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
Viva Las Vegas (1964)
as Mr. Martin
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
as Mr. Jones
That Darn Cat! (1965)
as Mr. MacDougall
The Jazz Singer (1927)
as Buster Billings (uncredited)
The Lady Eve (1941)
as Muggsy
Son of Flubber (1963)
as Mr. Hummel
The Mountain (1956)
as Father Belacchi
The Far Horizons (1955)
as Sgt. Gass
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
as First Member Ale and Quail Club
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938)
as Harry Kipper
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
as Gene Buck (uncredited)
All Through the Night (1942)
as Sunshine
Nine Girls (1944)
as Walter Cummings
Variety Girl (1947)
as Barker
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)
as Mr. Harris
Rosalie (1937)
as Army Coach
Stage Door Canteen (1943)
as William Demarest
The Strip (1951)
as Fluff
Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)
as Campbell
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
as Studio Gatekeeper
The Perils of Pauline (1947)
as George 'Mac' McGuire
Oh, Doctor (1937)
as Marty Short
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
as Constable Edmund Kockenlocker
What Price Glory (1952)
as Corporal Kiper
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)
as First Detective
Television: The First Fifty Years (1999)
as Charlie O'Casey (archive footage)
Lucy Gallant (1955)
as Charles Madden
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line (1997)
as Self (archive footage)
Hands Across the Table (1935)
as Regi's Date Natty (uncredited)
The Murder Man (1935)
as 'Red' Maguire
Finger Prints (1927)
as Cuffs Egan
Sincerely Yours (1955)
as Sam Dunne
Christmas in July (1940)
as Mr. Bildocker
Wedding Present (1936)
as 'Smiles' Benson
Dangerous When Wet (1953)
as Pa Higgins
Easy Living (1937)
as Wallace Whistling
On Our Merry Way (1948)
as Floyd
The Great Gambini (1937)
as Sergeant Kirby
The Rawhide Years (1956)
as Brand Comfort
The Yellow Mountain (1954)
as Jackpot Wray
Glamour Boy (1941)
as Papa Doran
The Great McGinty (1940)
as Skeeters - The Politician
Pepe (1960)
as Movie Studio Gateman
The Lady Wants Mink (1953)
as Harvey Jones
The Private War of Major Benson (1955)
as John
Big City (1937)
as Mr. Beecher
Whispering Smith (1948)
as Bill Dansing
Riding High (1950)
as Happy
Along Came Jones (1945)
as George Fury
Blonde Trouble (1937)
as Paul Sears
Sorrowful Jones (1949)
as Regret
Once Upon a Time (1944)
as Brandt
The Jolson Story (1946)
as Steve Martin
Pardon My Sarong (1942)
as Detective Kendall
Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)
as Sergeant Kelly
King of the Roaring 20's – The Story of Arnold Rothstein (1961)
as Henry Hecht
Hollywood Victory Caravan (1945)
as Bill, the Security Guard
Never a Dull Moment (1950)
as Mears
True to Life (1943)
as Uncle Jake
Twenty Plus Two (1961)
as Desmond Slocum
Jupiter's Darling (1955)
as Mago
Behave Yourself! (1951)
as O'Ryan
When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950)
as Herman Kluggs
Red, Hot and Blue (1949)
as Charlie Baxter
The Millionaire (1978)
as Oscar Pugh
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)
as Sgt. Heppelfinger
Wake Up and Live (1937)
as Radio Center Tour Guide
Simple Sis (1927)
Actor
Country Fair (1941)
as Stogie McPhee
Bright Lights (1935)
as Detective
Love on the Run (1936)
as Editor
Diamond Jim (1935)
as Harry Hill
The Wild McCullochs (1975)
as Father Gurkin
Dressed to Kill (1941)
as Inspector Pierson
Hell on Frisco Bay (1955)
as Dan Bianco
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)
as Lt. Shawn
A Girl in Every Port (1928)
as Man in Bombay (uncredited)
Here Come the Girls (1953)
as Dennis Logan
My Favorite Spy (1942)
as Flower Pot Policeman
Sharp Shooters (1928)
as 'Hi Jack' Murdock
Pardon My Past (1945)
as Chuck Gibson
Josette (1938)
as Joe, Diner Owner
Time Out for Romance (1937)
as Willoughby Sproggs
Dangerous Blondes (1943)
as Detective Gatling
Fog Over Frisco (1934)
as Spike Smith
Duffy's Tavern (1945)
as William Demarest
The Casino Murder Case (1935)
as Auctioneer (uncredited)
Little Men (1940)
as Constable Tom Thorpe
Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946)
as Peanuts Schultz
The Great Man Votes (1939)
as Charles Dole
Jolson Sings Again (1949)
as Steve Martin
Laugh It Off (1939)
as Barney 'Gimpy' Cole
The Farmer's Daughter (1940)
as Victor Walsh
A Sailor's Sweetheart (1927)
as Detective
Salty O'Rourke (1945)
as Smitty
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon (1961)
as Jeb
White Lies (1935)
as Roberts
The Black Diamond Express (1927)
as Train Engine Fireman
The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939)
as Police Sgt. Ernest Heath
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty (1942)
as Police Officer
Jamboree (1954)
as Self
Comin' Round the Mountain (1940)
as Gutsy Mann
True to the Army (1942)
as Sgt. Butts
Miracles for Sale (1939)
as Quinn
The Great Moment (1944)
as Eben Frost
Excuse My Dust (1951)
as Harvey Bullitt
Mind Your Own Business (1936)
as Droopy
The Sainted Sisters (1948)
as Vern Tewilliger
Fugitive Lady (1934)
as Steve Rogers
Wolf of New York (1940)
as Bill Ennis
The First Legion (1951)
as Monsignor Michael Carey
After Office Hours (1935)
as Police Detective (uncredited)
While New York Sleeps (1938)
as Red Miller
The Gay Old Bird (1927)
as Mr. Fixit
The Golden Fleecing (1940)
as Swallow
The Butter and Egg Man (1928)
as Jack McLure
The Crash (1928)
as Louie
The Great Hospital Mystery (1937)
as Mr. Beatty
Ride on Vaquero (1941)
as Bartender Barney
Behind the Eight Ball (1942)
as McKenzie
The Cowboy Quarterback (1939)
as Rusty Walker
He's a Cockeyed Wonder (1950)
as Bob Sears
One Wild Night (1938)
as Collins
Johnny Doughboy (1942)
as Harry Fabian
The First Auto (1927)
as The Village Cut-Up
Many Happy Returns (1934)
as Brinker
The Hit Parade (1937)
as Parole Officer
King of the Turf (1939)
as Arnold
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus (1938)
as Daro
The Bush Leaguer (1927)
as John Gilroy
The Blazing Forest (1952)
as Syd Jessup
Rookies on Parade (1941)
as Mike Brady
Five and Ten Cent Annie (1928)
as Briggs
Don't Tell the Wife (1937)
as Larry 'Horace' Tucker
What Happened To Father (1927)
as Detective Dibbin
Romance on the Run (1938)
as Police Lt. Eckhardt
Don't Tell the Wife (1927)
as Ray Valerian
Matinee Ladies (1927)
as Man About Town
A Million Bid (1927)
as George Lamont
Pay as You Enter (1928)
as 'Terrible Bill' McGovern
A Reno Divorce (1927)
as James, the chauffeur
Seeing Things (1930)
as The Heir
The Night Court (1927)
as Defense Counsel