Carleton Leonard Young was born in New York City, New
York on June 28, 1937. He was the son of Carleton G. Young [1907-1971], the
voice of the original "Ellery Queen" on radio. Known professionally
as Tony Young, he made his way west in the 1950s and graduated from Los Angeles
City College. He also served in the U.S. Air Force. Working initially as an NBC
page, his interest in acting had not flagged after all this time and the
virile, brawny wannabe began landing TV roles in 1959 with such western shows
as "Overland Trail" (1960), "The Deputy" (1959),
"Bronco" (1958) and "Laramie" (1959), not to mention bit
parts in the films Walk Like a Dragon (1960) and The Marriage-Go-Round (1961).
In 1961 Tony was handed his own weekly series as a cavalry undercover agent in
the TV western "Gunslinger" (1961). While the program was
short-lived, it managed to basically pigeonhole him as a western actor. Such
low-budget films as the westerns “He Rides Tall” and “Taggart” followed.
From there Tony moved to character work and supported
Elvis Presley in his non-musical western “Charro!” (1969). In his only
Euro-western Tony supported James Garner in his only Euro-western “A Man Called
Sledge” (1970). Roles in action-adventure and blaxploitation flicks also came
in the early 70s, with “Chrome and Hot Leather” (1971), “Play It As It Lays”
and “Black Gunn” (both 1972), “Superchick” and “The Outfit” (both 1973).
Reliable guestings on "Star Trek" (1966), "The Virginian" (1962),
"Medical Center" (1969), "Bonanza" (1959) and "The
Streets of San Francisco" (1972) kept him busy throughout the decade.
Twice married (and divorced) to actresses, Tony's father
died of cancer in 1971 at age 64. Tony himself retired from acting in the early
1990s and succumbed to lung cancer on Febraury 26, 2002 in West Hollywood,
California at the very same age as his father. Tony had one child by second
wife Madlyn Rhue [1935-2003], his co-star on film and TV both before and after
their divorce.
Today we remember Tony Young on what would have been his
75th birthday.
Tony Young played Jim Mallory in the 1970 Spaghetti Western, "A Man Called Sledge". It had one thing in common and that was that both Young and James Garner would appear only in this Spaghetti Western and after that they wouldn't make anymore. After robbing a stagecoach in which the driver gets killed, Sledge and Mallory ride into the town of Liquor City, (I kid you not that's the name of the town), and do some gambling. Mallory is shot in the back and killed by Ken Clark's character and Sledge is forced to kill Clark AND another character while John Marley's character of Warren watches. The old man later tells Sledge of a possible gold shipment that hasn't been touched in 10 years. Sledge reunites with his old gang, including his friend Ward, played by "Gunsmoke" star Dennis Weaver, whose only Spaghetti Western this also was, and along with Warren they go after the gold. Sledge also brings along his lover, Rita. Later on however, two of the gang members are killed and the rest of the gang later betrays Sledge. They also kill Rita which forces Sledge to go up against his own gang. In the end, he kills them all and rides off with the gold. What a great film.
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