Frank Faylen
Encyclopedia
Frank Faylen was an American
movie and television actor
.
Born Frank Ruf in St. Louis, Missouri
, he began his acting career as an infant appearing with his vaudeville
performing parents on stage. After traveling with his showbiz parents through his childhood, Faylen became a stage actor at 18, and eventually began working in movies in the 1930s. He began playing a number of unmemorable bit parts for Warner Brothers, then freelanced for other studios in gradually larger character roles. He appears as Walt Disney
's musical conductor in The Reluctant Dragon
, and as a stern railroad official in the Laurel and Hardy
comedy A-Haunting We Will Go. Faylen and L & H supporting player Charlie Hall were teamed briefly by Monogram Pictures
.
Faylen's breakthrough came in 1945, where he was cast as Bim, the cynical male nurse at Bellevue
's alcoholic ward in The Lost Weekend. He played Ernie Bishop, the friendly taxi driver in Frank Capra
's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life
. Faylen's career also stretched to television, playing long-suffering grocer Herbert T. Gillis on the 1950s television sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
. In 1968 he had a small part in the Barbra Streisand
film Funny Girl
. Faylen appeared in almost 200 films. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
, but not on the St. Louis Walk of Fame
.
in 1985. He was interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery
in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California
. His two daughters, Catherine "Kay" and Carol, have both been actresses. Kay was Regis Philbin
's first wife.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
movie and television actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Born Frank Ruf in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, he began his acting career as an infant appearing with his vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
performing parents on stage. After traveling with his showbiz parents through his childhood, Faylen became a stage actor at 18, and eventually began working in movies in the 1930s. He began playing a number of unmemorable bit parts for Warner Brothers, then freelanced for other studios in gradually larger character roles. He appears as Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's musical conductor in The Reluctant Dragon
The Reluctant Dragon
The Reluctant Dragon is an 1898 children's story by Kenneth Grahame , which served as the key element to the 1941 feature film with the same name from Walt Disney Productions. The story has also been set to music as a children's operetta by John Rutter, with words by David Grant...
, and as a stern railroad official in the Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
comedy A-Haunting We Will Go. Faylen and L & H supporting player Charlie Hall were teamed briefly by Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures
Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...
.
Faylen's breakthrough came in 1945, where he was cast as Bim, the cynical male nurse at Bellevue
Bellevue Hospital Center
Bellevue Hospital Center, most often referred to as "Bellevue", was founded on March 31, 1736 and is the oldest public hospital in the United States. Located on First Avenue in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, Bellevue is famous from many literary, film and television...
's alcoholic ward in The Lost Weekend. He played Ernie Bishop, the friendly taxi driver in Frank Capra
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
. Faylen's career also stretched to television, playing long-suffering grocer Herbert T. Gillis on the 1950s television sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1959 to 1963. The series and some episode scripts were adapted from a 1951 collection of short stories of the same name, written by Max Shulman, that also inspired the 1953 film The Affairs of Dobie Gillis with Debbie...
. In 1968 he had a small part in the Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
film Funny Girl
Funny Girl (film)
Funny Girl is a 1968 romantic musical film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Isobel Lennart was adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title...
. Faylen appeared in almost 200 films. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
, but not on the St. Louis Walk of Fame
St. Louis Walk of Fame
The St. Louis Walk of Fame honors well-known people from St. Louis, Missouri, who made contributions to culture of the United States. All inductees were either born in the Greater St. Louis area or spent their formative or creative years there...
.
Personal life
Faylen was married to Carol Hughes, an actress. He died from pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in 1985. He was interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery
San Fernando Mission Cemetery
The San Fernando Mission Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery located at 11160 Stranwood Avenue in the Mission Hills community of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, near the San Fernando Mission....
in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California
Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California
Mission Hills is a suburban community in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California.It is located near the northern junction of the Golden State Freeway and the San Diego Freeway . The Ronald Reagan Freeway bisects the neighborhood. Mission Hills is the northern...
. His two daughters, Catherine "Kay" and Carol, have both been actresses. Kay was Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
's first wife.
Selected filmography
- The Case of the Stuttering BishopThe Case of the Stuttering BishopThe Case of the Stuttering Bishop is a 1937 drama film directed by William Clemens. It stars Donald Woods as Perry Mason, and Ann Dvorak as his secretary. Edward McWade plays the role of stuttering Bishop William Mallory...
(1937) - The Invisible MenaceThe Invisible MenaceThe Invisible Menace is a 1938 mystery film directed by John Farrow and starring Boris Karloff.-Cast:* Boris Karloff - Mr. Jevries, aka Dolman* Marie Wilson - Sally Wilson Pratt* Eddie Craven - Pvt. Eddie Pratt* Regis Toomey - Lt. Matthews...
(1938) - Sergeant YorkSergeant YorkSergeant York is a 1941 biographical film about the life of Alvin York, the most-decorated American soldier of World War I. It was directed by Howard Hawks and was the highest-grossing film of the year....
(1941) - Come Live with MeCome Live with MeCome Live with Me is a 1941 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer romantic comedy film starring James Stewart and Hedy Lamarr, directed by Clarence Brown.-Plot:...
