James Warren

The minor Ohio-born star of a few late 40s second-string westerns, James Warren is hardly remembered at all except maybe to trivia enthusiasts. Tall, taciturn, lean and durably handsome, he certainly had what it took. Jim worked as an illustrator in New York with his art at one time appearing in Life, Cosmopolitan and Saturday Evening Post. While studying at the Pratt Institute of Art in New York, an MGM talent scout spotted the strapping actor whose looks and attitude somewhat resembled Gary Cooper. In Hollywood from 1942, he was featured in about 20 pictures over a 3-year period but nothing much happened. While some of these pictures were higher quality pictures, such as Cry 'Havoc' (1943) and See Here, Private Hargrove (1944), Jim appeared unbilled in nearly all of them. MGM did not pick up his option, but RKO liked what it saw and took a chance on him heading up a series of Zane Grey westerns, including Wanderer of the Wasteland (1945), Sunset Pass (1946) and Code of the West (1947). Again, he met with lukewarm results and eventually he retired to Hawaii, returning full-time to his first passion - painting, especially watercolors. He died in 2001.