Name: Douglass Dumbrille
Date of Birth: 13 October 1889 Distinguished character villain Douglass (R.) Dumbrille, whose distinctive stern features, beady eyes, tidy mustache, prominent hook nose and suave, cultivated presence graced scores of talking films, was born on October 13, 1889, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was first employed as a bank clerk in his native town but found an expressed desire for stage acting at the same time. He subsequently left his position to pursue work in various stock companies in the States. After appearing in a prod... uction of "Rain" in 1923, Dumbrille made his Broadway debut in 1924 as Banquo in "Macbeth" at the 48th Street Theatre. Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s he was a moderate fixture on the Great White Way appearing in dramas ("The Call of Life" (1925) with 'Eva Le Gallienne' (qv), "Chinese O'Neill" (1929), "As You Desire Me" (1931)), romantic comedies ("Joseph" (1930), "Child of Manhattan" (1932)), and musical operettas ("Princess Flavia" (1925), "Princess Charming" (1930)). He also appeared in 'Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.' (qv)'s 1928 musical production of "The Three Musketeers" portraying Athos alongside 'Dennis King (I)' (qv)'s D'Artagnan, with 'Rudolf Friml' (qv) providing the music. A decade later he portrayed Athos once again, this time in a film version of _The Three Musketeers (1939)_ (qv). On the silent screen he portrayed Thomas Jefferson in the short historical film _The Declaration of Independence (1924)_ (qv), but did not return to film until 1931 where he began unleashing a number of sneering, oily villains on the viewing public. His first film job was to harass sea captain 'Gary Cooper (I)' (qv) in _His Woman (1931)_ (qv). From there he proved a slick nemesis to a number of stars, both male and female: 'Marion Davies' (qv) with his leering moneybags in _Blondie of the Follies (1932)_ (qv); 'Pat O'Brien (I)' (qv) with his cruel-minded chain gang warden in _Laughter in Hell (1933)_ (qv); 'Barbara Stanwyck' (qv) as her unctuous love patsy in _Baby Face (1933)_ (qv); 'James Cagney' (qv) as gangster Spade Maddock in _Lady Killer (1933)_ (qv); 'Warner Baxter' (qv) and 'Myrna Loy' (qv) as a mobster involved in horse race fixing in _Broadway Bill (1934)_ (qv), and, most notoriously, 'Gary Cooper (I)' (qv) and 'Franchot Tone (I)' (qv), both of whom he induces fingernail torture ("We have ways of making men talk!") as the sinister, turban-wearing rebel leader Mohammed Khan in _The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)_ (qv). Dumbrille was also a great pompous foil in comedy slapstick - harassing everybody from the Marx Brothers and Abbott and Costello to 'Bob Hope (I)' (qv). He returned to the musical operetta fold as well on film and played a nuisance to 'Jeanette MacDonald' (qv) in three of her films. Seen everywhere, both billed and unbilled, he played sheriffs who went bad in westerns, typical red-herring suspects or victims who deserved their fate in murder mysteries, and corrupters of the legal system in political dramas. The man everybody loved to hate on film softened his image a bit with old age, playing a number of non-plussed executive or officious types in films and TV comedy. Finding a stream of TV work in the 50s and early 60s (including "The Burns & Allen Show," "The Untouchables," "Perry Mason," "Laramie," "Petticoat Junction"), Dumbrille's final role was at age 76 as a doctor in a TV episode of "Batman" in 1966. After the death of his long-time first wife, Jessie Lawson, in 1957, with whom he had two sons, John and Douglas Murray, Dumbrille had more than a few Hollywood tongues wagging when, at age 70, he married Patricia Mowbray, the 28-year-old daughter of his good friend, character actor 'Alan Mowbray' (qv). The marriage was a lasting one, however, and she was among his survivors when he passed away several years later from a heart attack on April 2, 1974. Dumbrille was buried at Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California.Read more Douglass Dumbrille movies (actor)User Comments |
