William Demarest
Known for Acting · 166 credits
- Born
- 1892-02-27
- Died
- 1983-12-28
- Place of birth
- Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
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).
Known For
TV Shows (21)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
as Self
Bonanza
1959
as Angus Tweedy / Enos Milford
Wagon Train
1957
as Mr. Hennessey
The Twilight Zone
1959
as Joe Britt
Dr. Kildare
1961
as Mr. Aimes
Ben Casey
1961
My Three Sons
1960
as Charley O'Casey
The Red Skelton Show
1951
as Senator Burnside
Burke's Law
1963
as Charlie Who
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Tom Akins
Tales of Wells Fargo
1957
as Jeb Gaine (credit only)
The Rebel
1959
as Ulysses Bowman
Studio 57
1954
McMillan & Wife
1971
as Andy Kenesaw / Cyrus McFee
Ellery Queen
1975
as Alexander 'Pop' Denny
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963
as Paul Keller
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954
as Mr. Hummel (archive footage)
Going My Way
1962
The Jerry Lewis Show
1963
as Self
Love and Marriage
1959
as William Harris
Movies (145)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
as Police Chief Aloysius
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939
as Bill Griffith
The Lady Eve
1941
as Muggsy
The Jazz Singer
1927
as Buster Billings (uncredited)
Simple Sis
1927
Sullivan's Travels
1941
as Mr. Jones
That Darn Cat!
1965
as Mr. MacDougall
Escape from Fort Bravo
1953
as Campbell
Once Upon a Time
1944
as Brandt
Pepe
1960
as Movie Studio Gateman
Viva Las Vegas
1964
as Mr. Martin
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999
as Charlie O'Casey (archive footage)
Christmas in July
1940
as Mr. Bildocker
The Far Horizons
1955
as Sgt. Gass
The Palm Beach Story
1942
as First Member Ale and Quail Club
Country Fair
1941
as Stogie McPhee
Riding High
1950
as Happy
The Devil and Miss Jones
1941
as First Detective
Dangerous When Wet
1953
as Pa Higgins
The Great McGinty
1940
as Skeeters - The Politician
Easy Living
1937
as Wallace Whistling
All Through the Night
1942
as Sunshine
Rosalie
1937
as Army Coach
The Great Ziegfeld
1936
as Gene Buck (uncredited)
The Private War of Major Benson
1955
as John
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
1976
as Studio Gatekeeper
My Favorite Spy
1942
as Flower Pot Policeman
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
1997
as Self (archive footage)
Never a Dull Moment
1950
as Mears
The Jolson Story
1946
as Steve Martin
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
1973
as Mr. Harris
The Strip
1951
as Fluff
Son of Flubber
1963
as Mr. Hummel
The Great Hospital Mystery
1937
as Mr. Beatty
Sorrowful Jones
1949
as Regret
The Great Moment
1944
as Eben Frost
When Willie Comes Marching Home
1950
as Herman Kluggs
Sincerely Yours
1955
as Sam Dunne
Hail the Conquering Hero
1944
as Sgt. Heppelfinger
The Mountain
1956
as Father Belacchi
Hands Across the Table
1935
as Regi's Date Natty (uncredited)
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
1961
as Jeb
Along Came Jones
1945
as George Fury
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
1948
as Lt. Shawn
Stage Door Canteen
1943
as William Demarest
The Gracie Allen Murder Case
1939
as Police Sgt. Ernest Heath
The Golden Fleecing
1940
as Swallow
Variety Girl
1947
as Barker
The Yellow Mountain
1954
as Jackpot Wray
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus
1938
as Daro
The Millionaire
1978
as Oscar Pugh
Duffy's Tavern
1945
as William Demarest
Pardon My Sarong
1942
as Detective Kendall
King of the Roaring 20's – The Story of Arnold Rothstein
1961
as Henry Hecht
Red, Hot and Blue
1949
as Charlie Baxter
The Wild McCullochs
1975
as Father Gurkin
Behave Yourself!
