Artie Ortego

Artie Ortego (February 9, 1890 – July 24, 1960) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 245 films between 1912 and 1955. Ortego portrayed cowboys, henchmen and American Indians in a large number of westerns and performed horse riding stunts. He was also a stunt double for Ramón Novarro in The Barbarian (1933), which is set in Cairo and also stars Myrna Loy.

He was born in San Jose, California, the son of Benjamin Ortega (1854-?) and Rosa Gardnos (1867-?). His siblings were Mary Ortega (1888-?) and Ben Ortega (1891-?). In 1900, the family lived at 753 Orchard Street in San Jose. His father was a butcher.

His debut was in the role as Moon Face in Bison Motion Pictures' silent western short The Tattoo (1912) opposite Mona Darkfeather and William Bertram. Ortego starred in 41 movies with Darkfeather, 33 of which are known to be directed by her husband, Frank Montgomery. The last of their joint ventures was The Gambler's Reformation (1914), in which Ortego played an Indian named Brown Bear.