William Demarest

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William Demarest (born February 27, 1892 in St. Paul , Minnesota , † December 28, 1983 in Palm Springs , California ) was an American film actor and comedian who took part in around 170 film and television productions over the course of his career.

Life

William Demarest appeared early on as a cellist in the musical trio with his two brothers George and Rubinstein and was represented as a vaudeville comedian in variety shows and at fairs. After a period as a professional boxer , he finally signed with Warner Brothers in 1926 and turned to film. In 1927 he took part in the first sound film The Jazz Singer . From the late 1920s he appeared on Broadway in the musicals White Lilacs (1928-1929), Earl Carroll's Sketch Book (1929-1930) and Earl Carroll's Vanities (1931-1932).

After his return to film, he played grumpy and easily irritable characters of the type "rough shell, soft core" in countless supporting roles. He will be remembered mainly thanks to the works of Preston Sturges , who used him in his first eight films - most effectively in The Great McGinty , The Cardsharp , Sensation in Morgan's Creek and Hail the Victorious Hero - and regarded him as a kind of good luck charm. For his role in The Jazz Singer ( The Jolson Story ) Demarest in 1946 for an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Billy Wilder paid him tribute by having William Holden mentioned his name on Sunset Boulevard ("And there's a great little part for Bill Demarest. One of the trainers, an oldtime player who got beaned and goes out of his head sometimes.")

From 1957 the actor worked increasingly for television, where he was particularly successful as Uncle Charley in the series My Three Sons , which ran since 1960 and in which he replaced William Frawley, who was in poor health in 1965 . As Meine Drei Söhne , the series also ran on German television. He played his last role in a television movie in 1978. With his Hollywood anecdotes, Demarest was a welcome guest on television shows until his death and died of prostate cancer in 1983. He was buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale , California.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Demarest, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Demarest, Bill
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film actor and comedian
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Paul , Minnesota , United States
DATE OF DEATH December 28, 1983
Place of death Palm Springs , California , United States