retired at age 48, when his last Columbia contract lapsed. As Starrett had once taken over Columbia's westerns from Tim McCoy, Jock Mahoney took over the reins from Starrett, co-starring with Smiley Burnette in a new series. The pilot feature was completed but never released, so Columbia's long history of B westerns ended with Charles Starrett. Columbia serviced the still-strong demand for Starrett by reissuing his 1937-1940 westerns with the Sons of the Pioneers. These proved just as popular as the Durango series, and Columbia kept dozens of the Starrett features in theaters for several years. Later years Although his agent, Sam Jaffe, tried to interest movie and TV producers in hiring Starrett, the actor no longer needed or wanted a show-business career; he was independently wealthy from wise investments and his family fortune. In retirement he traveled widely with his wife, favoring tropical islands. His fans never forgot him, and corresponded with him in later years. Starrett was pleased by the interest and made guest appearances at a few film conventions and revivals. Starrett died of cancer in Borrego Springs, California, in 1986, six days short of his 83rd birthday. Selected filmography Fast and Loose (1930) The Royal Family of Broadway (1930) Damaged Love (1931) The Viking (1931) Silence (1931) The Age for Love (1931) Touchdown (1931) Sky Bride (1932) Lady and Gent (1932) The Mask of Fu Manchu (1933) Jungle Bride (1933) Our Betters (1933) The Return of Casey Jones (1933) The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (1933) Murder on the Campus (1933) Mr. Skitch (1933) Stolen Sweets (1934) Three on a Honeymoon (1934) This Man Is Mine (1934) Green Eyes (1934) Call It Luck (1934) Desirable (1934) Gentlemen Are Born (1934) Undercover Men (1934) The Silver Streak (1934) Sons of Steel (1934) A Shot in the Dark (1935) One New York Night (1935) One in a Million (1935) What Price Crime (1935) So Red the Rose (1935) Make a Million (1935) Gallant Defender (1935) The Mysterious Avenger (1936) Secret Patrol (1936) Code of the Range (1936) Along Came Love (1936) The Cowboy Star (1936) Stampede (1936) Dodge City Trail (1936) Westbound Mail (1937) Trapped (1937) Two Gun Law (1937) Two-Fisted Sheriff (1937) One Man Justice (1937) The Old Wyoming Trail (1937) Outlaws of the Prairie (1937) Cattle Raiders (1938) Start Cheering (1938) Call of the Rockies (1938) Law of the Plains (1938) West of Cheyenne (1938) South of