Trivia

The United Press reported on the set of The Mad Doctor (1940), also titled A Date with Destiny, that Wagner "traveled" 50,000 miles as an on-screen taxi driver during his acting career. "I was cast as a taxi driver about five years ago," Wagner told a reporter. "And was typed.".

In April 1927, Wagner was the key prosecution witness in the trials of actors Paul Kelly and Dorothy Mackaye. Wagner was Kelly's roommate and was present when Kelly beat to death Mackaye's husband, Ray Raymond, at an alcohol-fueled party on April 16. Kelly served two years in prison on a manslaughter conviction. Mackaye was sentenced to 10 months on an accessory conviction.

As a Spanish-speaker, Wagner served as an unofficial censor on Lupe Velez film sets to ensure the actress did not use profanity when she got carried away with a scene as she deviated from the script to ad-lib her lines in Spanish.

Enlisted in the U.S. Army on Oct. 27, 1942, and served as a private in the North African and Tunisian campaigns in 1943 during World War II. He was honorably discharged on March 3, 1944.

Max Wagner, who was raised in Mexico, was an accomplished piano player and often composed and sang Mexican folk ballads. One of his arrangements, "Pedro Rudarte y Simon," appeared in The Last Trail (1933).

Max Wagner acted in Spanish-language films at Fox Studios in 1930-31 using the screen name Max Baron.