7.8
7.8
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939
as Bill Griffith
William Demarest
Acting
Born:February 27, 1892
Died:December 28, 1983(aged 91)
Birthplace:Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
N/A
CommunityBiography
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).
Filmography (134 movies)
7.7
7.7
The Devil and Miss Jones
1941
as First Detective
7.4
7.4
Sullivan's Travels
1941
as Mr. Jones
7.4
7.4
Big City
1937
as Mr. Beecher
7.2
7.2
The Lady Eve
1941
as Muggsy
7.2
7.2
Excuse My Dust
1951
as Harvey Bullitt
7.0
7.0
Hail the Conquering Hero
1944
as Sgt. Heppelfinger
7.0
7.0
The Sainted Sisters
1948
as Vern Tewilliger
7.0
7.0
Easy Living
1937
as Wallace Whistling
7.0
7.0
Lucy Gallant
1955
as Charles Madden
7.0
7.0
King of the Turf
1939
as Arnold
7.0
7.0
Wolf of New York
1940
as Bill Ennis
7.0
7.0
A Sailor's Sweetheart
1927
as Detective
7.0
7.0
The Palm Beach Story
1942
as First Member Ale and Quail Club
6.9
6.9
The Mountain
1956
as Father Belacchi
6.9
6.9
The Great McGinty
1940
as Skeeters - The Politician
6.9
6.9
Hands Across the Table
1935
as Regi's Date Natty (uncredited)
6.9
6.9
The Murder Man
1935
as 'Red' Maguire
6.9
6.9
Christmas in July
1940
as Mr. Bildocker
6.8
6.8
The First Legion
1951
as Monsignor Michael Carey
6.8
6.8
Charlie Chan at the Opera
1936
as Sergeant Kelly
6.8
6.8
When Willie Comes Marching Home
1950
as Herman Kluggs
6.8
6.8
All Through the Night
1942
as Sunshine
6.7
6.7
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
1944
as Constable Edmund Kockenlocker
6.7
6.7
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
1948
as Lt. Shawn
6.7
6.7
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
1938
as Harry Kipper
6.6
6.6
The Private War of Major Benson
1955
as John
6.6
6.6
The Jolson Story
1946
as Steve Martin
6.6
6.6
That Darn Cat!
1965
as Mr. MacDougall
6.5
6.5
Josette
1938
as Joe, Diner Owner
6.5
6.5
The Casino Murder Case
1935
as Auctioneer (uncredited)
6.5
6.5
Whispering Smith
1948
as Bill Dansing
6.5
6.5
Pardon My Sarong
1942
as Detective Kendall
6.5
6.5
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty
1942
as Police Officer
6.5
6.5
Wedding Present
1936
as 'Smiles' Benson
6.4
6.4
Miracles for Sale
1939
as Quinn
6.4
6.4
After Office Hours
1935
as Police Detective (uncredited)
6.4
6.4
Love on the Run
1936
as Editor
6.3
6.3
Dressed to Kill
1941
as Inspector Pierson
6.2
6.2
Escape from Fort Bravo
1953
as Campbell
6.2
6.2
The Far Horizons
1955
as Sgt. Gass
6.2
6.2
The Perils of Pauline
1947
as George 'Mac' McGuire
6.2
6.2
Fog Over Frisco
1934
as Spike Smith
6.2
6.2
Twenty Plus Two
1961
as Desmond Slocum
6.2
6.2
Our Hearts Were Growing Up
1946
as Peanuts Schultz
6.2
6.2
Viva Las Vegas
1964
as Mr. Martin
6.1
6.1
A Girl in Every Port
1928
as Man in Bombay (uncredited)
6.1
6.1
The Great Man Votes
1939
as Charles Dole
6.1
6.1
Sorrowful Jones
1949
as Regret
6.1
6.1
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
1973
as Mr. Harris
6.1
6.1
The Jazz Singer
1927
as Buster Billings (uncredited)
6.0
6.0
Pardon My Past
1945
as Chuck Gibson
6.0
6.0
Glamour Boy
1941
as Papa Doran
6.0
6.0
The Blazing Forest
1952
as Syd Jessup
6.0
6.0
King of the Roaring 20's – The Story of Arnold Rothstein
1961
as Henry Hecht
6.0
6.0
The Great Gambini
1937
as Sergeant Kirby
6.0
6.0
Romance on the Run
1938
as Police Lt. Eckhardt
6.0
6.0
The Lady Wants Mink
1953
as Harvey Jones
6.0
6.0
White Lies
1935
as Roberts
6.0
6.0
Jolson Sings Again
1949
as Steve Martin
6.0
6.0
Fugitive Lady
1934
as Steve Rogers
6.0
6.0
Diamond Jim
1935
as Harry Hill
6.0
6.0
True to Life
1943
as Uncle Jake
6.0
6.0
Behave Yourself!
