J. Farrell MacDonald

Infobox actor
name = J. Farrell MacDonald


imagesize = 165px
caption =
birthname = Joseph Farrell MacDonald
birthdate = 6 June 1875
location = Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S.
deathdate = 2 August fy|1952 (aged 77)
deathplace = Hollywood, California, U.S.
occupation = actor, director, singer
spouse = Edith Bostwick

J. Farrell MacDonald (6 June 1875–2 August fy|1952) was an American film character actor and director who played supporting roles and occasional leads. MacDonald, who was sometimes billed as "John Farrell Macdonald", "J.F. Mcdonald" and "Joseph Farrell Macdonald" as well other variations, appeared as an actor in over 325 movies over a forty-one-year career from fy|1911 to fy|1951, and directed forty-four silent films from fy|1912 to fy|1917. [imdb name|0531759]

MacDonald was the principal director of L. Frank Baum's Oz Film Manufacturing Company, and he can frequently be seen in the films of Frank Capra, Preston Sturges and, especially, John Ford.

Career

Early in his career, MacDonald was a singer in minstrel shows, and he toured the U.S. extensively for two years with stage productions. He made his first silent film in fy|1911, a dramatic short entitled "The Scarlett Letter" [imdb title|0001872|The Scarlett Letter] made by Carl Laemmle's Independent Motion Picture Company (IMP), the forerunner of Universal Pictures,Erickson, Hal [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:44144~T1 Biography (Allmovie)] ] . He continued to act in numerous films each year from that time on, and by fy|1912 he was directing them as well. The first film he directed was "The Worth of a Man" [imdb title|0001872|The Worth of a Man] , another dramatic short, again for IMP, and he was to direct 43 more films until his last in fy|1917, "Over the Fence", which he co-directed with Harold Lloyd. [imdb title|0008401|Over the Fence] MacDonald had crossed paths with Lloyd several years earlier, when Lloyd was an extra and MacDonald had given him much-needed work – and he did the same with Hal Roach. When Roach set up his own studio, with Lloyd as his principal attraction, he hired MacDonald to direct.

By fy|1918, MacDonald, who was to become one of the most beloved character men in Hollywood, had given up directing and was acting full-time, predominantly in Westerns and Irish comedies. He first worked under director John Ford in fy|1919's "A Fight for Love" [imdb title|0010119|A Fight for Love] and was to make three more with the director that same year. In all, Ford would use MacDonald on twenty-five films between fy|1919 and fy|1950, during the silent era notably in "The Iron Horse" (fy|1924), "3 Bad Men" (fy|1926) and "Riley the Cop" (fy|1927).

With a voice that matched his personality, MacDonald made the transition to sound films easily, with no noticeable drop in his acting output – if anything, it went up. In fy|1931, for instance, MacDonald appeared in 14 films – among them the first version of "The Maltese Falcon", in which he played "Detective Tom Polhaus" – and in 22 of them in fy|1932. Although he played laborers, policemen, military men and priests, among many other characters, his roles were usually a cut above a "bit part": his characters usually had names, and he was most often credited for his performances. A highlight of this period was his performance as the hobo "Mr. Tramp" in "Our Little Girl" with Shirley Temple (fy|1935). [imdb title|0026835|Our Little Girl]

In the 1940s, MacDonald was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in seven films written and directed by Sturges. [MacDonald appeared in "Sullivan's Travels", "The Palm Beach Story", "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek", "The Great Moment", "The Sin of Harold Diddlebock", "Unfaithfully Yours" and "The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend", Sturges' last American film. Earlier, MacDonald had also appeared in "The Power and the Glory", which Sturges wrote.] His work on Sturges' films was generally uncredited, which was more often the case as his career went on – although the quality of his work was undiminished. He was notable in fy|1946 in John Ford's "My Darling Clementine" in which he played the Dodge City bartender.

MacDonald made his last film in fy|1951, a comedy called "Elopement". [imdb title|0043499|Elopement] His few television appearances also occurred in that same year. He died in Hollywood on 2 August fy|1952 at the age of 77. He was married to actress Edith Bostwick until her death in fy|1943, and they had a daughter, Lorna.

elected filmography

;Silent
* "The Scarlett Letter" fy|1911
* "The Worth of a Man" fy|1912 (director)
* "Rory o' the Bogs" (1913)
* "Samson" (1914)
* "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" (1914)
* "His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz" (1914)
* "The Last Egyptian" (1914)
* "Lonesome Luke, Social Gangster" (1915)
* "Over the Fence" fy|1917 (director)
* "Roped" (1919)
* "A Fight for Love" (1919)
* "Riders of Vengeance" (1919)
* "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" (1919)
* "Marked Men" (1919)
* "Bullet Proof" (1920)
* "Hitchin' Posts" (1920)
* "The Freeze-Out" (1921)
* "The Wallop" (1921)
* "Action" (1921)
* "Sky High" (1922)
* "Drifting" (1923)
* "The Iron Horse" (1924)
* "Lightnin'" (1925)
* "Kentucky Pride" (1925)
* "Thank You" (1925)
* "The Fighting Heart" (1925)
* "The Shamrock Handicap" (1926)
* "3 Bad Men" (1926)
* "Sunrise" (1927)
* "Bringing Up Father" (1928)
* "In Old Arizona" (1928)
* "Riley the Cop" (1928);Sound
* "Abie's Irish Rose" (1929)
* "Strong Boy" (1929)
* "Men Without Women" (1930)
* "Born Reckless" (1930)
* "The Easiest Way" (1931)
* "The Maltese Falcon" (1931)
* "Sporting Blood" (1931)
* "The Squaw Man" (1931)
* "The Brat" (1931)
* "The Hurricane Express" (1932)
* "The Working Man" (fy|1933)
* "Once to Every Woman" (1934)
* "Romance in Manhattan" (1935)
* "Our Little Girl" (1935)
* "Front Page Woman" (1935)
* "Riffraff" (1936)
* "Show Boat" (1936)
* "The Lone Ranger Rides Again" (1939)
* "Dark Command" (1940)
* "The Ape Man" (1943)
* "The Great Moment" fy|1944
* "Johnny Angel" (1945)
* "My Darling Clementine" (1946)
* "Superman and the Mole Men" (1951)
* "Elopement" (1951)

Notes

External links

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Persondata
NAME= MacDonald, J. Farrell
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= MacDonald, Joseph Farrell
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actor & Director
DATE OF BIRTH= 1875-06-6
PLACE OF BIRTH= Waterbury, Connecticut, USA
DATE OF DEATH= 1952-08-2
PLACE OF DEATH= Hollywood, California, USA