In 1935 he became a contract player for Columbia, generally a singing cowboy like Roy Rogers, with a backup group, Sons of the Pioneers.
He introduced the character of The Durango Kid in 1940, and began playing him regularly in 1945, churned out over 60 features during the next seven years.
In 1952 he retired from acting, and spent the rest of his life traveling as a goodwill ambassador for his grandfather's tool company. He lived in Laguna Beach during the summer, and Borrego Springs during the winter. In his later years, he often appeared at fan conventions.
He was married to Mary McKinnon from 1927 until his death, and had two children. Probably heterosexual, but several gay connections:
2. Check out this scene from The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932). Starrett's character is whipped by the villain.
You won't see a bulge like that on film again for 30 years.
Just before the Hays Code.
ReplyDeleteBulges were somewhat acceptable in the Code days, as were accidental "blink and you'll miss it" cock shots. (Nobody predicted digital media in the Code days.) You could get away with male nudity, but not female, in certain very limited contexts, mostly things like showering. (None of which are sexual.) More than anything, the BDSM subtext would be banworthy.
Along with the bondage, Myrna Loy has Starrett's character strung up & whipped by large black men as she whips herself up into a (verbal) frenzy. Later Boris Karloff turns him into a potential sex zombie. In 1 of his 1st leads Starrett seduces his co-star while wearing a unitard bathing suit, in another after a shirtless scene someone threatens to shoot "his pretty body". He reminds me of early Amerikuhn Roger Moore, big handsome dude who could do his own stunts & handle dialogue.
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