--- name: "Nat Pendleton" canonical: "https://film.one/person/nat-pendleton" roles: ["Actor"] born: "7 August 1895" died: "12 October 1967" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_fi1m_score: 75 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-19T23:05:14.807081+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Nat Pendleton Actor. Born 7 August 1895 in Davenport, Iowa, USA. Died 12 October 1967. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 7 August 1895, Davenport, Iowa, USA - **Died:** 12 October 1967 - **Active:** 1933–1936 - **Also known as:** Nathaniel Greene Pendleton, Nathaniel Greene "Nat" Pendleton - **Average Fi1m score:** 75, as actor, over 3 titles - **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Comedy 2, Drama 2, Crime 1, Music 1, Mystery 1, Romance 1 - **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $6m across 2 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Pendleton, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1288004, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0671738/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/32430 ## Fi1m on Nat Pendleton > A wrestler's shoulders and a face that reads as slow before he has said a word: Nat Pendleton spent two decades playing heavies, policemen and strongmen, and was at his funniest when a film let him stand still and think. In *Lady for a Day* (1933) he is a heavy called Shakespeare, one of Dave the Dude's gang, and he stands at the back while Warren William and Ned Sparks do the talking. We laughed at him before he had done anything, and it took a moment to work out why. It is the face: heavy brow, small anxious eyes, the expression of a man adding up a bill and getting a different answer each time. Pendleton had that face and the studios knew exactly what to do with it. He came to acting from the mat. He wrestled at Columbia and at the 1920 Olympics, then professionally, and the body came with him when he went on stage in the mid-1920s and into films from the end of that decade. By the early thirties the casting was fixed: thugs, cops, strongmen, the slow man in a fast picture. Two parts recurred. He was Lieutenant John Guild, the New York policeman, from *The Thin Man* (1934) onward, and Joe Wayman in the Dr Kildare films. He was the strongman Sandow in *The Great Ziegfeld* (1936), a strongman again as Goliath in *At the Circus* (1939), and a sergeant set against Abbott and Costello in *Buck Privates* (1941). He kept working in features until 1947 and did some television into the fifties. The limits are plain in *The Thin Man*. Guild is a broader sort of comedy than Powell and Loy are playing, and the gap shows; W.S. Van Dyke, who directed him four times, uses him as the plodder Nick can run rings round, and once the joke is established there is nowhere else for it to go. That is the trouble with the lunkhead as a type. A film can use him for punctuation and not much more, and Pendleton was almost never given more. *Lady for a Day* is the better showing precisely because Capra asks so little: each of the Runyon crowd gets a turn, Pendleton's is the shortest, and he registers anyway. The Sandow role drew the best notices he ever had, and if the type interests you that is the one to look for. Nobody built a film around him, and probably nobody should have. He was the man in the doorway who makes the doorway look small, and that is a job, done here for twenty years without visible strain. Start with *The Thin Man* if you want the policeman, and *Lady for a Day* if you want the face. ## Biography Nat Pendleton (born Nathaniel Greene Pendleton) was an American actor and former wrestler. He was born in Davenport, Iowa, and studied at Columbia University, where he was twice Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion in the 175 lb class (1914–1915) and graduated in 1916. He represented the United States at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, winning a silver medal in heavyweight freestyle wrestling. After turning professional, Pendleton moved into acting and appeared in over 100 films, often typecast as strongmen, thugs or policemen. He is credited as Shakespeare in the 1933 Frank Capra film *Lady for a Day*. Among his other roles are MacHardie in *Horse Feathers* (1932), Lieutenant Guild in *The Thin Man* (1934) and *Another Thin Man* (1939), Sandow in *The Great Ziegfeld* (1936) and Sergeant Michael Collins in *Buck Privates* (1941). He also wrote the 1932 film *Deception*, in which he starred. Pendleton died in San Diego, California, in 1967 and was inducted into the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, rottentomatoes.