--- name: "Roscoe Ates" canonical: "https://film.one/person/roscoe-ates" roles: ["Actor"] born: "19 January 1895" died: "1 March 1962" reviewed_on_fi1m: 5 average_fi1m_score: 75 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-20T00:28:37.323068+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." --- # Roscoe Ates Actor. Born 19 January 1895 in Grange, Mississippi, USA. Died 1 March 1962. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 19 January 1895, Grange, Mississippi, USA - **Died:** 1 March 1962 - **Active:** 1930–1931 - **Also known as:** Roscoe Blevel Ates, Rosco Ates - **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 2 acting, 3 other - **Average Fi1m score:** 75, as actor, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 78 (4), 1940s 74 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Ates, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3442320, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0040374/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1509 ## Biography Roscoe Ates (also credited as Rosco Ates) was an American actor, vaudeville performer, comedian and musician. Born in Grange, Mississippi, he overcame a childhood speech impediment and began his career accompanying silent films on the violin before turning to vaudeville comedy. He made his film debut in 1929 and appeared in more than 150 films and numerous television episodes, primarily in westerns. Ates is best known for playing the stuttering western sidekick Soapy Jones in a series of B-westerns from the mid-1940s. Among his other screen roles were the Press Photographer in *King Kong* (1933), a character in *Freaks* (1932), a convalescent soldier in *Gone with the Wind* (1939), and parts in *Cimarron* (1931), *The Palm Beach Story* (1942) and *The Ladies Man* (1961). He also appeared in episodes of *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* and other television series. Ates died in Los Angeles on 1 March 1962. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (5) ### Performed in (2) — the average rests on these - *The Champ* (1931), Fi1m 72, as Sponge — [page](https://film.one/film/the-champ.md) - *The Big House* (1930), Fi1m 78, as Putnam — [page](https://film.one/film/the-big-house.md) ### Also credited (3) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited - *One Foot in Heaven* (1941), Fi1m 74, as George Reynolds (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/one-foot-in-heaven.md) - *Gone with the Wind* (1939), Fi1m 74, as Convalescent Soldier (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/gone-with-the-wind.md) - *King Kong* (1933), Fi1m 88, as Press Photographer (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/king-kong.md) ## Complete filmography (108) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Ladies Man* (1961), as Pet Shop Owner - *The Silent Call* (1961), as Sid - *Man with a Camera* (1958), series, Actor - *Lawman* (1958), series, Actor - *The Sheepman* (1958), as Town Loafer (uncredited) - *Maverick* (1957), series, as Albert - *M Squad* (1957), series, as Edwin Winkler - *Wagon Train* (1957), series, as Old Timer - *Sugarfoot* (1957), series, as Barber - *The Big Caper* (1957), as Falkenburg - *State Trooper* (1956), series, Actor - *Come Next Spring* (1956), as Shorty Wilkins - *Lucy Gallant* (1955), as Clem Anderson - Hotel Clerk (uncredited) - *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1955), series, as Pop Henderson, Zack Martin, Ben White, Tavern Customer, Piano Player - *Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops* (1955), as Wagon Driver - *The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin* (1954), series, Actor - *Those Redheads from Seattle* (1953), as Dan Taylor - *The Stranger Wore a Gun* (1953), as Jake Hooper - *The Blazing Forest* (1952), as Beans - *Boston Blackie* (1951), series, Actor - *Father's Wild Game* (1950), as Rancher - *Hills of Oklahoma* (1950), as Dismal - the Cook - *The Marshal of Gunsight Pass* (1950), series, Actor - *Thunder in the Pines* (1948), as Wheezer, Boomer's head logger - *Inner Sanctum* (1948), as Willie - *The Tioga Kid* (1948), as Soapy - *The Hawk of Powder River* (1948), as Soapy Jones - *The Westward Trail* (1948), as Soapy Jones - *Tornado Range* (1948), as Soapy Jones - *Check Your Guns* (1948), as Soapy Jones - *Shadow Valley* (1947), as Soapy Jones - *Black Hills* (1947), as Soapy Jones - *West to Glory* (1947), as Soapy Jones - *Range Beyond the Blue* (1947), as Soapy Jones - *Wild Country* (1947), as Soapy Jones - *Wild West* (1946), as Soapy Jones - *Stars Over Texas* (1946), as Soapy Jones - *Driftin' River* (1946), as Soapy - *Down Missouri Way* (1946), as Pappy - *Tumbleweed Trail* (1946), as Soapy Jones - *Colorado Serenade* (1946), as Soapy - *Can't Help Singing* (1944), as Lemuel (uncredited) - *The Great Moment* (1944), as Morton's Sign Painter - replaced by Hank Worden (uncredited) - *The Palm Beach Story* (1942), as Fourth Member Ale and Quail Club - *The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine* (1942), as Police Chief Dan Cady - *Birth of the Blues* (1941), as Cab Driver (uncredited) - *One Foot in Heaven* (1941), as George Reynolds (uncredited) — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/one-foot-in-heaven.md) - *I'll Sell My Life* (1941), as Happy Hogan - *Reg'lar Fellers* (1941), as Emory McQuade - *Bad Men of Missouri* (1941), as Lafe - *She Knew All the Answers* (1941), as Gas Station Attendant - *Ziegfeld Girl* (1941), as Janitor Changing Pictures (uncredited) - *Robin Hood of the Pecos* (1941), as Jailer Guffy - *Chad Hanna* (1940), as Ike Wayfish - *I Want a Divorce* (1940), as Process Server - *The Cowboy from Sundown* (1940), as Deputy Gloomy Day - *Captain Caution* (1940), as Chips - *Untamed* (1940), as Bert Dillon - *You're Next!* (1940), as Mr. Tillson - *Rancho Grande* (1940), as Ranch Hand - *Gone with the Wind* (1939), as Convalescent Soldier (uncredited) — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/gone-with-the-wind.md) - *Three Texas Steers* (1939), as Sheriff Brown - *The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok* (1938), as Oscar Snake-Eyes Smith, Jim Blakely - *Riders of the Black Hills* (1938), as Sheriff Brown (as Rosco Ates) - *God's Country and the Woman* (1937), as Gander Hopkins - *Fair Exchange* (1936), as Elmer Goodge - *On the Wagon* (1935), as Elmer - *Why Pay Rent?* (1935), as Elmer Whipple - *The People's Enemy* (1935), as Slip Laflin - *Dizzy & Daffy* (1934), as 'Call-'Em-Wrong' Jones, the Umpire - *Woman in the Dark* (1934), as Tommy Logan - *So You Won't T-T-T-Talk* (1934), as Elmer Whipple - *She Made Her Bed* (1934), as Santa Fe (as Rosco Ates) - *Merry Wives of Reno* (1934), as The Trapper - *Alice in Wonderland* (1933), as Fish - *Golden Harvest* (1933), as Louis Jenkins aka Loopey Lou - *King Kong* (1933), as Press Photographer (uncredited) — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/king-kong.md) - *Scarlet River* (1933), as Ulysses - *What! No Beer?* (1933), as Schultz - *Lucky Devils* (1933), as Gabby - *The Cheyenne Kid* (1933), as Bush (as Rosco Ates) - *The Past of Mary Holmes* (1933), as Bill-poster Klondike - *Renegades of the West* (1932), as Dr. Henry Fawcett - *Sham Poo, the Magician* (1932), as Tourist - *Come on Danger!* (1932), as Rusty (as Rosco Ates) - *Hold 'Em Jail* (1932), as Slippery Sam Brown - *The Roadhouse Murder* (1932), as Edmund Joyce - *Young Bride* (1932), as Pool Room Bartender Mike - *Never the Twins Shall Meet* (1932), as Alfred Guppy / Albert Guppy - *Ladies of the Jury* (1932), as Andrew MacKaig - *The Rainbow Trail* (1932), as Ike Wilkins - *Freaks* (1932), as Roscoe - *The Big Shot* (1931), as Rusty - *The Champ* (1931), as Sponge — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/the-champ.md) - *The Great Lover* (1931), as Rosco - *Too Many Cooks* (1931), as Mr. Wilson - *A Free Soul* (1931), as Man Shot at in Men's Room (uncredited) - *Politics* (1931), as Peter Higgins - *Cimarron* (1931), as Jesse Rickey (as Rosco Ates) - *Reducing* (1931), as Ticket Agent - *Billy the Kid* (1930), as Old Stuff - *Those Three French Girls* (1930), as Elmer (uncredited) - *Check and Double Check* (1930), as Brother Arthur - *Soup to Nuts* (1930), as Pants Presser at Al's Tailor Shop (uncredited) - *Love in the Rough* (1930), as Proprietor - *The Big House* (1930), as Putnam — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/the-big-house.md) - *Double Cross Roads* (1930), as Ticket Agent - *City Girl* (1930), as Reaper ## Gallery - ![Roscoe Ates](https://film.one/media/person/155423/gallery-ab20b40b6f9e.jpg) Roscoe Ates — Image via TMDB - ![Roscoe Ates](https://film.one/media/person/155423/gallery-33f337d5c7aa.jpg) Roscoe Ates — 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/roscoe-ates