron also guest-starred in such dramatic series as Crossroads and Perry Mason, with Raymond Burr.

Cameron continued to work in motion pictures and television into the 1970s. He appeared in the very first Alias Smith and Jones (1971) episode that co-starred Roger Davis alongside series star Ben Murphy. Davis replaced Pete Duel after the actor committed suicide by gun on New Year's Eve 1971. He appeared in season 2 of James Garner's detective series, The Rockford Files.

Cameron's private life was colourful. In 1954, he divorced his second wife, Angela Alves-Lico (1950-1954) and later married her mother, actress Dorothy Alves-Lico Eveleigh (1960-1983), who was a few years older than him. They kept the marriage a secret until 1961. Hence, his former director, William Witney, publicly acclaimed Cameron the bravest man that he had ever seen. In his later years, Cameron lived on Lake Lanier in northern Georgia. In the 1970s, he was active in the Alcoholism Council of San Fernando Valley in Van Nuys, California, and he spoke to groups about problems related to alcoholism. An extended battle with cancer finally claimed the 73-year-old actor in 1983 at a Gainesville, Georgia, hospital. He had a daughter, Catherine Stanford Cox, with Doris Stanford, and a son, Anthony Roderick Cox Cameron, with Angela Alves-Lico. He was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


Dutch postcard, no. KF 42. Photo: Republic Pictures.


Belgian postcard by Nieuwe Merksemsche Chocolaterie S.P.R.I., Merksem (Anvers), no. C 24. Photo: Universal. Yvonne De Carlo, Rod Cameron and Beverly Sue Simmons in Frontier Gal (Charles Lamont, 1945).


British postcard in the Celebrity Autograph Series by Celebrity Publishers LTD., London, no. 181. Photo: Republic. Rod Cameron in Hell's Outpost (Joseph Kane, 1954).

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.