William Edmunds (actor)
Encyclopedia
William Edmunds was a stage and screen character actor, typically playing roles with heavy accents (generally Italian, Spanish, and French). Born as Guillermo Bocconcini in Italy
, he immigrated to the United States and was a New York City
based actor, receiving his first credited role in the Bob Hope
film Going Spanish
(1934). He relocated to Hollywood in 1938 and had bit parts in films such as Idiot's Delight (1939), and larger roles such as House of Frankenstein
(1944, as gypsy leader Fejos), Bob Hope's Where There's Life
(1947, as King Hubertus II) and Double Dynamite
(1951, as Groucho Marx
's long-suffering boss). His many short subject appearances include a few stints as Robert "Mickey" Blake's
father in the Our Gang
series. He has a brief appearance in Casablanca
(1942) where in Rick’s Café he gives instructions to a man seeking illegal passage out of Casablanca.
Edmunds was cast with Jimmy Stewart in three films, The Mortal Storm
, The Shop Around the Corner
(1940), and perhaps his signature role as Giuseppe Martini, the bar proprietor in It’s a Wonderful Life. He had other notable parts in For Whom the Bell Tolls
(1943), The Three Musketeers
(1948), and The Caddy
(1953), a Dean Martin
and Jerry Lewis
comedy. Edmunds received top billing in the 1951 TV situation comedy Actors' Hotel.
He acted on Broadway in such plays as The New York Story and Follies, which he left to be in It’s a Wonderful Life. Additional stage credits include Salt Water (1929–1930), Saluta (1934), Moon Over Mulberry Street (1935–1936), and Siege (1937).
Edmunds died in Los Angeles
, California
, at age 95. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, he immigrated to the United States and was a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
based actor, receiving his first credited role in the Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
film Going Spanish
Going Spanish
Going Spanish is a American short comedy film featuring the film debut of Bob Hope and directed by Al Christie. The short comedy co-stars Leah Ray and Jules Epailly...
(1934). He relocated to Hollywood in 1938 and had bit parts in films such as Idiot's Delight (1939), and larger roles such as House of Frankenstein
House of Frankenstein (1944 film)
House of Frankenstein is an American monster horror film produced in 1944 by Universal Studios as a sequel to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man the previous year. This monster rally approach would continue in the following film, House of Dracula, as well as the 1948 comedy Abbott and Costello Meet...
(1944, as gypsy leader Fejos), Bob Hope's Where There's Life
Where There's Life
Where There's Life is a 1947 comedy film. The film's title derives from a line in Don Quixote .-Plot:...
(1947, as King Hubertus II) and Double Dynamite
Double Dynamite
Double Dynamite is a 1951 musical comedy film featuring Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, and Frank Sinatra. The film was written by Leo Rosten, Mel Shavelson, Mannie Manheim, and Harry Crane, and directed by Irving Cummings....
(1951, as Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
's long-suffering boss). His many short subject appearances include a few stints as Robert "Mickey" Blake's
Robert Blake (actor)
Robert Blake is an American actor who starred in the film In Cold Blood and the U.S. television series Baretta. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted for the 2001 murder of his wife, but on November 18, 2005, Blake was found liable in a California civil court for her wrongful death.-Early...
father in the Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
series. He has a brief appearance in Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
(1942) where in Rick’s Café he gives instructions to a man seeking illegal passage out of Casablanca.
Edmunds was cast with Jimmy Stewart in three films, The Mortal Storm
The Mortal Storm
The Mortal Storm is a drama film from MGM starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart, and directed by Frank Borzage.-Production background:...
, The Shop Around the Corner
The Shop Around the Corner
-External links:* Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism, Issue 1, 2010...
(1940), and perhaps his signature role as Giuseppe Martini, the bar proprietor in It’s a Wonderful Life. He had other notable parts in For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls (film)
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 film in Technicolor based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. It stars Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff and Katina Paxinou. This was Ingrid Bergman's first technicolor film. Hemingway handpicked Cooper and Bergman for their roles. The film...
