William Demarest


Carl William Demarest was an American actor, known especially for his supporting roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and as Uncle Charley in the sitcom My Three Sons from 1965 until 1972. Demarest, who frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles, was a prolific film and television actor, appearing in over 140 films, beginning in 1926 and ending in the late 1970s. Before his career in movies, he performed in vaudeville for two decades.

Early life

Carl William Demarest was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the youngest of three sons of Wilhelmina and Samuel Demarest. During William's infancy, the family moved to New Bridge, a hamlet in Bergen County, New Jersey. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I.

Career

Demarest started in show business working in vaudeville, performing initially in his youth with his two older brothers and later with his wife Estelle Collette as "Demarest and Colette". He then moved to work on Broadway, and by 1926 also began working in films. By the 1940s he was a member of an informal troupe of actors whom director Preston Sturges often featured in his screwball comedies, appearing in 10 films written by Sturges, eight of which were under his direction. Among these he had prominent roles in The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, Hail the Conquering Hero, 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.
File:Don Grady William Demarest My Three Sons 1969.JPG|thumb|Demarest with Don Grady in My Three Sons
In 1951 Demarest had a featured role in The Strip opposite Mickey Rooney as a philosophic nightclub owner and pianist fronting for a band composed of Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, Barney Bigard, Earl "Fatha" Hines, and Rooney himself on drums.
He played folksy Jeb Gaine, an occasional sidekick to the main character, in the 1961–62 season of the Western series Tales of Wells Fargo.
Demarest appeared as Police Chief Aloysius of the Santa Rosita Police Department in the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and in 1964 he co-starred in an episode originally aired in the final season of The Twilight Zone, portraying a hen-pecked husband who murders his wife, played by Joan Blondell. Several years later, Blondell and Demarest reunited on an episode of My Three Sons.
His most famous television role was in the sitcom My Three Sons from 1965 to 1972, playing Uncle Charley O'Casey. He replaced William Frawley, who was in failing health. Demarest had worked with Fred MacMurray previously in the films Hands Across the Table, Pardon My Past, On Our Merry Way, and The Far Horizons and was a personal friend.

Awards

Demarest received a single Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in The Jolson Story, playing Al Jolson's fictional mentor. He shared the screen with the real Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer.
Demarest also received an Emmy nomination for the 1968–1969 season of My Three Sons as Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Role.
Demarest has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to motion pictures, bestowed upon him on August 8, 1979, by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. In attendance at the ceremony and then later at Musso & Frank Grill for celebrations were his My Three Sons co-stars Fred MacMurray and his wife June Haver, Tina Cole, Stanley Livingston, Barry Livingston, and Dawn Lyn.
In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.

Personal life

Demarest was married twice. His first wife was his vaudeville partner Estelle Collette, born Esther Zichlin. Demarest helped raise her daughter, author Phyllis Gordon Demarest, from her earlier marriage, in 1907, to English poet and novelist Samuel Gordon, who had divorced Zichlin before his death. Demarest's second wife was Lucille Thayer, born Lucille Theurer, whom he married in Prescott, Arizona, on August 31, 1942. Thayer, who later became an activist on health issues in the motion picture industry, was appointed California's lay-chairman of the American Nurses Association in October 1960.

Death

Demarest died at his home in Palm Springs, California on December 28, 1983, and his body is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Partial filmography

Features

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