James Flavin
American character actor whose career lasted nearly half a century. James Wilson Flavin Jr. was the son of a hotel waiter of Canadian-English extraction and a mother, Katherine, whose father was an Irish immigrant. (Thus Flavin, well-known in Hollywood as an "Irish" type, was only one-quarter Irish.) Flavin was born and raised in Portland, Maine (a fact that may have enrichened his later working relationship with director John Ford, also a Portland native). He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, but (contrary to some sources) did not graduate. Instead he dropped out and returned to Portland where he drove a taxi. Then as now, summer stock companies flocked to Maine each year, and in 1929 he was asked to fill in for an actor. He did well with the part and the company manager offered him $150 per week to go with the troupe back to New York. Flavin accepted and by the spring of 1930 was living in a rooming house at 108 W. 87th Street in Manhattan. Flavin didn't manage to crack Broadway at this time (his Broadway debut would not occur for another thirty-nine years, in the 1971 revival of "The Front Page," in which Flavin played Murphy and briefly took over the lead role of Walter Burns from star Robert Ryan). He worked his way across the country in stock productions and tours, arriving in Los Angeles around 1932. He quickly made the transition to movies, landing the lead in his very first film, a Universal serial, The Airmail Mystery (1932). He also landed his leading lady, marrying the serial's female star Lucile Browne that same year. However, the serial marked virtually the last time that Flavin would play the lead in a film. Thereafter, he was restricted almost exclusively to supporting characters, many of them without so much as a name. He specialized in uniformed cops and hard-bitten detectives, but played chauffeurs, cabbies, and even a 16th-century palace guard with aplomb. Flavin appeared in nearly four hundred films between 1932 and 1971, and in almost a hundred television episodes before his final appearance, as President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident (1976). Flavin died of a heart ailment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on April 23, 1976. His widow Lucile died seventeen days later. They were survived by their son, William James Flavin, subsequently a professor at the United States Army War College. James and Lucile Brown Flavin were buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
321 acting credits
Acting · 321
The Rifleman
1958
The Twilight Zone
1959
Dr. Kildare
1961
Climax!
1954
Four Star Playhouse
1952
Burke's Law
1963
The Lucy Show
1962
I Love Lucy
1951
Matinee Theater
1955
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Mister Ed
1961
Surfside 6
1960
The Addams Family
1964
The Brady Bunch
1969
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1957
The Millionaire
1955
Navy Log
1955
Cavalcade of America
1952
Alcoa Theatre
1957
It Takes a Thief
1968
Cain's Hundred
1961
State Trooper
1956
Mr. Novak
1963
The Abbott and Costello Show
1952
Lux Video Theatre
1950
Public Defender
1954
December Bride
1954
Sam Benedict
1962
Pete and Gladys
1960
The New Breed
1961
Racket Squad
1951
The Roaring 20's
1960
Man with a Camera
1958
Dangerous Assignment
1952
Letter to Loretta
1953
King Kong
1933
City Detective
1953
Coronado 9
1960
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
Johnny Midnight
1960
The Pruitts of Southampton
1966
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
Death Valley Days
1952
Mildred Pierce
1945
General Electric Theater
1953
You Can't Take It with You
1938
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
The Grapes of Wrath
1940
The Living Christ
1951
Desert Fury
1947
Laura
1944
Mister Roberts
1955
Jesse James
1939
In Cold Blood
1967
Cheyenne Autumn
1964
Reap the Wild Wind
1942
Unconquered
1947
The Roaring Twenties
1939
North West Mounted Police
1940
Saboteur
1942
Anchors Aweigh
1945
Nightmare Alley
1947
Operation Pacific
1951
Action in the North Atlantic
1943
Western Union
1941
The Most Dangerous Game
1932
'G' Men
1935
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
1946
The Fighting 69th
1940
Step by Step
1946
Air Force
1943
O. Henry's Full House
1952
Sailor Beware
1952
My Man Godfrey
1936
Angel on My Shoulder
1946
Gentleman Jim
1942
Heaven Can Wait
1943
Mighty Joe Young
1949
Shockproof
1949
Union Pacific
1939
The Strawberry Blonde
1941
Million Dollar Mermaid
1952
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
1976
Texas
1941
The Plunderers
1948
Alexander's Ragtime Band
1938
Trouble Along the Way
1953
When Tomorrow Comes
1939
Nora Prentiss
1947
Mission to Moscow
1943
Night Passage
1957
Man on the Flying Trapeze
1935
Belle Starr
1941
The Last Hurrah
1958
Manpower
1941
Once Upon a Time
1944
Ziegfeld Girl
1941
Test Pilot
1938
Bedtime Story
1941
Fingers at the Window
1942
It Happened on Fifth Avenue
1947
The Ghost Breakers
1940
Song of the Thin Man
1947
Blondie
1938
Pot o' Gold
1941
Rhubarb
1951
The Naked Street
