William Demarest

Infobox actor
name = William Demarest


imagesize = 200px
caption = Demarest with Cheryl Walker in the film "Stage Door Canteen" (1943)
birthdate = birth date|1892|2|27|mf=y
birthplace = St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
deathdate = death date and age|1983|12|28|1892|2|27|mf=y
deathplace = Palm Springs, California, U.S.

William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 28, 1983) was an American character actor.

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, he was a very prolific film and TV actor, having worked on over 140 films. He worked frequently with director Preston Sturges, becoming part of a "stock" troupe of actors that Sturges repeatedly cast in his films. He started in show business working in vaudeville, then moved on to Broadway. His film career began in 1926 and spanned the decades up to the 1970s. His most famous TV role was in "My Three Sons" from 1965 to 1972, playing Uncle Charley and replacing William Frawley, whose failing health had made procuring insurance impossible.

Demarest received a single Academy Award nomination, for his supporting role in "The Jolson Story", playing Al Jolson's fictional mentor. He had previously shared the screen with the real Al Jolson in "The Jazz Singer".

Demarest died in Palm Springs, California and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Partial filmography

Features

* "When the Wife's Away" (1926)
* "Finger Prints" (1927)
* "Don't Tell the Wife" (1927)
* "The Gay Old Bird" (1927)
* "Matinee Ladies" (1927)
* "A Million Bid" (1927)
* "Simple Sis" (1927)
* "The Black Diamond Express" (1927)
* "What Happened to Father?" (1927)
* "The First Auto" (1927)
* "The Bush Leaguer" (1927)
* "A Sailor's Sweetheart" (1927)
* "The Jazz Singer" (1927)
* "A Reno Divorce" (1927)
* "Sharp Shooters" (1928)
* "A Girl in Every Port" (1928)
* "The Escape" (1928)
* "Pay as You Enter" (1928)
* "Five and Ten Cent Annie" (1928)
* "The Butter and Egg Man" (1928)
* "The Crash" (1928)
* "Fog Over Frisco" (1934)
* "Many Happy Returns" (1934)
* "The Circus Clown" (1934) (scenes deleted)
* "Fugitive Lady" (1934)
* "After Office Hours" (1935)
* "The Casino Murder Case" (1935)
* "The Murder Man" (1935)
* "Bright Lights" (1935)
* "Diamond Jim" (1935)
* "Hands Across the Table" (1935)
* "White Lies" (1935)
* "The Great Ziegfeld" (1936)
* "Wedding Present" (1936)
* "Love on the Run" (1936)
* "Charlie Chan at the Opera" (1936)
* "Mind Your Own Business" (1936)
* "Time Out for Romance" (1937)
* "Don't Tell the Wife" (1937)
* "Oh Doctor" (1937)
* "Hit Parade of 1937" (1937)
* "The Great Hospital Mystery" (1937)
* "The Great Gambini" (1937)
* "Easy Living" (1937)
* "Blonde Trouble" (1937)
* "Wake Up and Live" (1937)
* "Big City" (1937)
* "Rosalie" (1937)
* "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1938)
* "Romance on the Run" (1938)
* "One Wild Night" (1938)
* "Josette" (1938)
* "Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus" (1938)
* "While New York Sleeps" (1938)
* "The Great Man Votes" (1939)
* "King of the Turf" (1939)
* "Miracles for Sale" (1939)
* "Little Men" (1940)
* "The Lady Eve" (1941)
* "All Through the Night" (1941)
* "Sullivan's Travels" (1942)
* "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1944)
* "Pardon My Past" (1945)
* "The Jolson Story" (1946)
* "On Our Merry Way" (1948)
* "Jolson Sings Again" (1949)
* "Here Come the Girls" (1953)
* "Jupiter's Darling" (1955)
* "The Private War of Major Benson" (1955)
* "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963)

hort subjects

* "A Night at Coffee Dan's" (1927)
* "Amateur Night" (1927)
* "The Night Court" (1927)
* "Seeing Things" (1930)
* "The Run Around" (1932)

External links

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Persondata
NAME= Demarest, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH= 1892-2-27
PLACE OF BIRTH= St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH= 1983-12-28
PLACE OF DEATH= Palm Springs, California, U.S.