William Demarest
Acting
🎂 1892-02-27
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).
Cast credits(167)
Self
1962
Jeb Gaine (credit only)
1957
Senator Burnside
1951
Self
1961
Charlie Who
1963
Mr. Aimes
1961
Enos Milford
1959
Angus Tweedy
1959
Mr. Hennessey
1957
Joe Britt
1959
Ulysses Bowman
1959
Paul Keller
1963
1961
1954
Cyrus McFee
1971
Andy Kenesaw
1971
1962
Charley O'Casey
1960
Alexander 'Pop' Denny
1975
Tom Akins
1955
Mr. Hummel (archive footage)
1954
William Harris
1959
Police Chief Aloysius
1963
Self
1963
Bill Griffith
1939
Mr. MacDougall
1965
Buster Billings (uncredited)
1927
William Demarest
1943
Muggsy
1941
George 'Mac' McGuire
1947
Mr. Martin
1964
Movie Studio Gateman
1960
Mr. Jones
1941
Sgt. Gass
1955
Constable Tom Thorpe
1940
Charlie O'Casey (archive footage)
1999
First Detective
1941
First Member Ale and Quail Club
1942
Mr. Hummel
1963
Constable Edmund Kockenlocker
1944
Floyd
1948
Studio Gatekeeper
1976
Mr. Harris
1973
Campbell
1953
Gene Buck (uncredited)
1936
Wallace Whistling
1937
Herman Kluggs
1950
Barker
1947
Sgt. Heppelfinger
1944
Pa Higgins
1953
George Fury
1945
Father Belacchi
1956
Desmond Slocum
1961
Brandt
1944
Bill Dansing
1948
Lt. Shawn
1948
Brinker
1934
Mr. Bildocker
1940
Sunshine
1942
Detective Gatling
1943
Mago
1955
'Smiles' Benson
1936
Dan Bianco
1955
Happy
1950
Police Sgt. Ernest Heath
1939
Swallow
1940
Flower Pot Policeman
1942
'Red' Maguire
1935
Sam Dunne
1955
John
1955
Harry Fabian
1942
Mr. Beecher
1937
Corporal Kiper
1952
Uncle Jake
1943
Brand Comfort
1956
Jackpot Wray
1954
Harry Kipper
1938
Henry Hecht
1961
Skeeters - The Politician
1940
Detective Dibbin
1927
Regret
1949
Spike Smith
1934
Harry Hill
1935
Steve Martin
1946
'Hi Jack' Murdock
1928
Army Coach
1937
Man in Bombay (uncredited)
1928
Papa Doran
1941
Regi's Date Natty (uncredited)
1935
O'Ryan
1951
Fluff
1951
Editor
1936
Quinn
1939
George Lamont
1927
Inspector Pierson
1941
Sgt. Butts
1942
Dennis Logan
1953
Eben Frost
1944
Vern Tewilliger
1948
Auctioneer (uncredited)
1935
Police Officer
1942
Charlie Baxter
1949
Jeb
1961
Sergeant Kirby
1937
Charles Madden
1955
Red Miller
1938
Steve Martin
1949
Sergeant Kelly
1936
Barney 'Gimpy' Cole
1939
William Demarest
1945
Detective Kendall
1942
Charles Dole
1939
Police Detective (uncredited)
1935
Self (archive footage)
1997
Droopy
1936
Chuck Gibson
1945
Cuffs Egan
1927
Bartender Barney
1941
Mears
1950
Detective
1935
Bill, the Security Guard
1945
Peanuts Schultz
1946
Radio Center Tour Guide
1937
Smitty
1945
Victor Walsh
1940
Jack McLure
1928
Parole Officer
1937
Briggs
1928
1927
Father Gurkin
1975
Harvey Jones
1953
McKenzie
1942
Arnold
1939
Harvey Bullitt
1951
Man About Town
1927
The Village Cut-Up
1927
Oscar Pugh
1978
Rusty Walker
1939
Monsignor Michael Carey
1951
Daro
1938
Larry 'Horace' Tucker
1937
Walter Cummings
1944
Roberts
1935
Syd Jessup
1952
Joe, Diner Owner
1938
Steve Rogers
1934
Paul Sears
1937
Police Lt. Eckhardt
1938
Gutsy Mann
1940
Collins
1938
Marty Short
1937
Stogie McPhee
1941
Mike Brady
1941
Train Engine Fireman
1927
Mr. Beatty
1937
Willoughby Sproggs
1937
Bill Ennis
1940
Ray Valerian
1927
Bob Sears
1950
James, the chauffeur
1927
'Terrible Bill' McGovern
1928
Detective
1927
The Heir
1930
Mr. Fixit
1927
Louie
1928
Defense Counsel
1927
John Gilroy
1927