1955
Castle on the Hudson
1940
Wild Is the Wind
1957
Special Agent
1935
It All Came True
1940
A Stolen Life
1946
Hollywood Canteen
1944
You Only Live Once
1937
The Affairs of Cellini
1934
Brother Orchid
1940
Rhythm on the River
1940
Remember the Night
1940
Never Say Goodbye
1956
Girl in 313
1940
Abbott and Costello Go to Mars
1953
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
1949
Too Hot to Handle
1938
Mannequin
1938
Rock Island Trail
1950
When the Daltons Rode
1940
When Willie Comes Marching Home
1950
Flamingo Road
1949
Sleep, My Love
1948
Gateway
1938
Fast and Furious
1939
Broadway Melody of 1940
1940
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
1939
Dragonfly Squadron
1954
The Restless Breed
1957
The Gracie Allen Murder Case
1939
Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943
The Devil's Henchmen
1949
Buck Privates
1941
The Velvet Touch
1948
Critic's Choice
1963
Three Loves Has Nancy
1938
Four Mothers
1941
Apache Ambush
1955
Fighter Attack
1953
The Long Voyage Home
1940
Sentimental Journey
1946
Christmas Holiday
1944
Rendezvous
1935
So Proudly We Hail
1943
Johnny Apollo
1940
Ten Gentlemen from West Point
1942
God Is My Co-Pilot
1945
Back Street
1932
Rose of Washington Square
1939
Homicide
1949
Uncertain Glory
1944
Dishonored Lady
1947
Francis in the Haunted House
1956
Carrie
1952
There's Something About a Soldier
1943
Hold Back the Dawn
1941
Start Cheering
1938
I Am the Law
1938
Over 21
1945
My Girl Tisa
1948
Midnight Taxi
1937
Kathleen
1941
Corvette K-225
1943
Young Widow
1946
Shipmates Forever
1935
Strange Affair
1944
Joe Palooka in the Knockout
1947
Knute Rockne All American
1940
Dakota Lil
1950
The All-American
1932
The Further Adventures of Gallegher
1965
My Dear Miss Aldrich
1937
Only Yesterday
1933
The Ice Follies of 1939
1939
Rendezvous with Annie
1946
Sergeant Madden
1939
The Golden Fleecing
1940
Florian
1940
Hot Water
1937
My Favorite Brunette
1947
The Wild Man of Borneo
1941
Air Mail
1932
The Daring Young Man
1935
Circumstantial Evidence
1945
Riding High
1943
The Eddie Cantor Story
1953
Law and Order
1976
Girls Can Play
1937
Hold That Blonde!
1945
Ride 'Em Cowboy
1941
Chinatown Squad
1935
Massacre Canyon
1954
The Way of All Flesh
1940
Come Fill the Cup
1951
Angel's Holiday
1937
I Wake Up Screaming
1941
Oh! Susanna
1951
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty
1942
Abroad with Two Yanks
1944
Good Times
1967
Dangerously Yours
1937
Double Alibi
1940
Mr. Wong in Chinatown
1939
Each Dawn I Die
1939
The Brand of Hate
1934
Bungalow 13
1948
Johnny Angel
1945
The Lost Spider Pit Sequence
2005
The Devil's Pipeline
1940
Boys' Ranch
1946
Nobody Lives Forever
1946
Destination Murder
1950
Easy to Wed
1946
Code of the Streets
1939
Manhattan Heartbeat
1940
The Murder Man
1935
The Night of January 16th
1941
Something to Shout About
1943
One Touch of Venus
1948
Johnny Rocco
1958
South Sea Sinner
1950
The Shanghai Cobra
1945
Here Come the Marines
1952
South of Pago Pago
1940
Live, Love and Learn
1937
New York Town
1941
Murder, He Says
1945
Ride on Vaquero
1941
Armored Car Robbery
1950
Confidentially Connie
1953
Okay, America!
1932
Private Affairs
1940
Baby Take a Bow
1934
It Ain't Hay
1943
Swing Shift Maisie
1943
The Duke of West Point
1938
Broadway
1942
Woman Wanted
1935
Hold That Hypnotist
1957
They Shall Have Music
1939
The Noose Hangs High
1948
Cloak and Dagger
1946
Charlie Chan at the Race Track
1936
Big Town Czar
1939
Hot Steel
1940
Night in New Orleans
1942
La Conga Nights
1940
A Yank on the Burma Road
1942
Straight from the Heart
1935
Big Town Girl
1937
The Great Profile
1940
Born to Be Wild
1938
While New York Sleeps
1938
Hot News
1953
Dangerous Number
1937
They Met in a Taxi
1936
Everybody's Baby
1939
Public Hero Number 1
1935
Beloved
1934
The Spider
1945
Mr. Winkle Goes to War
1944
I Dood It
1943
And One Was Beautiful
1940
The Big Race
1934
Everybody's Doing It
1938
Night Spot
1938
Youth Will Be Served
1940
Tell No Tales
1939
Secret Service Investigator
1948
Affectionately Yours
1941
Robin Hood Of Texas
1947
Women Without Names
1940
Return of the Dead
1954
We Go Fast
1941
Mickey the Kid
1939
They All Come Out
1939
Lucky Cisco Kid
1940
The Luckiest Girl in the World
1936
Hello, Sister!
1933
Mississippi Rhythm
1949
Blondie Hits the Jackpot
1949
Irish Luck
1939
Tin Pan Alley
1940
Fighting Coast Guard
1951
The Savage Horde
1950
Star of Texas
1953
Captain Hurricane
1935
Lightning Carson Rides Again
1938
Riot Squad
1933
Ship of Wanted Men
1933
Queen of the Mob
1940
Wives Under Suspicion
1938
McKenna of the Mounted
1932
The Airmail Mystery
1932
Wild Gold
1934
The Cisco Kid and the Lady
1939
I Promise to Pay
1937
The Missing Lady
1946
Tough as They Come
1942
Footsteps in the Night
1957
Murder on the Waterfront
1943
Prison Warden
1949
Miracle Money
1938
Follow the Sun
1951
Tars and Spars
1946
Kid Glove Killer
1942
I Beheld His Glory
1953
One Way Ticket
1935
Treat 'Em Rough
1942
How to Behave
1936
According to Mrs. Hoyle
1951
Secrets of Chinatown
1935
Thru Different Eyes
1942
Convicts at Large
1938
As We Forgive
1952