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William Frawley is a Actor, Director and Scriptwriter American born on 25 february 1887 at Burlington (USA)

William Frawley

William Frawley
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Birth name William Clement Frawley
Nationality USA
Birth 25 february 1887 at Burlington (USA)
Death 3 march 1966 (at 79 years) at Hollywood (USA)

William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American stage entertainer, screen and television actor. Although Frawley appeared in over 100 films, he is best known for his television work, playing landlord Fred Mertz in the long-running situation comedy I Love Lucy and "Bub" in another TV comedy series, My Three Sons.

Biography

In 1914, Frawley married fellow vaudevillian Edna Louise Broedt (1893–1992). They developed an act, "Frawley and Louise", which they performed all across the country. Their act was described as "light comedy, with singing, dancing, and patter." The couple separated in 1921 (later divorcing in 1927). They did not have any children.

His brother Paul Frawley (1889-1973) also was an actor on Broadway with relatively fewer appearances in motion pictures.

Best films

Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
(Actor)

Usually with

Hans Dreier
Hans Dreier
(16 films)
John Wayne
John Wayne
(2 films)
Irving Bacon
Irving Bacon
(9 films)
Jack Norton
Jack Norton
(7 films)
Joseph Crehan
Joseph Crehan
(9 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of William Frawley (100 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Safe at Home!, 1h24
Directed by Walter Doniger
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy
Themes Sports films, Baseball films
Actors William Frawley, Patricia Barry, Don Collier, Flip Mark
Roles Bill Turner
Rating54% 2.709232.709232.709232.709232.70923
I Love Lucy: The Movie, 1h21
Directed by Edward Sedgwick, Marc Daniels
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley, Ann Doran, Mary Wickes
Roles Fred Mertz
Rating82% 4.1186654.1186654.1186654.1186654.118665
The film plays out with three first-season episodes edited together into a single story: "The Benefit", "Breaking the Lease", and "The Ballet", with new footage included between episodes to help transition the episodes into one coherent storyline. As the series routinely took the format of filming scenes in chronological order, this adds to the "show within a show within a show" format of the film, as viewers watch the cast perform the episodes live. The film itself ends with a "curtain call", as the cast comes out and Arnaz thanks the audience for their support.
Rancho Notorious, 1h29
Directed by Fritz Lang
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Western
Actors Marlene Dietrich, John Arthur Kennedy, Mel Ferrer, George Reeves, Gloria Henry, William Frawley
Roles Baldy Gunder
Rating68% 3.4457653.4457653.4457653.4457653.445765
Wyoming ranch hand Vern Haskell is enraged when his fiancee Beth Forbes is abused and murdered during a store robbery. He sets out after the two thieves, first with a posse, then by himself. He finds one of them, Whitey, shot in the back by his partner after a quarrel. Whitey's dying words, "Chuck-a-luck", are the only clue to the second man's identity.
The Lemon Drop Kid, 1h31
Directed by Sidney Lanfield, Frank Tashlin
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romantic comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Christmas films
Actors Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell, Ann Sheridan, Lloyd Nolan, Jane Darwell, Andrea King
Roles Gloomy Willie
Rating69% 3.495983.495983.495983.495983.49598
The Lemon Drop Kid (Bob Hope), a New York City swindler, is illegally touting horses at a Florida racetrack. The Kid touts across a beautiful woman intending to bet $2,000 on a horse named Iron Bar. Rigging a con, the Kid convinces her to switch her bet, but learns that she was betting for boyfriend and notorious gangster Moose Moran (Fred Clark). When the horse finishes dead last, a furious Moran demands the Kid pay him $10,000 (the amount he would have won) by Christmas Eve, or the Kid "won't make it to New Year's."
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, 1h20
Directed by Charles Lamont
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Horror comedy, Horror, Crime
Themes Films based on science fiction novels, Comedy science fiction films, Comedy horror films, Buddy films
Actors Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Nancy Guild, Arthur Franz, Adele Jergens, Sheldon Leonard
Roles Det. Roberts
Rating65% 3.2977653.2977653.2977653.2977653.297765
Lou Francis (Lou Costello) and Bud Alexander (Bud Abbott) have just graduated from a private detective school. Tommy Nelson (Arthur Franz), a middleweight boxer, comes to them with their first case. Tommy recently escaped from jail after being accused of murdering his manager, and asks the duo to accompany him on a visit to his fiancée, Helen Gray (Nancy Guild). He wants her uncle, Dr. Philip Gray (Gavin Muir), to inject him with a special serum he has developed which will render Tommy invisible, and hopes to use the newfound invisibility to investigate his manager's murder and prove his innocence. Dr. Gray adamantly refuses, arguing that the serum is still unstable, recalling that the formula's discoverer John Griffin was driven insane by the formula and did not become visible again until after he was killed. However, as the police arrive Tommy injects himself with it and successfully becomes invisible. Detective Roberts (William Frawley) questions Dr. Gray and Helen while Bud and Lou search for Tommy.
