
Nat Pendleton
Biography
Nathaniel Greene 'Nat' Pendleton was an American former Olympic wrestler turned actor. Two-time Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) champion (1914-1915) in the 175-lb. class at Columbia University, Pendleton graduated Class of 1916. He wrestled for the United States at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium, earning a silver medal, losing only one match due to a controversial point decision. After the Games he became a professional wrestler and was a big fan favorite, which led to Hollywood. In the 1920 census he was living in Manhattan with his first wife Juanita Alfonzo (age 22) and her brother Ramon Alfonso (age 13). He was working as a sports manager. Pendleton was usually cast as a circus strongman, brutish thug, dumb cop, or dense buffoon, but he had a college degree and in 1933 wrote the script for Deception (1932), in which he starred - not surprisingly - as a wrestler. Upon his death from a heart attack, his remains were interred at Cypress View Mausoleum and Crematory in San Diego, California. Nat Pendleton was inducted into the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame inaugural class in 2006.
Filmography

Complicated Women

Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld

Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook

The World of Abbott and Costello

The Big Parade of Comedy

Buck Privates Come Home

Scared to Death

Death Valley

Swing Fever

Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case

Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant

Calling Dr. Gillespie

The Mad Doctor of Market Street

Jail House Blues

Top Sergeant Mulligan

Buck Privates

Flight Command

Dr. Kildare's Crisis

Dr. Kildare Goes Home

The Golden Fleecing

New Moon

Phantom Raiders

Dr. Kildare's Strange Case

The Ghost Comes Home

Northwest Passage

The Secret of Dr. Kildare

Another Thin Man

At the Circus

On Borrowed Time

6,000 Enemies

It's a Wonderful World

Calling Dr. Kildare

Burn 'Em Up O'Connor

Breakdowns of 1938

Young Dr. Kildare

The Crowd Roars

The Chaser

The Shopworn Angel

Fast Company

Arsène Lupin Returns

Swing Your Lady

Life Begins in College

Gangway

Song of the City

Under Cover of Night

Sing Me a Love Song

Two in a Crowd

The Luckiest Girl in the World

Sworn Enemy

Trapped by Television

The Great Ziegfeld

The Garden Murder Case

It's in the Air

Here Comes the Band

Calm Yourself

Murder in the Fleet

Reckless

Baby Face Harrington

Times Square Lady

The Gay Bride

Death on the Diamond

Straight Is the Way

The Cat's-Paw

The Girl from Missouri

The Defense Rests

The Thin Man

Manhattan Melodrama

Sing and Like It

Lazy River

Fugitive Lovers

College Coach

The Chief

I'm No Angel

Lady for a Day

Penthouse

Baby Face

The Nuisance

Child of Manhattan

Parachute Jumper

Goldie Gets Along

Whistling in the Dark

Flesh

The Sign of the Cross

Deception

The Night Club Lady

Exposure

Horse Feathers

By Whose Hand?

The Tenderfoot

Attorney for the Defense

The Big Timer

Hell-Fire Austin

A Fool's Advice

The Beast of the City

Taxi!

Manhattan Parade

The Secret Witness

The Spirit of Notre Dame

Blonde Crazy

The Ruling Voice

The Star Witness

Fair Warning

Crazy House

The Sea Wolf

The Last of the Duanes

The Big Pond

The Laughing Lady

Let's Get Married
