Hubbry Logo
Bob CusterBob CusterMain
Open search
Bob Custer
Community hub
Bob Custer
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Bob Custer
Bob Custer
Bob Custer
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Bob Custer (born Raymond Anthony Glenn,[1] October 18, 1898 – December 27, 1974) was an American film actor who appeared in over 50 films, mostly Westerns, between 1924 and 1937,[2] including The Fighting Hombre, Arizona Days, The Last Roundup, The Oklahoma Kid (1929; not the Cagney/Bogart version), Law of the Rio Grande, The Law of the Wild and Ambush Valley.

Key Information

Early years

[edit]

Custer was born Raymond Glenn[3] in Kentucky's capital city, Frankfort, and graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in engineering.[1]

Career

[edit]

Using his original name Raymond Glenn, Custer appeared in non-Western films, including The Return of Boston Blackie (1927) as the title character.[4] He was billed as Bob Custer for Western films, beginning in 1924 when he worked for Films Booking Office. In 1927, he formed Bob Custer Production, and from 1928 through 1931 he acted in 20 Westerns for Syndicate.[5]

After he left acting, he became a building inspector in Redondo Beach and El Segundo, California.[1] He eventually became chief building inspector in the nearby seaside city of Newport Beach.

Personal life and death

[edit]

On November 23, 1926, Custer married Anne Elizabeth Cudahy,[6] the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Cudahy[7] and a member of the Cudahy Packing Company family.[6] They divorced in 1933.[7] He married Mildred Irene Boughers on May 22, 1948, and they remained wed until his death.[8]

Custer died of a heart attack in Torrance, California, at the age of 76.

Filmography

[edit]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Bob Custer

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Bob Custer is an American actor known for his leading roles in silent Western films during the 1920s and his continued work in low-budget Westerns into the early sound era. Born Raymond Anthony Glenn on October 18, 1898, in Frankfort, Kentucky, he entered the film industry in 1924 and starred in over 50 films, primarily B-Westerns, through 1937. He also produced several of his own silent Westerns in the mid-1920s, establishing himself as a popular cowboy hero in medium-budget productions before facing significant challenges adapting to talkies. Custer's silent-era success came from his action-oriented performances in films such as The Dude Cowboy, Texas Tommy, and The Devil's Gulch, but his transition to sound films was hindered by difficulties with dialogue delivery and microphone presence, relegating him to poverty-row productions for studios like Syndicate, Big 4, and Reliable Pictures. Later works included Riders of the North and Ambush Valley, though he never regained his earlier prominence and retired from acting after his final film in 1937. Following his screen career, Custer worked in construction and public service, earning a degree in engineering and serving as a building inspector and superintendent for several California cities, including Newport Beach. He died of a heart attack on December 27, 1974, in Torrance, California.

Early life

Family and childhood

Bob Custer was born Raymond Anthony Glenn on October 18, 1898, in Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky. He was the youngest of seven children born to John Edward Glenn (1863–1929), who owned a local grocery store in Frankfort, and Mary Agnes (Wright) Glenn (1861–1932). His childhood was spent in Frankfort, Kentucky, in a middle-class family environment rooted in the small state capital surrounded by farmland. A family photograph from circa 1905 shows him as a young boy with his parents and siblings, highlighting the close-knit household during his early years.

Education

Bob Custer attended the University of Kentucky in Lexington, where he was enrolled as a student by September 1918, as documented on his World War I draft registration card. This period marked his formal higher education in the state of his birth. He earned a degree in engineering from the University of Kentucky. This qualification later informed his work in engineering and construction following his screen career.

Rodeo experience

Some biographies claim Bob Custer had experience as a cowboy or in rodeo shows prior to films, but this is considered suspect due to timeline constraints and conflicting evidence. Custer himself indicated he received training in riding and roping after entering the film industry.

Film career

Silent Westerns

Bob Custer entered the film industry in 1924, making his screen debut in two silent Westerns produced by the Film Booking Office (FBO): Trigger Finger and Flashing Spurs. These initial roles marked the start of his rise as a leading man in medium-budget silent Westerns, where he quickly established himself as a popular cowboy hero during the mid-1920s. Throughout the 1920s, Custer starred in a steady series of such films, earning recognition as a prominent name in the B-Western genre, particularly appealing to Saturday matinee audiences. He portrayed rugged yet heroic cowboy figures in action-oriented stories, contributing to his solid standing in the silent Western market. Representative examples from this period include The Devil's Gulch (1926), in which he played Ace Remsen; The Dude Cowboy (1926), featuring him as Bob Ralston; and Texas Tommy (1928), with Custer in the role of Bob Cooper. His work in silent Westerns reached its peak in the late 1920s, cementing his status as a notable genre lead before the transition to sound films presented new challenges.

