Other names Hal Taliaferro Years active 1921-1964 | Name Wally Wales Role Film actor | |
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Full Name Floyd Taliaferro Alderson Born November 13, 1895 ( 1895-11-13 ) Sheridan, Wyoming, U.S. Died February 10, 1980, Sheridan, Wyoming, United States Spouse Mary Bell Towers, Gwendolyn Costello, Ethel Wales Movies Red River, The Lone Ranger, Powdersmoke Range, Adventures of Red Ryder, The Way of the West Similar People Spencer Gordon Bennet, William Witney, Joseph Kane, Yakima Canutt, Elmer Clifton | ||
Wally Wales (November 13, 1895 – February 10, 1980) was an American film actor who also appeared in many films under the name Hal Taliaferro. He appeared in more than 220 films between 1921 and 1964.
Biography
Wally Wales was born Floyd Taliaferro Alderson in Sheridan, Wyoming. He was raised on his family's ranch, near Birney in Rosebud County, Montana.
Young Floyd's first "outside" job was on a cattle drive for John B. Kendrick. He also drove a tourist stage for the Buffalo Bill Stage line before drifting west in 1915 ending up in Los Angeles where he went to work as a wrangler on Universal's Ranch.
In 1917 he joined the army and served in the American Expeditionary Forces in France.
From 1921 through 1928 he appeared in twenty-two silent films, starring in many (mainly Westerns) under the name Wally Wales, and in 1929 made the successful transition to sound. Subsequently, his star faded and he began appearing in much smaller roles, usually as Hal Taliaferro.
He retired from films in the early 1950s and returned to the family ranch, now known as the Bones Brothers Ranch (listed on the National Historical Register in 2004). He built a cabin there and lived out his remaining active years painting landscapes.
He died in a Sheridan, Wyoming nursing home from complications of a stroke and pneumonia in 1980, at age 84.