Jack Woody

Long-forgotten character actor Jack Woody had a career that sounded like one of the movies he appeared in. Wood started his career as a stuntman in various films in the 1930s and one day he shocked the world when it was announced that he was the husband of movie starlet Helen Twelvetrees. It was a tumultuous relationship that quickly ended in divorce in 1936. In 1937, Woody returned to stunt work where he was frequently found doing the stunts for Humphrey Bogart and doubling for other actors in fight scenes. During World War 2, Woody enlisted in the Marines and spent the next few years in the military but he later returned to stunt work after he got out of the military. Like most stuntmen, Woody found steady work for numerous years until one bad indecent ends their career and Woody was no different. In 1949, Woody was severely injured in the movie Samson and Delilah when the temple demolition sequence went wrong and Woody ended up breaking both kneecaps and his legs. It was after this injury that Woody decided it was time for a career change. In the late 1940s, Woody got a job as a trail guide for the Lone Pine Hills in California. The now-aged Woody grew a beard and looked like an old prospector. While Woody was on one of his regular guide trips, director Andre De Toth recognized Woody and he thought he would be perfect for a role in a Randolph Scott movie that De Toth was scouting for shooting locations. Woody gladly accepted De Toth's offer and he began an acting career that featured roles with some of the biggest stars of the western genre including Randolph Scott and Gary Cooper while also appearing in roles in dramas like House of Wax.