Posted by : Ray Plumlee in (Whatever Became Of)
Posted on April 9th, 2010
Whatever Became Of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers Actor Buster Crabbe
Tagged Under : Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Mars, Martian, Outer Space, Planet, Rocketship, science fiction, Space Soldier, Space Travel, spaceflight, Whatever Became Of
Buster Crabbe in the 1930s
Space Travel Hero Role:
Buster Crabbe played both Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers in the feature sci-fi serials of the 1930′s and 1940′s.
Space Travel Bio:
Born Clarence “Buster” Linden Crabbe in Oakland, California on February 17, 1908, Buster Crabbe spent his formative years in Hawaii, where he learned to swim. Prior to winning a gold medal in 1932 for the 400-meter freestyle, Crabbe had graduated from college and attempted to break into films with a few bit parts while working as a stunt double. Crabbe landed a contract with Paramount Studios in 1933.
Buster Crabbe won a gold medal in the 400 Meter Swimming Freestyle at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He also won a bronze medal in the 1500 Meter Freestyle at the 19228 Amsterdam Olympics.
Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon Logo
Olympic Gold medalist Buster Crabbe probably would be completely forgotten today if not for the surviving generation of adults to whom Crabbe was a Saturday matinee hero. He was Tarzan, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and Billy the Kid all rolled into one during a long movie career spent toiling on the Hollywood “B” movie circuit. Buster Crabbe is the only actor who has played Tarzan, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers — the top three pulp fiction heroes of the 1930s
Buster Crabbe did achieve a kind of enduring fame that eluded many of his bigger name contemporaries working more prestigious films. His movie career identified him with one of the great characters of 20th century entertainment and that gives him cult status. The popular “Flash Gordon” series inspired by Alex Raymond’s influential comic strip is a major influence upon all science fiction that followed and provided Crabbe with a notoriety existing beyond his life span.
Between 1936 and 1940, Buster Crabbe starred as Flash Gordon in three movie serials released by Universal Studios: Flash Gordon (1936); Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars (1938); and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940). While Buster Crabbe was the first actor to portray Flash Gordon onscreen, actor Gale Gordon voiced the radio serial in 1935. The movie serials with Crabbe were sold into a TV syndication package in the early 1950s with different titles.
Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon or is it Buck Rogers?
Flash Gordon is a science fiction comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, first published on January 7, 1935. The 1936 serial film Flash Gordon tells the story of three people from Earth who travel to the planet Mongo to fight the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless.
Buck Rogers (1939) was based on the original cartoon strip by Dick Calkins and Phil Nolan. Buck Rogers in the 1939 serial is the story of a 20th century aviator and his ward Buddy Wade who are trapped in a dirigible crash in the arctic and held in suspended animation by a strange gas until awakened in the 25th century. Where Buck Rogers and Buddy join forces with Dr. Huer, Lieutenant Wilma Deering and with the help of Prince Tallen of Saturn against Earth’s latest tyrannical despot called Killer Kane, in a fight to overthrow him.
Despite his numerous film and television appearances, he is still best remembered as one of the original action heroes of 1930s and 1940s cinema.
Buster Crabbe made regular television appearances, including one on an episode of the 1979 Television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, where he played a retired fighter pilot named “Brigadier Gordon” in honor of Flash Gordon. When Rogers (Gil Gerard) praises his flying, Gordon replies “I’ve been doing that sort of thing since before you were born.” Rogers (who was born over 500 years earlier) responds “You think so?” to which Gordon replies “Young man, I know so!” Crabbe had, in fact, been playing “hot pilots” since long before Gerard was born.
Buster Crabbe knew he made it when he got his own Comic
Buster Crabbe starred in the television series, Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion (1955 to 1957 on NBC) as Captain Michael Gallant. The adventure series co-starred his real-life son, Cullen Crabbe as the character “Cuffy Sanders”.
Buster Crabbe once lamented. “I’d like to do one, just to say I was in an “A” picture after all these years, But I’ll never get an A picture. I never had the advantage of a big name director or producer. I always worked for the guys that turn out B pictures.”
What They Are Doing Today:
Buster Crabbe was the Guest of Honor at “Multicon 70″ science-fiction convention (Oklahoma City, USA, June 18-21, 1970)
Buster Crabbe died on April 23, 1983, aged 75, from a heart attack in Scottsdale, Arizona and was buried in the Green Acres Memorial Gardens Cemetery.
Major Sci-Fi Acting Roles:
- Tarzan the Fearless (1933) – Tarzan ****
- Flash Gordon, Space Soldiers (1936) – Flash Gordon
- Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars – Flash Gordon
Buck Rogers (1939) – Buck Rogers
- Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) – Flash Gordon
- Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) – Brigadier Gordon, a reference to his other famous role, Flash Gordon (TV episode “Planet of the Slave Girls.” This was a two-hour episode, later syndicated as a two-part episode)
- Alien Dead (1980) – Sheriff Kowalski
**** Included because this role lead directly to his casting as Flash Gordon.
Date of Birth: 17 February 1908, Oakland, California
Date of Death: 23 April 1983, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA (heart attack)
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