Carl Mathews

{{short description|American actor}} {{Infobox person | name = Carl Mathews | image = CarlMathews.1942.jpg | caption = Mathews, circa 1942 | birth_date = {{birth date|1903|2|19}} | birth_place = Oklahoma, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1959|5|3|1899|2|19}} | death_place = Los Angeles County, California, United States | birth_name = | occupation = Actor | spouse = | years_active = 1935–58 }}

'''Carl Mathews''' (February 19, 1903 – May 3, 1959), also sometimes credited as '''Carl Matthews''', was an American character actor and stuntman of the 1930s through 1950s. Born on February 19, 1903, in Oklahoma, his first film role would be in ''Rough Riding Ranger'' in 1935. Over the next 33 years, Mathews appeared in over 200 films, shorts, and television shows, either as a performer or a stuntman.<ref name=AFIF>{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/SearchResult.aspx?s=&Type=PN&Tbl=&CatID=DATABIN_CAST&ID=26793&searchedFor=Carl_Mathews_&SortType=ASC&SortCol=RELEASE_YEAR | title=Carl Mathews | publisher=American Film Institute | accessdate= May 3, 2015}}</ref>

==Early life== Mathews was born in 1903 on the Cherokee reservation in Oklahoma to Sam and Hattie Mathews, and grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma<ref>{{cite web | url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/MLQK-6YD | publisher=Family Search | title=Carl Mathews, United States Census, 1910 | accessdate=May 3, 2015}}</ref> This birth year of 1903 holds throughout his census records through 1940, however, his death certificate lists his date of birth as 1899. His records in the Dawes Rolls show that he was 1/8 Cherokee. His father was a butcher. He was a veteran of World War I, and served in the merchant marines during the 1920s,<ref name=BW>{{cite web | url=http://www.b-westerns.com/villan41.htm | publisher=B-Westerns.com | title=Carl Mathews | accessdate=May 3, 2015}}</ref> although by the end of the decade he was working for the railroads as a switchman.<ref name=C1930>{{cite web | url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XCW6-BNQ | publisher=Family Search | title=Carl Mathews, United States Census, 1930 | accessdate=May 3, 2015}}</ref> He married his wife Margaret at some point in the 1920s, and they had a son, Carl Jr. in 1930. The family lived in Muskogee.<ref name=C1930 /> At some point in the early 1930s, the family relocated to Los Angeles, where they had settled by 1935;<ref name=C1940>{{cite web | url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-27773-2488-19?cc=2000219 | publisher=Family Search | title=United States Census, 1940; Oklahoma; Muskogee; Porter Township, Muskogee, Ward 3 | accessdate=May 3, 2015}}</ref> it was at this point when Mathews began his career in film.<ref name=AFIF />

==Film career== Mathews began his film career with the role of Cinch Clemons in the low-budget western, ''Rough Riding Ranger''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=6141 | title=Rough Riding Ranger: Detail View | publisher=American Film Institute | accessdate= May 3, 2015}}</ref> During his career he had roles in over 60 feature films, and appeared in over 150 others in either very small roles, as a stuntman or as a body double.<ref name=BW /> Most of his roles were in the part of one of the underlings of the antagonist in the film.<ref name=BW /> In addition to his acting, many of his film appearances were as a stuntman or body double. Some of the films he performed stunt work in include: ''Heroes of the Alamo'' (1937), ''Billy the Kid's Gun Justice'' (1940), ''Billy the Kid Trapped'' (1942), and ''Buffalo Bill Rides Again'' (1947); as well as movie serials such as ''The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok''. He was the body double for Fred Scott, as well as Ray "Crash" Corrigan.<ref name=BW /> Later in his career, he appeared in several television series, most notably ''The Cisco Kid'', for which he appeared in a couple of dozen episodes.<ref name=BW /><ref name=imdb>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0558617/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 | publisher=imdb.com | title=Carl Mathews | accessdate=May 3, 2015}}</ref>

===Filmography===  (Per AFI database)<ref name=AFIF />

==Personal life== At some point shortly after Mathews entered the film industry, he divorced from his first wife, Margaret, who returned to Oklahoma with their son, to live with her mother and father.<ref name=C1940 /> By 1940, Mathews had remarried, his new wife was named Irene.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/K9CX-287 | publisher=Family Search | title=Carl Mathews, United States Census, 1940 | accessdate=May 3, 2015}}</ref> This marriage was also unsuccessful, and the two divorced.<ref name=BW /> Mathews died on May 3, 1959, in Los Angeles County, California, of cirrhosis of the liver.<ref name=BW />

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|0558617}} * {{Tcmdb name}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, Carl}} Category:1903 births Category:1959 deaths Category:20th-century American male actors Category:American stunt performers Category:Cherokee Nation male actors Category:Male actors from Oklahoma Category:People from Muskogee, Oklahoma Category:20th-century Native American actors Category:Cherokee people on the Dawes Rolls Category:Cherokee military personnel Category:20th-century American military personnel