Jack Luden

Jack Luden, born Jacob Benson Luden, was an American film actor. His uncle was William H. Luden, a confectioner who developed the menthol cough drop. Jack Luden joined the Paramount Pictures School in 1925 to study acting. After school, he played roles in a series of silent films by Paramount Pictures, including the 1927 Western Shootin’ Irons. However, his career began to decline quickly. A speech impediment limited his appeal for sound films and a heroin addition further limited his career. In the 1930s he was arrested for petty theft related to his addiction. In the late 1930s, he appeared in a series of low-budget Westerns produced by Columbia Pictures that were unsuccessful and his film career ended. In 1950 he was imprisoned in San Quentin State Prison, California for convictions for writing bad checks and possession of heroin. He died there the following year at the age of 49.