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
The Red Skelton Show
1951
as Senator Burnside
Bonanza
1959
as Enos Milford / Angus Tweedy
My Three Sons
1960
as Charley O'Casey
Wagon Train
1957
as Mr. Hennessey
The Twilight Zone
1959
as Joe Britt
Burke's Law
1963
as Charlie Who
Dr. Kildare
1961
as Mr. Aimes
Tales of Wells Fargo
1957
as Jeb Gaine (credit only)
The Rebel
1959
as Ulysses Bowman
Ben Casey
1961
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
as Tom Akins
McMillan & Wife
1971
as Cyrus McFee / Andy Kenesaw
Studio 57
1954
Ellery Queen
1975
as Alexander 'Pop' Denny
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954
as Mr. Hummel (archive footage)
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963
as Paul Keller
Going My Way
1962
Love and Marriage
1959
as William Harris
The Jerry Lewis Show
1963
as Self
Movies (145)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
as Police Chief Aloysius
Sharp Shooters
1928
as 'Hi Jack' Murdock
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939
as Bill Griffith
Simple Sis
1927
Sullivan's Travels
1941
as Mr. Jones
Jamboree
1954
as Self
Hollywood Victory Caravan
1945
as Bill, the Security Guard
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
1938
as Henry Kipper
Escape from Fort Bravo
1953
as Campbell
That Darn Cat!
1965
as Mr. MacDougall
What Price Glory
1952
as Corporal Kiper
The Far Horizons
1955
as Sgt. Gass
Nine Girls
1944
as Walter Cummings
The Jazz Singer
1927
as Buster Billings (uncredited)
Viva Las Vegas
1964
as Mr. Martin
Along Came Jones
1945
as George Fury
Son of Flubber
1963
as Mr. Hummel
Jupiter's Darling
1955
as Mago
Pardon My Past
1945
as Chuck Gibson
All Through the Night
1942
as Sunshine
Wake Up and Live
1937
as Radio Center Tour Guide
Variety Girl
1947
as Barker
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
1961
as Jeb
Dressed to Kill
1941
as Inspector Pierson
On Our Merry Way
1948
as Floyd
The Rawhide Years
1956
as Brand Comfort
Hail the Conquering Hero
1944
as Sgt. Heppelfinger
Rosalie
1937
as Army Coach
The Palm Beach Story
1942
as First Member Ale and Quail Club
The Mountain
1956
as Father Belacchi
Fugitive Lady
1934
as Steve Rogers
Salty O'Rourke
1945
as Smitty
Riding High
1950
as Happy
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
1973
as Mr. Harris
Red, Hot and Blue
1949
as Charlie Baxter
Once Upon a Time
1944
as Brandt
Diamond Jim
1935
as Harry Hill
Whispering Smith
1948
as Bill Dansing
Pepe
1960
as Movie Studio Gateman
Little Men
1940
as Constable Tom Thorpe
Time Out for Romance
1937
as Willoughby Sproggs
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
1948
as Lt. Shawn
A Sailor's Sweetheart
1927
as Detective
Easy Living
1937
as Wallace Whistling
The Private War of Major Benson
1955
as John
The Gracie Allen Murder Case
1939
as Police Sgt. Ernest Heath
He's a Cockeyed Wonder
1950
as Bob Sears
Excuse My Dust
1951
as Harvey Bullitt
The Lady Eve
1941
as Muggsy
Hell on Frisco Bay
1955
as Dan Bianco
Behave Yourself!
1951
as O'Ryan
Twenty Plus Two
1961
as Desmond Slocum
Sorrowful Jones
1949
as Regret
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999
as Charlie O'Casey (archive footage)
While New York Sleeps
1938
as Red Miller
Stage Door Canteen
1943
as William Demarest
The Yellow Mountain
1954
as Jackpot Wray
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
1976
as Studio Gatekeeper
Christmas in July
1940
as Mr. Bildocker
The Strip
1951
as Fluff
Charlie Chan at the Opera
1936
as Sergeant Kelly
Sincerely Yours
1955
as Sam Dunne
The Great Ziegfeld
1936
as Gene Buck (uncredited)
Dangerous Blondes
1943
as Detective Gatling
The Lady Wants Mink
1953
as Harvey Jones
Laugh It Off
1939
as Barney 'Gimpy' Cole
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
1944
as Constable Edmund Kockenlocker
The Cowboy Quarterback
1939
as Rusty Walker
Don't Tell the Wife
1937
as Larry 'Horace' Tucker
When Willie Comes Marching Home
1950
as Herman Kluggs
The Night Court
1927
as Defense Counsel
Lucy Gallant
1955
as Charles Madden
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
1997
as Self (archive footage)
The Devil and Miss Jones
1941
as First Detective
Fog Over Frisco
1934
as Spike Smith
Here Come the Girls
1953
as Dennis Logan
Wedding Present
1936
as 'Smiles' Benson
Oh, Doctor
1937
as Marty Short
The Perils of Pauline
1947
as George 'Mac' McGuire
Glamour Boy
1941
as Papa Doran
Big City
1937
as Mr. Beecher
My Favorite Spy
1942
as Flower Pot Policeman
A Girl in Every Port
1928
as Man in Bombay (uncredited)
Bright Lights
1935
as Detective
The Great Moment
1944
as Eben Frost
Finger Prints
1927
as Cuffs Egan
The Jolson Story
1946
as Steve Martin
The Great McGinty
1940
as Skeeters - The Politician
The Casino Murder Case
1935
as Auctioneer (uncredited)
True to the Army
1942
as Sgt. Butts
Love on the Run
1936
as Editor
The Murder Man
1935
as 'Red' Maguire
True to Life
1943
as Uncle Jake
The Golden Fleecing
1940
as Swallow
Rookies on Parade
1941
as Mike Brady
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty
1942
as Police Officer
Jolson Sings Again
1949
as Steve Martin
Blonde Trouble
1937
as Paul Sears
Hands Across the Table
1935
as Regi's Date Natty (uncredited)
King of the Roaring 20's – The Story of Arnold Rothstein
1961
as Henry Hecht
Duffy's Tavern
1945
as William Demarest
The Millionaire
1978
as Oscar Pugh
After Office Hours
1935
as Police Detective (uncredited)
The First Legion
1951
as Monsignor Michael Carey
King of the Turf
1939
as Arnold
The Gay Old Bird
1927
as Mr. Fixit
Ride on Vaquero
1941
as Bartender Barney
A Million Bid
1927
as George Lamont
The Great Man Votes
1939
as Charles Dole
The Wild McCullochs
1975
as Father Gurkin
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus
1938
as Daro
The Sainted Sisters
1948
as Vern Tewilliger
Behind the Eight Ball
1942
as McKenzie
Romance on the Run
1938
as Police Lt. Eckhardt
Miracles for Sale
1939
as Quinn
Many Happy Returns
1934
as Brinker
Dangerous When Wet
1953
as Pa Higgins
The Hit Parade
1937
as Parole Officer
Comin' Round the Mountain
1940
as Gutsy Mann
The Farmer's Daughter
1940
as Victor Walsh
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
- Sharp Shooters (1928) — as 'Hi Jack' Murdock
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) — as Bill Griffith
- Simple Sis (1927)
- Sullivan's Travels (1941) — as Mr. Jones
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.