
Jennifer Holt
1920 - 1997Born Elizabeth Marshall Holt in Hollywood, California to actor Jack Holt and his wife, Margaret Woods. She and her brother Tim would both have careers in acting.
She made her film debut using the stage name "Jacqueline Holt" in a 1941 western starring Hopalong Cassidy and went on to make forty-seven films during the 1940s. All but eight of her roles were in western films in which she appeared opposite cowboy stars such as Lash LaRue, Tex Ritter and Johnny Mack Brown.
Holt made her final film in 1949 then in 1950 co-hosted a television show called Panhandle Pete and Jennifer which ran for one season. During the remainder of the 1950s she made occasional guest appearances on television western series such as The Gabby Hayes Show and Tales of Wells Fargo starring Dale Robertson. Although the popularity of western films had faded by the mid-1950s, during the 1970s western film festivals became popular with fans of the genre and she occasionally participated as a guest.
Jennifer Holt was married several times, living for a while in Mexico and was in Dorset in England at the time of her death in 1997.
Jennifer made a batch of westerns in the 1940s, primarily at Universal and PRC as the heroine to Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter, Rod Cameron, Buster Crabbe, Eddie Dean and Lash LaRue. Her first western was the Hopalong Cassidy STICK TO YOUR GUNS (Paramount, 1941). She also played the female lead in a couple of cliffhangers, ADVENTURES OF THE FLYING CADETS (Universal, 1943) and HOP HARRIGAN (Columbia, 1946).
THE HAWK OF POWDER RIVER (Eagle-Lion/PRC, 1948) was Holt's favorite western role, as she portrayed the masked leader of a band of outlaws. She and most of her gang are gunned down by singing cowboy Eddie Dean in the film-ending shootout.
Holt had several marriages, lived in the United States and Mexico, and resided in England at the time or her death in 1997. One of her marriages was to movie actor William Bakewell (1908-1993) whom she starred with in the HOP HARRIGAN chapter play. Bakewell may be best remembered as "Major Tobias Norton" in the 1950s Disney Fess Parker/Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier TV show.
Even though her father Jack and brother Tim made scores of westerns and outdoorsy type films, Jennifer was never in any of their movies. And despite many reports throughout the years, an actor named David Holt (1927-2003) was NOT the brother of Jennifer and Tim Holt nor the son of Jack Holt.
In the late 1940s - early 1950s, Jennifer hosted/participated in several television programs that originated in Chicago. One was her portrayal of "Aunt Judy" to the puppet "Uncle Mistletoe" in the 15 minute THE ADVENTURES OF UNCLE MISTLETOE which was broadcast locally and over ABC. Chicago department store Marshall Fields did this program in response to competitor Montgomery Ward's Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. After a couple years, Jennifer exited Mistletoe and did another children's program, PANHANDLE PETE AND JENNIFER, which originated from NBC in Chicago. That 15 minute series ran from 1950 - 1951.
Pardon My Sarong
Erle C. Kenton
Bud Abbott, Lou Costello
A pair of bus drivers accidentally steal their own bus. With the company issuing a warrant for their arrest, they tag along with a playboy on a boat trip that finds them on a tropical island, where a jewel thief has sinister plans for them.
Pardon My Sarong
Stick to Your Guns
Lesley Selander
William Boyd, Andy Clyde
Buck Peters arranges for Hoppy, California, Johnny and other cowboys to go to the aid of friends whose cattle are being rustled. Hoppy and California locate the rustlers' hideout and join the gang by posing as outlaws themselves, but must find a way to let the rest of the posse know where they are.
Stick to Your Guns
Trigger Fingers
Lambert Hillyer
Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton
Blacksmith Pinto Peters calls on his old friend, Sam "Hurricane" Benton, to help him clear his son, Jimmy, of a murder charge. Hot-headed Jimmy, believes that the best way to cure a man of cheating at cards is to shoot him. He didn't shoot him enough, as the gambler only feigns death as part of a plot to gain possession of land owned by Pinto, as they know there is gold on the land buried there by an outlaw gang years ago.
Trigger Fingers
Song of Old Wyoming
Robert Emmett Tansey
Eddie Dean, Sarah Padden
Old Ma Conway champions statehood for Wyoming, believing the measure would put an end to the territory's lawlessness; but the elderly woman is opposed by cattle buyer and tax assessor Lee Landow and greedy banker Dixon. When Ma offers her opinion in a newspaper article, Landow sends his henchman Ringo to put the fear of God in the woman.
Song of Old Wyoming
Gun Smoke
Howard Bretherton
Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton
U. S. Marshals Nevada Jack McKenzie and Sandy Hopkins come upon an overturned stagecoach with the driver and the passenger dead. They learn that the passenger, Hinkley, an archaeologist, has discovered an old Indian site that contains gold relics, and a gang has robbed him of the relics he was carrying. Jane Condon, daughter of Hinkley's partner who was also murdered, tells Nevada that an old Indian guide, Shag, is the only one who knows where the site is. The outlaws find Shag first, and kill him after forcing the information from him. Hinkley's son, Joel, arrives and knows where the site is and leads Nevada and Sandy there ahead of the outlaws.
Gun Smoke
Shadow Valley
Ray Taylor
Eddie Dean, Roscoe Ates
At least 10 percent of the 58-minute Eddie Dean western Shadow Valley is comprised of stock shots from earlier Dean oaters. This time, the star plays as U.S. marshal who comes to the rescue of the standard damsel in distress (Jennifer Holt, sister of Tim and daughter of Jack). The double-dyed villain (George Cheseboro) is a crooked lawyer (and former train robber) who wants to lay claim to the heroine's ranch.
Shadow Valley
Stage to Mesa City
Ray Taylor
Lash La Rue, Al St. John
Lash and Fuzzy sent to help John Watson with his stage line arrive to find him murdered. Recognizing the outlaws they trail them to their leader Baxter. But before Baxter can tell who the big boss is he is shot. After getting the stage through to assure the mail contract, Lash now realizes who the boss is.
Stage to Mesa City
Little Joe, the Wrangler
Lewis D. Collins
Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter
Mining executive Neal Wallace arrives to investigate the losses at a gold mine and is immediately framed for murder. The murderers then incite a lynch mob but the Sheriff lets him go. Wallace eventually convinces the Sheriff of his innocence and the two then work together to get the gang that is looting the gold ore.
Little Joe, the Wrangler
Cheyenne Roundup
Ray Taylor
Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter
Johnny Mack Brown's Universal western series was drawing to a close when Cheyenne Roundup was released in mid-1943. Brown is herein cast in a dual role, as honest Gils Brandon and his less-than-honest brother Buck. Pursued by lawman Steve Rawlins (Tex Ritter), Buck tries to pass himself off as the upright Gils.
Cheyenne Roundup
Deep in the Heart of Texas
Elmer Clifton
Johnny Mack Brown, Tex Ritter
Hoping to increase its box-office allure by adopting the title of a popular song, Deep in the Heart of Texas (clap!clap!clap!clap!) was the first Johnny Mack Brown western of the 1942-43 season. The plot concerns a group of insurrectionists who intend to keep Texas separate from the rest of the USA.
Deep in the Heart of Texas