Jay C. Flippen

Actor

About

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Also Known As

J. C. Flippen

Birth Place

Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Born

March 06, 1899

Died

February 03, 1971

Cause of Death

Complications During Surgery For Internal Hemorrhaging

Biography

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The grizzled face of character actor Jay C. Flippen was familiar to audiences of Hollywood's Golden Age as he appeared in more than 60 films in a career that spanned more than 40 years. With his bulldog jowls and arching eyebrows, he was often cast in roles as gruff or even villainous characters, yet Flippen's background was in comedy, having worked in vaudeville and minstrel shows befor...

Filmography

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The Seven Minutes (1971)

Sam Hill: Who Killed the Mysterious Mr. Foster? (1971)

Firecreek (1968)

Hellfighters (1968)

The Spirit Is Willing (1967)

Cat Ballou (1965)

Sheriff Cardigan

Photos & Videos

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They Live By Night (1949) -- (Movie Clip) They're Thieves, Just Like Us

Run Of The Arrow (1957) -- (Movie Clip) Another Sioux Post Office

Family & Companions

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Ruth Brooks

Wife

Screenwriter. Survived him.

Biography

The grizzled face of character actor Jay C. Flippen was familiar to audiences of Hollywood's Golden Age as he appeared in more than 60 films in a career that spanned more than 40 years. With his bulldog jowls and arching eyebrows, he was often cast in roles as gruff or even villainous characters, yet Flippen's background was in comedy, having worked in vaudeville and minstrel shows before moving into radio and onto Broadway. He made his film debut in a largely forgotten comedy short called "Home Edition" in 1929, but it wasn't until the latter half of the '40s that his film career began to take off. In the 1950s, he appeared in nearly 40 films and successfully broke into television; he went on to make guest appearances on TV throughout his career. Flippen, a reliable supporting actor, appeared alongside legendary screen star James Stewart in eight films, many of which were westerns like the classic "Winchester '73." Yet Flippen took on a wide array of genres during his career, from the Stanley Kubrick film noir "The Killing," to the classic Marlon Brando motorcycle gang drama "The Wild One," to the western musical "Oklahoma!" In his later years, he suffered from illness but continued performing even after having a leg amputated. Flippen's career drew its final curtain in 1971, when the beloved character actor died of an aneurysm. He was survived by his wife of 25 years, screenwriter Ruth Brooks Flippen.

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

The Seven Minutes (1971)

Sam Hill: Who Killed the Mysterious Mr. Foster? (1971)

Firecreek (1968)

Hellfighters (1968)

The Spirit Is Willing (1967)

Cat Ballou (1965)

Sheriff Cardigan

Looking for Love (1964)

Mr. Ralph Front

How the West Was Won (1963)

The Plunderers (1960)

Sheriff Tom McCauley

Studs Lonigan (1960)

Father Gilhooey

Wild River (1960)

From Hell to Texas (1958)

Jake Leffertfinger

Escape from Red Rock (1958)

Sheriff John Costaine

Run of the Arrow (1957)

The Deerslayer (1957)

The Restless Breed (1957)

Marshal [Steve] Evans

The Midnight Story (1957)

Sgt. Jack Gillen

Jet Pilot (1957)

Maj. Gen. Black

Night Passage (1957)

Public Pigeon No. 1 (1957)

Lt. Ross Qualen

Hot Summer Night (1957)

The Halliday Brand (1957)

7th Cavalry (1956)

The Killing (1956)

The King and Four Queens (1956)

It's Always Fair Weather (1955)

Charles Z. Culloran

The Far Country (1955)

Six Bridges to Cross (1955)

Vincent Concannon

Man Without a Star (1955)

Strategic Air Command (1955)

Oklahoma! (1955)

The Wild One (1954)

Carnival Story (1954)

Charley Grayson

Thunder Bay (1953)

Kermit MacDonough

Devil's Canyon (1953)

East of Sumatra (1953)

The Las Vegas Story (1952)

The Model and the Marriage Broker (1952)

Woman of the North Country (1952)

Bend of the River (1952)

The Lady from Texas (1951)

Sheriff Mike McShane

The Lemon Drop Kid (1951)

The People Against O'Hara (1951)

Flying Leathernecks (1951)

Line Chief Clancy

Winchester '73 (1950)

Love That Brute (1950)

Buccaneer's Girl (1950)

Two Flags West (1950)

Sgt. Terrance Duffy

The Yellow Cab Man (1950)

Down to the Sea in Ships (1949)

A Woman's Secret (1949)

[Inspector] Fowler

Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949)

Lippy [Brannigan]

They Live by Night (1949)

[Henry] T-Dub [Mansfield]

Brute Force (1947)

Intrigue (1947)

Mike, bartender

Marie Galante (1934)

Million Dollar Ransom (1934)

Mr. Broadway (1933)

At the Central Park Casino

Cast (Special)

The Dean Jones Show (1965)

Cappy Skidmore; Alec'S Landlord

Gentry's People (1959)

Sergeant Nelson (Guest)

Life Events

1920

First role on Broadway

Photo Collections

7th Cavalry - Publicity Stills

7th Cavalry - Publicity Stills

Videos

They Live By Night (1949) -- (Movie Clip) They're Thieves, Just Like Us Keechie (Cathy O'Donnell) fetches Bowie (Farley Granger), injured and left behind after the jailbreak, to his fellow thieves, her uncle Chickamaw (Howard da Silva) and T-Dub (Jay C. Flippen), and her own crook father (Will Wright), the first meeting of the principals, in Nicholas Ray's They Live by Night, 1949.

