Cap Somers

Biography

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.