Russell Hicks

Edward Russell Hicks (June 4, 1895 – June 1, 1957) was an American film character actor. Hicks was born in 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Army in France. He later became a lieutenant colonel in the California State Guard.

Hicks was a character actor appearing in bit parts and small supporting roles in nearly 300 films between 1933 and 1956 (in 1937, he appeared in 25 films). He was often cast as a smooth-talking confidence man, or swindler, as in the W.C. Fields comedy classic The Bank Dick (1940). Hicks played a variety of judges, attorneys, corrupt officials and crooked businessmen in a variety of mediums until shortly before his death in 1957. Hicks appeared once in the syndicated western television series The Cisco Kid.

Broadway plays in which Hicks acted included The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1954), On Borrowed Time (1953), Time for Elizabeth (1948), All the King's Horses (1934), The Little Black Book (1932), Nona (1932), Torch Song (1930), Goin' Home (1928), No Trespassing (1926), and The Wisecrackers (1925).

On June 1, 1957, Hicks, aged 61, was involved in an automobile accident and suffered a heart attack afterward; he died on route to Santa Monica Receiving Hospital.