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Stuart Randall was born Clarence Maxwell, in Brazil, Indiana on July 24, 1909, the oldest of three brothers, sons to Walter and Allie Maxwell.
Clarence’s entertainment career began in elementary school, acting in school plays and continuing through his school years.
In the summer of 1927, Clarence joined eleven other young men from the Brazil area to attend a thirty day Citizens Military Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison where he was awarded a medal for being the best first-
The next mention of Clarence is in the November 18, 1927 Brazil newspaper. The Senior High School Glee Club presented the Chinese operetta “China Shop”, in which Clarence played Karfair, the comedian of the operetta.
In December of 1927, Clarence appeared in ‘Betty Lou’, a musical comedy, put on by the local American Legion. He had top billing as Uncle Cy.
In the May 27, 1929 issue of the Brazil Times, it states that Clarence joined two other men and headed to California!
Musical Career
Clarence made the move to California, where he became Larry Sothern and had a very promising career going when he lost his voice in 1931, it would be more than three years and numerous operations before he regained his voice and it was approximately 1937 before he sang professionally again.
Quoting part of an article in The Miami News, dated April 24, 1940 “When he was 18 years old, he was singing at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles and the Cocoanut Grove and in the daytime he was an extra in Warner Bros, Fox and Paramount pictures. He had every prospect of eventual stardom, but in 1931 he had to have an operation on his throat because of a condition brought on by overwork. After 22 operations over a period of three years, his voice was restored, but he actually had to learn to talk all over again. After he had regained his singing prowess, Larry came to Miami and went to work on the long come-
In addition to singing on WKAT Miami, Larry also appeared at Mother Kelly's, Bill Jordan's Bar of Music, the Five O'clock Club, Jack Dempsey's, the Royal Palm Club, Esquire Bar and Whiteman Hotel during the season of 1937-
The summer of 1938 he organized his own band, Larry Sothern and His Orchestra, and went into the Town Casino Club in Miami, clicking so big that his band was engaged for a cruise ship. At the end of the cruise, he opened the Du Pont's new Rainbow Room in the La Concha Hotel in Key West.
In 1939 he joined the Will Bradley Orchestra as their ‘song star’, who was featured with Parkyakarkus, a star of stage, screen and radio fame and his Hollywood Swing Show. They played six nights in Cumberland, Maryland in October, 1939, as well as one night in Altoona, Pennsylvania on October 19, 1939.
Larry performed at The Drum in Coral Gables, Florida numerous times in 1939 and early 1940. It was during Larry's engagement at the Drum, that he became acquainted with the Theater of Fifteen.
In August of 1939, Larry and his orchestra recorded eight songs on the Vocalion label.
He ended his singing career in February, 1940 and began an acting career in March.
Singer to Actor
From The Miami News, March 17, 1940: “… At the Theater of the Fifteen, Larry Sothern, night club singer, made his legitimate debut in "U. S. Ark." He was amazingly good, considering his lack of experience and with a summer of stock training should be a good movie bet, being very photogenic.”
Exerts from ‘Behind the Footlights’ in The Miami News, April 21, 1940: “Miami has long applauded Larry Sothern as a singer and orchestra leader, but right now his friends are enthusiastic about his new career as an actor. It is predicted by those who have seen him playing with the (Theater of the) Fifteen in Coral Gables that he will find even greater success in the theater than he enjoyed in night clubs and on the radio….Although Larry had been a singer all his life, he wanted very much to be an actor, and at last he saw in the Fifteen an opportunity to gain experience in the theater. He took a small part in "Give My Regards to Broadway," which ran four weeks instead of the usual two, and gave him additional time to work on his next part, which was a leading role in a new play, "U. S. Ark." He worked intensively and came through with an amazingly professional performance as Fanchon, the Communist…”
Larry performed in six plays over nine months in 1940. U.S. Ark, The Texas Ranger, The Gentle People, Kiss the Boys Goodbye, A Man From the Band and Battle of Angels.
A Man From the Band proved to be a leading role for Larry. He played Ernie Craig, a band leader who marries a socialite.
In mid 1941 Larry joined the cast of “My Sister Eileen”. The play was on Broadway for better than a year with the original cast, Larry appeared in a different cast that played Chicago for over eight months. After Chicago, the play went on the road for approximately one year, performing at St. Louis, Decatur, Cincinnati, Detroit, Dayton, Minneapolis and Lansing, then traveling to the west coast to Oakland and Los Angeles, closing sometime in 1942.
Audrey Totter, from Cimarron City fame, traveled with Larry and the “My Sister Eileen” group and would later appear with Stuart during 1958/1959 on Cimarron City. She played the role of Beth Purcell, and Stuart portrayed Sheriff Art Sampson.
After February, 1942 there is no written word to be found of Larry Sothern. After better than ten years as a singer, then an actor, the name Larry Sothern disappears.
Singer/Actor to War
Clarence signed up for the draft under his given name and was called to active duty on April 17, 1942, and assigned to the 55th Field Artillery of the United States Army, serving over-
On November 20, 1942, Clarence married Mary Elizabeth Adams, a popular stage actress. It is not known how they met. The union produced two children, but unfortunately the marriage didn’t last, they separated in 1946 and divorced on February 15, 1950.
Acting Career
Clarence Maxwell/Larry Sothern surfaced in Hollywood in January of 1950 as Stuart Randall in a Roy Rogers movie titled Bells of Coronado.
Stuart Randall went on to guest star in nearly 70 movies including Storm Warning, with Ronald Reagan; Wells Fargo Gunmaster; The Hoodlum; Carbine Williams; Pony Soldier with Tyrone Powers; Pony Express with Charlton Heston; Southwest Passage starring Rod Cameron; The Far Country with Jimmie Stewart; Indestructible Man with Lon Chaney; Run of the Arrow; Verboten!; Frontier Uprising with Jim Davis; Taggart; and True Grit with John Wayne, among others.
He appeared approximately 180 times in television series. Stuart guest starred in nearly all of the popular western television series of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s at least once, some of them numerous times, including: three times on the Lone Ranger; twice on Zane Grey Theater; twice on Colt .45; five times as a series semi-
He also appeared in non-
His final television appearance was as Assistant Attorney General Hawkins in the Alias Smith and Jones episode Dreadful Sorry Clementine, Season 2, Episode 10, in November, 1971.
Stuart Randall was a very talented actor, who acted for twenty-
Tom Goldrup (co-
Robert Fuller, star of Laramie made the following statement for the Stuart Randall Fan Page’s Sheriff Mort’s Posse:
“I had the pleasure of working with Stuart Randall on my series Laramie. He was a very private man, so I did not get to spend time with him away from work, but at work I found him to be a very professional actor who was a credit to our show. He consistently gave great performances and his character and mine interacted extremely well together.
During the run of Laramie we had quite a few different sheriffs. Stuart’s character of Mort Cory brought in more stability to the show and Stuart played a really believable and convincing sheriff. We were lucky to have him and I enjoyed working with him immensely.”
Robert Fuller
June 6, 2018
There is not much known about Stuart’s private life. He enjoyed horses and playing golf. He was the Grand Marshall of the 1969 Hesperia Days Parade, in Hesperia, California, where he lived at the time.
Stuart remarried sometime in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s to Rose Leone, they remained married until his death at his home in Victorville, California on June 22, 1988.
Members of the Stuart Randall Fan Page on Facebook raised the money to purchase a plaque that was placed on Kanab, Utah’s Little Hollywood Walk of Fame. As far as is known, this is the only tribute to the Stuart’s lifetime of work in the entertainment world.
Linda Darland
Administrator
Stuart Randall Fan Page
