Rex Downing
American actor (1925-2020)
Rex Haddon Downing (April 21, 1925, November 18, 2020) was an American actor as a child and youth.
01Career
Rex Downing started his film career in several Our Gang comedies, but his roles there and in feature films were usually small. He received first attention when he played Young Heathcliff in the 1939 William Wyler film Wuthering Heights (1939), which was nominated for eight Academy Awards. In the following time Downing had a major role in the B-Movie serial Mandrake the Magician (1939; serial) and played the younger version of Tyrone Power's character in Blood and Sand (1941).
After his service in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he returned to the film business in 1946, but only got small parts. He left the film business in 1948 and later became a teacher around Los Angeles.
02Personal life
His younger brother Barry Downing was also a child actor.
Downing died in November 2020 at the age of 95.
03Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Teacher's Beau | Our Gang Member | Short |
| 1936 | Branded a Coward | Young Billy Hume | |
| 1935 | Little Sinner | Our Gang member | Short |
| 1936 | Our Gang Follies of 1936 | Kid Sneaking Two Other Kids In | Short |
| 1936 | The Pinch Singer | Our Gang Member | Short |
| 1936 | Little Miss Nobody | Orphan | Uncredited |
| 1936 | Two Too Young | Student | Short |
| 1936 | Pay as You Exit | Audience Member | Short |
| 1936 | General Spanky | Kid Army Member | Uncredited |
| 1937 | Glove Taps | Kid | Short |
| 1937 | Stella Dallas | Minor Role | Uncredited |
| 1937 | The Pigskin Palooka | Photographer | Short |
| 1937 | Love on Toast | Uncredited | |
| 1937 | Wells Fargo | Child | Uncredited |
| 1938 | The Man on the Rock | Short, Uncredited | |
| 1938 | Black Bandit | Young Don | |
| 1939 | Wuthering Heights | Heathcliff (as a child) | |
| 1939 | Mandrake the Magician | Tommy Houston | Serial |
| 1939 | Nurse Edith Cavell | Francois | |
| 1939 | The Escape | Tommy Rogers | |
| 1940 | Adventure in Diamonds | Buttons | Uncredited |
| 1941 | Men of Boys Town | Miles Fenlay | Uncredited |
| 1941 | Blood and Sand | Juan (as a child) | |
| 1942 | The Vanishing Virginian | Newsboy | Uncredited |
| 1942 | The Mayor of 44th Street | Bits McKarg | |
| 1946 | Gas House Kids | Mickey Papopalous | |
| 1947 | The Invisible Wall | Bellhop | Uncredited |
| 1947 | That Hagen Girl | Western Union Boy | Uncredited |
| 1947 | The Gangster | Boy with Note | Uncredited |
| 1948 | Call Northside 777 | Copy Boy | Uncredited |
| 1948 | He Walked by Night | Young Hoodlum | Uncredited |
| 1948 | Act of Violence | Teenage Boy | Uncredited |
| 2007 | Harvest of Redemption | Mr. Cutchings | (final film role) |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Rex Downing”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Rex Downing.jpg by unknown, publicity photograph, Fair use
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