"George Chesebro, who has been in China part of 1912, will arrive in Minneapolis some time in February. Chesebro bas been touring the world with an opera company."

His film career began circa 1915, and in early features and serials, he did bits and support in various productions for Triangle, Pathe, other companies. Among his first starring roles was Ruth Roland's serial HANDS UP (Pathe, 1918). But in the middle of HANDS UP filming, George exited Tinseltown for World War I service in the U. S. Army Field Artilery.

The March, 1919 issue of Motion Picture magazine reported on his return from military duty:

"Kenneth Harlan and George Cheseboro returned from Europe on the Baltic, having served at the front. Harlan was Dorothy Dalton's leading man and George Cheseboro was last featured with Ruth Roland in 'Hands Up.' "

Returning to civilian life, George did more cliffhangers - he starred with Juanita Hansen in LOST CITY (Selig Polyscope, 1920); with Eileen Sedgwick in DIAMOND QUEEN (Universal, 1921); and Grace Darmond in HOPE DIAMOND MYSTERY (Kosmik Films, 1921). Then came leads in a few northwoods / mounted police adventures for Milburn Morante's production company which were released in 1921 - 1922.

His starring career ended with WOLFBLOOD / WOLF BLOOD (Ryan Bros. Productions, 1925), a feature about a logging camp and him receiving a transfusion of wolf blood. George got his sole directing credit with WOLFBLOOD, co-helming it with Bruce Mitchell.

In the 1930s and 1940s he became one of the busier B western and serial baddies. He occasionally played the boss / brains heavy, but was most often cast as the action heavy / second-in-command or lesser duties as a henchman / gang member.

I always think of Chesebro as one of the finest of the conniving, shifty-eyed baddies, who sometimes had no backbone and would squeal on his confederates when pummeled by the hero. And he certainly was loud, boisterous, had a grating voice, and delivered dialog with gusto.

Once in a while, he was on the side of the law. For example, in WILD MUSTANG (Ajax, 1935), he's the deputy / helper to star Harry Carey. Alas - George's name is misspelled Cheeseborough in the opening titles and credits.

Chesebro's Hollywood career spanned nearly forty years, from about 1915 through the mid 1950s. And he was a busy freelancer.

In the early to mid 1930s, he's in four Hopalong Cassidys at Paramount; over a dozen with Tom Tyler and Jack Perrin at Reliable Pictures; three western serials for Mascot; and Poverty Row independents with Buddy Roosevelt, Buffalo Bill Jr., Bill Cody, Ted Wells, Rex Lease, others.

Then came steady employment with four production companies - Columbia, Republic, Monogram, and Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC).

His many at Republic Pictures were scattered over the years 1935 - 1953 and amounted to fifty+ westerns with Allan Lane, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Bill Elliott, Mesquiteers, others. And he appeared in several Republic cliffhangers, including three with a western theme starring Clayton Moore, best remembered as TV's Lone Ranger.

At Monogram, he appeared in about three dozen oaters with Jack Randall, Range Busters, Bill Elliott, Tex Ritter, Trail Blazers, more.

And in the 1940s at PRC, he was busy in the Billy the Kid / Billy Carson series starring Bob Steele and Buster Crabbe, and sagebrush adventures with Eddie Dean, Lash LaRue, Tim McCoy, others.

He got many paychecks from Columbia Pictures. In 1935 - 1952, Charles Starrett starred in 131 adventures at Columbia. And ol' George had big and small roles in 53. Chesebro's other Columbias were a few Bill Elliott serials and oaters, a couple Elliott / Tex Ritter duos, a Buck Jones feature and serial, some Three Stooges shorts, more.

By the mid 1940s, age and heart problems slowed him down, and many of his later appearances were unbilled roles as a townsman, barfly, poker player, bartender, etc. And only a few television credits - the IMDb has him in three episodes of the LONE RANGER TV show.

A few interesting tidbits - George did NO films that starred Tim Holt, George O'Brien, Kirby Grant, Monte Hale, or Reb Russell. And none of Monogram's Rough Riders with Jones, McCoy, and Hatton, or the Renfrew mounted police series with James Newill. And he appeared in only three with John Wayne, all at Republic Pictures - Wayne was the solo hero in THE LAWLESS NINETIES (Republic, 1936), and the other two were during his time as a member of the Three Mesquiteers.

See chart further down this webpage with "gee-whiz" stats on where and with whom he worked.

As to personal and family life, George was married twice. Family trees and other records indicate his first wife was Dolly Higgins Chesebro. However, the April 15, 1908 marriage license has her as Emma A. Higgins. Perhaps Dolly was a nickname. Marriage number two was to Sophie Barman on April 14, 1922 in Los Angeles and they were together through his death in 1959. There were no children from either pairing. (There were a stepson and stepdaughter from Sophie's first marriage.)