Sound-era Westerns

With the coming of sound films around 1930, Bob Custer continued working in low-budget Poverty Row Westerns for independent companies including Syndicate Pictures in the early sound years and later Reliable Pictures, Mascot, and Big 4. He struggled significantly with the transition, suffering from severe microphone fright that caused him to choke on his lines during delivery. His performances were frequently described as wooden, laconic, and monotone, issues that became more apparent in the talkies and were compounded by the extremely low production values typical of these inexpensive productions. After appearing in numerous early sound Westerns during the initial talkie boom, his starring opportunities diminished sharply by the mid-1930s. Notable among his later roles was the 1934 Mascot serial The Law of the Wild, in which he starred alongside Rin-Tin-Tin Jr. He returned in 1936 for two Reliable Pictures releases, Vengeance of Rannah (again with Rin-Tin-Tin Jr.) and Ambush Valley, both directed by Bernard B. Ray. His final starring film was Santa Fe Rides (1937), also for Reliable, which attempted to repackage him as a singing cowboy with lip-synched songs backed by musicians including Lloyd Perryman and Rudy Sooter, though the results were poorly received. Custer's decline and retirement from starring roles after 1937 stemmed from multiple factors. His documented sound-era performance limitations prevented him from competing effectively in the evolving genre, while the Poverty Row producers he relied on—such as Reliable Pictures—encountered severe financial troubles and ceased operations before completing planned series with him. The industry-wide shift toward singing cowboys, led by Gene Autry at Republic Pictures, further marginalized traditional non-singing Western leads like Custer during the mid-1930s.

Production roles

Bob Custer had a limited role as a producer in the silent film era, with credits confined to six low-budget Westerns released between 1926 and 1927. These films were Man Rustlin' (1926), Cactus Trails (1927), Bulldog Pluck (1927), Galloping Thunder (1927), The Fighting Hombre (1927), and The Terror of Bar X (1927). For Man Rustlin', he shared producer credit with Jesse J. Goldburg. No other producer credits are documented for Custer beyond these titles, indicating that his production involvement was brief and restricted to this specific group of silent Westerns.

Personal life

Marriages and family

Bob Custer married Anne Elizabeth Cudahy, daughter of Jack Cudahy of the prominent meat-packing family, on November 23, 1926. This union produced one son, Raymond Cudahy Glenn, born October 13, 1928. The couple divorced in 1933. Custer's second marriage was to Mildred Irene Boughers on May 22, 1948, in Las Vegas. They had no children together, and the marriage endured until Custer's death in 1974. Mildred died on August 15, 2002.

Military service

Bob Custer, under his birth name Raymond Anthony Glenn, registered for the World War I draft on September 12, 1918, while a student at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. The registration card described him as 19 years old, born October 18, 1898, with a home address in Frankfort, Kentucky. He served as a Private in the United States Army during World War I, as evidenced by his identification as a World War I veteran in the 1930 United States Census. His gravestone in Green Hills Memorial Park, Rancho Palos Verdes, California, is inscribed "PVT US Army" under his real name Raymond A. Glenn, further confirming his veteran status. No additional records detail the length of his service, specific unit, or any combat involvement.

Later career

Engineering and construction work

After retiring from acting around 1937, Bob Custer returned to work in construction and engineering. He owned his own construction company. During World War II, he worked in California shipbuilding, as he had been classified 4-F and was therefore ineligible for military service. This role drew upon his civil engineering background from the University of Kentucky.

Public service positions

Following his retirement from acting, Bob Custer held a series of public service positions in municipal building inspection and safety departments across Southern California cities. He worked as a building inspector for the city of Los Angeles. He also served as street superintendent in Redondo Beach. Custer additionally served as a building inspector for the cities of El Segundo and Newport Beach. In Newport Beach, he was appointed chief building inspector, as reported in a December 4, 1954, Los Angeles Times announcement that listed his prior roles in Los Angeles, Redondo Beach, and other locations. He continued in Newport Beach as Director of Building and Safety until retiring on October 31, 1966. His engineering background aided his transition to these government roles.

Death

Final years and passing

Bob Custer resided in Redondo Beach, California, during his later years. On December 27, 1974, at the age of 76, he suffered a heart attack while walking his dog in his Redondo Beach neighborhood and died in Torrance, Los Angeles County, California. He was buried at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, in the Faith and Hope Section, Grave #420 A.
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.