1951
as O'Ryan
6.0
6.0
Dangerous Blondes
1943
as Detective Gatling
5.9
5.9
Son of Flubber
1963
as Mr. Hummel
5.9
5.9
Dangerous When Wet
1953
as Pa Higgins
5.8
5.8
Red, Hot and Blue
1949
as Charlie Baxter
5.8
5.8
Riding High
1950
as Happy
5.8
5.8
Once Upon a Time
1944
as Brandt
5.8
5.8
Sincerely Yours
1955
as Sam Dunne
5.7
5.7
The Strip
1951
as Fluff
5.6
5.6
The Great Moment
1944
as Eben Frost
5.6
5.6
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
1961
as Jeb
5.6
5.6
Along Came Jones
1945
as George Fury
5.6
5.6
The Gracie Allen Murder Case
1939
as Police Sgt. Ernest Heath
5.6
5.6
Time Out for Romance
1937
as Willoughby Sproggs
5.5
5.5
Rosalie
1937
as Army Coach
5.5
5.5
One Wild Night
1938
as Collins
5.5
5.5
The Cowboy Quarterback
1939
as Rusty Walker
5.5
5.5
What Price Glory
1952
as Corporal Kiper
5.5
5.5
The Rawhide Years
1956
as Brand Comfort
5.5
5.5
On Our Merry Way
1948
as Floyd
5.4
5.4
Never a Dull Moment
1950
as Mears
5.4
5.4
Johnny Doughboy
1942
as Harry Fabian
5.3
5.3
Wake Up and Live
1937
as Radio Center Tour Guide
5.3
5.3
Nine Girls
1944
as Walter Cummings
5.3
5.3
Many Happy Returns
1934
as Brinker
5.3
5.3
The Golden Fleecing
1940
as Swallow
5.3
5.3
Salty O'Rourke
1945
as Smitty
5.2
5.2
The Yellow Mountain
1954
as Jackpot Wray
5.2
5.2
My Favorite Spy
1942
as Flower Pot Policeman
5.2
5.2
Hollywood Victory Caravan
1945
as Bill, the Security Guard
5.0
5.0
The Hit Parade
1937
as Parole Officer
5.0
5.0
Don't Tell the Wife
1937
as Larry 'Horace' Tucker
4.9
4.9
Hell on Frisco Bay
1955
as Dan Bianco
4.8
4.8
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus
1938
as Daro
4.7
4.7
Behind the Eight Ball
1942
as McKenzie
4.6
4.6
The Farmer's Daughter
1940
as Victor Walsh
4.5
4.5
The First Auto
1927
as The Village Cut-Up
4.3
4.3
Jupiter's Darling
1955
as Mago
4.2
4.2
Bright Lights
1935
as Detective
4.2
4.2
Ride on Vaquero
1941
as Bartender Barney
4.1
4.1
Here Come the Girls
1953
as Dennis Logan
4.0
4.0
The Great Hospital Mystery
1937
as Mr. Beatty
3.7
3.7
The Wild McCullochs
1975
as Father Gurkin
3.3
3.3
He's a Cockeyed Wonder
1950
as Bob Sears
2.0
2.0
Laugh It Off
1939
as Barney 'Gimpy' Cole
Rookies on Parade
1941
as Mike Brady
A Million Bid
1927
as George Lamont
What Happened To Father
1927
as Detective Dibbin
True to the Army
1942
as Sgt. Butts
The Night Court
1927
as Defense Counsel
Comin' Round the Mountain
1940
as Gutsy Mann
The Crash
1928
as Louie
Blonde Trouble
1937
as Paul Sears
Finger Prints
1927
as Cuffs Egan
The Gay Old Bird
1927
as Mr. Fixit
Don't Tell the Wife
1927
as Ray Valerian
Matinee Ladies
1927
as Man About Town
Simple Sis
1927
The Black Diamond Express
1927
as Train Engine Fireman
A Reno Divorce
1927
as James, the chauffeur
The Bush Leaguer
1927
as John Gilroy
Pay as You Enter
1928
as 'Terrible Bill' McGovern
Five and Ten Cent Annie
1928
as Briggs
Seeing Things
1930
as The Heir
The Millionaire
1978
as Oscar Pugh
Sharp Shooters
1928
as 'Hi Jack' Murdock
The Butter and Egg Man
1928
as Jack McLure
Mind Your Own Business
1936
as Droopy
Country Fair
1941
as Stogie McPhee
While New York Sleeps
1938
as Red Miller
Oh, Doctor
1937
as Marty Short
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