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 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).
166 acting credits
Acting · 166
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
Bonanza
1959
Wagon Train
1957
The Twilight Zone
1959
Dr. Kildare
1961
My Three Sons
1960
Ben Casey
1961
Burke's Law
1963
The Red Skelton Show
1951
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
The Rebel
1959
Studio 57
1954
McMillan & Wife
1971
Ellery Queen
1975
Tales of Wells Fargo
1957
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963
The Wonderful World of Disney
1954
Going My Way
1962
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939
Sullivan's Travels
1941
That Darn Cat!
1965
The Jazz Singer
1927
The Jerry Lewis Show
1963
The Lady Eve
1941
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999
Viva Las Vegas
1964
The Devil and Miss Jones
1941
The Far Horizons
1955
The Great Ziegfeld
1936
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
1997
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
1976
All Through the Night
1942
The Palm Beach Story
1942
Dangerous When Wet
1953
Once Upon a Time
1944
Escape from Fort Bravo
1953
Pepe
1960
Stage Door Canteen
1943
Easy Living
1937
My Favorite Spy
1942
Variety Girl
1947
Red, Hot and Blue
1949
King of the Roaring 20's – The Story of Arnold Rothstein
1961
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
1973
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
1948
The Strip
1951
Christmas in July
1940
Dangerous Blondes
1943
Sorrowful Jones
1949
Son of Flubber
1963
The Private War of Major Benson
1955
Hands Across the Table
1935
When Willie Comes Marching Home
1950
Josette
1938
Hail the Conquering Hero
1944
The Gracie Allen Murder Case
1939
Glamour Boy
1941
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
1961
The Jolson Story
1946
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
1944
The Wild McCullochs
1975
The Great Hospital Mystery
1937
The Great Moment
1944
The Great McGinty
1940
Lucy Gallant
1955
Fog Over Frisco
1934
Whispering Smith
1948
Hell on Frisco Bay
1955
The Yellow Mountain
1954
Pardon My Sarong
1942
The Mountain
1956
Nine Girls
1944
Rosalie
1937
Love and Marriage
1959
The Millionaire
1978
Love on the Run
1936
Never a Dull Moment
1950
Sincerely Yours
1955
Diamond Jim
1935
The Perils of Pauline
1947
The Gay Old Bird
1927
Bright Lights
1935
The Cowboy Quarterback
1939
The Rawhide Years
1956
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
1938
The Golden Fleecing
1940
Charlie Chan at the Opera
1936
Behave Yourself!
1951
The Great Man Votes
1939
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty
1942
Here Come the Girls
1953
Wedding Present
1936
On Our Merry Way
1948
Finger Prints
1927
Johnny Doughboy
1942
Miracles for Sale
1939
The Murder Man
1935
Riding High
1950
Sharp Shooters
1928
Simple Sis
1927
Duffy's Tavern
1945
The Sainted Sisters
1948
Wolf of New York
1940
Twenty Plus Two
1961
True to Life
1943
Ride on Vaquero
1941
Many Happy Returns
1934
Along Came Jones
1945
Big City
1937
The Black Diamond Express
1927
The Lady Wants Mink
1953
Our Hearts Were Growing Up
1946
After Office Hours
1935
What Price Glory
1952
While New York Sleeps
1938
The Blazing Forest
1952
Seeing Things
1930
Don't Tell the Wife
1937
Salty O'Rourke
1945
Country Fair
1941
Time Out for Romance
1937
Hollywood Victory Caravan
1945
Little Men
1940
The First Legion
1951
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus
1938
Dressed to Kill
1941
Fugitive Lady
1934
White Lies
1935
King of the Turf
1939
Jupiter's Darling
1955
Jolson Sings Again
1949
Excuse My Dust
1951
He's a Cockeyed Wonder
1950
Rookies on Parade
1941
Comin' Round the Mountain
1940
Wake Up and Live
1937
The Butter and Egg Man
1928
The Casino Murder Case
1935
The Farmer's Daughter
1940
Mind Your Own Business
1936
What Happened To Father
1927
Pardon My Past
1945
One Wild Night
1938
A Girl in Every Port
1928
Blonde Trouble
1937
The First Auto
1927
Oh, Doctor
1937
The Night Court
1927
The Great Gambini
1937
A Sailor's Sweetheart
1927
The Crash
1928
Behind the Eight Ball
1942
Five and Ten Cent Annie
1928
Laugh It Off
1939
True to the Army
1942
Romance on the Run
1938
A Million Bid
1927
Don't Tell the Wife
1927
The Hit Parade
1937
The Bush Leaguer
1927
Matinee Ladies
1927
A Reno Divorce
1927
Pay as You Enter
1928
Jamboree
1954