Cap Somers(1893-1970)
- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Cap Somers was a bit actor and stuntman. He came to be known as Cap
after returning from France during WWI as a captain in the U.S. Marine
Corps. As a child who grew up around the New Jersey fisheries, he was
nicknamed "Fimp" for his lispy pronunciation of shrimp. Fredrick was a
descendant of the Somers Family of Somers Point, New Jersey, near
Atlantic City. He was a hometown hero athlete and lifeguard who
excelled in baseball, football, and basketball. He played professional
baseball with the New York Giants in 1914. He was a scout for Connie
Mack's Philadelphia Athletics. He did sports reporting for the New York
Times in 1926. His prosperity earned in the real estate and insurance
business crashed in 1929. In 1930 a late night brawl with a friend
result in his friend's death. Somers was cleared of charges. Somers
headed to the west coast in 1931. In addition to his many small roles
in film, Somers was declared the "Bravest Man in Hollywood" in 1940 as
the result of his work, "Follow the Arrow." In this MGM short, archer
Pete Smith attempted to hit an apple on Somers' head at a distance of
fifty feet. Somers died on September 18, 1970 in Los Angeles from a
heart attack and stroke, leaving a daughter from his first marriage,
Evelyn S. Offutt.