Cast
Ned Sparks
Acting
Cast
Ned Sparks
Known for
Acting
Born
1883-11-18
From
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Died
1957-04-03
Also known as Edward Arthur Sparkman, Ned A. Sparks
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ned Sparks (born Edward Arthur Sparkman, November 19, 1883 – April 3, 1957) was a Canadian-born character actor of the American stage and screen. Sparks was known for his deadpan expression and deep, gravelly voice. Born in Guelph, Ontario, Sparks left home at age 16 and attempted to work as a gold prospector on the Klondike Gold Rush. After running out of money, he won a spot as a singer on a traveling musical company's tour. At age 19, he returned to Canada and briefly attended a Toronto seminary. After leaving the seminary, he worked for the railroad and worked in theater in Toronto. In 1907, he left Toronto for New York City to try his hand in the Broadway theatre, where he appeared in his first show in 1912. While working on Broadway, Sparks developed his trademark deadpan expression while portraying the role of a desk clerk in the play Little Miss Brown. His success on the stage soon caught the attention of MGM's Louis B. Mayer who signed Sparks to a six picture deal. Sparks began appearing in numerous silent films before finally making his "talkie" debut in the 1928 film The Big Noise. In the 1930s, Sparks became known for portraying dour-faced, sarcastic, cigar-chomping characters. He became so associated with the type that, in 1936, The New York Times reported that Sparks had his face insured for USD$100,000 with Lloyd's of London. The market agreed to pay the sum to any photographer who could capture Sparks smiling (Sparks later admitted that the story was a publicity stunt and he was only insured for $10,000). Sparks was also caricatured in cartoons including the Jack-in-the-Box character in the Disney short Broken Toys (1935), and the jester in Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938), a hermit crab in both Tex Avery's Fresh Fish (1939) and Bob Clampett's Goofy Groceries (1941), a chicken in Bob Clampett's Slap Happy Pappy (1940), Friz Freleng's Warner Bros. cartoon Malibu Beach Party (1940), and Tex Avery's Hollywood Steps Out (1940). Sparks also voiced the cartoon characters Heckle and Jeckle from 1947 to 1951. Sparks appeared in ten stage productions on Broadway and over 80 films. He retired from films in 1947, saying that everyone should retire at 65
Marie Galante
as Plosser
Hi, Nellie!
as Shammy
Corsair
as Slim
42nd Street
as Barry
Strange Cargo
as Yacht First Mate
Kept Husbands
as Hughie Hanready
Conspiracy
as Winthrop 'Little Nemo' Clavering
Imitation of Life
as Elmer Smith
Alice in Wonderland
as Caterpillar
The Fall Guy
as Danny Walsh
Gold Diggers of 1933
as Barney
Lady for a Day
as Happy McGuire
Going Hollywood
as Conroy
Magic Town
as Ike
Stage Door Canteen
as Ned Sparks
Faint Perfume
as Orrin Crumb
Collegiate
as 'Scoop' Oakland
Sweet Music
as 'Ten Percent' Nelson
Big City Blues
as Mr. 'Stacky' Stackhouse
Secrets
as Sunshine
The Bride Walks Out
as Paul Dodson
Servants' Entrance
as Hjalmar Gnu
Mike
as Slinky
The Miracle Man
as Harry Evans
The Star Maker
as 'Speed' King
Iron Man
as Riley
Blessed Event
as George Moxley
The Canary Murder Case
as Tony Skeel
The Devil's Holiday
as Charlie Thorne
Too Much Harmony
as Lem Spawn
George White's 1935 Scandals
as Elmer
The Law Forbids
as Clyde Vernon
The Secret Call
as Bert Benedict
Good References
as Peter Stearns
For Beauty's Sake
as Jonathan B. Sweet
Bright Lights
as Barney Gallagher
Street Girl
as Happy Winter
Sweet Adeline
as Dan Herzig
Sing and Like It
as Toots McGuire
Love Comes Along
as Happy
Alias the Lone Wolf
as Phinuit
The Wide Open Spaces
as Sheriff Jack Rancid
Down to Their Last Yacht
as Captain 'Sunny Jim' Roberts
Wake Up and Live
as Steve Cluskey
Money Talks
as Lucius Fenton
Twinkletoes
Private Scandal
as Inspector Riordan
Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound
as Self (archive footage)
The Only Thing
as Gibson
One in a Million
as Danny Simpson
The Perfect Woman
as Grimes, the Anarchist
This Way Please
as Inky Wells
The Boomerang
as Bert Hanks
Double Cross Roads
as Happy Max
Nothing But the Truth
as The Monocle Man
His Supreme Moment
as Adrian
The Auction Block
as Nat Saluson
When the Wife's Away
Big Dame Hunting
as Ned
Alias The Deacon
as Slim Sullivan
The Crusader
as Eddie Crane
Two's Company
as Al
Seven Keys to Baldpate
The Hidden Way
as Mulligan
Leathernecking
as Sparks
Love's Blindness
as Valet
The Secret Studio
as The Plumber
Nothing but the Truth
as Clarence van Dyke
In Search of a Sinner
as Waiter
The Small Bachelor
as J. Hamilton Beamish
King Tut's Tomb
as Heckle / Jeckle (voice)
A Temperamental Wife
as The Hotel Clerk
Hawaii Calls
as Strings
The Big Noise
as William Howard
The Magnificent Flirt
as Tim
The Bond Boy
as Cyrus Morgan
The Little Miss Brown
as Night Clerk
Soul Mates
as Tancred's chauffeur
A Wide Open Town
as Si Ryan