Clarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe II (February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983) was an athlete and actor born in Oakland. He won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for 400m freestyle swimming in Los Angeles. As an actor, he is probably best remembered for playing the title roles in the serial films Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers.
Buster was born Clarence Linden Crabbe II, to Edward Clinton Simmons Crabbe and Lucy Agnes McNamara, in Oakland. Edward Crabbe worked as a real estate agent. Buster and his younger brother Buddy were raised in Hawai'i. It is not clear whether Buster actually lived in Oakland; at least one source says his family lived in Berkeley in 1910. 1
Links and References
- Buster Crabbe on Wikipedia
- Obituary from the New York Times
- Buster Crabbe on IMDB
- Larry "Buster" Crabbe on The Old Corral: B-Westerns