(1943), The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers (1948 film)
The Three Musketeers is a Technicolor adventure film adaptation of the classic novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père which starred Gene Kelly and Lana Turner...
(1948), and The Caddy
The Caddy
The Caddy is a 1953 American film starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. It was filmed from November 24, 1952 through February 23, 1953. It was released by Paramount Pictures on August 10, 1953...
(1953), a Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
and Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
comedy. Edmunds received top billing in the 1951 TV situation comedy Actors' Hotel.
He acted on Broadway in such plays as The New York Story and Follies, which he left to be in It’s a Wonderful Life. Additional stage credits include Salt Water (1929–1930), Saluta (1934), Moon Over Mulberry Street (1935–1936), and Siege (1937).
Edmunds died in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, at age 95. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.
Filmography
- 77 Sunset Strip77 Sunset Strip77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
(1 episode, 1959) - The CaddyThe CaddyThe Caddy is a 1953 American film starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. It was filmed from November 24, 1952 through February 23, 1953. It was released by Paramount Pictures on August 10, 1953...
(1953) - Double DynamiteDouble DynamiteDouble Dynamite is a 1951 musical comedy film featuring Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, and Frank Sinatra. The film was written by Leo Rosten, Mel Shavelson, Mannie Manheim, and Harry Crane, and directed by Irving Cummings....
(1951) - Actors Hotel (1951)
- The LawlessThe LawlessThe Lawless is a 1950 American drama film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Macdonald Carey, Gail Russell and Johnny Sands. A newspaper editor in California becomes concerned about the plight of the state's fruit pickers, mostly illegal immigrants from Mexico...
(1950) - Mr. Soft TouchMr. Soft TouchMr. Soft Touch is a 1949 film about a man on the run from the Mob. It stars Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes.-Plot:Polish American Joe Miracle returns from fighting in World War II, only to find his San Francisco nightclub under the control of the Mob, and his friend and partner Leo missing and...
(1949) - Ringside (1949)
- The Big SombreroThe Big Sombrero (film)- Cast :*Gene Autry as Gene Autry*Elena Verdugo as Estrellita Estrada*Stephen Dunne as Jimmy Garland*George J. Lewis as Juan Vazcaro*Vera Marshe as Angie Burke*William Edmunds as Don Luis Alvarado*Martin Garralaga as Felipe Gonzales*Gene Roth as Ben McBride...
(1949) - The Three MusketeersThe Three Musketeers (1948 film)The Three Musketeers is a Technicolor adventure film adaptation of the classic novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père which starred Gene Kelly and Lana Turner...
(1948) - Where There's LifeWhere There's LifeWhere There's Life is a 1947 comedy film. The film's title derives from a line in Don Quixote .-Plot:...
(1947) - The Lost MomentThe Lost MomentThe Lost Moment is a 1947 drama film made by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Martin Gabel and produced by Walter Wanger, from a screenplay by Leonardo Bercovici based on the novel The Aspern Papers by Henry James...
(1947) - The Man I LoveThe Man I Love (film)The Man I Love is a noir film made in 1947, based on the novel Night Shift by Maritta M. Wolff.-Plot:Visiting her two sisters and brother, singer Petey Brown lands a job at small-time-hood Nicky Toresca's nightclub...
(1947) - The Beast with Five FingersThe Beast with Five FingersThe Beast with Five Fingers is a horror film directed by Robert Florey and with a screenplay by Curt Siodmak, based on a short story by W. F. Harvey first published in the New Decameron. The original music score was composed by Max Steiner...
(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) - Swamp FireSwamp Fire- Cast :*Johnny Weissmuller as Johnny Duval*Virginia Grey as Janet Hilton*Buster Crabbe as Mike Kalavich*Carol Thurston as Toni Rousseau*Pedro de Cordoba as Tim Rousseau*Marcelle Corday as Grandmere Rousseau*William Edmunds as Emile Ledoux...
