Cast

William Demarest

Acting

Cast

William Demarest

Known for

Acting

Born

1892-02-27

From

Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA

Died

1983-12-28

Biography

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).

William Demarest

William Demarest

Biography

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

Sharp Shooters

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Simple Sis

Sullivan's Travels

Jamboree

Hollywood Victory Caravan

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Escape from Fort Bravo

That Darn Cat!

What Price Glory

The Far Horizons

Nine Girls

The Jazz Singer

Viva Las Vegas

Along Came Jones

Son of Flubber

Jupiter's Darling

Pardon My Past

All Through the Night

Wake Up and Live

Variety Girl

Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon

Dressed to Kill

On Our Merry Way

The Rawhide Years

Hail the Conquering Hero

Rosalie

The Palm Beach Story

The Mountain

Fugitive Lady

Salty O'Rourke

Riding High

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Red, Hot and Blue

Once Upon a Time

Diamond Jim

Whispering Smith

Pepe

Little Men

Time Out for Romance

Night Has a Thousand Eyes

A Sailor's Sweetheart

Easy Living

The Private War of Major Benson

The Gracie Allen Murder Case

He's a Cockeyed Wonder

Excuse My Dust

The Lady Eve

Hell on Frisco Bay

Behave Yourself!

Twenty Plus Two

Sorrowful Jones

Television: The First Fifty Years

While New York Sleeps

Stage Door Canteen

The Yellow Mountain

Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood

Christmas in July

The Strip

Charlie Chan at the Opera

Sincerely Yours

The Great Ziegfeld

Dangerous Blondes

The Lady Wants Mink

Laugh It Off

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

The Cowboy Quarterback

Don't Tell the Wife

When Willie Comes Marching Home

The Night Court

Lucy Gallant

Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line

The Devil and Miss Jones

Fog Over Frisco

Here Come the Girls

Wedding Present