- Born
- Died
- Birth nameThomas Skeoch
- Height6′ 1½″ (1.87 m)
- Tom Steele was born on June 12, 1909 in Carluke, Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK. He was an actor, known for The Blues Brothers (1980), Scarface (1983) and Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952). He died on October 30, 1990 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Was in the Republic serial The Masked Marvel (1943), playing the lead. He doubled three other characters and played a bit part as a heavy. Because of an error, he never received any billing.
- His trick for keeping his hat on in fight scenes (so the audience couldn't tell it wasn't the star) was to put rubber surgical tubing in the sweatband to make it fit tight.
- Stuntmen are often selected because of their resemblance to the star they are doubling for. In contrast to this, many of Republic Pictures' western stars in the 1940s and early 1950s, such as Allan Lane, Bill Elliot, Rex Allen and Monte Hale, were selected in part due to their resemblance to Steele, who would do their stunts.
- He doubled for James Arness in The Thing from Another World (1951), playing the creature when it was set on fire.
- Worked in the steel mills and played polo competitively in his younger days prior to becoming a stuntman.
- The job, the people, the organization Republic ... It was a great life. I enjoyed it all.
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