James Dunn
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James Dunn worked on the stage, in vaudeville and as an extra in silent movies before he was signed by Fox in 1931. His first movie with Fox was 1931's Sob Sister (1931). While at Fox, he appeared with Shirley Temple in her first three features: Baby Take a Bow (1934), Stand Up and Cheer! (1934) and Bright Eyes (1934). Dunn's screen character was usually the boy next door or the nice guy. In 1935 musicals at the new 20th Century-Fox were out and Dunn would move to the "B" list, from which he would never return. In The Payoff (1935) he plays the nice guy newspaper columnist whose wife ruins his career. By the late 1930s he was drinking heavily and become unemployable. He would appear in small roles in films during the early 1940s, but those parts were few. In 1945 he was able to make a comeback and win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), but his rejuvenated career would not continue. By 1951 he would again be unemployed and bankrupt. Television would later supply some work and he would be a regular on the series It's a Great Life (1954). Dunn was born 2 November 1901, New York City, New York, USA, and he died 1 September 1967, Santa Monica, California, USA (following abdominal surgery)
Known for
Credits
The Oscar (1966)
as TV executive
Sob Sister (1931)
as Garry Webster
Stand Up and Cheer! (1934)
as Jimmy Dugan
Hello, Sister! (1933)
as Jimmy
Society Girl (1932)
as Johnny Malone
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
as Johnny Nolan
Bad Girl (1931)
as Eddie Collins
Journey to the Day (1960)
as Melville Cooper
Leave It to the Irish (1944)
as Terry Moran
We Have Our Moments (1937)
as John Wade
Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man (1962)
as Telegrapher
Government Girl (1943)
as Sergeant Joe Blake
Don’t Get Personal (1936)
as Bob McDonald
That Brennan Girl (1946)
as Denny Reagan
Mercy Plane (1939)
as 'Speed' Leslie
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1975)
as Self (archive footage)
Bright Eyes (1934)
as Loop Merritt
Deliverance (1919)
as Life Saver
Take a Chance (1933)
as Duke Stanley
The Last Stop (1956)
as Yigal
The Song Plugger (1930)
as Man in Record Shop
The Daring Young Man (1935)
as Don McLane
The Girl in 419 (1933)
as Dr. Daniel French
Baby Take a Bow (1934)
as Eddie Ellison
Hold That Woman! (1940)
as Jimmy Parker
Shadow Over Elveron (1968)
as Luke Travers
The Ninth Day (1957)
as Jackson
Handle with Care (1932)
as Bill Gordon
Hold That Girl (1934)
as Barney Sullivan
George White's 1935 Scandals (1935)
as Eddie
Sailor's Luck (1933)
as Jimmy Fenimore Harrigan
The Ghost and the Guest (1943)
as Webster Frye
Over the Hill (1931)
as Johnny Shelby as an Adult
Son of the Navy (1940)
as Chief Gunners Mate Mike Malone
Take It or Leave It (1944)
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Bramble Bush (1960)
as Stew Schaffer
The Golden Gloves Story (1950)
as Joe Riley
365 Nights in Hollywood (1934)
as James 'Jimmy' Dale
Dance Team (1932)
as Jimmy Mulligan
Hearts in Bondage (1936)
as Lt. Kenneth Reynolds
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven (1948)
as Mike
Bad Boy (1935)
as Eddie Nolan
A Wonderful Life (1950)
as Henry Wood
Pride of the Navy (1939)
as Speed Brennan
In the Nick of Time (1929)
Actor
Have a Heart (1934)
as James 'Jimmie' Flaherty
Venus Makes Trouble (1937)
as Buzz Martin
Change of Heart (1934)
as Mark McGowan
Living on Love (1937)
as Gary Martin
Mysterious Crossing (1936)
as Addison Francis Murphy
Hollywood’s Children (1982)
as Self (archive footage)
The Living Ghost (1942)
as Nick Trayne
The Caribbean Mystery (1945)
as Mr. Smith
Welcome Home (1935)
as Richard Foster
The Biggest Little Star of the 30's (1976)
as Self(archive footage)
Killer McCoy (1947)
as Brian McCoy
Jimmy and Sally (1933)
as Jimmy O'Connor
The Payoff (1935)
as Joe McCoy
Hold Me Tight (1933)
as Chuck Evans
Mr. Broadway (1957)
as Jerry Cohan
Arizona to Broadway (1933)
as Smiley Wells
Come Closer, Folks (1936)
as Jim Keene
Two-Fisted Gentleman (1936)
as Mickey
Shadows Over Shanghai (1938)
as Johnny McGinty