Run Of The Arrow (1957) -- (Movie Clip) Another Sioux Post Office Recalcitrant ex-Confederate soldier O'Meara (Rod Steiger) is learning Indian ways from Sioux trail buddy and ex-Union scout Walking Coyote (Jay C. Flippen) as they travel west, when they're intercepted by H.M. Wynant (as Crazy Wolf) and his crew, in Samuel Fuller's Run Of The Arrow, 1957.

Woman's Secret, A (1949) -- (Movie Clip) Genius, Would You Say? Having confessed to a shooting, Marian (Maureen O'Hara) tells cop Fowler (Jay. C Flippen) she only wants to call her friend Luke (Melvyn Douglas), introduced appearing on a radio quiz show, in Nicholas Ray's A Woman's Secret, 1949.

People Against O'Hara, The (1951) -- (Movie Clip) Three Beers Nicely staged urban crime by director John Sturges, photographed by John Alton, character actor Jay C. Flippen the sailor-bystander who will turn up later, opening The People Against O'Hara, 1951.

Killing, The (1956) -- (Movie Clip) He Was Totally Disinterested Following credits at the Bay Meadows track in San Mateo, California, director Stanley Kubrick with Art Gilmore’s narration, written by Jim Thompson from the Lionel White novel, introducing conspirators Jay C. Flippen, Joe Sawyer the barkeep, Elisha Cook at the window, in The Killing, 1956.

Killing, The (1956) -- (Movie Clip) These Two Other Guys Ex-con Johnny (Sterling Hayden) briefing his cohorts, Joe Sawyer as Mike, Ted de Corsia as cop Randy, Jay C. Flippen as Marvin and Elisha Cook as racetrack employee George, whose wife Sherry (Marie Windsor) turns out to be listening-in, in Stanley Kubrick’s heist drama The Killing, 1956.

Cat Ballou (1965) -- (Movie Clip) You'll Never Make Me Cry When cantankerous Frank Ballou (John Marley) gets shot by Tim "Silvernose" Strawn (Lee Marvin), daughter Catherine (Jane Fonda) races into town and confronts Strawn and Sheriff Cardigan (Jay C. Flippen), in Cat Ballou, 1965.

Winchester '73 -- (Movie Clip) Shiloh And Bull Run Lin and High Spade (James Stewart, Millard Mitchell) continuing their trek at night, encounter Indians, then Cavalry commanded by Wilkes (Jay C. Flippen), also acquaintance Lola (Shelley Winters) and her beau Steve (Charles Drake), trouble brewing, in Anthony Mann's Winchester '73, 1950.

They Live by Night (1949) -- (Movie Clip) Opening, This Boy And This Girl The unorthodox and violent opening from the first feature directed by one of Hollywood's least conventional directors, Cathy O'Donnell with Farley Granger, then Howard da Silva and Jay C. Flippen, in Nicholas Ray's They Live By Night, 1949.

Bend Of The River (1952) -- (Movie Clip) What Law? McLyntock (James Stewart) tangles with the miners (Jack Lambert, Henry Morgan) trying to get out of hauling supplies from the riverboat to the settlement, backed up by Cole and Wilson (Arthur Kennedy, Rock Hudson), Julia Adams and her dad (Jay C. Flippen) joining the wagon train, in Anthony Mann’s Bend Of The River, 1952.

Far Country, The (1955) -- (Movie Clip) The Dignity Of The Occasion Just docked in Skagway, Alaska with his cattle from Wyoming, James Stewart as Jeff Webster, fleeing a trumped-up murder charge, encounters the local law (John McIntire as “Judge” Gannon), rescued by his partners (Walter Brennan, Jay C. Flippen), Ruth Roman with ironic observations, early in Anthony Mann’s The Far Country, 1955.

Wild River (1960) -- (Movie Clip) What's Senile? New Tennessee Valley Authority rep Glover (Montgomery Clift) has just met the Garth brothers (J.C. Flippen, James Westerfield and musician Big Jeff Bess as Joe John), whose mother won’t sell their island so the new dam can be closed to form the lake, in Elia Kazan’s Wild River, 1960.

They Live By Night (1949) -- (Original Trailer) RKO’s trailer is not far off the mark for director Nicholas Ray’s eventually-acclaimed debut feature, They Live By Night, starring Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell.

Companions

Ruth Brooks

Wife

Screenwriter. Survived him.

Bibliography

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