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) - *The Great Ziegfeld* (1936), Fi1m 64, as Sandow — [page](https://film.one/film/the-great-ziegfeld.md) - *The Thin Man* (1934), Fi1m 84, as Inspector Guild — [page](https://film.one/film/the-thin-man.md) - *Lady for a Day* (1933), Fi1m 78, as Shakespeare — [page](https://film.one/film/lady-for-a-day.md) ## Complete filmography (108) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook* (1991), as Bill Raymond (archive footage) - *The World of Abbott and Costello* (1965), as Sergeant Michael Collins in Buck Privates (archive footage) - *The Big Parade of Comedy* (1964), as William T. Magiz in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage) - *Buck Privates Come Home* (1947), as Sgt. Michael Collins - *Scared to Death* (1947), as Bill 'Bull' Raymond - *Death Valley* (1946), as Jim Ward - *Swing Fever* (1943), as 'Killer' Kennedy - *Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case* (1943), as Joe Weyman - *Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant* (1942), as Joe Weyman - *Calling Dr. Gillespie* (1942), as Joe Weyman - *Jail House Blues* (1942), as Sonny McGann - *The Mad Doctor of Market Street* (1942), as Red Hogan - *Top Sergeant Mulligan* (1941), as Top Sgt. Herman Mulligan - *Buck Privates* (1941), as Sgt. Michael Collins - *Flight Command* (1940), as C.P.O. 'Spike' Knowles - *Dr. Kildare's Crisis* (1940), as Joe Wayman - *Dr. Kildare Goes Home* (1940), as Joe Wayman - *The Golden Fleecing* (1940), as 'Fatso' Werner - *New Moon* (1940), as Bondsman - *Phantom Raiders* (1940), as 'Gunboat' Jacklin - *Dr. Kildare's Strange Case* (1940), as Wayman - *The Ghost Comes Home* (1940), as Roscoe - *Northwest Passage* (1940), as 'Cap' Huff - *The Secret of Dr. Kildare* (1939), as Wayman - *Another Thin Man* (1939), as Lieutenant Guild - *At the Circus* (1939), as Goliath - *On Borrowed Time* (1939), as Mr. Grimes - *6,000 Enemies* (1939), as Socks Martin - *It's a Wonderful World* (1939), as Sergeant Fred Koretz - *Calling Dr. Kildare* (1939), as Joe Wayman - *Burn 'Em Up O'Connor* (1939), as Buddy Buttle - *Breakdowns of 1938* (1938), as Joe (archive footage) (uncredited) - *Young Dr. Kildare* (1938), as Joe Wayman - *The Crowd Roars* (1938), as 'Pug' Walsh - *The Chaser* (1938), as Floppy Phil - *The Shopworn Angel* (1938), as 'Dice' - *Fast Company* (1938), as Paul Terison - *Arsène Lupin Returns* (1938), as Joe Doyle - *Swing Your Lady* (1938), as Joe Skopapolous - *Life Begins in College* (1937), as George Black - *Gangway* (1937), as Smiles Hogan - *Song of the City* (1937), as Benvenuto Romandi - *Under Cover of Night* (1937), as Police Sgt. Lucks - *Sing Me a Love Song* (1936), as Rocky - *Two in a Crowd* (1936), as Flynn - *The Luckiest Girl in the World* (1936), as Dugan - *Sworn Enemy* (1936), as 'Steamer' Krupp - *Trapped by Television* (1936), as Rocky O'Neil - *The Great Ziegfeld* (1936), as Sandow — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/the-great-ziegfeld.md) - *The Garden Murder Case* (1936), as Sergeant Ernest Heath - *It's in the Air* (1935), as Henry Potke - *Here Comes the Band* (1935), as 'Piccolo Pete' - *Calm Yourself* (1935), as Knuckles Benedict - *Murder in the Fleet* (1935), as 'Spud' Burke - *Reckless* (1935), as Blossom - *Baby Face Harrington* (1935), as Rocky - *Times Square Lady* (1935), as Mack - *The Gay Bride* (1934), as William T. 