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