Rhubarb
Rhubarb (1951)
, 1h34
Directed by Arthur Lubin
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Films about animals, Sports films, Baseball films, Films about cats, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Ray Milland, Orangey, Jan Sterling, William Frawley, Gene Lockhart, Willard Waterman
Roles Len Sickles
Rating67% 3.391063.391063.391063.391063.39106
Thaddeus J. Banner (Gene Lockhart), a lonely, eccentric millionaire who owns a baseball team, the Brooklyn Loons, takes a liking to a dog-chasing stray cat (played by Orangey), and takes him into his home. He names the cat "Rhubarb," which is baseball slang for an on-field argument or fight.
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, 1h42
Directed by Gordon Douglas
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Mob film, Action, Noir, Crime
Themes Gangster films
Actors James Cagney, Barbara Payton, Helena Carter, Ward Bond, Luther Adler, Barton MacLane
Roles Byers
Rating70% 3.543993.543993.543993.543993.54399
Ralph Cotter is a career criminal who escapes from prison, then murders his partner-in-crime. Along the way he attempts to woo his ex-partner's sister (Barbara Payton) by threatening to expose her role in his escape.
Kill the Umpire, 1h18
Directed by Lloyd Bacon
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Sports films, Baseball films
Actors William Bendix, Una Merkel, Ray Collins, Gloria Henry, William Frawley, Jeff Richards
Roles Jimmy O'Brien
Rating62% 3.147443.147443.147443.147443.14744
Bill Johnson is a former baseball player whose fanatical devotion to the game has cost him several jobs. He remains steadfast in one thing: he hates umpires. Matters are complicated by the fact that his father-in-law Evans (Ray Collins) is a retired umpire.
Pretty Baby
Directed by Bretaigne Windust
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy
Actors Dennis Morgan, Betsy Drake, Zachary Scott, Edmund Gwenn, William Frawley, Sheila MacRae
Roles Corcoran
Rating64% 3.2433.2433.2433.2433.243
Patsy Douglas (Betsy Drake) comes up with an ingenious way to get a seat on the crowded New York subway: she pretends to have a baby, using a doll discarded by the advertising agency where she works. One day, however, her agency's primary client, short-tempered Cyrus Baxter (Edmund Gwenn), happens to be seated beside her. (His chauffeur had abruptly quit after Baxter berated him for getting stuck in a traffic jam.) He is delighted when he overhears that she named her "child" Cyrus after him. He becomes acquainted with her, letting her assume that he works for Baxter as a watchman.
East Side, West Side, 1h48
Directed by Mervyn LeRoy
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality
Actors Barbara Stanwyck, James Mason, Van Heflin, Ava Gardner, Cyd Charisse, Gale Sondergaard
Roles Bill the Bartender
Rating68% 3.4475153.4475153.4475153.4475153.447515
Just after World War II, socialite Jessie Bourne (Barbara Stanwyck) is home alone one night in her Gramercy Park apartment on New York’s East Side when she receives a mysterious hang-up phone call. Her wealthy playboy husband Brandon (James Mason) is out enjoying himself at the Del Rio night club where young model Rosa Senta (Cyd Charisse)–-who has seen and admired Jessie, who has been a customer at the dress salon where she works-–admonishes Brandon for going out alone. Brandon tries to mollify Rosa but is cut short when Brandon’s former mistress, gold-digging Isabel Lorrison (Ava Gardner), walks in. She has returned from Paris intent on rekindling the romance; but he rebuffs her, professing faithfulness to his wife. An argument ensues in which Isabel's date, wealthy Alec Dawning (Douglas Kennedy), who knows Brandon's reputation, knocks him unconscious. Brandon is rescued by Rosa, who takes him to her home to recover.
Chicken Every Sunday, 1h34
Directed by George Seaton
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Films based on plays, Children's films
Actors Dan Dailey, Celeste Holm, Alan Young, Colleen Townsend, Natalie Wood, William Frawley
Roles George Kirby
Rating63% 3.1926153.1926153.1926153.1926153.192615
In Tucson, Arizona in 1910, Emily Hefferen visits attorney Robert Hart to file for divorce from her husband Jim, citing his lack of support as grounds. When Hart expresses surprise, given the local hotel, laundry, and dairy bear the Heffernen name, suggesting the family is wealthy, Emily describes her family life for the past twenty years.
The Lady Takes a Sailor, 1h39
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romance
Actors Jane Wyman, Eve Arden, Dennis Morgan, Robert Douglas, Allyn Joslyn, Jack Lemmon
Roles Oliver Harker
Rating58% 2.948642.948642.948642.948642.94864
