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{{Short description|American actor (1902–1969)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2016}}▼
{{Use American English|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Roy Barcroft
| image = Roy Barcroft in Stagecoach to Denver (1946).jpg
|
| caption = Barcroft in ''[[Stagecoach to Denver]]'' (1946)
| birth_name = Howard Harold Ravenscroft
| birth_date = {{
| birth_place = [[Crab Orchard, Nebraska]], U.S.<ref>{{cite book|title=Exploring Nebraska Highways: Trip Trivia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rjRdGsXE_joC&pg=PA238|year=2007|publisher=Exploring America's Highway|isbn=978-0-9744358-7-9|page=238}}</ref>
| death_date = {{
| death_place = [[Woodland Hills, Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| occupation = Actor
▲|othername = Big Roy, Roy Bancroft, Howard Clifford Ravenscroft
| years_active = 1937–1969
| spouse = {{marriage|Vera Thompson|1932}}
| website =▼
▲|website =
}}
'''Roy Barcroft''' (born '''Howard Harold Ravenscroft''';<ref>{{cite web|title=Roy Barcroft Biography (1902-1969)|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/54/Roy-Barcroft.html|website=Film Reference|access-date=27 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927210453/http://www.filmreference.com/film/54/Roy-Barcroft.html|archive-date=27 September 2017}}</ref> September 7, 1902 – November 28, 1969) was an American [[character actor]] famous for playing villains in [[Western (genre)|B-Westerns]] and other genres. From 1937 to 1957, he appeared in more than 300 films for [[Republic Pictures]].<ref name="az">{{cite book|last1=Varner|first1=Paul|title=The A to Z of Westerns in Cinema|date=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810870512|pages=16–17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xdf8t-Vs3e4C&q=%22Howard+Harold+Ravenscroft%22&pg=PA16|access-date=27 September 2017|language=en}}</ref> [[Film critic]] [[Leonard Maltin]] acclaimed Barcroft as "Republic Pictures' number one bad guy".<ref name=Maltin>{{cite video | people= [[Leonard Maltin]] |date=December 2005 |title= The Adventures of Spin and Marty |medium= DVD |publisher=[[Walt Disney Treasures]]}}</ref>
==Background==
Barcroft was born
After leaving the Army for the second time, he played clarinet and saxophone for dance bands around Chicago until he and his family moved to Los Angeles in 1929.<ref name="eafs">{{cite book|last1=Mayer|first1=Geoff|title=Encyclopedia of American Film Serials|date=2017|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476627199|pages=43–44|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mCgSDgAAQBAJ&q=%22Howard+Harold+Ravenscroft%22&pg=PA43|access-date=June 17, 2017}}</ref>
==Career==
In 1929, he moved to [[California]] and worked as an extra and as a salesman. He was discovered while acting in an amateur theatre production,
His career slowed with the decline of B-Westerns, but he found work in television and B-
In 1960, he played the role of “George Farr” (a hired killer) on James Arness's TV Western Series ''[[Gunsmoke]]'' in the episode “Say Uncle” (S4 E4), again in its 1964 offering “Once A Haggen” as “Pop” (S9E18), in 1965’s “Circus Trick” as “Roy” (S10 E20) & as “Jonas” in 1967’s “The Returning” (S12 E22).
In 1961 on “Have Gun Will Travel” he played Shep Montrose in the episode “The Long Weekend (S4 E29). He had previously played the vengeful John Griffin in S1 E28 "The Killer's Widow" which aired 3/21/1958. On May 23, 1961, Barcroft played Doc Longley in the episode "Badge of the Outsider" on the television western series ''[[Laramie (TV series)|Laramie]]'', playing a retired outlaw framed for the murder of the deputy sheriff in Laramie. He appeared in a 1961 episode, "Heat Wave," of the adventure drama series ''[[Straightaway (TV series)|Straightaway]]''.
