William Demarest
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 27, 1983) was an American character actor, known for playing Uncle Charley in My Three Sons. A veteran of World War I, Demarest became a prolific film and television actor, appearing in over 140 films, beginning in 1926 and ending in the 1970s. He frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles. Demarest started in show business working in vaudeville, appearing with his wife Estelle Collette (real name Esther Zychlin) as "Demarest and Colette", then moved on to Broadway. Demarest worked regularly with director Preston Sturges, becoming part of a "stock" troupe of actors that Sturges repeatedly cast in his films. He appeared in ten films written by Sturges, eight of which were under his direction, including The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. Demarest was such a familiar figure at the Paramount studio that just his name was used in the movie Sunset Boulevard as a potential star for William Holden's unsold baseball screenplay. Demarest appeared with veteran western film star Roscoe Ates in the 1958 episode "And the Desert Shall Blossom" of CBS's Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In the story line, Ates and Demarest appear as old timers living in the Nevada desert. The local sheriff, played by Ben Johnson, appears with an eviction notice, but he agrees to let the pair stay on their property if they can make a dead rosebush bloom within the next month. In 1959 Demarest was named the lead actor of the 18-week sitcom Love and Marriage on NBC in the 1959–1960 season. Demarest played William Harris, the owner of a failing music company who refuses to handle popular rock and roll music, which presumably might save the firm from bankruptcy. Joining Demarest on the series were Jeanne Bal, Murray Hamilton and Stubby Kaye. Demarest appeared as Police Chief Aloysius of the Santa Rosita Police Department in the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), as well as on a memorable episode ("What's in the Box") of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone as a hen-pecked husband driven to the murder of his wife. His most famous television role was in the ABC and then CBS sitcom My Three Sons from 1965 to 1972, playing Uncle Charley O'Casey. He replaced William Frawley, whose failing health had made procuring insurance impossible. Demarest had worked with Fred MacMurray previously in the films Hands Across the Table (1935), Pardon My Past (1945), On Our Merry Way (1948), and The Far Horizons (1955) and was a personal friend of MacMurray. Also, he worked with Irene Dunne in Never a Dull Moment (1950).
Known for
Credits
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
as Police Chief Aloysius
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
as Bill Griffith
Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)
as Campbell
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
as Mr. Jones
The Lady Eve (1941)
as Muggsy
Hollywood Victory Caravan (1945)
as Bill, the Security Guard
The Jazz Singer (1927)
as Buster Billings (uncredited)
That Darn Cat! (1965)
as Mr. MacDougall
All Through the Night (1942)
as Sunshine
Viva Las Vegas (1964)
as Mr. Martin
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line (1997)
as Self (archive footage)
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)
as Mr. Harris
Time Out for Romance (1937)
as Willoughby Sproggs
Sharp Shooters (1928)
as 'Hi Jack' Murdock
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
as Gene Buck (uncredited)
The Mountain (1956)
as Father Belacchi
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
as First Member Ale and Quail Club
Salty O'Rourke (1945)
as Smitty
Along Came Jones (1945)
as George Fury
Rosalie (1937)
as Army Coach
Jupiter's Darling (1955)
as Mago
Hell on Frisco Bay (1955)
as Dan Bianco
Jamboree (1954)
as Self
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)
as Lt. Shawn
Nine Girls (1944)
as Walter Cummings
Red, Hot and Blue (1949)
as Charlie Baxter
The Far Horizons (1955)
as Sgt. Gass
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938)
as Henry Kipper
Pepe (1960)
as Movie Studio Gateman
Wake Up and Live (1937)
as Radio Center Tour Guide
The Rawhide Years (1956)
as Brand Comfort
Son of Flubber (1963)
as Mr. Hummel
What Price Glory (1952)
as Corporal Kiper
Dressed to Kill (1941)
as Inspector Pierson
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
as Constable Edmund Kockenlocker
Stage Door Canteen (1943)
as William Demarest
On Our Merry Way (1948)
as Floyd
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
as Sgt. Heppelfinger
Blonde Trouble (1937)
as Paul Sears
Once Upon a Time (1944)
