Russell Hicks


Edward Russell Hicks was an American film actor. Hicks was born in 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army in France. He later became a lieutenant Colonel in the California State Guard.
Hicks appeared in nearly 300 films between 1933 and 1956. He often appeared as a smooth-talking confidence man, or swindler as in the W.C. Fields film The Bank Dick. Distinguished, suave and a consummate actor, Hicks played a variety of judges, corrupt officials, crooked businessmen and attorneys, working in a variety of mediums almost until his death. Hicks appeared once in the syndicated western television series The Cisco Kid as an uncle of the Gail Davis character, whom he threatens to disinherit if she marries a known gangster.
Broadway plays in which Hicks acted included The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, On Borrowed Time, Time for Elizabeth, All the King's Horses, The Little Black Book, Nona, Torch Song, Goin' Home, No Trespassing, and The Wisecrackers.
On June 1, 1957, Hicks suffered a heart attack after an automobile accident and was dead on arrival at Santa Monica Receiving Hospital. He was 61.

Filmography