Tom Keene (actor)

For the 19th-century stage actor, see Thomas W. Keene.

Tom Keene (born George Duryea; December 30, 1896 – August 4, 1963^[2]) was an American actor known mostly for his roles in B Westerns. During his almost 40-year career in motion pictures Tom Keene worked under three different names. From 1923, when he made his first picture, until 1930 he worked under his birth name, George Duryea. The last film he made under this name was Pardon My Gun. Beginning with the 1930 film Tol'able David, he used Tom Keene as his moniker. This name he used until 1944 when he changed it to Richard Powers. The first film he used this name in was Up in Arms. He continued to primarily use this name for the rest of his film career, though still used Tom Keene on occasion.

Tom Keene
Publicity photograph of Tom Keene for Our Daily Bread (1934)
Born	George Duryea (1896-12-30)December 30, 1896 Rochester, New York, U.S.
Died	August 4, 1963(1963-08-04) (aged 66) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California, U.S.
Other names	Dick Powers Richard Powers
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1923–1959
Spouse	Grace Stafford ​ ​ (m. 1919; div. 1940)​ [1]

Early life and career

Born George Duryea (no known relation to fellow actor Dan Duryea despite a resemblance) in Rochester, New York,^[3] Keene studied at Columbia University and Carnegie Tech before embarking on an acting career. He made his film debut in the 1923 short film The Just a Little Late Club. Keene followed with roles in The Godless Girl (1929) directed by Cecil B. DeMille; Tide of Empire (1929) with Renée Adorée; Thunder with Lon Chaney, Sr.; Tol'able David (1930) and Sundown Trail (1931).^[4]

In 1934, King Vidor cast him in the socially conscious Depression oriented classic Our Daily Bread with Karen Morley.^[5]

1931 lobby card

Keene (left) in 1936 lobby card

Tom Keene in Western Mail (1942)

During the 1940s, Keene appeared in the film serial The Great Alaskan Mystery and two Dick Tracy films Dick Tracy's Dilemma and Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947). In the 1950s, he moved on to television with guest roles on The Range Rider; Buffalo Bill, Jr.; Fury; Judge Roy Bean and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Keene's last film role was in Ed Wood's cult film Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957^[6]).^[7] He retired soon after this and focused on real estate and the insurance business.^{[citation needed]}

Death

Tom Keene in Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), his last role.

Keene died of cancer on August 4, 1963, aged 66. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Filmography

Poster for The Dude Wrangler (1930).

Later in his career (after 1944), Keene was often credited as Richard Powers, and once as Dick Powers.

