William Demarest

Actor

About

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Birth Place

St Paul, Minnesota, USA

Born

February 27, 1892

Died

December 28, 1983

Cause of Death

Heart Attack

Biography

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Prolific character player of the 1930s and 40s, later on TV, typically in cranky but endearing comedy roles. Appeared in all of Preston Sturges' Paramount films of the 1940s, most memorably as Officer Kockenlocker in "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" and as the tough Marine sergeant in "Hail the Conquering Hero" (both 1944). Well known as Uncle Charley on the long-running TV series "My Thr...

Filmography

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The Millionaire (1978)

The McCullochs (1975)

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (1973)

Harris--The Handyman

That Darn Cat (1965)

Viva Las Vegas (1964)

Son of Flubber (1963)

Photos & Videos

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All Through The Night (1942) -- (Movie Clip) Miracle On 48th Street

Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm (1938) -- (Movie Clip) I Thought We Were Wowing Them!

Biography

Prolific character player of the 1930s and 40s, later on TV, typically in cranky but endearing comedy roles. Appeared in all of Preston Sturges' Paramount films of the 1940s, most memorably as Officer Kockenlocker in "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" and as the tough Marine sergeant in "Hail the Conquering Hero" (both 1944). Well known as Uncle Charley on the long-running TV series "My Three Sons."

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

The Millionaire (1978)

The McCullochs (1975)

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (1973)

Harris--The Handyman

That Darn Cat (1965)

Viva Las Vegas (1964)

Son of Flubber (1963)

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

Chief of police

King of the Roaring 20's--The Story of Arnold Rothstein (1961)

Twenty Plus Two (1961)

Guard at studio

The Mountain (1956)

Father Belacchi

Hell on Frisco Bay (1956)

The Rawhide Years (1956)

Jupiter's Darling (1955)

The Far Horizons (1955)

The Private War of Major Benson (1955)

Lucy Gallant (1955)

Sincerely Yours (1955)

The Yellow Mountain (1954)

Jamboree (1954)

Here Come the Girls (1953)

Dangerous When Wet (1953)

The Lady Wants Mink (1953)

Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)

What Price Glory (1952)

The Blazing Forest (1952)

Behave Yourself! (1951)

The Strip (1951)

Excuse My Dust (1951)

The First Legion (1951)

Monsignor [Michael] Carey

Jolson Sings Again (1950)

Never a Dull Moment (1950)

He's a Cockeyed Wonder (1950)

When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950)

Riding High (1950)

Happy [Oscar Maguire]

Sorrowful Jones (1949)

Red, Hot and Blue (1949)

Whispering Smith (1949)

On Our Merry Way (1948)

Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)

The Sainted Sisters (1948)

Vern Tewilliger

Variety Girl (1947)

The Jolson Story (1947)

The Perils of Pauline (1947)

George "Mac" McGuire

Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946)

Peanuts Schultz

Salty O'Rourke (1945)

Along Came Jones (1945)

Pardon My Past (1945)

Duffy's Tavern (1945)

Nine Girls (1944)

Walter Cummings

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)

Officer Kockenlocker

Once Upon a Time (1944)

The Great Moment (1944)

Hail the Conquering Hero (1944)

Sgt. Julius Heffelfinger

Stage Door Canteen (1943)

Dangerous Blondes (1943)

Detective Gatling

True to Life (1943)

The Palm Beach Story (1942)

First member Ale and Quail Club

Behind the Eight Ball (1942)

Pardon My Sarong (1942)

Detective Kendall

All Through the Night (1942)

Life Begins at Eight-Thirty (1942)

My Favorite Spy (1942)

Johnny Doughboy (1942)

Sullivan's Travels (1942)

True to the Army (1942)

Ride on Vaquero (1941)

Rookies on Parade (1941)

The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)

First detective

Glamour Boy (1941)

Country Fair (1941)

Dressed to Kill (1941)

Inspector Pierson

The Lady Eve (1941)

Little Men (1941)

The Farmer's Daughter (1940)

Christmas in July (1940)

The Great McGinty (1940)

Wolf of New York (1940)

The Golden Fleecing (1940)

Comin' Round the Mountain (1940)

Miracles for Sale (1939)

The Great Man Votes (1939)

Laugh It Off (1939)

Barney [Gimpy] Cole

The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939)

While New York Sleeps (1939)

King of the Turf (1939)

Cowboy Quarterback (1939)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus (1938)

