
William Demarest
Born February 27, 1892 · Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
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).
Movies

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

The Great Ziegfeld

That Darn Cat!

The Palm Beach Story

Viva Las Vegas

Escape from Fort Bravo

Hell on Frisco Bay

The Lady Eve

The Jazz Singer

All Through the Night

Red, Hot and Blue

The Far Horizons

Sullivan's Travels

Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood

King of the Roaring 20's – The Story of Arnold Rothstein
More Movies

On Our Merry Way

The Perils of Pauline

Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line

Easy Living

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Son of Flubber

The Devil and Miss Jones

Pepe

The Mountain

Night Has a Thousand Eyes

What Price Glory

When Willie Comes Marching Home

Hail the Conquering Hero

The Private War of Major Benson

Stage Door Canteen

Our Hearts Were Growing Up

The Casino Murder Case

Once Upon a Time

The Great Man Votes

Along Came Jones

Time Out for Romance

Love on the Run

Charlie Chan at the Opera

Rosalie

Whispering Smith

Hands Across the Table

He's a Cockeyed Wonder

Christmas in July

Dangerous When Wet

Variety Girl

The Lady Wants Mink

The Farmer's Daughter

Nine Girls

The Gracie Allen Murder Case

Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon

Wake Up and Live

Fog Over Frisco

Jamboree

The Rawhide Years

Never a Dull Moment

Dressed to Kill

While New York Sleeps

Here Come the Girls

Simple Sis

Sharp Shooters

Jupiter's Darling

Don't Tell the Wife

True to Life

Mind Your Own Business

Pardon My Sarong

The Great McGinty

Life Begins at Eight-Thirty

The Sainted Sisters

Excuse My Dust

What Happened To Father

Sincerely Yours

Behave Yourself!

True to the Army

The Strip

The Jolson Story

A Girl in Every Port

The Great Hospital Mystery

Comin' Round the Mountain

Wedding Present

Pardon My Past

The Golden Fleecing

Dangerous Blondes

Duffy's Tavern

Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus

The Murder Man

The Great Moment

Hollywood Victory Caravan

Lucy Gallant

The Gay Old Bird

Behind the Eight Ball

The Millionaire

The Yellow Mountain

The Cowboy Quarterback

A Sailor's Sweetheart

Diamond Jim

My Favorite Spy

Romance on the Run

King of the Turf

Five and Ten Cent Annie

The Wild McCullochs

Fugitive Lady

Salty O'Rourke

Sorrowful Jones

Finger Prints

Miracles for Sale

Josette

The Butter and Egg Man

Big City

The First Legion

Don't Tell the Wife

Twenty Plus Two

Oh, Doctor

After Office Hours

The Black Diamond Express

One Wild Night

Johnny Doughboy

Riding High

Pay as You Enter

Ride on Vaquero

The First Auto

Bright Lights

Glamour Boy

Country Fair

Little Men

The Great Gambini

Many Happy Returns

The Hit Parade

Jolson Sings Again

Blonde Trouble

Rookies on Parade

The Night Court

The Blazing Forest

White Lies

A Reno Divorce

A Million Bid

The Crash

Matinee Ladies




















