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