One Wild Night (1938)

Romance on the Run (1938)

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938)

Charlie Chan at the Opera (1937)

The Hit Parade (1937)

Big City (1937)

Easy Living (1937)

Wallace Whistling

Time Out for Romance (1937)

Willoughby Sproggs

Don't Tell the Wife (1937)

The Great Gambini (1937)

Oh, Doctor (1937)

The Great Hospital Mystery (1937)

Mortimer Beatty

Blonde Trouble (1937)

Wake Up and Live (1937)

Mind Your Own Business (1936)

Love on the Run (1936)

Editor [Berger]

Wedding Present (1936)

"Smiles" Benson

Diamond Jim (1935)

Bright Lights (1935)

Hands Across the Table (1935)

Murder Man (1935)

After Office Hours (1935)

The Casino Murder Case (1935)

Many Happy Returns (1934)

White Lies (1934)

Fugitive Lady (1934)

Fog over Frisco (1934)

Circus Clown (1934)

The Escape (1928)

Trigger Caswell

Sharp Shooters (1928)

"Hi Jack" Murdock

The Butter and Egg Man (1928)

The Crash (1928)

Pay As You Enter (1928)

"Terrible Bill" McGovern

Five and Ten Cent Annie (1928)

The Jazz Singer (1927)

Buster Billings

Finger Prints (1927)

Matinee Ladies (1927)

The Black Diamond Express (1927)

The First Auto (1927)

A Million Bid (1927)

Don't Tell the Wife (1927)

A Reno Divorce (1927)

James, the chauffeur

What Happened to Father (1927)

Dibbin, detective

The Bush Leaguer (1927)

A Sailor's Sweetheart (1927)

Simple Sis (1927)

The Gay Old Bird (1927)

Cast (Special)

Thanksgiving Reunion with the Partridge Family and My Three Sons (1977)

My Three Sons Member

The Desilu Revue (1959)

Cast (Short)

The Night Court (1927)

Life Events

1926

Film acting debut in bit part in "When the Wife's Away"

Photo Collections

Never a Dull Moment - Scene Stills

Here are a few scene stills from RKO's Never a Dull Moment (1950), starring Irene Dunne and Fred MacMurray.

All Through the Night - Scene Stills

Here are several scene stills from Warner Bros' All Through the Night (1942), starring Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, and Jane Darwell.

Videos

All Through The Night (1942) -- (Movie Clip) Miracle On 48th Street Future TV stars William Demarest, Phil Silvers and Jackie Gleason in the opening scene, when their ringleader Gloves (Humphrey Bogart) appears, sidekick Barney (Frank McHugh) joining, ex-actor Vincent Sherman directing, in Warner Bros' gangster-comedy-propaganda hybrid All Through The Night, 1942.

Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm (1938) -- (Movie Clip) I Thought We Were Wowing Them! At a radio audition, Shirley Temple as Rebecca and William Demarest as uncle Harry, looking to impress assistant Orville (Jack Haley), sponsor Bartlett (Paul Harvey) and ad-man Kent (Randolph Scott) with a tune by Harry Revel and Mack Gordon, in Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm, 1938.

Miracle Of Morgan's Creek, The (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Swaffled Or Something! The morning after the soldier’s sendoff party, where Trudy (Betty Hutton) drank spiked lemonade and got bonked on the head, she picks up Norval (Eddie Bracken) who provided her alibi and loaned her his car, way later than they should be, concocting a story for her father, in writer-director Preston Sturges’ The Miracle Of Morgan’s Creek, 1944.

Miracle Of Morgan's Creek, The (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Let's All Get Married! Betty Hutton as Trudy Kockenlocker is let loose in an action sequence by writer-director Preston Sturges, in the car borrowed from her 4-F boyfriend, all-in for the sendoff for the soldiers shipping out, to the church basement, the country club, then the juke joint, Len Hendry the soldier with the big idea, in The Miracle Of Morgan’s Creek, 1944.

Murder Man, The (1935) -- (Movie Clip) Very Fatally Dead In the press room at the precinct, crime beat reporters (William Demarest, Bobby Watson, Lucien Littlefield, Fuzzy Knight, and James Stewart as "Shorty") get word of a big time killing, early in The Murder Man, 1935.

Sullivan's Travels (1942) -- (Movie Clip) O Brother, Where Art Thou? Sullivan (Joel McCrea) is reunited with "The Girl" (Veronica Lake) and his staff, and reconsiders filming "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," in the final scene from Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels, 1942.

