center|80px
thumb|Nat Pendleton, [[Jean Arthur, Jack Holt in a
promotional photo for the 1934 film, The Defense Rests]]
Nathaniel Greene Pendleton (August 9, 1895 – October 12, 1967) was an American Olympic wrestler, film actor, and stage performer. His younger brother, Edmund J. Pendleton (1899–1987), was a well-known music composer and choir master and organist for the American Church in Paris.
Early life
Nat Pendleton was born as Nathaniel Greene Pendleton in 1895 in Davenport, Iowa to Adelaide Elizabeth (née Johnson) Pendleton (1873–1960) and Nathaniel Greene Pendleton (1861–1914), an attorney, who was reportedly a descendant of American Revolutionary general Nathanael Greene. By March 1899, the Pendletons had moved to Cincinnati, and then later to New York. Nat went to Brooklyn's Poly Prep High School. Nat studied at Columbia University, graduating in 1916. Pendleton spoke four languages, received an economics degree, and, in 2006, was inducted into the Columbia wrestling hall of fame. Some controversy continues to surround that outcome. Both Pendleton's Olympic coach, George Pinneo, and his teammate, Fred Meyer, insisted that he won his final match and should have been awarded the gold medal. Pinneo later recalled that loss as the "most unpopular of many unsatisfactory decisions," and Meyer stated, "Pendleton was the winner of that contest, no ifs or buts."
Returning to the US he became a professional wrestler and teamed up with promoter Jack Curley. Curley was aggressively promoting Pendleton and issued a series of haughty challenges, among them boasting that Pendleton could beat Ed "Strangler" Lewis and any other wrestler on the same night. John Pesek was enlisted to face Pendleton, and in a legitimate contest held on January 25, 1923, Pesek defeated and injured Pendleton. Pendleton continued to wrestle professionally into the 1930s.
Stage career
- Naughty Cinderella (Nov 09, 1925 - Feb 20, 1926) as "K. O." Bill Smith
Film career
Pendleton began appearing in Hollywood films in uncredited parts and minor roles by the mid-1920s. Pendleton was cast in at least 94 short films and features, most often being typecast in supporting roles, usually as "befuddled good guys" or as slow-witted thugs, gangsters, and policemen. and Edmund (1899–1987), a well-known music composer and choir master and organist for the American Church in Paris.
On the 1920 census, he was working as a sports manager, living in Manhattan, with his Puerto Rican wife, Juanita Alfonzo (age 22), and Ramon Alfonso (age 13), his wife's brother.
Pendleton died in a San Diego, California hospital in 1967 after suffering a heart attack. He was survived by his second wife, Margaret Evelyn "Barbara" Carse.
Legacy
Pendleton is a member of several halls of fame: the Glen Brand Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa, the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in Cresco, Iowa, and the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame. He is the subject of a biography by Mike Chapman, which was published in 2015.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
! Director
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1913 || The Battle of Gettysburg || || Thomas H. Ince || Unconfirmed
|-
| 1924 || The Hoosier Schoolmaster || Bud Means || Oliver L. Sellers ||
|-
| 1924 || Monsieur Beaucaire || Barber || Sidney Olcott || uncredited
|-
| 1926 || Let's Get Married || Jimmy || Gregory La Cava ||
|-
| 1929 || The Laughing Lady || James Dugan || Victor Schertzinger ||
|-
| 1930 || The Big Pond || Pat O'Day || Hobart Henley ||
|-
| 1930 || La grande mare || Pat O'Day || Hobart Henley ||
|-
| 1930 || The Last of the Duanes || Bossamer || Alfred L. Werker || Uncredited
|-
| 1930 || The Sea Wolf || Smoke || Alfred Santell ||
|-
| 1931 || Seas Beneath || 'Butch' Wagner || John Ford || uncredited
|-
| 1931 || Fair Warning || Purvis || Alfred L. Werker ||
|-
| 1931 || Mr. Lemon of Orange || Gangster || || Uncredited
|-
| 1931 || The Star Witness || Big Jack || William A. Wellman ||
|-
| 1931 || The Spirit of Notre Dame || Assistant coach || Russell Mack ||
|-
| 1931 || The Ruling Voice || Board Member || Rowland V. Lee || Uncredited
|-
| 1931 || Blonde Crazy || aka Pete || Roy Del Ruth ||
|-
| 1931 || The Secret Witness || Gunner (Bodyguard) || Thornton Freeland ||
|-
| 1931 || The Star Witness || Gunner (Bodyguard) || William A. Wellman ||
|-
| 1931 || Manhattan Parade || Lady Godiva's Husband || Lloyd Bacon || Uncredited
|-
| 1931 || The Pottsville Palooka || Spike Mulligan || || Short
|-
| 1932 || Taxi! || Truck Driver Bull Martin || Roy Del Ruth || uncredited
|-
| 1932 || The Beast of the City || Abe Gorman || Charles Brabin || Uncredited
|-
| 1932 || A Fool's Advice || Naughty Boy || Ralph Ceder ||
|-
| 1932 || Hell Fire Austin || Bouncer || Forrest Sheldon ||
|-
| 1932 || The Big Timer || Kid Melrose || Edward Buzzell || uncredited
|-
| 1932 || Play Girl || Dance Hall Plumber || Ray Enright || Scenes deleted
|-
| 1932 || Girl Crazy || Motorcycle Cop || William A. Seiter || Uncredited
|-
| 1932 || State's Attorney || the Boxer || George Archainbaud || Uncredited
|-
| 1932 || Attorney for the Defense || Mugg || Irving Cummings ||
|-
| 1932 || The Tenderfoot || Joe (Jealous Husband) || Ray Enright || Uncredited
|-
| 1932 || By Whose Hand? || Delmar || ||
|-
| 1932 || Horse Feathers || Darwin football player MacHardie || Norman Z. McLeod || Uncredited
|-
| 1932 || Exposure || Maniac Killer || ||
|-
| 1932 || The Night Club Lady || Mike McDougal || Irving Cummings ||
|-
| 1932 || Deception || Bucky O'Neill || Lewis Seiler || Story by Nat Pendleton; script by Harold Tarshis