Rex Lease
Rex Lloyd Lease (February 11, 1903 – January 3, 1966) was an American actor. He appeared in over 300 films, mainly in westerns.
Lease arrived in Hollywood in 1924. He found bit and supporting parts at Film Booking Office (FBO), Rayart, more, and was given the opportunity to play a few leads. His first film was A Woman Who Sinned (1924).
Rex's earliest westerns were a pair of Tim McCoy silents at MGM, one of which was The Law of the Range (1928) which had a very young Joan Crawford as the heroine and Rex as the "Solitaire Kid". Tim and Lease became friends, and over the next dozen or so years he appeared in seven more McCoy westerns.
He had a featured role in director Frank Capra's The Younger Generation (1929), a tale of a Jewish family that move to a more upscale neighborhood.
He successfully made the transition to talkies, and starred in melodramas, action flicks, old dark house mysteries, and comedies as well as a couple of western serials and about a dozen low-budget sagebrush yarns and outdoor adventures.
In between lead roles, Lease did featured parts in some B westerns. He was Hoot Gibson's brother in Cavalcade of the West (1936); Rex played the "Pecos Kid" in McCoy's Lightnin' Bill Carson (1936); and he worked in a couple of Tom Tylers, Ridin' On (1936) and Fast Bullets (1936). Rex's finale as a star had him teaming up with Rin-Tin-Tin Jr. in The Silver Trail (1937).
Though no longer afforded star billing, he continued in smaller roles into the 1950s in films and on TV.
Filmography (173 Appearances)
The Gazebo
Maverick
A Hatful of Rain
The Unholy Wife
Backlash
Perils of the Wilderness
The Adventures of Champion
The Prodigal
Shadows of Tombstone
Gun Belt
Ride, Vaquero!
The Abbott and Costello Show
Toughest Man in Arizona
Lost in Alaska
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
Colorado Sundown
The Wild North
Pals of the Golden West
Frisco Tornado
Covered Wagon Raid
Hills of Oklahoma
Curtain Call at Cactus Creek
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Code of the Silver Sage
Singing Guns
Gun Cargo
Out of the Storm
Night Time in Nevada
A Foreign Affair
The Gallant Legion
The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap
Buck Privates Come Home
California
The People's Choice
The Crimson Ghost
White Tie and Tails
The Time of Their Lives
Canyon Passage
Sun Valley Cyclone
Days of Buffalo Bill
The Phantom Rider
Why Girls Leave Home
Swingin' on a Rainbow
On Stage Everybody
You Came Along
The Naughty Nineties
Santa Fe Saddlemates
Springtime in Texas
Flame of Barbary Coast
Lone Texas Ranger
Blonde Ransom
Earl Carroll Vanities
Firebrands of Arizona
Dead Man's Eyes
Code of the Prairie
Bordertown Trail
Call of the Rockies
Calling Dr. Death
Phony Express
Corvette K-225
So's Your Uncle
Riders of the Rio Grande
Daredevils of the West
King of the Cowboys
Idaho
Keep 'Em Slugging
Haunted Ranch
Dead Man's Gulch
Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground
The Mummy's Tomb
Eyes of the Underworld
Tomorrow We Live
Sunset Serenade
Boss of Hangtown Mesa
The Silver Bullet
The Pride of the Yankees
Lady in a Jam
Eagle Squadron
In Old California
The Cyclone Kid
Saboteur
Frisco Lil
Raiders of the West
Arizona Terrors
Sierra Sue
Jesse James at Bay
Tonto Basin Outlaws
Death Valley Outlaws
Outlaws of Cherokee Trail
Bad Man of Deadwood
Billy the Kid in Santa Fe
Nevada City
Outlaws of the Rio Grande
The Phantom Cowboy
Billy the Kid's Range War
Billy the Kid's Gun Justice
The Trail Blazers
Riders of Black Mountain
Under Texas Skies
One Man's Law
Rancho Grande
The Grapes of Wrath
A Chump at Oxford
The Shadow
South of the Border
In Old Monterey
S.O.S Tidal Wave
The Lone Ranger Rides Again
Land of Fighting Men
Professor Beware
Desert Patrol
Code of the Rangers
Midnight Intruder
Swing It, Sailor!
The Mysterious Pilot
Heroes of the Alamo
The Silver Trail
Ten Laps to Go
Fury Below
Cavalcade of the West
Aces and Eights
The Amazing Exploits of the Clutching Hand
Lightnin' Bill Carson
Custer's Last Stand
Ridin' On
Roarin' Guns
Custer's Last Stand
Fast Bullets
The Man from Guntown
Rough Riding Ranger
Fighting Caballero
The Ghost Rider
Pals of the Range
Cyclone of the Saddle
The Cowboy and the Bandit
Inside Information
Midnight Morals
The Monster Walks
Cannonball Express
Chinatown After Dark
Is There Justice?
In Old Cheyenne
The Sign of the Wolf
The Utah Kid
Borrowed Wives
Wings of Adventure
Hot Curves
Sunny Skies
Troopers Three
Two Sisters
The Younger Generation
When Dreams Come True
Girls Who Dare
Stolen Love
Riders of the Dark
Broadway Daddies
Red Riders of Canada
Queen of the Chorus
The Phantom of the Turf
The Law of the Range
The College Hero
Clancy's Kosher Wedding
The Cancelled Debt
Not for Publication
The Outlaw Dog
Moulders of Men
The Last Alarm
The Mystery Pilot
Somebody's Mother
The Last Edition
Episodes in the Life of a Gin Bottle
Chalk Marks
A Woman Who Sinned