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1928	The Godless Girl	Bob Hathaway	Credited as George Duryea
	Marked Money	Clyde
1929	Tide of Empire	Dermod D'Arcy
	Honky Tonk	Freddie Gilmore
	Thunder	Jim
	In Old California	Lt. Tony Hopkins
1930	Beau Bandit	W.S. "Bill" Howard
	The Dude Wrangler	Wally McCann
	Night Work	Harvey Vanderman
	Pardon My Gun	Ted Duncan
	Tol'able David	Alan Kinemon
1931	Sundown Trail	Buck Sawyer
	Freighters of Destiny	Steve Macey
	Suicide Fleet	Lt. James Keene	Uncredited
1932	Partners	Dick Barstow
	The Saddle Buster	Montana ("Monty")
	Ghost Valley	Jerry Long
	Beyond the Rockies	Blackjack
	Come on Danger!	Larry Madden, Texas Ranger
	Renegades of the West	Tom Bagby
1933	The Cheyenne Kid	Tom Larkin
	Scarlet River	Tom Baxter
	Son of the Border	Tom Owens
	Sunset Pass	Jack Rock / Jim Collins
	Cross Fire	Tom 'Jack' Allen
1934	Our Daily Bread	John Sims[8]	Alternative title: Hell's Crossroads
1935	Hong Kong Nights	Himself
1936	Timothy's Quest	David Masters
	Drift Fence	Jim Travis
	Desert Gold	Randolph Gale
	The Glory Trail	Captain John Carroll
	Rebellion
1937	Battle of Greed	John Storm
	Old Louisiana	John Colfax
	Under Strange Flags	Tom Kenyon
	The Law Commands	Dr. Keith Kenton
	Drums of Destiny	Capt. Jerry Crawford
	Raw Timber	Tom Corbin
	God's Country and the Man	Jim Reid
	Where Trails Divide	Tom Allen
	Romance of the Rockies	Dr. Tom Foster
1938	The Painted Trail	Tom Gray posing as the Pecos Kid
1941	Wanderers of the West	Tom Mallory posing as The Arizona Kid
	Dynamite Canyon	Marshal Tom Evans Posing as Ed 'Trigger' Jones
	The Drifin' Kid	Tom Sterling
	Riding the Sunset Trail
	Lone Star Law Men
1942	Western Mail	Tom Allen
	Arizona Roundup	Tom Kenyon
	Where Trails End
1944	Up in Arms	Ashley's Aide	Credited as Richard Powers
	The Navy Way	Steve Appleby
	The Great Alaskan Mystery	Burger	Serial [Ch. 11], Credited as Richard Powers
	Jungle Woman	Joe - Fingerprint Man	Credited as Richard Powers
	Goodnight, Sweetheart	Reporter	Uncredited
	The Port of 40 Thieves	Scott Barton	Credited as Richard Powers
	San Diego, I Love You	Reporter	Uncredited
	Lights of Old Santa Fe	Frank Madden	Credited as Richard Powers
	Sergeant Mike	Reed
1945	Dangerous Intruder	Curtis	Credited as Richard Powers
	Girls of the Big House	Barton Sturgis
1946	San Quentin	Hal Schaeffer, Robbery Detail	Credited as Richard Powers
1947	Dick Tracy's Dilemma	Fred	Credited as Richard Powers
	Seven Keys to Baldpate	Steve Bland
	Thunder Mountain	Johnny Blue
	Crossfire	Detective
	Under the Tonto Rim	John Dennison
	Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome	Dr. Frankey	Uncredited
	Wild Horse Mesa	Hod Slack	Credited as Richard Powers
1948	The Judge Steps Out	Mrs. Winthrop's Attorney	Uncredited
	Western Heritage	Spade Thorne	Credited as Richard Powers
	Berlin Express	Major
	Race Street	Al
	Return of the Bad Men	Jim Younger
	Blood on the Moon	Ted Elser
	Indian Agent	Monty Hutchins
1949	Brothers in the Saddle	Nash Prescott	Credited as Richard Powers
1950	Storm over Wyoming	Tug Caldwell	Credited as Richard Powers
	Desperadoes of the West	Ward Gordon	Serial, Credited as Richard Powers
	The Milkman	Duzik	Uncredited
	Trail of Robin Hood	Himself	Credited as Tom Keene
1951	Texans Never Cry	Tracy Wyatt	Credited as Richard Powers
	The Fat Man	Mac	Uncredited
	Home Town Story	Abbott, Bob's campaign manager	Uncredited
	The Stu Erwin Show	Arthur Hale	Episode: "The Big Game"
	The Range Rider	Lang	Episode: "The Grand Fleece"
1952	Red Planet Mars	Major General George Burdette	Uncredited
	Sky King	Sheriff	2 episodes Credited as Richard Powers
1953	The Moonlighter	Sheriff	Credited as Richard Powers
	The Abbott and Costello Show	Joe	2 episodes Credited as Richard Powers
	General Electric Theater	Slocum	Episode: "Woman's World" Credited as Richard Powers
	Crossroad Avenger	The Tucson Kid	TV Movie Credited as Tom Keene
1954	Outlaw's Daughter	Bank Manager	Uncredited
	Hopalong Cassidy	Bill Bricker	Episode: "Steel Trails West" Credited as Richard Powers
1955	Dig That Uranium	Frank Loomis	Credited as Richard Powers
	The Millionaire	Attorney Marlowe	Episode: "The Uncle Robby Story"
1956	Wetbacks	Highway Patrol Inspector	Credited as Richard Powers
	Tension at Table Rock	Man Killed by Sam	Uncredited
1957	Plan 9 from Outer Space[6]	Col. Tom Edwards	Credited as Tom Keene
1958	Once Upon a Horse...	Himself	Credited as Tom Keene
	Casey Jones	John Patrick	Episode: "The Silk Train" Credited as Richard Powers
	Tales of the Texas Rangers	Morgan Thorpe	Episode: "Traitor's Gold" Credited as Richard Powers
1959	Death Valley Days	Charlie Duff	Episode: "Stagecoach Spy" Credited as Richard Powers