Nat Pendleton was born on August 9, 1895 in Davenport, Iowa. On October 12, 1967 Nat Pendleton passed away in San Diego, California from a heart attack.

Nat is an abbreviation for Nathaniel Greene Pendleton.

Born on a farm near Davenport, Iowa, Nat Pendleton was born to a prominent lawyer. He was also a descendant of A Revulutionary War Hero - Nathaniel Greene. His family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio when he was only two months old. Later on the family moved to New York City. He had two brothers, Steven Gaylord and Edmund.

Barbara Evelyn married Nat Pendleton and they were together until his death in 1967.

In the 1920 Olympic Games Nat Pendleton won a silver metal, in Antwerp, Belgium. Two-time Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) champion (1914-1915) in the 175-lb class while at Columbia University, from which he graduated in 1916. Due to Nat Pendleton's enviable musculature, Nat nabbed a minor "strongman" role named "MacHardie" in the Marx Brothers 1932 feature HORSE FEATHERS, which was obviously modeled after Ziegfeld Follies star Eugene Sandow.

Nat Pendleton appeared in about 100 films mostly in the 1930's and 40's.  He usually played hoodlums or befuddled good guys.

The 1949, film DEATH VALLEY, and in eight Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie films of the late 1930s, Nat Pendleton played as ambulance driver Joe Wayman. In 1933, Nat wrote a screen vehicle for himself, DECEPTION, in which, not surprisingly, he played a wrestler.

Nat Pendleton's other notable credits include...

BUCK PRIVATES COME HOME (1947)

SWING FEVER (1943)

THE MAD DOCTOR OF MARKET STREET (1942)

IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD (1939)

YOUNG DR. KILDARE (1938)
SING ME A LOVE SONG (1937)

THE THIN MAN (1934)

I'M NO ANGEL (1933)

TAXI! (1932)

THE LAUGHING LADY (1929)

THE HOOSIER SCHOOLMASTER (1924)