Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Cole Bros. Circus 1948 (From Mike Naughton)

Buckles, is this Billy Powell?

"Hal Silvers"

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Real name Harold Smith. Stage name, Hal Silvers until contracted by Ringling who renamed him Hubert Castle from London, England. He was and always would be a fanatical conservative citizen of, where else? Dallas, Texas.

Buckles said...

That he was!
Too bad he couldn't have been a little more like myself, just to the right of John Wayne.

Mike Naughton said...

Is this true...

Hubert Castle was a member of the Screen Actors Guild and wanted to get paid for appearing in the movie The Greatest Show on Earth, subsequently he was doomed to the cutting room floor.

I have no idea where I heard this tale -- so I don't know if there is any truth to it.

Buckles said...

He was even more than a SAG member, he told me that he was hired by some studio to be an Idea Man.
Which meant that he would attend meetings regarding stunts that Script Writers would come up with and advise them if they were plausible or not.

Anonymous said...

Johnny:
I was named after Hubert(Castle's Bears). Castle, being my middle name however. I thought his real name was James H.Smith ;show name Hal Silvers then Hubert Castle? The H, I assume, stood for Harold ?

BOBBY'S LITL BRO. said...

Yes his real name was James H Smith. i know because everytime the game warden would check his fishing license they would ask him are you James H Smith. He waas A great fisherman and thats why we allways played the northwest with the Hubert Castle Show in the 60's and 70's Casey

Roger Smith said...

If anyone missed by entry above, his name was James Albert Hal Smith.  His son was called Hal, Jr., and he tried for years to find success as an actor.  He came to Winterquarters, in Seagoville, and interviewed everyone for the program, which his father promptly re-wrote.  Last I knew of Hal, Jr., was that he was dealing in art around North Texas, and was living at the old Winterquarters, after Tarzan bought the show and moved it to Missouri.

TO MIKE NAUGHTON: Speaking of SAG and wanting to get paid for GSOE, I heard a rather forgettable and vague rumor that DeMille wanted Clyde Beatty back on RBB for the film. Beatty not only wanted to get paid as a SAG member, but also preferred his name over the title. Well, that billing went strictly to DeMille, and negotiatons fizzled in a hurry. Can anyone verify this little-known tale? I never could.

Roger Smith

Roger Smith