Barton MacLane
Known for
Barton MacLane, born in Columbia, South Carolina in 1902, was a workhorse Hollywood character actor best known for playing tough cops, corrupt bosses and hard-nosed heavies. He signed with Warner Bros in the mid-thirties and turned up in a long stream of crime pictures and westerns, including The Maltese Falcon (1941) and John Huston's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), where he played the untrustworthy foreman. Later generations knew him best as the exasperated General Peterson opposite Larry Hagman on television's I Dream of Jeannie (1965-1969). By the time of his death in 1969 he had appeared in more than two hundred film and television projects.
Barton MacLane
141 Movies
10 Series
Barton MacLane, born in Columbia, South Carolina in 1902, was a workhorse Hollywood character actor best known for playing tough cops, corrupt bosses and hard-nosed heavies. He signed with Warner Bros in the mid-thirties and turned up in a long stream of crime pictures and westerns, including The Maltese Falcon (1941) and John Huston's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), where he played the untrustworthy foreman. Later generations knew him best as the exasperated General Peterson opposite Larry Hagman on television's I Dream of Jeannie (1965-1969). By the time of his death in 1969 he had appeared in more than two hundred film and television projects.
Movies
Plays Lt. of Detectives Dundy
The Maltese Falcon
1941
Plays Pat McCormick
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
1948
Plays Police Commissioner
Pocketful of Miracles
1961
Plays Yates
Three Violent People
1956
Plays Sam Higgins
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1941
Plays General Arnold
The Glenn Miller Story
1954
Plays Jake Kranmer
High Sierra
1941
Plays Collins
'G' Men
1935
Plays Tanner
The Rounders
1965
Plays Stephen Whitney
You Only Live Once
1937
Plays Detective Rief
The Crime Doctor’s Strangest Case
1943
Plays Slag Martin
Gold Is Where You Find It
1938
Plays Ballister
Tarzan and the Amazons
1945
Plays Al Kruger
Bullets or Ballots
1936
Plays Case Ables
The Big Street
1942
Plays Capt. Myles Moylan
Bugles in the Afternoon
1952
Plays Marty Callahan
All Through the Night
1942
Plays Capt. Benjamin Black
The Spanish Main
1945
Plays Major Ridgley
The Geisha Boy
1958
Plays Loder
The Walking Dead
1936
Plays Paul Weir
Tarzan and the Huntress
1947
Plays Joad
Best of the Badmen
1951
Plays Bather
The Cocoanuts
1929
Plays 'Banjo' Sweeney
Silver River
1948
Plays Lieutenant John Reece
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
1950
Plays Big Tom Stone
Law of the Lawless
1964
Plays Sergeant George Lake
Backlash
1956
Plays Jack Slade
Western Union
1941
Plays Henchman Pruitt
Buffalo Stampede
1933
Plays Larry Channock
Let's Dance
1950
Plays James Fell
Town Tamer
1965
Plays Cal Bruce
Kansas Pacific
1953
Plays Lee Graham
Rails Into Laramie
1954
Plays Sgt. Durkee
Thunderbirds
1952
Plays Mickey
You and Me
1938
Plays Sgt. Mac McCardle
Drums in the Deep South
1951
Plays Inspector Walgreen
The Mummy's Ghost
1944
Plays Crowder
Stand Up and Fight
1939
Plays Captain Jenkins
Jail Busters
1955
Plays John Canty
The Prince and the Pauper
1937
Plays Blackie
Page Miss Glory
1935
Plays Lt. Barry Lane
Cry of the Werewolf
1944
Plays Detective Strecker
Red Light
1949
Plays Crewman
His Woman
1931
Plays Texas Jack Barton
The Dude Goes West
1948
Plays Lt. Druggin
San Quentin
1937
Plays Barney Grogan
Come Live with Me
1941
Plays Smiley Quinn
Manpower
1941
Plays Archie Dixon
Bombardier
1943
Plays Seth
Gunfighters of Abilene
1960
TV Shows
Plays Marshal Frank Caine
Outlaws
1960
Plays General Peterson
I Dream of Jeannie
1965
Plays Herkimer Crawford
Gunsmoke
1955
Plays Senator Harriman Baylor
Perry Mason
1957
Plays Bart
The Monkees
1966
Plays Chief Brooks
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
Plays Gen. Bailey
Wire Service
1956
Plays General Fowler
Black Saddle
1959
Plays Capt. Webber
Four Star Playhouse
1952
Plays Rawls Kettrick
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954
Latest Trailers
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Buckskin
Full Filmography
Buckskin
Dr. H. 'Doc' Raymond
1968
Film
Arizona Bushwhackers
Sheriff Grover
1968
Film
The Monkees
Bart · 1 episode
1967
TV
Gunsmoke
Herkimer Crawford · 1 episode
1965–1966
TV
I Dream of Jeannie
General Peterson · 35 episodes
1965–
TV
Town Tamer
James Fell
1965
Film
The Rounders
Tanner
1965
Film
Law of the Lawless
Big Tom Stone
1964
Film
Pocketful of Miracles
Police Commissioner
1961
Film
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Barton MacLane still alive?