Sincerely Yours (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Is Anything Wrong? Considerable sound-editing technique and a big acting moment for leading man Liberace, as pianist "Anthony Warrin," who's suddenly having hearing problems, Joanne Dru, William Demarest and Dorothy Malone his entourage, in Sincerely Yours, 1955.

Hail The Conquering Hero (1944) -- (Movie Clip) He Could Be President Woodrow (Eddie Bracken), overwhelmed and intending to confess that he never served in the Marine Corps, can’t stop the judge (Jimmy Conlin) and Doc Bissell (Harry Hayden), who have nominated him for mayor on his homecoming, in Preston Sturges’ Hail The Conquering Hero, 1944.

Hail The Conquering Hero (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Chronic Hay Fever In a single take by writer-director Preston Sturges, Woodrow (Eddie Bracken) tells his life story to Heffelfinger (William Demarest) and the Marines (Freddie Steele, Jimmy Dundee, James Lamore et al) in Hail The Conquering Hero, 1944.

Hail The Conquering Hero (1944) -- (Movie Clip) Home To The Arms Of Mother Seamless opening scene from writer-director Preston Sturges, introducing Woodrow (Eddie Bracken) crying in his beer, and Marines led by Heffelfinger (William Demarest), in Hail The Conquering Hero, 1944.

Hail The Conquering Hero (1944) -- (Movie Clip) He's Got Jungle Fever Craziness at the homecoming for Woodrow (Eddie Bracken), pressed by Sarge (William Demarest), who served with his father, not to tell his mother (Georgia Caine) he was rejected by the Marines, Torben Meyer the neighbor, Ella Raines his ex-girl, who hasn't told him she's engaged, in Preston Sturges' Hail The Conquering Hero, 1944.

Sullivan's Travels (1942) -- (Movie Clip) If You Don't Mind Going Fast The famous chase sequence in which director Sullivan (Joel McCrea), aiming to experience life as a hobo, tries to lose his Hollywood entourage, Robert Winkler his wheelman, William Demarest, Charles Moore et all in the RV, in writer-director Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels, 1942.

Christmas In July (1940) -- (Video Trailer) Dick Powell is an unemployed dreamer who thinks he's won a big radio contest in Preston Sturges' Christmas in July (1940).

Great McGinty, The - (Original Trailer) A hobo (Brian Donlevy) rises to town mayor when he hooks up with a crooked political boss in Preston Sturges' The Great McGinty (1940).

Far Horizons, The - (Original Trailer) Fred MacMurray and Charlton Heston play Lewis & Clark, setting off for The Far Horizons (1955) for President Jefferson.

Cowboy Quarterback, The - (Original Trailer) A football scout (William Demarest) tries to get a legendary runner (Bert Wheeler) back into the game.

Bright Lights (1935) - (Original Trailer) Husband-and-wife vaudeville stars separate when success goes to his head in Busby Berkeley's Bright Lights (1935).

Jolson Story, The - (Original Trailer) Larry Parks stars as the famous blackface performer of stage and screen, Al Jolson, in The Jolson Story (1947).

Never a Dull Moment - (Original Trailer) A female music critic (Irene Dunne) marries a rancher (Fred MacMurray) but her life out West has Never a Dull Moment (1950).

Along Came Jones -- (Original Trailer) Gary Cooper spoofs his screen image playing a mild-mannered cowboy who is mistaken for a notorious outlaw in Along Came Jones (1945).

What Price Glory (1952) - (Black-and-white Trailer) A marine captain (James Cagney) and his top sergeant are assigned to take their company from a small village to the brutal reality of war in the trenches in John Ford's What Price Glory (1952).

Excuse My Dust - (Original Trailer) Red Skelton stars as a turn-of-the-century automobile inventor in the Technicolor comedy Excuse My Dust (1951).

Great Moment, The - (Original Trailer) Director Preston Sturges tells the true story of the first dentist to find a painless method of pulling teeth in The Great Moment (1944).

Whispering Smith -- (Re-issue Trailer) A railroad detective (Alan Ladd) tries to bring in a gang of train robbers and a lost love in the western adventure Whispering Smith (1949).

Family

Reuben Demarest

Brother

Vaudevillian. Performed act with brothers.

George Demarest

Brother

Vaudevillian. Performed act with brothers.

Bibliography

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