as Brandt
Easy Living (1937)
as Wallace Whistling
The Lady Wants Mink (1953)
as Harvey Jones
Oh, Doctor (1937)
as Marty Short
Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)
as Sergeant Kelly
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
as Studio Gatekeeper
Simple Sis (1927)
Actor
Never a Dull Moment (1950)
as Mears
The Private War of Major Benson (1955)
as John
Glamour Boy (1941)
as Papa Doran
Fugitive Lady (1934)
as Steve Rogers
Excuse My Dust (1951)
as Harvey Bullitt
Whispering Smith (1948)
as Bill Dansing
Pardon My Sarong (1942)
as Detective Kendall
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty (1942)
as Police Officer
When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950)
as Herman Kluggs
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
as First Detective
Pardon My Past (1945)
as Chuck Gibson
Dangerous When Wet (1953)
as Pa Higgins
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon (1961)
as Jeb
The Perils of Pauline (1947)
as George 'Mac' McGuire
While New York Sleeps (1938)
as Red Miller
Hands Across the Table (1935)
as Regi's Date Natty (uncredited)
A Sailor's Sweetheart (1927)
as Detective
Love on the Run (1936)
as Editor
Television: The First Fifty Years (1999)
as Charlie O'Casey (archive footage)
The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939)
as Police Sgt. Ernest Heath
The Casino Murder Case (1935)
as Auctioneer (uncredited)
Finger Prints (1927)
as Cuffs Egan
Christmas in July (1940)
as Mr. Bildocker
Variety Girl (1947)
as Barker
The Strip (1951)
as Fluff
Behave Yourself! (1951)
as O'Ryan
Laugh It Off (1939)
as Barney 'Gimpy' Cole
King of the Turf (1939)
as Arnold
The Great Man Votes (1939)
as Charles Dole
Little Men (1940)
as Constable Tom Thorpe
Riding High (1950)
as Happy
The Yellow Mountain (1954)
as Jackpot Wray
Romance on the Run (1938)
as Police Lt. Eckhardt
He's a Cockeyed Wonder (1950)
as Bob Sears
Sorrowful Jones (1949)
as Regret
The Night Court (1927)
as Defense Counsel
The Great Hospital Mystery (1937)
as Mr. Beatty
Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946)
as Peanuts Schultz
The Jolson Story (1946)
as Steve Martin
Comin' Round the Mountain (1940)
as Gutsy Mann
After Office Hours (1935)
as Police Detective (uncredited)
The Farmer's Daughter (1940)
as Victor Walsh
King of the Roaring 20's – The Story of Arnold Rothstein (1961)
as Henry Hecht
A Girl in Every Port (1928)
as Man in Bombay (uncredited)
Wedding Present (1936)
as 'Smiles' Benson
The Hit Parade (1937)
as Parole Officer
Jolson Sings Again (1949)
as Steve Martin
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus (1938)
as Daro
The Gay Old Bird (1927)
as Mr. Fixit
The First Legion (1951)
as Monsignor Michael Carey
Ride on Vaquero (1941)
as Bartender Barney
The Murder Man (1935)
as 'Red' Maguire
The Golden Fleecing (1940)
as Swallow
The Great McGinty (1940)
as Skeeters - The Politician
Fog Over Frisco (1934)
as Spike Smith
The Cowboy Quarterback (1939)
as Rusty Walker
Big City (1937)
as Mr. Beecher
Here Come the Girls (1953)
as Dennis Logan
Rookies on Parade (1941)
as Mike Brady
True to Life (1943)
as Uncle Jake
Five and Ten Cent Annie (1928)
as Briggs
What Happened To Father (1927)
as Detective Dibbin
Mind Your Own Business (1936)
as Droopy
The Great Moment (1944)
as Eben Frost
A Reno Divorce (1927)
as James, the chauffeur
Sincerely Yours (1955)
as Sam Dunne
Don't Tell the Wife (1937)
as Larry 'Horace' Tucker
Matinee Ladies (1927)
as Man About Town
Josette (1938)
as Joe, Diner Owner
Lucy Gallant (1955)
as Charles Madden
Diamond Jim (1935)
as Harry Hill
Behind the Eight Ball (1942)
as McKenzie
The Butter and Egg Man (1928)
as Jack McLure
True to the Army (1942)
as Sgt. Butts
Miracles for Sale (1939)
as Quinn
Wolf of New York (1940)
as Bill Ennis
My Favorite Spy (1942)
as Flower Pot Policeman
Pay as You Enter (1928)
as 'Terrible Bill' McGovern
One Wild Night (1938)
as Collins
Johnny Doughboy (1942)
as Harry Fabian
The Wild McCullochs (1975)
as Father Gurkin
The Bush Leaguer (1927)
as John Gilroy
A Million Bid (1927)
as George Lamont
Twenty Plus Two (1961)
as Desmond Slocum
The Sainted Sisters (1948)
as Vern Tewilliger
Bright Lights (1935)
as Detective
Duffy's Tavern (1945)
as William Demarest
Don't Tell the Wife (1927)
as Ray Valerian
White Lies (1935)
as Roberts
Dangerous Blondes (1943)
as Detective Gatling
The Millionaire (1978)
as Oscar Pugh
The Black Diamond Express (1927)
as Train Engine Fireman
The Crash (1928)
as Louie
Country Fair (1941)
as Stogie McPhee
The First Auto (1927)
as The Village Cut-Up
The Blazing Forest (1952)
as Syd Jessup
Many Happy Returns (1934)
as Brinker
The Great Gambini (1937)
as Sergeant Kirby
Seeing Things (1930)
as The Heir