In the 1940 census, George reported that he worked 26 weeks and earned $2,166.00 in 1939. According to the Census Bureau, the median income for a man in 1940 was $956.00.

Seventy year old George Chesebro passed away from heart failure at his Hermosa Beach, Los Angeles County, California home on May 28, 1959. He was cremated and cremains scattered in an unmarked garden area at Pacific Crest Cemetery, Redondo Beach, Los Angeles County, California.

And now, here's two of my favorite Chesebro movie memories:

He does sing in Autry's SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES (Republic, 1937). But you'll need the official SPRINGTIME DVD from the Autry organization to hear his nasal crooning which begins around 5 1/2 minutes in that 60 minute oater. Won't see that on the SPRINGTIME videos on YouTube, Internet Archive, etc. Those are the 54 minute version edited for TV distribution, and his vocalizing wound up on the cutting room floor.

And we can't forget George in the Trucolor TRAIL OF ROBIN HOOD (Republic, 1950). He's one of the guest stars coming to the aid of Roy Rogers and Jack Holt. I always chuckle when he shows up and is temporarily shunned by the group of western movie heroes ... until he says to youngster Carol Nugent that "After making twenty pictures with Jack Holt, he reformed me Honey!" And he introduced himself as "Hello boys ... I'm George Chesebro" - and pronounces his last name as "Cheese bro", not "Cheese borough" or "Chez bro". He was about 62 years old when he did TRAIL OF ROBIN HOOD. (Link further down this webpage of a video clip with George doing that intro scene.)

George was most often a gang member and henchman. Occasionally, he had a larger role, including main villain / brains heavy. Here's some Chesebro western film highlights:

• In Tom Tyler's SILVER BULLET (Reliable, 1934), George (and Charlie King) are gang bosses behind some robberies.
• Buddy Roosevelt starred in the poverty row BOSS COWBOY (Superior, 1934) for Victor Adamson / Denver Dixon. George was a ranch foreman ... and also a cattle rustler.
• In the "Bud 'n' Ben" short, NEVADA CYCLONE (Reliable, 1934), George chews up the scenery as a rustler trying to steal cattle from kindly ol' Lafe McKee.
• In Rex Lease's CYCLONE OF THE SADDLE (Superior, 1935), George and Yakima Canutt are no goods running guns to the Indians. Canutt's bullwhip weaponry is memorable. He kills people by attaching a knife blade to the end of the whip and snapping it at his foe. Ouch!
• SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES (Republic, 1937) starred Gene Autry, and George played a prominent (and hot-headed) rancher involved in a sheep vs. cattle dispute. And yes! He does sing "Springtime in the Rockies" in his terrible, nasal voice. But his crooning doesn't show up in the SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES videos on YouTube, Internet Archive, etc. That's because those are 54 minute versions edited for TV distribution and Chesebro's singing wound up on the cutting room floor. The official Autry organization DVD of SPRINGTIME is the sixty minute full length version and George sings at about the 5 1/2 minute mark.
• In Autry's RED RIVER VALLEY (Republic, 1936), Frank LaRue was the brains heavy and Chesebro was his right-hand man.
• DEVIL'S SADDLE LEGION (Warner Bros., 1937) starred Dick Foran and the plot was about building a dam to change the course of the Red River. His nemesis was George (along with Gordon Hart and Willard Parker).
• CHEYENNE KID (Monogram, 1940) starred Jack Randall. George - and helpers Reed Howes and Charlie King - kill heroine Louise Stanley's brother and try to pin the crime on Randall.
• The Range Buster's WRANGLER'S ROOST (Monogram, 1941) had Forrest Taylor as a preacher trying to bring religion to a wide open town. George and Frank Ellis run a gambling den and also rob stages.
• In the Bill Elliott serial VALLEY OF VANISHING MEN (Columbia, 1942), Chesebro was a gang member working for Kenneth MacDonald.
• RIDERS OF THE LONE STAR (Columbia, 1947) is a Charles Starrett / Durango Kid adventure. George does a nice job playing an ol' outlaw hiding his past villainy. And he gets to save his young son.
• In SHADOW VALLEY (PRC, 1947), Eddie Dean and sidekick Roscoe Ates come to the aid of pretty Jennifer Holt. Slick lawyer George and henchman Eddie Parker are out to grab her property which has gold on it.
• Lash LaRue and Fuzzy St. John were the heroes in CHEYENNE TAKES OVER (PRC, 1947). And George was a land grabber who kills the local ranch owner and takes over the property.
• FIGHTING VIGILANTES (PRC, 1947) was another Lash LaRue, and George and gang kill Steve Clark, the leader of the local vigilantes.