John George Agar Jr

Actor. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he was the oldest of four children of a local meat packer. During World War II, he enlisted into the United States Army Air Force, and was stationed in Hollywood, California to provide Air Force assistance in making many of the patriotic movies during the war. It was there in 1944 that he met former child actress Shirley Temple, whom he married on September 19, 1945 (she was just 17 and he was 24). They were teamed together in the motion picture "Fort Apache" (1948); director John Ford's first of a trilogy of western cavalry movies starring John Wayne. They would both act together in a later movie, "Adventure in Baltimore" (1949), but Agar hit his peak in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" (1949), and "Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949). In late 1949, his acting career stalled and within months, the two partners were involved in a very messy and bitter divorce with highly publicized bouts of his drunkenness. This led to his receiving less than quality roles, and his career went to Grade B horror and science-fiction films, including such cult classics as "Tarantula" (1955), "The Mole People" (1956), "The Brain from Planet Arous" (1958), and "Invisible Invaders" (1959). His 1951 marriage to Loretta Combs proved more lasting, until her death in January 2000, and they would have two children of their own. He would also make guest appearances on television, appearing in such shows as "Rawhide", "Bat Masterson", "Lawman", "Death Valley Days", and "Branded". He was able to return to making westerns with friend John Wayne in "Chisum" (1970) and "Big Jake" (1971), but in his later years, he could be found back on television doing promotional roles. He would get guest appearances on later sci-fi movies, such as "The Curse of the Swamp Creature" (1966), "King Kong" (1976), and "The Vampire Hunters Club" (2001), mostly for the nostalgia appeal to older sci-fi viewers. A long-time smoker, he died in April 2002 in Burbank, California from emphysema.