Barton MacLane passed away on January 1, 1969 at age 66.
What are the most famous roles of Barton MacLane?
Barton MacLane is best known for roles in The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, High Sierra.
How many movies has Barton MacLane been in?
Over a 43-year career (since 1926), Barton MacLane has appeared in 141 movies and 9 TV shows.
What was Barton MacLane's first movie?
The career of Barton MacLane began with The Quarterback (1926).
What is Barton MacLane's most recent movie or series?
Barton MacLane's most recent release is Buckskin, which premiered on May 1, 1968.
What TV shows has Barton MacLane appeared in?
On television, Barton MacLane has appeared in I Dream of Jeannie, The Munsters, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke.
Barton MacLane
1902-12-25 · Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Barton MacLane graduated from Wesleyan University, where he displayed a notable aptitude for sports, in particular football and basketball. Not surprisingly, his physical prowess led to an early role in The Quarterback (1926) with Richard Dix. MacLane once commented that, as an actor, he needed to have the physical strength to tear the bad guys "from limb to limb", if necessary. Ironically, it was usually Barton himself who was destined to be at the end of a hiding (when not getting shot, instead), typically as snarling henchmen, outlaws and other assorted dubious or abrasive types throughout most of his 40-year acting career. In fact, Barton became so typecast that his name was for a time used proverbially, to generally describe a shouting, hard-nosed ruffian.
After training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, MacLane joined a stock company in Brooklyn. In 1927 he had his first part on Broadway, a brief moment as an assistant district attorney, in the melodrama "The Trial of Mary Dugan". He then played a small featured role as a police officer in "Subway Express" (1929-30), a drama enacted in the interior of a subway car. In mid-1932 MacLane tried his hand at writing his own starring vehicle for the stage, entitled "Rendezvous". While the play closed after just 21 performances, it led to a contract with Warner Brothers.
Barton had already appeared in bit roles for Paramount at their Astoria Studios, including The Marx Brothers' debut film The Cocoanuts (1929). He portrayed mobster Brad Collins in 'G' Men (1935) (with James Cagney), which set the tone for most of his future assignments. Brawny, with squinty eyes and a rasping voice, MacLane was the ideal surly tough guy, particularly suitable for westerns and the type of films noir Warner Brothers excelled at. He was often cast as cops, be they bent or honest. Some of his most representative performances include gangster Al Kruger in Bullets or Ballots (1936), which won him some of the best critical notices of his career; outlaw Jack Slade in Western Union (1941); crooked construction boss Pat McCormick, who gets beaten up by Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt over past-due wages in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948); hard-nosed cops Detective Dundy in The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Lt. Reece in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950). MacLane, on loan to Universal, also had a starring role in Prison Break (1938) as an innocent tuna fisherman who is framed for murder. He was prominent as a tough but sympathetic cop, foil to sleuthing girl reporter Glenda Farrell in the "Torchy Blaine" series of the mid- to late 1930s. In the 1960s Barton began to cultivate a good-guy image as Marshal Frank Caine in the NBC western series Outlaws (1960) as well as showing up in a small recurring role as Air Force Gen. Martin Peterson in I Dream of Jeannie (1965).
Barton was married to the actress Charlotte Wynters, who appeared with him in six of his films. When not on the set, the couple spent time on their 2000-acre cattle ranch in Madera County, California.
For his work in television, Barton has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.