Tony Young
About Tony Young
As the son of radio, TV and film character actor Carleton G. Young, dark, dexterous and good-looking Tony Young was exposed early on to the machinations of the Hollywood industry. Born in New York in 1937, he was raised in Hollywood after his father's on-camera character work increased. Although Tony was offered some film roles in the early 50s while still a teen, his father insisted that Tony receive a proper education first before putting together any kind of acting career. Following military duty with the Air Force, Tony attended Los Angeles City College. Working initially as an NBC page, his interest in acting had not flagged after all this time and the virile, brawny wannabe began landing TV roles in 1959 with such western shows as "Overland Trail", "The Deputy", "Bronco" and "Laramie", not to mention bit parts in the films Walk Like a Dragon (1960) and Marriage-Go-Round, The (1961). In 1961 Tony was handed in his own weekly series as a cavalry undercover agent in the TV western "Gunslinger" (1961). While the program was short-lived, it managed to pretty much pigeon-hole Tony as a western player. Such lowbudget films as He Rides Tall (1964), in which he played a U.S. marshal, and Taggart (1964), wherein his title hero takes action after being falsely accused of murder, followed. From there Tony moved to character work and supported Elvis Presley in his non-musical western Charro! (1969) and James Garner in the Italian "spaghetti western" Man Called Sledge, A (1970). Roles in action adventure and blaxploitation flicks also came in the early 70s with Chrome and Hot Leather (1971), Play It As It Lays (1972), Black Gunn (1972), Superchick (1973) and Outfit, The (1973). Reliable guestings on "Star Trek", "The Virginian", "Medical Center", "Starsky & Hutch", "Bonanza" and "The Streets of San Francisco", kept him busy throughout the decade. Twice married (and divorced) to actresses, Tony's father died of cancer in 1971 at age 64. Tony himself retired from acting in the early 1990s and later succumbed to lung cancer in 2002 at the very same age as his father. Tony had one child by second wife Madlyn Rhue who co-starred with him on film and TV both before and after their divorce.