In the film-focused newspaper ''[[Classic Images]]'', Laura Wagner wrote that Barcroft's work as a voice actor is often overlooked. She commented, "Barcroft can be heard in movies and on TV as narrators, radio operators, announcers, and various stray voices."<ref name="ci" />
In marked contrast to his villainous movie persona, Barcroft off-screen "had a reputation as one of the nicest guys in Hollywood," said [[Leonard Maltin]] in 2005.<ref name=Maltin />
==Personal life==
Barcroft married Vera Thompson in 1932, and they had two children.<ref name="ci">{{cite journal|last1=Wagner|first1=Laura|title=Roy Barcroft: King of the Badmen|journal=Classic Images|date=August 2017|issue=506|pages=30–31}}</ref>
==Death==
Barcroft died of kidney cancer<ref name=bkf/> at the [[Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital|Motion Picture Country Hospital]] in 1969. His body was donated to medical science.<ref name=ci/>
==Selected filmography==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''[[The Frontiersmen]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars]]'' (1938, Serial) - Martian Soldier [Ch. 2] (uncredited)
* ''[[Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe]]'' (1940, Serial) - Ming's Soldier [Ch 6, 10–12] / Arborian Sentry [Ch 6] (uncredited)
* ''[[Man from Texas (1939 film)|Man from Texas]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Crashing Thru (1939 film)|Crashing Thru]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Trailing Double Trouble]]'' (1940)
* ''[[The Bandit Trail]]'' (1941)
* ''[[The Lone Rider in Cheyenne]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Hoppy Serves a Writ]]'' (1943)
* ''[[Canyon City (1943 film)|Canyon City]]'' (1943)
* ''[[Sheriff of Sundown]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Call of the South Seas]]'' (1944)
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* ''[[Along the Navajo Trail (film)|Along the Navajo Trail]]'' (1945)
* ''[[The Purple Monster Strikes]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Sunset in El Dorado]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Oregon Trail Scouts]]'' (1947)
* ''[[Vigilantes of Boomtown]]'' (1947)
* ''[[The Wild Frontier (film)|The Wild Frontier]]'' (1947)
* ''[[Wyoming (1947 film)|Wyoming]]'' (1947)
* ''[[The Bold Frontiersman]]'' (1948)
* ''[[The Far Frontier]]'' (1948)
* ''[[Oklahoma Badlands]]'' (1948)
* ''[[Renegades of Sonora]]'' (1948)
* ''[[Train to Alcatraz]]'' (1948)
* ''[[Frontier Investigator]]'' (1949)
* ''[[The Dakota Kid]]'' (1951)
* ''[[Radar Men from the Moon]]'' (1953; Commando Cody/Rocketman series)
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* ''[[Man Without a Star]]'' (1955)
* ''[[Oklahoma! (1955 film)|Oklahoma!]]'' (1955)
* ''[[The Spoilers (1955 film)|The Spoilers]]'' (1955)
* ''[[Band of Angels]]'' (1957) as Gillespie
*''[[Gunsmoke]]'' (Episode "SKY", 1959) - Ma Torvet
* ''[[Bandolero!]]'' (1968)
* ''[[Monte Walsh (1970 film)|Monte Walsh]]'' (1970)
{{div col end}}
{{Portal|Biography
==Television==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1961|| ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'' || Casey || S4:E4, "Judgement at Hondo Seco"
|-
|1962|| ''[[Gunsmoke (TV series)|Gunsmoke]]'' || Cotter|| S8:E19, “Cotter’s Girl"
|-
|1963|| ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'' || Sanders || S5:E18, "Incident of the Mountain Man"
|-
|1963|| ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'' || Cliff Stanton || S5:E30, "Incident at Alkali Sink"
|-
|1963|| ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'' || Sheriff || S6:E10, "Incident at Confidence Creek"
|-
|1965|| ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'' || Adams || S8:E4, "Walk into Terror"
|}
==References==
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==Further reading==
* ''Roy Barcroft, King of the Badmen'' by
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{IMDb name|0054117}}▼
* {{
* {{AllMovie name}}
* [http://www.b-westerns.com/villainb.htm Roy Barcroft at B-Westerns]
* [http://www.dougmacaulay.com/kingspud/sel_by_actor_index_2.php?actor_first=Roy&actor_last=Barcroft Roy Barcroft, Great Character Actor]
* [https://ia804705.us.archive.org/3/items/serial-pictorial-8-roy-barcroft-republics-favorite-villain/Serial%20Pictorial%20%238-Roy%20Barcroft_Republic%27s%20Favorite%20Villain.pdf Serial Pictorial Number Eight: ''Roy Barcroft - Republic's Favorite Villain'']
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:
[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:Male Western (genre) film actors]]
[[Category:Male film serial actors]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney cancer in the United States]]
[[Category:Male actors from Nebraska]]
[[Category:People from Johnson County, Nebraska]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Nebraska]]
[[Category:Male actors from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]]
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