Fred Kohler

Fred Kohler
Fredrick Louis Kohler (April 20, 1888 – October 28, 1938) was an American actor.
Career
Fred Kohler was born in Kansas City, Missouri or in Dubuque, Iowa. As a teen, he began to pursue a career in vaudeville, but worked other jobs to support himself. He lost part of his right hand in a mining accident during this time. Eventually he was able to join a touring company, and worked steadily in show business for several years. His son Fred Kohler Jr. also became an actor.
America's budding film industry drew a 20-something Kohler to Hollywood, where he made his start in silent films. His first role was in the 1911 short The Code of Honor, and he had an uncredited role in Cecil B. DeMille's feature film Joan the Woman (1917), but a steady stream of parts did not begin until The Tiger's Trail (1919).
Kohler's stern features earned him a niche playing villains. His role as Bauman in The Iron Horse (1924) is a notable example. With the advent of the talkies, Kohler reprised many of his silent roles in remakes with sound, particularly in Westerns based on novels by Zane Grey.
At the beginning of the sound era, he appeared in the Allan Dwan film Tide of Empire (1929) alongside Renée Adorée and Tom Keene.
Personal life and death
Kohler was married three times. In 1910 he married Ida Friedman; their son Fred Kohler, Jr., birthname Jesse William Koehler, was born September 4, 1911. In 1921 he was married to actress Marguerite Schweikert. In 1928 he was married to French actress Constance Marjorie Prole. He died of a heart attack on October 28, 1938, at age 50. He was buried in an unmarked grave at Inglewood Park Cemetery in South Los Angeles community of Inglewood, California.
Selected filmography
Joan the Woman (1916) - L'Oiseleur's henchman (uncredited)
The Tiger's Trail (1919) - 'Bull' Shotwell
Soldiers of Fortune (1919) - McWilliams
Behind the Door (1919) - Minor Role (uncredited)
Polly of the Storm Country (1920)
The Kentucky Colonel (1920) - Jim Britsides
A Thousand to One (1920) - Donnelly
Cyclone Bliss (1921) - Jack Hall
Partners of the Tide (1921) - First Mate
Thunder Island (1921) - Barney the Mate
Conflict (1921) - Jevons' foreman (uncredited)
The Stampede (1921) - Steve Norton
A Daughter of the Law (1921) - George Stacey
With Stanley in Africa (1922)
The Scrapper (1922) - Oleson
The Milky Way (1922)
Yellow Men and Gold (1922) - Craven
His Back Against the Wall (1922) - Arizona Pete
The Son of the Wolf (1922) - Malemute Kid
Trimmed (1922) - Young Bill Young
Perils of the Yukon (1922) - Capt. Whipple
Without Compromise (1922) - Cass Blake
Three Who Paid (1923) - Jim Quade
The Flame of Life (1923) - Spring
Thru the Flames (1923) - 'Red' Burke
The Eleventh Hour (1923) - Barbara's Uncle
Shadows of the North (1923) - Ray Brent
Hell's Hole (1923) - Prisoner
North of Hudson Bay (1923) - Armand LeMoir
Anna Christie (1923) - Minor Role (uncredited)
The Red Warning (1923) - Tom Jeffries
The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln (1924) - Slave Auctioneer
Fighting Fury (1924) - 'Two-finger' Larkin
The Iron Horse (1924) - Deroux
Dick Turpin (1925) - Ring Announcer (uncredited)
The Thundering Herd (1925) - Follansbee
Riders of the Purple Sage (1925) - Henchman Tom Metzger (uncredited)
Winds of Chance (1925) - Joe McCaskey
The Prairie Pirate (1925) - Aguilar - the Bandit
Danger Quest (1926) - Otto Shugars
The Bar-C Mystery (1926)
The Ice Flood (1926) - 'Cougar' Kid
The Country Beyond (1926) - Joe Leseur
Old Ironsides (1926) - Second Mate (uncredited)
The Devil's Masterpiece (1927) - Reckless Jim Regan
