Roosevelt was born as Kenneth Stanhope Sanderson in Meeker in Rio Blanco County in northwestern Colorado. He was an athlete and a cowboy in his youth. He started performing as a stuntman in 1916, his first work being on the film Hell's Hinges. He continued working as a stuntman as well as an actor throughout his long Hollywood career. Roosevelt served in the United States Navy during World War I. Although it has been said that he served aboard the USS Norfolk, and that it was sunk during that war, no record of a USS Norfolk being in service during World War I has been found.
After World War I, Roosevelt returned to Hollywood to perform stunts in films as notable as The Sheik, the 1921 movie classic starring Rudolph Valentino and for which Valentino would become most remembered. Roosevelt's first acting role was in the 1924 film Down in Texas. He would star in thirty-seven films from 1924 to 1929, most of which were western films. He made a successful transition to "talking films", mainly because of his abilities as a stuntman.
In 1930, he appeared alongside William Haines and Leila Hyams in Way Out West, which continued him on the path of western film roles, mostly in Poverty Row films but he also made small or uncredited appearances in major films. During the 1930s he appeared in 66 films—some in which he both acted and did stunt work—almost all being westerns, and appeared with such notable actors and actresses as Harry Carey, Hoot Gibson, Gloria Stuart, Joel McCrea, Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart. He also was a frequent stand in for Ronald Colman beginning with Clive of India (1935).

Return to Buddy Roosevelt Autograph Profile