'Shoots' Magiz - *Death on the Diamond* (1934), as John 'Truck' Hogan - *Straight Is the Way* (1934), as Skippy - *The Cat's-Paw* (1934), as Strozzi - *The Girl from Missouri* (1934), as Life Guard - *The Defense Rests* (1934), as Rocky - *The Thin Man* (1934), as Inspector Guild — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-thin-man.md) - *Manhattan Melodrama* (1934), as Spud - *Sing and Like It* (1934), as T. Fenny Sylvester - *Lazy River* (1934), as Alfred 'Tiny' Smith - *Fugitive Lovers* (1934), as Legs Caffey - *College Coach* (1933), as Petrowski - *The Chief* (1933), as Big Mike - *I'm No Angel* (1933), as Harry (uncredited) - *Lady for a Day* (1933), as Shakespeare — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/lady-for-a-day.md) - *Penthouse* (1933), as Tony Gazotti - *Baby Face* (1933), as Stolvich - Laborer (uncredited) - *The Nuisance* (1933), as Aloysius P. McCarthy (uncredited) - *Child of Manhattan* (1933), as Spyrene - Dance Hall Bouncer - *Parachute Jumper* (1933), as Motorcycle Policeman (uncredited) - *Goldie Gets Along* (1933), as Motorcycle Officer Cassidy - *Whistling in the Dark* (1933), as Joe - *The Sign of the Cross* (1932), as Strabo - *Flesh* (1932), as Wrestler (uncredited) - *Deception* (1932), as Bucky O'Neill · Story - *The Night Club Lady* (1932), as Mike McDougal - *Exposure* (1932), as Maniac Killer - *Horse Feathers* (1932), as MacHardie (uncredited) - *By Whose Hand?* (1932), as 'Killer' Delmar - *The Tenderfoot* (1932), as Joe (uncredited) - *Attorney for the Defense* (1932), as Mugg Malone - *The Big Timer* (1932), as Kid Melrose (uncredited) - *Hell-Fire Austin* (1932), as Bouncer - *A Fool's Advice* (1932), as Kelly - Naughty Boy - *The Beast of the City* (1932), as Abe Gorman (uncredited) - *Taxi!* (1932), as Bull Martin (uncredited) - *Manhattan Parade* (1931), as Lady Godiva's Husband - *The Secret Witness* (1931), as Gunner - Bodyguard - *The Spirit of Notre Dame* (1931), as Assistant Coach - *Blonde Crazy* (1931), as Hank aka Pete - *The Ruling Voice* (1931), as Board Member (uncredited) - *The Star Witness* (1931), as Big Jack - *Fair Warning* (1931), as Purvis - *Seas Beneath* (1931), as 'Butch' Wagner (uncredited) - *Crazy House* (1930), as Chef (uncredited) - *The Sea Wolf* (1930), as Smoke - *The Last of the Duanes* (1930), as Bossamer - *The Big Pond* (1930), as Pat O'Day - *The Laughing Lady* (1929), as James Dugan - *Let's Get Married* (1926), as Jimmy - *The Hoosier Schoolmaster* (1924), as Bud Means ## Gallery - ![Nat Pendleton](https://film.one/media/person/1226356/gallery-9e8577229ef3.jpg) Nat Pendleton — Trailer screenshot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Nat_Pendleton_in_The_Great_Ziegfeld_trailer.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Lobby card for the 1934 film The Gay Bride.](https://film.one/media/person/1226356/gallery-a43a3654a72e.jpg) Lobby card for the 1934 film The Gay Bride. — MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Gay_Bride_poster.jpg/1280px-Gay_Bride_poster.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Promotional photo for the 1934 film The Defense RestsLeft to right: Nat Pendleton, Jean Arthur, Jack Holt.](https://film.one/media/person/1226356/gallery-65633191431c.jpg) Promotional photo for the 1934 film The Defense RestsLeft to right: Nat Pendleton, Jean Arthur, Jack Holt. — Columbia Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/The-Defense-Rests-1934.jpg/1280px-The-Defense-Rests-1934.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Film poster for the American detective film The Thin Man (1934).](https://film.one/media/person/1226356/gallery-50bb3d331ee7.jpg) Film poster for the American detective film The Thin Man (1934). — Employee(s) of MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Poster_-_Thin_Man%2C_The_02.jpg/1280px-Poster_-_Thin_Man%2C_The_02.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Nat Pendleton](https://film.one/media/person/1226356/gallery-6962c12afeff.jpg) Nat Pendleton — Image via TMDB - ![Nat Pendleton](https://film.one/media/person/1226356/gallery-1bd5a69d25eb.jpg) Nat Pendleton — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/nat-pendleton