The 'brains' and 'action' heavies who had meaty roles and lots of dialog ... and the players who were fathers, ranch owners, lawman, mayors, judges, lawyers, storekeepers, newspaper editors, wardens, etc. |
(From Old Corral collection) | (Courtesy of Donn & Nancy Moyer) |
Born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, Kenne Duncan started in films in the late 1920s. His early appearances occurred in movies made in Canada, England and the United States. Circa 1937, he settled in Hollywoodland and began a long run as a villain and supporting player in serials and westerns. In a career that spanned 30+ years, Duncan labored for most of the B film studios and production companies.
Les Adams has him pegged in about 235 films, of which 160 are westerns and 25 are serials.
Duncan has one of my favorite death scenes. As "The Mesa Kid", he goes up against Tim McCoy (as "Trigger" Tim Rand) in FRONTIER CRUSADER (PRC, 1940). Kenne and a couple henchies get into a saloon gunfight with McCoy ... there's some shots, but you don't see the outcome ... Duncan walks out through the swinging saloon doors and mounts his cayuse ... then falls off the hoss, dead from McCoy's bullets.
His most important work - and most remembered - occurred from 1937 - 1950 in about 120 films for Republic Pictures, and most were oaters and cliffhangers. He was under a term player contract(s) at Republic from July, 1943 through July, 1946, and that seems to be his most prolific period. That contract provided him with security and a regular paycheck, but it also allowed Republic to utilize him in a lot of films ... and they did. In Republic westerns, Kenne was most often a member of a gang bossed by either Roy Barcroft or LeRoy Mason.
I recall a couple good Duncan roles in cliffhangers. He was hero Warren Hull's helper "Ram Singh" in THE SPIDER'S WEB (Columbia, 1938) and THE SPIDER RETURNS (Columbia, 1941). And he was the main henchman working for "the Scorpion" in THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL (Republic, 1941).
(Courtesy of Randy Laing) L-to-R are Carleton Young, John Bagni, Kenne Duncan, and the "Scorpion" in the serial, THE ADVENTURES OF) CAPTAIN MARVEL (Republic, 1941). Randy Laing had Young autograph this photo for him. (From Old Corral collection) Above - Kenne Duncan vs. Wild Bill Elliott in a lobby card from CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH (Republic, 1946), one of the best of the Red Ryder adventures. The background is the Republic cave set. |
As the B western and serial productions began to fade in the post World War II period, Kenne picked up paychecks doing Johnny Mack Brown, Jimmy Wakely and Whip Wilson yarns at Monogram Pictures. He was friendly with Gene Autry and can be spotted in about two dozen of Gene's Columbia movies and television program. Duncan also appeared in many episodes of THE RANGE RIDER, BUFFALO BILL JR., and ANNIE OAKLEY TV series which were produced by Autry's Flying A production company. He also did other early TVers including WILD BILL HICKOK, ADVENTURES OF KIT CARSON, THE LONE RANGER, more.
Duncan was close with director Ed Wood, Jr. (who brought us PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and other films), and he starred in two of Wood's anemic creations, NIGHT OF THE GHOULS (1959) and THE SINISTER URGE (1961). He was also cast in an unsold color TV pilot from Wood titled CROSSROAD AVENGER (1953) which had Tom Keene as the lead.
For many years, Duncan did personal appearances and tours which showcased his trick shooting skills. Couple of examples: he and Cactus Mack McPeters did a 1947 theater personal appearance in Phoenix, Arizona; and in 1950, Kenne toured Japan as well as several U.S. military bases. More on this in images below and a YouTube video link below.