1951
as O'Ryan
Diamond Jim
1935
as Harry Hill
Big City
1937
as Mr. Beecher
The Murder Man
1935
as 'Red' Maguire
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
1938
as Harry Kipper
Whispering Smith
1948
as Bill Dansing
Oh, Doctor
1937
as Marty Short
Twenty Plus Two
1961
as Desmond Slocum
Glamour Boy
1941
as Papa Doran
The Perils of Pauline
1947
as George 'Mac' McGuire
Josette
1938
as Joe, Diner Owner
Johnny Doughboy
1942
as Harry Fabian
Wedding Present
1936
as 'Smiles' Benson
The Black Diamond Express
1927
as Train Engine Fireman
Bright Lights
1935
as Detective
True to Life
1943
as Uncle Jake
Charlie Chan at the Opera
1936
as Sergeant Kelly
Dangerous Blondes
1943
as Detective Gatling
Dressed to Kill
1941
as Inspector Pierson
Here Come the Girls
1953
as Dennis Logan
Fog Over Frisco
1934
as Spike Smith
Hell on Frisco Bay
1955
as Dan Bianco
On Our Merry Way
1948
as Floyd
The Gay Old Bird
1927
as Mr. Fixit
Lucy Gallant
1955
as Charles Madden
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
1944
as Constable Edmund Kockenlocker
Miracles for Sale
1939
as Quinn
Little Men
1940
as Constable Tom Thorpe
The Rawhide Years
1956
as Brand Comfort
The Cowboy Quarterback
1939
as Rusty Walker
Our Hearts Were Growing Up
1946
as Peanuts Schultz
Excuse My Dust
1951
as Harvey Bullitt
The Farmer's Daughter
1940
as Victor Walsh
Love on the Run
1936
as Editor
The Great Gambini
1937
as Sergeant Kirby
The First Auto
1927
as The Village Cut-Up
Hollywood Victory Caravan
1945
as Bill, the Security Guard
Don't Tell the Wife
1937
as Larry 'Horace' Tucker
Time Out for Romance
1937
as Willoughby Sproggs
Salty O'Rourke
1945
as Smitty
Sharp Shooters
1928
as 'Hi Jack' Murdock
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty
1942
as Police Officer
Jolson Sings Again
1949
as Steve Martin
The First Legion
1951
as Monsignor Michael Carey
Seeing Things
1930
as The Heir
Wolf of New York
1940
as Bill Ennis
The Great Man Votes
1939
as Charles Dole
Finger Prints
1927
as Cuffs Egan
The Sainted Sisters
1948
as Vern Tewilliger
Ride on Vaquero
1941
as Bartender Barney
He's a Cockeyed Wonder
1950
as Bob Sears
The Blazing Forest
1952
as Syd Jessup
Jupiter's Darling
1955
as Mago
Many Happy Returns
1934
as Brinker
Nine Girls
1944
as Walter Cummings
Five and Ten Cent Annie
1928
as Briggs
After Office Hours
1935
as Police Detective (uncredited)
A Girl in Every Port
1928
as Man in Bombay (uncredited)
One Wild Night
1938
as Collins
The Casino Murder Case
1935
as Auctioneer (uncredited)
Blonde Trouble
1937
as Paul Sears
Matinee Ladies
1927
as Man About Town
Comin' Round the Mountain
1940
as Gutsy Mann
The Lady Wants Mink
1953
as Harvey Jones
About William Demarest
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 move… With 166 credits spanning from 1927 to 1999, William Demarest has appeared in 145 films and 21 TV shows.
Fans searching for William Demarest movies, William Demarest filmography, or the latest projects starring William Demarest can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular William Demarest Movies
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) — as Police Chief Aloysius
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) — as Bill Griffith
- The Lady Eve (1941) — as Muggsy
- The Jazz Singer (1927) — as Buster Billings (uncredited)
- Simple Sis (1927)
Where to Watch William Demarest Films
Most William Demarest movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring William Demarest, check our movies catalogue and browse page.