Calvert worked as a bartender at the famed Sunset Boulevard nightclub,
Ciro's, taking his professional last name from the brand name of
Calvert whiskey. His real last name was Stevens. Calvert was the
stand-in for actor
Robert Lowery. Lowery helped get Calvert into the Screen
Actors Guild. In 1948, Calvert bought the ape suits belonging to
stuntman 'Ray "Crash" Corrigan'. Calvert's first job was playing the gorilla in the
first Jungle Jim movie with
Johnny Weissmuller.
Calvert rarely asked for screen credit, preferring audiences to assume
the "gorilla" was not human. He frequently made TV and live appearances
in comedy sketches, including playing opposite
Buster Keaton,
Bob Hope, and
Jack Benny.