The Way of All Flesh (1927) - The Tough
The Blood Ship (1927) - First Mate Fitz
Underworld (1927) - 'Buck' Mulligan
The Loves of Carmen (1927) - Gypsy Chief
The Rough Riders (1927) - Sergeant Stanton
Shootin' Irons (1927) - Dick Hardman
Open Range (1927) - Sam Hardman
The City Gone Wild (1927) - Gunner Gallagher
The Gay Defender (1927) - Jake Hamby
The Showdown (1928) - Winter
Chinatown Charlie (1928) - Monk
The Dragnet (1928) - 'Gabby' Steve
The Vanishing Pioneer (1928) - Sheriff Murdock
Forgotten Faces (1928) - Spider (Convict Number 1309)
Sal of Singapore (1928) - Captain Sunday
The Spieler (1928) - Red Moon
The Case of Lena Smith (1929) - Stefan
The Leatherneck (1929) - Heckla
The Dummy (1929) - Joe Cooper
Tide of Empire (1929) - Cannon
The Quitter (1929) - Duffy Thompson
Stairs of Sand (1929) - Boss Stone
Thunderbolt (1929) - 'Bad Al' Frieberg
River of Romance (1929) - Captain Blackie
Broadway Babies (1929) - Perc Gessant
Say It with Songs (1929) - Fred, Joe's Cellmate
Hell's Heroes (1929) - Wild Bill Kearney
Roadhouse Nights (1930) - Sam Horner
Under a Texas Moon (1930) - Bad Man
The Light of Western Stars (1930) - H.W. Stack
A Soldier's Plaything (1930) - Hank
The Lash (1930) - Peter Harkness
Other Men's Women (1931) - Haley
Fighting Caravans (1931) - Lee Murdock
The Right of Way (1931) - Joseph Portugais
Woman Hungry (1931) - Kampen
Corsair (1931) - Big John
X Marks the Spot (1931) - Edward P. Riggs
Carnival Boat (1932) - Hack Logan
The Rider of Death Valley (1932) - Lew Grant
The Texas Bad Man (1932) - Gore Hampton
The Fourth Horseman (1932) - Honest Ben Jones
Call Her Savage (1932) - Silas Jennings
Wild Horse Mesa (1932) - Rand
The Constant Woman (1933) - Speakeasy Bouncer
Under the Tonto Rim (1933) - Munther
The Fiddlin' Buckaroo (1933) - Wolf Morgan
Deluge (1933) - Jepson
Ship of Wanted Men (1933) - Chuck Young
The Wolf Dog (1933) - Joe Stevens
Queen Christina (1933) - Member of Court (uncredited)
Honor of the Range (1934) - Rawhide
The Last Round-Up (1934) - Sam Gulden
Half a Sinner (1934) - Brick
Little Man, What Now? (1934) - Karl Goebbler
The Man from Hell (1934) - Mayor Anse McCloud
West of the Pecos (1934) - Sawtelle
Horses' Collars (1935, Short) - Double Deal Decker
Times Square Lady (1935) - 'Dutch' Meyers
Wilderness Mail (1935) - Lobo McBain - aka Landau
Mississippi (1935) - Captain Blackie
Goin' to Town (1935) - Buck Gonzales
Border Brigands (1935) - Captain Conyda
Hard Rock Harrigan (1935) - Black Jack Riley
Men of Action (1935) - Thorenson
Lightning Triggers (1935) - Bull Thompson
Trails End (1935) - Wild Bill Holman
Stormy (1935) - Deem Dorn
Frisco Kid (1935) - Shanghai Duck
Dangerous Intrigue (1936) - Brant
It's Up to You (1936) - Torchy
Heart of the West (1936) - Barton
For the Service (1936) - Bruce Howard
The Texas Rangers (1936) - Jess Higgins
The Vigilantes Are Coming (1936, Serial) - General Jason Burr
The Plainsman (1936) - Jake - A Teamster
The Accusing Finger (1936) - Johnson
Arizona Mahoney (1936) - Gil Blair
Daughter of Shanghai (1937) - Captain Gulner
The Buccaneer (1938) - Gramby
Forbidden Valley (1938) - Matt Rogan
Gangs of New York (1938) - Krueger
Blockade (1938) - Pietro
Painted Desert (1938) - Hugh Fawcett
Billy the Kid Returns (1938) - Matson
Lawless Valley (1938) - Tom Marsh
Boy Slaves (1939) - Drift Boss (uncredited) (final film role)
References
External links
1888 births
1938 deaths
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
Vaudeville performers
Male actors from Missouri
20th-century American male actors
Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery
Male Western (genre) film actors