(1946) - Anna and the King of Siam (1946)
- A Bell for AdanoA Bell for AdanoA Bell for Adano is a film directed by Henry King starring John Hodiak and Gene Tierney. The film was adapted from the novel A Bell for Adano by John Hersey, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945. In his 1945 review of the film, Bosley Crowther wrote, "... this easily vulnerable picture, which came...
(1945) - Dangerous PassageDangerous Passage- Cast :*Robert Lowery as Joe Beck*Phyllis Brooks as Nita Paxton*Charles Arnt as Daniel Bergstrom*Jack La Rue as Mike Zomano*John Eldredge as Vaughn*Victor Kilian as Buck Harris, 1st Mate*Alec Craig as Dawson the Steward*William Edmunds as Captain Saul...
(1944) - House of FrankensteinHouse of Frankenstein (1944 film)House of Frankenstein is an American monster horror film produced in 1944 by Universal Studios as a sequel to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man the previous year. This monster rally approach would continue in the following film, House of Dracula, as well as the 1948 comedy Abbott and Costello Meet...
(1944) - The Climax (1944)
- Till We Meet Again (1944)
- There's Something About a Soldier (1943)
- For Whom the Bell TollsFor Whom the Bell Tolls (film)For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 film in Technicolor based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. It stars Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff and Katina Paxinou. This was Ingrid Bergman's first technicolor film. Hemingway handpicked Cooper and Bergman for their roles. The film...
(1943) - Assignment in Brittany (1943)
- CasablancaCasablanca (film)Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
(1942) - Berlin Correspondent (1942)
- The Pied PiperThe Pied Piper (1942 film)The Pied Piper is a 1942 film in which an Englishman on vacation in France is caught up in the German invasion of that country, and finds himself taking an ever-growing group of children to safety. It stars Monty Woolley, Roddy McDowall and Anne Baxter. The movie was adapted by Nunnally Johnson...
(1942) - The Big Shot (1942)
- The Wife Takes a FlyerThe Wife Takes a FlyerThe Wife Takes a Flyer is a 1942 romantic comedy film made by Columbia Pictures, directed by Richard Wallace, and starring by Joan Bennett and Franchot Tone. The screenplay was written by Jay Dratler, Gina Kaus and Harry Segall. The music score is by Werner R. Heymann.-External links:* at Allmovie...
(1942) - Paris CallingParis CallingParis Calling is a 1941 American war film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring Basil Rathbone, Randolph Scott, Elisabeth Bergner....
(1941) - Man at Large (1941)
- Barnacle BillBarnacle Bill (1941 film)Barnacle Bill is a 1941 feature film starring Wallace Beery and Marjorie Main. The screen comedy was directed by Richard Thorpe.-Cast:* Wallace Beery as Bill Johansen* Marjorie Main as Marge Cavendish* Leo Carillo as Pico Rodriguez...
(1941) - Knockout (1941)
- Baby BluesBaby Blues (1941 film)Baby Blues is a 1941 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Edward Cahn. It was the 196th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...
(1941) - Mr. & Mrs. SmithMr. & Mrs. Smith (1941 film)Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a 1941 screwball comedy film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by Norman Krasna, and starring Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery...
(1941) - The Mortal StormThe Mortal StormThe Mortal Storm is a drama film from MGM starring Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart, and directed by Frank Borzage.-Production background:...
(1940) - Know Your Money (1940)
- The Shop Around the CornerThe Shop Around the Corner-External links:* Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism, Issue 1, 2010...
(1940) - Fixer DuganFixer DuganFixer Dugan is a 1939 drama film starring Lee Tracy as a circus promoter who decides to help out an orphaned girl, played by Virginia Weidler. The film was directed by Lew Landers and is based on the play What's a Fixer For? by H.C...
(1939) - Idiot's Delight (1939)
- Going SpanishGoing SpanishGoing Spanish is a American short comedy film featuring the film debut of Bob Hope and directed by Al Christie. The short comedy co-stars Leah Ray and Jules Epailly...
(1934)
External links
- William Edmunds at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...