(1941) - Father Steps OutFather Steps Out (1941 film)Father Steps Out is a 1941 American comedy film directed by Jean Yarbrough and starring Frank Albertson, Jed Prouty, Lorna Gray and Frank Faylen. It was a remake of the 1934 film City Limits.-Cast:* Frank Albertson - Jimmy Dugan...
(1941) - Yankee Doodle DandyYankee Doodle DandyYankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owns Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, George Tobias, Rosemary DeCamp and Jeanne Cagney.The movie was written by...
(1942) - A-Haunting We Will Go (1942)
- Nazty NuisanceNazty NuisanceNazty Nuisance is a 1943 American film directed by Glenn Tryon. The film is also known as Double Crossed Fool and The Last Three...
(1943) - Address UnknownAddress Unknown (1944 film)Address Unknown is a drama film directed by William Cameron Menzies based on Kathrine Taylor's novel Address Unknown . The film tells the story of two families caught up in the rise of Nazism in Germany prior to the start of World War II....
(1944) - The Canterville GhostThe Canterville Ghost"The Canterville Ghost" is a popular short story by Oscar Wilde, widely adapted for the screen and stage. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in the magazine The Court and Society Review in February 1887. It was later included in a collection of short stories entitled...
(1944) - The Lost Weekend (1945)
- Blue SkiesBlue Skies-Albums:*Blue Skies *Blue Skies *Blue Skies *Blue Skies -Songs:*"Blue Skies" , a much-recorded song by Irving Berlin...
(1946) - It's a Wonderful LifeIt's a Wonderful LifeIt's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
(1946) - The Blue DahliaThe Blue DahliaThe Blue Dahlia is a 1946 film noir, directed by George Marshall and written by Raymond Chandler. The film marks the third pairing of stars Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.-Plot:...
(1946) - The Perils of PaulineThe Perils of Pauline (1947 film)The Perils of Pauline is a 1947 American film directed by George Marshall and released by Paramount Pictures. The movie is a fictionalized Hollywood account of silent film star Pearl White's rise to fame, starring Betty Hutton as White....
(1947) - Road to RioRoad to RioRoad to Rio is a 1947 comedy film, directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bing Crosby as Scat Sweeney, Bob Hope as "Hot Lips" Barton, and Dorothy Lamour as Lucia Maria de Andrade. It was the fifth of the "Road to …" series.-Plot:...
(1947) - Blood on the MoonBlood on the MoonBlood on the Moon is an RKO black-and-white "psychological" western directed by Robert Wise with cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca. The film, starring Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Robert Preston has many film noir elements. It was shot in California and some of the more scenic shots...
(1948) - Whispering SmithWhispering SmithWhispering Smith is a 1948 western film starring Alan Ladd as a railroad detective assigned to stop a gang of train robbers.It is based on a novel by Frank H. Spearman and a previous 1926 film adaptation starring H.B...
(1948) - Convicted (1950)
- Fourteen HoursFourteen HoursFourteen Hours is a 1951 drama film directed by Henry Hathaway, which tells the story of a New York police officer trying to stop a despondent man from jumping to his death from the fifteenth floor of a hotel....
(1951) - Detective Story (1951)
- My Favorite SpyMy Favorite SpyMy Favorite Spy is a 1951 comedy film starring Bob Hope and Hedy Lamarr. The movie was directed by Norman Z. McLeod.-Cast:*Bob Hope as Peanuts White/Eric Augustine*Hedy Lamarr as Lily Dalbray*Francis L...
(1951) - The Sniper (1952)
- Hangman's KnotHangman's KnotHangman's Knot is a 1952 western movie written and directed by Roy Huggins and starring Randolph Scott and Donna Reed.-Plot:Matt Stewart leads an ambush and robbery of a military gold train. It is 1865 in Nevada and Major Stewart's band is a unit of Rebels...
(1952) - The Lusty Men (1952)
- 99 River Street99 River Street99 River Street is a 1953 film noir, starring John Payne, Evelyn Keyes, Brad Dexter, Frank Faylen, and Peggie Castle.The film was directed by Phil Karlson, produced by Edward Small, with cinematography by Franz Planer.-Plot:...
(1953) - Red GartersRed Garters (film)Red Garters is a 1954 film starring Rosemary Clooney, Guy Mitchell, and Jack Carson. It was a musical spoof of Westerns. The director was George Marshall....
(1954) - 7th Cavalry7th Cavalry (film)7th Cavalry is a 1956 Technicolor American Western film directed by Joseph H. Lewis based on a story by Glendon Swarthout set after the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It starred Randolph Scott and was filmed in Mexico.-Plot:...
(1956) - Gunfight at the O.K. CorralGunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957 film)The film was based on a real event which took place on October 26, 1881. It was directed by John Sturges and featuring a screenplay written by novelist Leon Uris, and the movie's supporting cast included Rhonda Fleming, John Ireland, Jo Van Fleet, Martin Milner, Dennis Hopper, Jack Elam, Lee Van...
(1957) - When the Boys Meet the GirlsWhen the Boys Meet the GirlsWhen the Boys Meet the Girls is a 1965 American musical film, directed by Alvin Ganzer and starring Connie Francis and Harve Presnell. Guy Bolton and Jack McGowan were both uncredited in their roles as the writers for the play the film is based on.-Cast:...
(1965) - Funny GirlFunny Girl (film)Funny Girl is a 1968 romantic musical film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Isobel Lennart was adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title...
(1968)