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Bupp Filmology Classic and B Movies of 1929 to 1943 |
| 1997 |
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Tommy |
My dad was Tommy Bupp, star of stage, screen, radio and voice of cartoon characters. He started in the movies in 1933 and finished in 1941. Tommy was the third in the family to make his way in the movies and the first to give Granny Lou what she wanted. It wasn’t long before Tommy was a feature player. He had the look that Hollywood wanted, dusty hair and freckled faced. He was once discribed as that boy with the laughing eyes. Just about perfect for those scenes with street kids or westerns. Born in Norfork, Virginia, on February 10, 1924, his family was always on the move. From Florida to New York to Washington and finally ending up in California. The family moved there because of his father's asthma and the chance at a better job. His first feature role was in A Girl of the Limberlost, He eventually landed roles with W.C. Fields in It’s a Gift, John Wayne in Conflict, Dick Foran in Cherokee Strip, Ronald Reagan in Love is on the Air, and with cowboy stars Tim McCoy and Tex Ritter. He dubbed voices for the leading characters in animated cartoons, UB Iwerks' “Reg’lar Fellows” and Walt Disney’s Silly Symphony “Broken Toys.” He was also heard on the Radio as Buster, in “Those O’Malleys.” Tommy was also seen on stage at the Los Angeles Theater production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “What becomes of the Children” at the Pasadena Community Playhouse. He often told me that he didn’t like the movie days, that it stole his childhood . Uncle Mac said that Tommy liked it and loved the “Star” treatment. I believe that it was a little of both. He was the first American child actor to go to England to make a movie, and he went first class all the way. On the way home on the Queen Mary, he and his mother were invited to a horse breeder's Kentucky home for a visit, where he was given a race horse. Back in Hollywood he and his brother waved to the crowd at Christmas parades (Santa Clause Lane, down Hollywood Boulevard every night with different screen persoanalities.) Through all this he was really just a regular boy with hobbies such as stamp collecting, football, baseball and marbles. After the War, he worked as a gas station attendant where he met my mother Ruth, at the local diner. He was the step father to Russell Ice and father to Jamie, Paul, Billy and myself. He was the proud grandfather to Jennifer, Andy, Sarah, Emilie, Juleah, Jessica, Erica, Traci and Kristin. He worked as an Electrical Wholesaler for thirty years and died of cancer at the age of fifty-nine.
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