A talented performer who added much to the B movie genre, Duncan passed away on February 7, 1972. There was confusion about his death:
Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Kenne Duncan: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0242010/
The color "Trick Shooting With Kenne Duncan" (which was written and directed by Ed Wood and produced by Ronald Ashcroft) is available on YouTube and runs about 9 minutes. The opening title says "MacLachlan Bros. Present", and then "Kenne Duncan" ... "THE FACE That Is Known To Millions of TV and Western Movie Fans". Filmed circa 1953, Duncan is sponsored by Remington Arms (which provided him with his .22 caliber rifles). Setting up targets for him is a cowgirl named "Ruthie", but no mention of her last name. In 2022, I connected with a family member - she is Ruthie 'Mack' Croninger. There's newsreel footage at the end showing Kenne riding in a parade during his tour of Japan. Go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLSg8usUAUw
YouTube has a clip from NIGHT OF THE GHOULS (1959). This link will take you to Kenne Duncan doing the seance ... and pay attention as a very old and grey Bud Osborne sitting at the table: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAQjps8u0ak
YouTube and the Internet Archive have the Charles Starrett mountie adventure UNDERCOVER MEN (J. R. Booth/Dominion, 1935):
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22UNDERCOVER+MEN%22+%2B%22starrett%22
https://archive.org/details/UndercoverMen
Daniel Neyer's "The Files of Jerry Blake" website has more on Kenne Duncan doing serials: https://filesofjerryblake.com/serial-henchmen/kenne-duncan/
There's information and photos of Duncan starring as "Dr. Acula" in the Ed Wood NIGHT OF THE GHOULS (1959): https://brightlightsfilm.com/ed-wood-blogathon-screwy-details-in-the-night-of-the-ghouls/
The search for Kenne Duncan's family and history was reasonably successful, and information is below. Highlighted in Red font are his parents and siblings - there were at least two brothers (Malcolm, Donald) and two sisters (Ruth and Louise). And in the 1940s, Kenne, his mother and brother Malcolm are living at 1842 North Edgemont, Hollywood, California.
The Family Search website (free), Ancestry.com (subscription), Death Certificate, California Death Index, and Social Security Death Index (SSDI) have information on Duncan:
The Family Search website (free) has additional information on Kenne Duncan's family:
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(Courtesy of Les Adams) Above is a handbill hawking Duncan's live theater show along with a couple of films at George West, Texas (near Houston) on April 26, 1947. Note the admission prices. BLONDIE'S HOLIDAY (Columbia, 1947) was a new film but the second half of the bill, PANAMINT'S BAD MAN with Smith Ballew, was originally released by 20th Century Fox in 1938. (Courtesy of Dale Berry) Above - Kenne Duncan, Smiley Burnette and Dale Berry. Dale recalled that this photo was taken around 1952 while all three were performing at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis. Other performers at the Fair were the Lennon Sisters (from the Lawrence Welk TV show); The Rin Tin Tin TV troupe including Jim Brown, Lee Aaker, Rinty and stuntman Doyle Brooks; and Leon McAuliffe and the Cimarron Boys provided the music. (Courtesy of Dale Berry) Above - Duncan and Dale Berry posing at Kenne's trick-shootin' rig during the 1952 Indiana State Fair at Indianapolis. Note that Remington Arms was the sponsor. Also check Duncan's billing on the sign --- "the Notorious Movie and Tele-Villain".
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(Courtesy of Les Adams) | Left is a pressbook ad for the made-in-Canada UNDERCOVER MEN (J. R. Booth / Dominion, 1935) which was distributed in the U.S. by Columbia Pictures. In addition to appearing in front of the camera as the main heavy in this Charles Starrett mountie yarn, current information indicates that Duncan was the uncredited author of the story (not the script). |
(Courtesy of Mark Heller) Above is a cast and crew shot during the filming of the made-in-Canada mountie adventure UNDERCOVER MEN (J. R. Booth/Dominion, 1935) which starred Charles Starrett. Standing from left to right are: unidentified woman, director Sam Newfield, heroine Adrienne Doré, unidentified man, a very young Kenne Duncan (in hat and suit, and billed as Kenneth Duncan), unidentified woman, and Wheeler Oakman. Left to right kneeling in the front row are: unidentified man, Charles Starrett, unidentified man (appears to be actor Eric Clavering; definitely not I. Stanford Jolley), and actor Phil Brandon (who portrayed one of the mounties). (Courtesy of Randy Laing) Above - Duncan as hero Warren Hull's helper "Ram Singh" in cliffhangers THE SPIDER'S WEB (Columbia, 1938) and THE SPIDER RETURNS (Columbia, 1941). |
(Courtesy of Les Adams) | On the left is a pressbook ad for the lost/missing short POWDER RIVER GUNFIRE (Universal-International, 1948), which had Duncan as the star/lead. At the time, U-I was also doing western shorts with songster Tex Williams. |