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Bruce Cabot
Born	Etienne Pelissier Jacques de Bujac April 20, 1904(1904-04-20) Carlsbad, New Mexico, U.S.
Died	May 3, 1972 (aged 68) Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film actor
Years active	1931–1971
Spouse(s)	Adrienne Ames (1933-1937) (divorced) Francesca De Scaffa (?-1951) (divorced) Gracy Mary Mather Smith (? - ?) (divorced)

Bruce Cabot (April 20, 1904 – May 3, 1972) was an American film actor. Tall and athletic looking, he is best remembered as Jack Driscoll in King Kong (1933).

Early life

Cabot was born Etienne Pelissier Jacques de Bujac in Carlsbad, New Mexico, to French Army Colonel Etienne de Bujac and his wife Julia Armandine Graves, who died shortly after giving birth to him. Leaving the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee without graduating, Cabot worked at a many jobs, including as a sailor, an insurance salesman, and in a slaughterhouse.

Early career

Cabot appeared in nearly one hundred feature films. He made his debut in 1931 in "Heroes of the Flames". He tested for the lead role of The Ringo Kid in John Ford's popular Western Stagecoach (1939), but John Wayne got the part.

He was prominently featured in the blockbuster King Kong in 1933, but he was not able to maintain his career as a lead actor. He usually played a villain, appearing as a gangster boss in "Let 'Em Have It" (1936) and as the Huron warrior Magua opposite Randolph Scott in The Last of the Mohicans (1936). He co-starred with Spencer Tracy, playing the leader of a lynch mob in Fury (1936). A freelancer, Cabot appeared in movies at many studios before leaving Hollywood to serve in World War II.

World War II

Cabot was a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Forces and was as an Air Transport Command operations officer in Tunis. It is alleged he was implicated by the Army Counter-Intelligence Corps in a gold smuggling ring that shipped Nazi gold to Brazil after the war's end.^[1]

Career after the war

Cabot returned to Hollywood after his discharge. He met John Wayne on the set of Angel and the Badman (1947) and they became close friends. Cabot became the first choice for supporting roles in Wayne's movies. They appeared together in twelve films: The Best of the Badmen (1951), The Comancheros (1961), Hatari! (1962), McLintock! (1963), In Harm's Way (1965), The War Wagon (1967), The Green Berets (1968), Hellfighters (1968), The Undefeated (1969), Chisum (1970), and Big Jake (1971).

Cabot's final screen appearance was in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever.

Death

Bruce Cabot died in 1972 in Woodland Hills, California from lung cancer and throat cancer and was buried in his hometown, Carlsbad, New Mexico. He had been married three times, to actresses Adrienne Ames and Francesca De Scaffa, and finally to Mary Mather Smith.

Trivia

• The character of "Bruce Baxter" in the 2005 remake of King Kong was based on Cabot.
• The 2005 remake includes a dedication to the other two lead actors in the 1933 original, but not to Cabot.

References

External links

• Bruce Cabot at the Internet Movie Database
• Bruce Cabot at Allmovie
• Bruce Cabot at Find a Grave