Alfred St. John was born 10 September 1892, the only child of Nora Nell Arbuckle, Roscoe's older sister, and Walter St. John. Al and his uncle Roscoe were five years apart and as close as brothers. The affect Roscoe's sister had on Roscoe was more of a mother image as she had looked after him since after their father had disowned the boy.
Al looked up to Roscoe, admiring his stamina and the fact that he was becoming a success on the vaudeville circuit, and it became his great ambition to join his uncle on the road, however, both parents did not agree to the idea of their only child being subjected to the dangers of a business that knew no bounds. With the help of Uncle Roscoe, Al soon enough joined him on the road, following him further to Hollywood where he became a steady character in Roscoe's films, usually playing his uncle's villanous rival, as well as quite the acrobat.
A funny thing, Al was very shy, like his uncle, also very shy, and together with Buster Keaton who was extremely shy, and Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand who were also shy, more is the amazement as to the extent of charisma of these charismatic performers both on screen and off.
During WWI, Buster Keaton enlisted in the Army and went off to fight in France while Roscoe and Al stayed behind doing what they could for the war effort which included short films, selling liberty bonds, and performing for the troops. Al, as an only son of older parents; his father was in his fifties when Al was born, could not be expected to go off to war.
Coming up, young Al was, indeed, a prodigy of Roscoe who taught him much of what he learned in slapstick comedy. The stunts, however, were all Al's, and together the pair made at least 16 pictures together, both before and after the destruction of Roscoe's earlier career. What happened to his beloved uncle devastated both Al and his mother who had supported Roscoe during the trials. They all knew of Roscoe's innocence, thus, it was difficult for family and friends to watch this debacle play out enough to destroy the man entirely. It is fair to say that Al was traumatized by his uncle's fate, and years later, after Roscoe's passing, whenever he was asked to talk about Roscoe, Al would break down. He never got over losing his best friend, his "brother." After his exoneration, Hollywood still blacklisted Roscoe, and his friends came to his rescue, allowing him to direct their films under the pseudonym of William B. Goodrich, the name of Roscoe's father. Roscoe continued to direct both Buster Keaton and Al St. John in shorts before each branched out on their own into feature-length films.
Al St. John, with his clean-cut handsomeness; golden blonde hair and crystal blue eyes; sweet, shy, is said to have had a troublesome married life despite that he remained married to his second wife, June Price Pierce for thirty years until her death, and his last wife until his death. As excerpted here from B-Westerns.com:
"Al tied the knot with Marion Lillian Ball (1891 - 1975) on October 5, 1914 in Los Angeles, and daughter Mary Jane (1918 - 1994) was born October 9, 1918. Citing cruelty and alcohol abuse, Lillian divorced him in August, 1923 and their split was plagued by never-ending battles over missed alimony and child support payments. Trades and newspapers carried many reports of Al's court appearances and threats of jail time due to those missing payments..."
NOTE: It has been reported that the young child, Mary Jane, said to be born to Al and Marion was actually adopted. At this time it is not immediately known which case is truth.
"In 1926, Al married June Price Pierce and they were together through her passing in 1957. Her full / maiden name was Yvonne June Villon (1901 - 1957), and she was an actress and dabbled in real estate. Al was husband number three and June brought along her son, Raymond Beach Price (1919 - 1981). Their marriage ceremony was at June's home in Cahuenga Park, California. Attending the nuptials were about 200 guests, mostly Hollywood movie folks, and 'Fatty' Arbuckle and his wife were witnesses. Al had purchased two and a half acres adjoining the house and plans were to add a swimming pool, tennis court, garden area, more.
The 1920s were Al's peak years in prestige and earnings. There were big paydays, but his lifestyle was lavish, and money flowed out for real estate, cars, a plane ... and alimony and child support: In the early 1920s with first wife Marion, they had a full time cook and butler and Marion had a full time chauffeur. September 16, 1922 Camera! magazine: "Al St. John and a company of seven slipped away from the Fox studios and journeyed up to the Sierra Mountains and fished and hunted in the hills. All voted Al a prince of a good fellow - it was he that footed the expenses for the trip." Circa 1923, Al and a syndicate of Los Angeles business men were buying city and farm properties and a recent purchase was an eighty acre tract of land that once was a gold claim. February 3, 1923 Camera! magazine: "Al is an enthusiastic aviator and recently purchased a Pacific bi-plane in San Diego." February 9, 1923 Film Daily: "Hollywood - Al St. John, Tom Mix and William Russell are the owners of a new haberdashery recently opened here." May 19, 1923 Camera! magazine: "Two brand new McFarland [sic] motor cars have been added to the Al St. John string of 'speed buggies'." ; "... throwing custard pies and making monkeyshines pays big! St. John now owns nine motors and one aeroplane."
According to B-Westerns.com, "the 1940s were Al's busiest B western years. At Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), he was the helper to Bob Steele (Billy the Kid), George Houston (Lone Rider), Bob Livingston (Lone Rider), Buster Crabbe (Billy the Kid/Billy Carson), and Lash LaRue. In 1941 - 1943, Al was extra busy, playing 'Fuzzy' in both the Lone Rider and Crabbe adventures. Wonder if the kids seeing these in the theaters were confused - i.e., "Who's Fuzzy working for this week?" He wasn't tied exclusively to PRC and in 1940 - 1942, Al picked up paychecks in six Don 'Red' Barry starrers at Republic Pictures. However, he didn't play 'Fuzzy' in those. But Al did perform his bicycle ridin' routine in Barry's JESSE JAMES JR. (aka SUNDOWN FURY) (Republic, 1942)."
The Cowboy star of the 1950's, Lash LaRue, once said of Al St. John: "Fuzzy was an angel unaware, as far as I'm concerned", said LaRue. "He was a wonderful guy, and I wish he were still here to see how long the films had lasted ... he was the greatest ad lib artist in the world. He could stumble over a matchstick and spend fifteen exciting minutes looking for what he stumbled over."""
Everybody loved Al St. John. Despite that he had grown into a terrible alchohol addiction over the years, his personality was such that one could not help but adore him. That once handsome face had become aged, weathered and worn from the drink, and he looked much older than his years. The end for Al culminated in 1963, as best described in B-Westerns.com, his final years:
"...In 1952, Al was about sixty years old and his movie career was over. He kept busy doing personal appearances and was often accompanied by wife June.
Yvonne June St. John suffered from cancer and congestive heart failure and passed away on September 17, 1957 at their home at 12919 1/2 Bloomfield Street, Los Angeles. Later, Al married Florence 'Flo Bell' Moore and they resided in Homosassa Springs, Florida. Al was touring with Doc Tommy Scott's Wild West show and was scheduled for a personal appearance at the American Legion Club in Vidalia, Georgia. He was at a motel / hotel in Lyons, Georgia, about six miles from Vidalia, and passed away there from a heart attack on January 21, 1963." His ashes were strewn across the land of his ranch in Homosassa Springs, and the story is told that he died in his wife's arms.
There is quite a bit of history surrounding the St. John lineage, stemming far back to English nobility. Some of the family history will be added here in the future.
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