- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJohn George Agar Jr.
- Height6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
- John Agar was born in Chicago, the eldest of four children. In World War II, Sgt. John Agar was a United States Army Air Force physical instructor. His 1945 marriage at the Wilshire Memorial Church to "America's Sweetheart" Shirley Temple put him in the public eye for the first time, and a movie contract with independent producer David O. Selznick quickly ensued.
Agar debuted opposite John Wayne, Henry Fonda and Temple in John Ford's Fort Apache (1948), initial film in the famed director's "Cavalry Trilogy".
His marriage to Shirley Temple ended in 1949, while his movie career continued.
Popular with fans of Westerns and sci-fi flicks, Agar was a staple at film conventions and autograph shows.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tom Weaver <TomWeavr@aol.com>
- SpousesLoretta Agar(May 16, 1951 - January 27, 2000) (her death, 2 children)Shirley Temple(September 19, 1945 - December 7, 1950) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenMartin David Agar
- ParentsJohn George Agar Sr.Lillian Rogers
- Father, with Shirley Temple, of daughter Susan Agar (Linda Susan Agar) (born on January 30, 1948).
- After Universal put Agar into a third horror film, The Mole People (1956), he became disillusioned with the studio, especially since he had to compete with Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, George Nader and Jeff Chandler for choice leading man roles, and he left the studio.
- Was one of the dozens of Hollywood celebrities who made regular weekend visits to renowned animal trainer and Hollywood animal behaviorist Ralph Helfer's Africa U.S.A. Exotic Animal Ranch in Soledad Canyon, California, to play with the animals and pitch in with the chores.
- His marriage to actress Shirley Temple started his film career in the 1940s.
- The claim that he had done a "pink film" in Denmark was a gag. He starred in Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962), which was shot in Denmark, by writer/producer/director Sidney W. Pink.
- I don't resent being identified with B science fiction movies at all. Why should I? Even though they were not considered top of the line, for those people that like sci-fi, I guess they were fun. My whole feeling about working as an actor is, if I give anybody any enjoyment, I'm doing my job, and that's what counts.
- To me it's much easier to play in something that's real -- a natural situation -- than it is to deal with abstracts and the unknown. It's sort of difficult to make them come to life! I always had the feeling that when people looked at some of these science fiction things we were going to get a big laugh. On a couple of occasions some of the things that were supposed to frighten people really looked rather ludicrous -- funny, rather than scary. I feel it's more natural to deal in something that people understand, rather than something that human beings don't come in contact with.
- [in a 1991 interview] Acting is something that I love to do, but it's a part of me that's often dormant. So, when I get an opportunity to go on a film set it's like somebody's pushing a button that has been idle for a long time and right away I'm ready to get going at it. It's fun for me to be able to get back into it because it's a part of my life that I've really enjoyed.
- To me the idea of just working is what's fun, I don't give a doggone what kind of part. Walter Huston said it years ago: "I don't care about billing. If the show is good and I'm good in it, people are going to say, 'Who was that?' And if it's not, I don't want 'em to know I was in it!"
- Who wants to shake the hand of the first man to put it to America's sweetheart?
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