Al Bridge
Acting1891Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Biography
Al Bridge was an American character actor, a fixture both in Westerns and in the comedies of Preston Sturges.
Although frequently billed as Alan Bridge, he was born Alfred Morton Bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1891 (not as Alford Bridge in 1890, as his tombstone erroneously states).
Following service as a corporal in the U.S. Army infantry in the first World War, Bridge joined a theatrical troupe. He dabbled in writing and in 1930 sold a script to a short film, Her Hired Husband (1930). He followed this with a B-Western script, God's Country and the Man (1931), in which he made his film debut as an actor.
For the next quarter century, he managed the atypical achievement of maintaining a career in both B-Westerns and in bigger dramatic and comedy features. Ten films for director Preston Sturges represent probably his most familiar contribution to Hollywood history. Bridge also appeared frequently on television until his death in 1957 at 66.
Known For
It's a Wonderful Life
Sheriff (uncredited)
Strangers on a Train
Tennis Judge (uncredited)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Senator Dwight (uncredited)
A Night at the Opera
Immigration Inspector (uncredited)
Saboteur
Marine MP Sergeant (uncredited)
Sullivan's Travels
The Mister
The Lady Eve
First Steward (uncredited)
The Awful Truth
Motor Cop (uncredited)
Acting History
1954
Jubilee Trail
as Mr. Turner (uncredited)
Hell's Outpost
as Banker (uncredited)
Born in Freedom: The Story of Colonel Drake
as Hotel Desk Clerk
Annie Oakley
TVas Walt Stone• 1 eps
1953
Iron Mountain Trail
as Marshal
1952
Barbed Wire
as Homesteader McGraw
The Last Musketeer
as Lem Shaver
We're Not Married!
as Detective Magnus (uncredited)
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
TVas Sheriff (uncredited)• 1 eps
1951
Strangers on a Train
as Tennis Judge (uncredited)
Utah Wagon Train
as Sam Sickle
In Old Amarillo
as Sheriff (uncredited)
Oh! Susanna
as Jake Ledbetter
All That I Have
as John Biddle
1950
A Woman of Distinction
as Editor
California Passage
as Conover
Hunt the Man Down
as Ulysses Grant Sheldon (uncredited)
The Gene Autry Show
TVas Sheriff
1949
The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend
as Sheriff
Squadron of Doom
as Wyckoff
The Doolins of Oklahoma
as Deputy Sheriff (uncredited)
The Devil's Henchmen
as Elmer Hood
1948
1947
Mad Wednesday
as Wild Bill Hickock
Nora Prentiss
as New York City Policeman (uncredited)
Robin Hood Of Texas
as Sheriff
Framed
as (uncredited)
California
as Town Marshal (uncredited)
T-Men
as Agent in Phone Booth (uncredited)
Black Gold
as Dr. Jonas - Veterinarian
Dick Tracy's Dilemma
as Mr. Cudd (uncredited)
The Mighty McGurk
as Toothless Derelict (uncredited)
Down to Earth
as Police Captain (uncredited)
The Fabulous Joe
as Florida Club Bartender
1946
Shadows Over Chinatown
as Captain Allen
Deadline at Dawn
as Detective Smiley (uncredited)
Road to Utopia
as Ship Captain (uncredited)
The Falcon's Alibi
as Police Inspector Blake
Below the Deadline
as Turner
It's a Wonderful Life
as Sheriff (uncredited)
Alias Mr. Twilight
as Sam Bartlett
Cross My Heart
as Detective Flynn
Singin' in the Corn
as Honest John Richards
1945
The Jade Mask
as Sheriff Mack
They Were Expendable
as Lieutenant Colonel (uncredited)
Saratoga Trunk
as Soule Gang Engineer (uncredited)
Thunderhead: Son of Flicka
as Dr. Hicks
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
as Cheap Charlie (uncredited)
Salty O'Rourke
as Bartender (uncredited)
She Wouldn't Say Yes
as Conductor (uncredited)
1944
The Missing Juror
as Deputy Sheriff Ben (uncredited)
Hail the Conquering Hero
as Political Boss
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
as Mr. Johnson
1943
Idaho
as Jailer
Nobody's Darling
as Bum (uncredited)
Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground
as Matt Warner
1942
Meet the Stewarts
as Police Turnkey (uncredited)
The Palm Beach Story
as Conductor
Lady in a Jam
as Furniture Mover (uncredited)
Bad Men of the Hills
as Mace Arnold
In This Our Life
as Worker (uncredited)
I Married a Witch
as Second Prison Guard (uncredited)
Saboteur
as Marine MP Sergeant (uncredited)
Wild Bill Hickok Rides
as Man
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
as Trustee
The Man Who Returned to Life
as Hobo
A Man's World
as Captain Peterson
Pardon My Stripes
as Guard (uncredited)
The Talk of the Town
as Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
1941
The Kid's Last Ride
as Bob Harmon / Jim Breeden
The Lady from Cheyenne
as Mr. Matthews
The Lone Rider Rides On
as Bob Cameron
Sullivan's Travels
as The Mister
The Lady Eve
as First Steward (uncredited)
The Face Behind the Mask
as Flop House Manager (uncredited)
Lady from Louisiana
as Captain of Police
Rawhide Rangers
as Rawlings
Honky Tonk
as Townsman at Meeting House (uncredited)
Badlands of Dakota
as Plainview Lawman
The Little Foxes
as Dawson (uncredited)
Law of the Range
as Jamison
Honolulu Lu
as Shooting Gallery Proprietor
Fighting Bill Fargo
as Tom Houston
1940
Christmas in July
as Mr. Hillbeiner
My Little Chickadee
as Barfly Drinking Straight Whiskey (uncredited)
Flowing Gold
as Highway Patrolman (uncredited)
The Courageous Dr. Christian
as Sheriff
The Dark Command
as Slave Trader
Santa Fe Trail
as Palmyra Townsman (uncredited)
The Green Hornet Strikes Again!
