When comic-strip artist Chester Gould created his famed detective Dick Tracy in 1931, he deliberately patterned Tracy's jut-jawed countenance and stoic demeanor after that of his favorite film star, Jack Holt. Dropping out of Virginia Military Institute as a teenager, Holt held down a variety of tough, he-man jobs before settling into film acting in 1913. He flourished in the 1920s as a virile action hero, especially in the late-silent Columbia productions of up-and-coming director Frank Capra. Holt was one of Columbia's most valuable commodities in the early talkie era, but his popularity waned as the quality of his films plummeted. After serving as a major in World War II, Holt returned to films as a supporting actor, often (as in the 1950 Roy Rogers vehicle Trail of Robin Hood) playing thinly disguised variations on his own off-screen persona. Jack Holt was the father of three film performers: western star Tim Holt, leading lady Jennifer Holt, and character actor David Holt.
by Hal Erickson
biography
