More about Randor Guy

His claim to movie immortality and mention in American Film History was three-pronged.

He was the first actor to have kissed the sex symbol of American Cinema, and movie icon Marilyn Monroe on screen! He played the first of the three husbands of Scarlett O’Hara in the immortal film classic and the all-time mega movie of 1939, Gone With The Wind. One of his wives was the daughter of the unforgettable film funster and movie comedy master, and lord of laughter, Stan Laurel!

That was the Hollywood actor, not so well known today, except to serious movie buffs and virtually unknown in India, was Rand Brooks who passed away on August 30 2003 at the age of eighty-one.

However Brooks built up considerable reputation in the popular Hopalong Cassidy series of movies made during 1940’s. He played the hero’s sidekick Lucky Jenkins in many movies built around the famed mythical cowboy hero.

Such Hopalong Cassidy included Devil's Playground (1946), The Marauders (1947), Unexpected Guest (1947), The Dead Don't Dream (1948). The well-known cowboy star of his day William Boyd played Hopalong Cassidy.

(Hopalong Cassidy series was created by Clarence Mulford who wrote as many as twenty-six books built around this gentlemen cowboy, who wore surprisingly black which color in cowboy lore and legend represented the bad guys! Indeed as many as sixty -six films were made between 1912 –1956! William Boyd became an American folk hero after the success of the movies. Expectedly the films were re-edited for television and later a new series was built around the cowboy hero. One of the reasons for the enormous popularity of Hopalong Cassidy was the moralistic message he conveyed for children, and parents encouraged their kids to read the books and also watch the movies and TV series! Comics were also produced which increased the popularity of the celebrated folk hero. The books ended only when Mulford passed away in 1956!)

Rand Brooks was born in Los Angeles in 1918 and took his bow in movies is in 1938. His moment of fame came a year later when he appeared as Charles Hamilton, first of the three husbands of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind.

He earned a footnote in film history when he appeared in a forgotten film Ladies of the Chorus (1948) in which he bestowed the first screen kiss on the luscious lips of the soon-to-be-legend called Marilyn Monroe. However not many are aware that she was first kissed in front of a camera by the Hollywood star-and stud- Steve McQueen for a camera test taken in 1946.

His other films include Son of Monte Cristo (1941, a spin-off from the famed Alexandre Dumas character ‘Count of Monte Cristo.’ The lead players in this successful film were Louis Hayward and the brilliant actor George Sanders.

Brooks moved into television and became popular as Corporal Boone in the successful series The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (1956 -1958).

(Rin Tin Tin, the name of a dog was created by the legendary movie mogul Darryl F. Zanuck while working as screenwriter for Warner Brothers. The idea of a dog as the central character of a movie came to Zanuck when a dog accidentally bit him while he was taking a walk in Los Angeles! The movies with this dog as ‘hero’ were big hits and during a period of slump Warner Brothers kept out of the red with these movies!)

With advancing each and reducing roles, Brooks promoted a company of running ambulance services in Los Angeles. This business was a big success and later he sold the company at profit and took to raising horses in his ranch.

Though he did not set Beverly Hills on fire, Rand Brooks was quite successful and some critics placed him in the list of Hollywood stars of 1940’s.