as Ship's Captain
Winners of the West
as Captain
Pioneers of the Frontier
as Marshal Larsen
Blazing Six Shooters
as Bert Karsin
1939
The Stranger from Texas
as Jeff Browning
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
as Senator Dwight (uncredited)
Thunder Afloat
as Fisherman (uncredited)
The Phantom Creeps
as White Rose Sailor
The Roaring Twenties
as Ship Captain (uncredited)
The Oklahoma Kid
as Would-Be Settler (uncredited)
Sons of Liberty
as Prisoner (uncredited)
Buck Rogers
as Dynamo Room Floor Guard
The Man from Sundown
as Slick Larson
Blue Montana Skies
as Marshal
Oklahoma Frontier
as Kentuck
Romance of the Redwoods
as Boss Whittaker
1938
Partners of the Plains
as Scar Lewis
Jezebel
as New Orleans Sheriff (uncredited)
Highway Patrol
as Jarvis
Marie Antoinette
as Official in Passport Office (uncredited)
Crime School
as Mr. Burke
Adventure in Sahara
as Cpl. Dronov
Born to Be Wild
as Kennedy - Trucker in Cafe (uncredited)
Gunsmoke Trail
as Sheriff chasing Loma
Two Gun Justice
as Sheriff (as Al Bridges)
Little Miss Roughneck
as Sheriff
Colorado Trail
as Mark Sheldon
1937
Borderland
as Dandy Morgan
Two Gun Law
as Kipp Faulkner
Dead End
as Policeman in Drina's Apartment (uncredited)
Jungle Jim
as Slade
Western Gold
as Holman (as Alan Bridge)
Springtime in the Rockies
as Briggs
You Only Live Once
as Guard (uncredited)
They Won't Forget
as Mob Leader Outside Governor's Mansion (uncredited)
Woman Chases Man
as Process Server (uncredited)
Wild West Days
as Steve Claggett, Henchman
Tim Tyler's Luck
as Capt. Trowbridge
Westbound Mail
as 'Bull' Feeney
One Man Justice
as Red Grindy
The Awful Truth
as Motor Cop (uncredited)
1936
The Three Mesquiteers
as Alden Canfield
Call of the Prairie
as Sam Porter
Trail Dust
as Babson
The Children's Hour
as Mrs. Walton's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Fast Bullets
as Travis
The Lawless Nineties
as Steele
Ace Drummond
as Paul Wyckoff
Public Enemy's Wife
as Swartzman
The Bridge of Sighs
as Ballistics Expert (uncredited)
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
as Henchman Black
They Met in a Taxi
as Detective
Dodge City Trail
as Dawson
Crash Donovan
as Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
1935
Rendezvous
as Sergeant (uncredited)
The New Frontier
as Kit
Diamond Jim
as Poker Player on Train
Gallant Defender
as Salty Smith
Confidential
as Hanover - Walsh's Henchman
Outlaw Rule
as Deputy Bat Lindstrom
North of Arizona
as George Tully
A Night at the Opera
as Immigration Inspector (uncredited)
The Gay Deception
as Jail Attendant (uncredited)
The Murder Man
as Judge John C. Garfield (uncredited)
Alibi Racket
as Chief Inspector August Wilmer
The Adventures of Rex and Rinty
as Mitchell
Valley of Wanted Men
as Ranger Sergeant Parsons
Circumstantial Evidence
as John Cassidy (uncredited)
Melody Trail
as Matt Kirby
Alias Mary Dow
as Ditch-Digger (uncredited)
Transient Lady
as Sheriff Angel Verner
Silent Valley
as Jim Farley
1934
Mystery Mountain
as Tom Henderson
We're Not Dressing
as Ship's Officer in Rescue Party (uncredited)
Honor of the Range
as Townsman (uncredited)
The Curtain Falls
as Mover
1933
Fighting Texans
as Gur Durkin
Sucker Money
as George Hunter
Twin Husbands
as Highway Patrolman (uncredited)
Fighting With Kit Carson
as Reynolds
Black Beauty
as Hack Driver
Son of the Border
as Tupper
Drum Taps
as Lariat Smith
When a Man Rides Alone
as Montana Slade
The Cheyenne Kid
as Denver Ed
The Lone Avenger
as Burl Adams
1932
South of Santa Fe
as Henchman Wooly
Broadway to Cheyenne
as Al
The Thirteenth Guest
as Policeman (uncredited)
Blonde Venus
as Bouncer (uncredited)
Million Dollar Legs
as Secret Emissary #3 (uncredited)
A Man's Land
as Steve - Rustler
The Devil Horse
as Henchman Curley Bates
The Cowboy Counsellor
as Sheriff Matt Farraday
Slightly Married
as Tenant
The Wyoming Whirlwind
as Steve Cantrell
The Forty-Niners
as Squaw O'Hara
The Spirit of the West
as Tom Fallon
1931
God's Country and the Man
as Livermore
Galloping Thru
as Sandy Thompson
A Rider of the Plains
as Deputy Bill Gaines
The Ridin' Fool
as Nikkos (as Al Bridges)
God's Country and the Man
Screenplay