Tom Keene

Not much is known about the early life of darkly handsome "B" cowboy actor Tom Keene, who was born George Duryea on December 30, 1896, in Rochester, New York. However, he did arrive in Hollywood in the late 1920s after college studies at Columbia and Carnegie Tech and immediately made an impact as the leading man of the silent films The Godless Girl (1928), a Cecil B. DeMille picture opposite Lina Basquette, the social drama Marked Money (1928) and the MGM western Tide of Empire (1929) opposite Renée Adorée. Known for his sharp, pleasant looks and fitness, George continued in leads and seconds leads with such early talkies as the Sophie Tucker musical comedy Honky Tonk (1929) co-starring Lila Lee and the comedy romancer The Dude Wrangler (1930) with Ms. Basquette again. In 1930, Tom found a strong above-the-title niche for several years as a cowboy hero of RKO "Poverty Row" westerns and given the more rugged marquee name of "Tom Keene." Such oaters include Pardon My Gun (1930), Sundow