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
★5.3
MOVIE1931
Kept Husbands
as Hughie Hanready
★6.7
MOVIE1947
Magic Town
as Ike
★6.7
MOVIE1934
Hi, Nellie!
as Shammy
★7.0
MOVIE1934
Private Scandal
as Inspector Riordan
★7.2
MOVIE1933
Gold Diggers of 1933
as Barney
★6.1
MOVIE1933
Alice in Wonderland
as Caterpillar
★6.2
MOVIE1937
Wake Up and Live
as Steve Cluskey
★7.1
MOVIE1933
Lady for a Day
as Happy McGuire
★6.9
MOVIE1933
42nd Street
as Barry
★7.0
MOVIE1935
Collegiate
as 'Scoop' Oakland
★5.4
MOVIE1936
The Bride Walks Out
as Paul Dodson
★6.3
MOVIE1930
The Fall Guy
as Danny Walsh
★6.3
MOVIE1943
Stage Door Canteen
as Ned Sparks
★7.0
MOVIE1934
Imitation of Life
as Elmer Smith
★6.3
MOVIE1930
The Devil's Holiday
as Charlie Thorne
★6.1
MOVIE1929
Street Girl
as Happy Winter
★7.0
MOVIE1939
The Star Maker
as 'Speed' King
★5.2
MOVIE1933
Secrets
as Sunshine
★5.5
MOVIE1933
Going Hollywood
as Conroy
★5.7
MOVIE1929
The Canary Murder Case
as Tony Skeel
★8.0
MOVIE1926
Love's Blindness
as Valet
★8.0
MOVIE1950
King Tut's Tomb
as Heckle / Jeckle (voice)
★4.4
MOVIE1931
Corsair
as Slim
★7.0
MOVIE1937
One in a Million
as Danny Simpson
★10.0
MOVIE1927
Alias the Lone Wolf
as Phinuit
★8.0
MOVIE1927
The Secret Studio
as The Plumber
★10.0
MOVIE1932
Big Dame Hunting
as Ned
★7.0
MOVIE1937
This Way Please
as Inky Wells
★7.0
MOVIE1933
Too Much Harmony
as Lem Spawn
MOVIE1915
The Little Miss Brown
as Night Clerk
★8.0
MOVIE1922
A Wide Open Town
as Si Ryan
★7.0
MOVIE1928
The Magnificent Flirt
as Tim
★6.5
MOVIE1934
Down to Their Last Yacht
as Captain 'Sunny Jim' Roberts
★6.9
MOVIE1932
Blessed Event
as George Moxley
★6.0
MOVIE1938
Hawaii Calls
as Strings
★9.0
MOVIE1926
The Hidden Way
as Mulligan
★5.0
MOVIE1934
Sing and Like It
as Toots McGuire
★6.5
MOVIE1919
A Temperamental Wife
as The Hotel Clerk
★7.7
MOVIE1931
The Secret Call
as Bert Benedict
★4.9
MOVIE1930
Conspiracy
as Winthrop 'Little Nemo' Clavering
★5.8
MOVIE1932
Big City Blues
as Mr. 'Stacky' Stackhouse
★10.0
MOVIE1920
Nothing But the Truth
as The Monocle Man
★5.7
MOVIE1931
Iron Man
as Riley
★10.0
MOVIE1941
For Beauty's Sake
as Jonathan B. Sweet
★7.0
MOVIE1926
The Auction Block
as Nat Saluson
★6.8
MOVIE1934
Sweet Adeline
as Dan Herzig
★4.9
MOVIE1934
Marie Galante
as Plosser
★8.0
MOVIE1934
Servants' Entrance
as Hjalmar Gnu
★9.0
MOVIE1923
The Bond Boy
as Cyrus Morgan
★7.0
MOVIE1935
George White's 1935 Scandals
as Elmer
★8.0
MOVIE1929
Strange Cargo
as Yacht First Mate
★5.9
MOVIE1932
The Miracle Man
as Harry Evans
★9.0
MOVIE1930
Double Cross Roads
as Happy Max
★9.0
MOVIE1927
Alias The Deacon
as Slim Sullivan
★7.3
MOVIE1932
The Crusader
as Eddie Crane
★10.0
MOVIE1926
Mike
as Slinky
★4.9
MOVIE2006
Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound
as Self (archive footage)
★10.0
MOVIE1925
His Supreme Moment
as Adrian
★6.8
MOVIE1935
Sweet Music
as 'Ten Percent' Nelson
★10.0
MOVIE1930
Leathernecking
as Sparks
★9.0
MOVIE1936
Two's Company
as Al
MOVIE1926
Money Talks
as Lucius Fenton
★7.0
MOVIE1925
Faint Perfume
as Orrin Crumb
★5.0
MOVIE1925
The Only Thing
as Gibson
★7.0
MOVIE1925
Seven Keys to Baldpate
★7.0
MOVIE1920
In Search of a Sinner
as Waiter
★9.0
MOVIE1926
When the Wife's Away
★7.0
MOVIE1931
The Wide Open Spaces
as Sheriff Jack Rancid
★7.0
MOVIE1930
Love Comes Along
as Happy
★6.8
MOVIE1926
Twinkletoes
★6.6
MOVIE1919
A Virtuous Vamp
as Mr. Bell
★7.0
MOVIE1928
The Big Noise
as William Howard
★9.0
MOVIE1925
Bright Lights
as Barney Gallagher
★5.3
MOVIE1929
Nothing but the Truth
as Clarence van Dyke
★10.0
MOVIE1920
The Perfect Woman
as Grimes, the Anarchist
★7.0
MOVIE1920
Good References
as Peter Stearns
★10.0
MOVIE1925
The Boomerang
as Bert Hanks
★7.0
MOVIE1925
Soul Mates
as Tancred's chauffeur
★8.0
MOVIE1927
The Small Bachelor
as J. Hamilton Beamish
★7.0
MOVIE1924
The Law Forbids
as Clyde Vernon