Trustworthy head of the Buyer's Research Institute, Jennifer Smith (Jane Wyman), is in need of additional funding to keep the institute running. It turns out the Tyson Institute is prepared to offer her the funds, and Jennifer can exhale. She celebrates the success with her friend and business partner Susan Wayne (Eve Arden), with whom she runs a cosmetics company, by going to Susan's beautiful beach house on Long Island. When Jennifer is out sailing, a storm hits before she can return to shore, and her boat is flipped up-side down by an underwater vehicle, operated by a man who goes by the name of Davy Jones (Dennis Morgan). Davy claims to be a zoologist, studying the wildlife under the sea surface, and he reluctantly rescues Jennifer by taking her aboard his vehicle. Jennifer suspects that the man isn't who he says he is, since he doesn't seem to know the first thing about marine life. Davy finally agrees to put Jennifer ashore, but after he has given her sleeping pills. Once the storm has ended, Davy drops her body on the beach, where she is found by Susan and the Coast Guard, who have been searching for her like crazy. Susan thinks Jennifer has dreamt her encounter with Davy, and dismisses her story about the underwater vehicle. Jennifer tries to prove she isn't crazy, pulling up the pictures of the vehicle from her camera, but the film seems to be missing. The word of Jennifer's story and probable insanity reaches the Tyson Institute, and they withdraw their offer of funding. Outraged, Jennifer decides to prove them wrong and that Davy and the underwater vehicle really exists. She goes on a search for Davy to restore her credibility and get the funds she has been promised.
Red Light
Red Light (1949)
, 1h23
Directed by Robert Aldrich, Roy Del Ruth, D. Ross Lederman
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime
Actors George Raft, Virginia Mayo, Gene Lockhart, Raymond Burr, Harry Morgan, Barton MacLane
Roles Hotel Night Clerk
Rating62% 3.143733.143733.143733.143733.14373
Bookkeeper Nick Cherney is sent to jail for embezzling from Johnny Torno's trucking company. In a California prison, he sees a newsreel showing Johnny welcoming home his brother Jess, a heroic Catholic chaplain just returned from a World War II prisoner-of-war camp. Just before his release four years later (and to give himself a clever alibi), Nick hires Rocky, an inmate who has just finished his sentence, to murder Jess.
The Lone Wolf and His Lady, 1h
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors Ron Randell, June Vincent, Alan Mowbray, William Frawley, Douglass Dumbrille, Steven Geray
Roles Inspector Crane
Rating54% 2.7194352.7194352.7194352.7194352.719435
The much-valued Tahara diamond is looted during its opening showcase. A suspicious Inspector Crane (William Frawley) suspects reformed jewel thief and current detective Michael Lanyard (Ron Randell), or the Lone Wolf, to be the perpetrator and promptly arrests him. In actuality, the true masterminds are Steve Taylor (Robert H. Barrat) and Joe Brewster (Philip van Zandt).
The Babe Ruth Story, 1h46
Directed by Roy Del Ruth
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography
Themes Sports films, Baseball films
Actors William Bendix, Claire Trevor, Charles Bickford, William Frawley, Sam Levene, Robert Ellis
Roles Jack Dunn
Rating52% 2.606352.606352.606352.606352.60635
The movie begins in 1906 at the Baltimore Waterfront, where 11-year-old George Herman Ruth, Jr. is taken away by Brother Matthias from George's abusive father to St. Mary's. When George is 18, his incredible baseball talent gets him hired to play for the Baltimore Orioles, and during the interview, he gets his "Babe" nickname. Babe becomes a successful baseball player, and is soon sold off to play for the Boston Red Sox. After a bad game, Babe wonders what went wrong at a bar, until he is helped by Claire Hogsdon that when he pitches he sticks out his tongue. He continues his success, landing a new $100,000 contract; he finds Claire, but she gives him the cold shoulder. During one game, Denny, a sick paralyzed child, watches with his father Babe Ruth play; when Babe says "hiya kid" to the kid, he miraculously "uncripples" and gets up. Babe soon becomes a player for the New York Yankees; during one game, he accidentally hurts a dog, and decides to take the dog and the little kid owner to the hospital. After arguing with the doctors that a dog is the same as a human, the dog is healed; but because Babe left a game to do this, he gets suspended from the Yankees. A depressed Babe Ruth finds himself at a bar, and amidst the crowd giving off negative vibes, he starts a fight and gets arrested. Soon, he decides to play Santa Claus at a Children's Hospital, where he runs into Claire again, visiting her nephew. She tells him that his actions affect the children of America, and Babe decides to keep that in mind. Miller Huggins, the same man who suspended Babe, fights to bring him back to the Yankees as the team has had a bad season. Babe is soon brought back, and the team wins the World Series thanks to him; with this, he and Claire get married, but soon after, Huggins dies from pyaemia. During Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, Babe gets a call from the father of a dying child, and promises him that when he goes off to bat, he will call the third shot and the ball will land at a certain spot; all of this will be for the boy. During the game, Babe does exactly that, and the boy hears the news and starts to get better. Babe retires from the Yankees at the age of 41, and takes a management position with the Boston Braves, even though they want him to play in the games despite his age. During one game, Babe gets stressed out and can't continue playing, and retires from baseball after that game. Sadly, this means he goes off contract by retiring during his time with the Braves, and is fired from anything related to baseball. Later, Babe complains of neck pain, and soon learns that he is dying of throat cancer. The news of this leads fans to send letters telling Babe that they care. The doctors decide to try a treatment on Babe with a chance that he'll survive; as Babe is taken to surgery, the narrator give words of encouragement to baseball fans, crediting Babe Ruth for America's love of the sport.