Jack Starrett (November 2, 1936 – March 27, 1989) was an American
actor and
film director. He is credited as
Claude Ennis Starrett, Jr. in some of his films. Starrett is perhaps best known for his role as
Gabby Johnson, a
parody of
George "Gabby" Hayes, in the 1974 classic parody film
Blazing Saddles and is also known for his role as the brutal deputy Art Galt in the 1982
action film First Blood. He also played the cruel foreman Swick in
The River. Starrett was often typecast as a tough-talking police officer and played essentially the same character in a trio of biker films:
The Born Losers (the film that introduced
Billy Jack),
Hells Angels on Wheels (both from 1967), and
Angels from Hell (1968). He acted in another biker film,
Hell's Bloody Devils (1970), and directed two more:
Run, Angel, Run in 1969 and
Nam's Angels (1970) as well as the
horror film Race with the Devil (1975), in which he also played a gas station attendant.