Tom Tyler

by Frank M. Roberts

January 2016

Continuing with our series about the cowboy stars of the '30s and '40s - those that kept us coming back week after week for western thrills and, some music.

This time? No music, but a lot of action. He is a New York cowboy named Vincent Markowski. Now, no respectable theater is going to offer western action starring a Markowski. That's what he thought, too, so he changed his name to Tom Tyler.

He was born on Aug. 9, 1903 in Port Henry. He died on May Day, 1954. What happened in between? Keep a-readin' podner.

At first he was a cowboy good guy but, toward the end of his career he became a cowboy bad guy. He played a heavy in almost everyone's film. He menaced the Holt folk, Lash LaRue, Randolph Scott, Robert Mitchum, and Glenn Ford. He made his last films for one of the small companies - Lippert. He was the main heavy in that 1951 movie.

An earlier film, in his 'good guy' years had a rather menacing title, "The Phantom Of the West." And, here is a neat title - "The Texas Tornado."

Tyler seemed to have a healthy career going - his future in film looked great but, it was cut short by crippling arthritis that gripped him around 1945. He was, fortunately, a man of superb physical stature. Thanks to that he was a powerhouse in the western movies and serials.

One of his films was "Santa Fe Bound," which also featured Jeanne Martel who was his co-star from time to time. Others who were Santa Fe Bound included Richard Kramer, Charles Whittaker, Ed Cassidy, and Dorothy Woods.

"War Of the Range" also featured Caryl Lincoln, Lafe McKee and a gentleman who was seen in many a western - Lane Chandler.

In his 'villainy' days Tyler was featured in such classic films as "Powdersmoke Range," and the most respectable, "Stagecoach."

He was also a member of the "3 Mesquiteers" series at Republic. His only other series was in 1936 for a smaller studio - Victory.

His career followed that of many on poverty row, moving from lot to lot. He got a career boost in serials making seven for Mascot, Universal, Columbia, and Republic. He was the 'Phantom' and 'Captain Marvel'.

We wind up these stories with a look at the second bananas - the guys and, sometimes, the gals who give our heroes and, sometimes our heroines, a helping hand.

One of the second banana biggies was, of course, a gent with whom I had the pleasure of spending a day - Lester Alvin 'Smiley' Burnette, born n 1912, died in 1967. Busy? You bet your cowboy boots. He made nearly 200 western movies.

Born in Summum, Illinois he made his movie debut in 1934 and went on to become one of the highest paid western entertainers. He made 81 movies with his mentor, Gene Autry, providing comic relief. Not only that - he wrote more than 300 songs, more than half of which were used in movies in which he appeared.

His most popular pieces were, "It's My Lazy Day," "My Home Town," and "Hominy Grits."

You may remember that he was also a sidekick to Roy Rogers in seven pictures, and appeared in many with Charles Starrett in the "Durango Kid" series. And, of course, television viewers know him as the railroad engineer in "Petticoat Junction."

A note - eventually we will have more on him based on the hours I spent with him and Rufe Davis, the 'second' engineer on "Petticoat Junction."