Saddle up for a trip through entertainment history with a weekly highlight from Santa Clarita’s Walk of Western Stars! This week, actor Harry Carey Jr. 

Harry Carey  Jr. was born on a ranch near the Saugus neighborhood of Santa Clarita, California, as the son of actor (and fellow Walk of Western Stars alum) Harry Carey and actress Olive Carey. 

Carey Jr. grew up on his parents’ 1,000-acre ranch in Santa Clarita where they raised horses and cattle. The ranch house itself would later be turned into a historic site by Los Angeles County, now known as Tesoro Adobe Park. 

During World War II, Carey Jr. served six years in the United States Navy as a pharmacist mate second class (medical corpsman), mostly in the Pacific theater. 

At one point, Carey Jr. was transferred back to the United States to serve with his father, and good friend director John Ford in a Naval photographic unit attached to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) where he helped to make training films for the Navy and the OSS. 

After leaving the Navy, Carey Jr. attempted a singing career to avoid acting but was unsuccessful and began acting for the John Ford Stock Company with his father. 

Carey Jr. collaborated frequently with Ford, appearing in such notable Ford films as “3 Godfathers” (1948), “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” (1939) “The Searchers” (1956) and “Cheyenne Autumn” (1964). 

Both of the actor’s parents had appearances in Ford’s films as well and can be seen in the early episodes of “The Lone Ranger.” Soon, Carey Jr. became a respected western character like his father. 

Cary Jr. appeared in many westerns and made four films with Howard Hawks. The first was “Red River,” which featured both Carey Jr. and his father in separate scenes followed by “Monkey Business” (1952) and the famed Marilyn Monroe film “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (1953)

On April 29, 1962, Carey Jr. was cast as Mitch Evers in the episode “Cort” of the ABC-Wb Western series, “Lawman” with John Russle and Peter Brown. 

In 1972 fans saw Carey Jr. in a mostly comedic role as the character “Holy Joe” in the Terence Hill Spaghetti Western “Man of the East.” 

In 1980, Carey Jr. portrayed George Arthur in the movie “The Long Riders,” a film about the exploits of Jesse James.

In 1987, Carey Jr. was a featured actor in the film, “The Whales of August” with Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Vincent Price and Ann Southern. In this film, the actor portrayed a good-natured and noisy handyman and delivered his lines in a perfect Maine accent.

In 1990, Carey Jr. appeared in the film “Back to the Future Part III” in the saloon scene set in 1885. 

Carey Jr. also appeared in “Tales from the Set,” a series of video interviews in which he discussed various individuals with whom he worked during his long career. The series debuted in France at the Epona Festival, an event devoted to horses, in October 2007. 

In 2009, Carey Jr. and his partner Clyde Lucas completed “Trader Horn: The Journey Back,” a remembrance of the 1931 adventure film featuring the elder Carey Jr. 

Carey Jr. also attempted to produce a feature film called “Comanche Stallion”, a project which John Ford had considered making in the early 1960s, based on the 1958 book by Tom Millstead. 

In 1944, the actor married Marilyn Fix, daughter of actor Paul Fix, the couple shared four children: Steven, Melinda, Thomas, and Patricia.

Carey Jr. died of natural causes in a hospice on Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, in Santa Barbara at the age of 91. 

 The actor’s ashes are interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery. 

Where is Harry Carey Jr.’s  Plaque on the Walk of Western Stars? 

In 2005, Carey Jr. was honored with a plaque on the Walk of Western Stars. The plaque is on the west side of Main Street in front of the Smoke House on Main Street. 

Click here to view last week’s feature.  

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