Ned Sparks
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ned Sparks (born Edward Arthur Sparkman, November 19, 1883 – April 3, 1957) was a Canadian-born character actor of the American stage and screen. Sparks was known for his deadpan expression and deep, gravelly voice. Born in Guelph, Ontario, Sparks left home at age 16 and attempted to work as a gold prospector on the Klondike Gold Rush. After running out of money, he won a spot as a singer on a traveling musical company's tour. At age 19, he returned to Canada and briefly attended a Toronto seminary. After leaving the seminary, he worked for the railroad and worked in theater in Toronto. In 1907, he left Toronto for New York City to try his hand in the Broadway theatre, where he appeared in his first show in 1912. While working on Broadway, Sparks developed his trademark deadpan expression while portraying the role of a desk clerk in the play Little Miss Brown. His success on the stage soon caught the attention of MGM's Louis B. Mayer who signed Sparks to a six picture deal. Sparks began appearing in numerous silent films before finally making his "talkie" debut in the 1928 film The Big Noise. In the 1930s, Sparks became known for portraying dour-faced, sarcastic, cigar-chomping characters. He became so associated with the type that, in 1936, The New York Times reported that Sparks had his face insured for USD$100,000 with Lloyd's of London. The market agreed to pay the sum to any photographer who could capture Sparks smiling (Sparks later admitted that the story was a publicity stunt and he was only insured for $10,000). Sparks was also caricatured in cartoons including the Jack-in-the-Box character in the Disney short Broken Toys (1935), and the jester in Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938), a hermit crab in both Tex Avery's Fresh Fish (1939) and Bob Clampett's Goofy Groceries (1941), a chicken in Bob Clampett's Slap Happy Pappy (1940), Friz Freleng's Warner Bros. cartoon Malibu Beach Party (1940), and Tex Avery's Hollywood Steps Out (1940). Sparks also voiced the cartoon characters Heckle and Jeckle from 1947 to 1951. Sparks appeared in ten stage productions on Broadway and over 80 films. He retired from films in 1947, saying that everyone should retire at 65
Known for
Credits
Kept Husbands (1931)
as Hughie Hanready
Magic Town (1947)
as Ike
Private Scandal (1934)
as Inspector Riordan
Hi, Nellie! (1934)
as Shammy
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
as Caterpillar
Wake Up and Live (1937)
as Steve Cluskey
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
as Barney
Collegiate (1935)
as 'Scoop' Oakland
42nd Street (1933)
as Barry
The Bride Walks Out (1936)
as Paul Dodson
Lady for a Day (1933)
as Happy McGuire
Imitation of Life (1934)
as Elmer Smith
The Devil's Holiday (1930)
as Charlie Thorne
Street Girl (1929)
as Happy Winter
Stage Door Canteen (1943)
as Ned Sparks
Going Hollywood (1933)
as Conroy
The Hidden Way (1926)
as Mulligan
The Fall Guy (1930)
as Danny Walsh
Secrets (1933)
as Sunshine
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
as Tony Skeel
Love's Blindness (1926)
as Valet
Corsair (1931)
as Slim
King Tut's Tomb (1950)
as Heckle / Jeckle (voice)
One in a Million (1937)
as Danny Simpson
Alias the Lone Wolf (1927)
as Phinuit
The Secret Studio (1927)
as The Plumber
Big Dame Hunting (1932)
as Ned
This Way Please (1937)
as Inky Wells
Sweet Music (1935)
as 'Ten Percent' Nelson
Too Much Harmony (1933)
as Lem Spawn
The Little Miss Brown (1915)
as Night Clerk
Down to Their Last Yacht (1934)
as Captain 'Sunny Jim' Roberts
A Wide Open Town (1922)
as Si Ryan
The Star Maker (1939)
as 'Speed' King
The Secret Call (1931)
as Bert Benedict
Sing and Like It (1934)
as Toots McGuire
Hawaii Calls (1938)
as Strings
The Magnificent Flirt (1928)
as Tim
The Miracle Man (1932)
as Harry Evans
Leathernecking (1930)
as Sparks
George White's 1935 Scandals (1935)
as Elmer
Big City Blues (1932)
as Mr. 'Stacky' Stackhouse
Iron Man (1931)
as Riley
Nothing But the Truth (1920)
as The Monocle Man
Blessed Event (1932)
as George Moxley
For Beauty's Sake (1941)
as Jonathan B. Sweet
Strange Cargo (1929)
as Yacht First Mate
A Temperamental Wife (1919)
as The Hotel Clerk
The Auction Block (1926)
as Nat Saluson
Servants' Entrance (1934)
as Hjalmar Gnu
The Crusader (1932)
as Eddie Crane
Marie Galante (1934)
as Plosser
Alias The Deacon (1927)
as Slim Sullivan
Love Comes Along (1930)
as Happy
Conspiracy (1930)
as Winthrop 'Little Nemo' Clavering
Double Cross Roads (1930)
as Happy Max
Two's Company (1936)
as Al
Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound (2006)
as Self (archive footage)
Mike (1926)
as Slinky
His Supreme Moment (1925)
as Adrian
Faint Perfume (1925)
as Orrin Crumb
The Bond Boy (1923)
as Cyrus Morgan
Sweet Adeline (1934)
as Dan Herzig
The Big Noise (1928)
as William Howard
Seven Keys to Baldpate (1925)
Actor
Twinkletoes (1926)
Actor
Nothing but the Truth (1929)
as Clarence van Dyke
When the Wife's Away (1926)
Actor
In Search of a Sinner (1920)
as Waiter
Money Talks (1926)
as Lucius Fenton
Soul Mates (1925)
as Tancred's chauffeur
Bright Lights (1925)
as Barney Gallagher
The Only Thing (1925)
as Gibson
The Boomerang (1925)
as Bert Hanks
The Wide Open Spaces (1931)
as Sheriff Jack Rancid
Good References (1920)
as Peter Stearns
A Virtuous Vamp (1919)
as Mr. Bell
The Small Bachelor (1927)
as J. Hamilton Beamish
The Perfect Woman (1920)
as Grimes, the Anarchist
The Law Forbids (1924)
as Clyde Vernon