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