Frank Orth
Acting
🎂 1880-02-20
Frank Orth was an American actor born in Philadelphia. He is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Inspector Faraday in the 1951-1953 television series “Boston Blackie”. By 1897, Orth was performing in vaudeville with his wife, Ann Codee, in an act called “Codee and Orth.” In 1909, he expanded into song writing, with songs such as “The Phone Bell Rang” and “Meet Me on the Boardwalk, Dearie.” His first contact with motion pictures was in 1928, when he was part of the first foreign-language shorts in sound produced by Warner Bros. He and his wife also appeared together in a series of two-reel comedies in the early 1930s. Orth's first major screen credit was in “Prairie Thunder,” a Dick Foran western, in 1937. From then on, he was often cast as bartenders, pharmacists, and grocery clerks, and always distinctly Irish. He had a recurring role in the Dr. Kildare series of films and also in the Nancy Drew series as the befuddled Officer Tweedy. Among his better roles were the newspaper man Cary Grant telephones early in “His Girl Friday,” one of the quartet singing “Gary Owen” in “They Died with Their Boots On” (thereby giving Errol Flynn as Gen. Custer the idea of associating the tune with the 7th Cavalry), and as the little man carrying the sign reading “The End Is Near” throughout Colonel Effingham's Raid. However, Orth is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Inspector Faraday in the 1951-1953 television series “Boston Blackie.” A short, plump, round-faced man, often smoking a cigar, Orth as Faraday wore his own dark-rimmed spectacles, though rarely in feature films. In 1959, Orth retired from show business after throat surgery. His wife died in 1961 after around fifty years of marriage. Orth died on March 17, 1962. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills next to his wife.
Cast credits(122)
Uncle John
1952
1951
Hotel Clerk
1946
Captain Tweedy (uncredited)
1939
Mike Ryan, Sullivan's Hospital Cafe
1940
Duffy
1940
Mr. Frank Dingle
1950
Larry Kinkaid (uncredited)
1943
Drummer (uncredited)
1941
Barfly (uncredited)
1941
Opera Cloak Room Attendant
1945
Joe
1950
Higgins (uncredited)
1950
Chef in Diner (uncredited)
1939
Burt
1948
Mr. Hunter
1953
Barber
1940
Floyd Greer (Uncredited)
1946
Cemetery Caretaker
1941
Mike Sullivan
1939
Peters
1945
Bartender
1943
Secondhand Clothes Dealer (Rogers sequence)
1942
Loafer (uncredited)
1939
Joe Higgins - Night Watchman
1938
Mike Connelly, Vic's Agent
1947
Waiter at Fat Dutchy's (uncredited)
1940
Kellogg
1942
Convict in Bunkhouse (uncredited)
1937
Chronicle Editor (uncredited)
1946
Wallace 'Wally' Stoner
1949
Wedding Witness on Stage (uncredited)
1939
Mike Ryan, Cafe Owner
1940
Captain Joe Burke
1939
Hong Kong Bartender (uncredited)
1940
Smith (uncredited)
1944
Jerry
1941
Mr. Fellows
1939
Benny Zinsser
1939
Mike Sullivan - Hospital Cafe Owner (uncredited)
1939
Cafe Maitre d' at End (uncredited)
1944
Moody (process server)
1950
Mr. Kofer
1951
Conductor Brown
1947
Waiter (uncredited)
1952
Gordon (uncredited)
1937
Bar Client #2 (uncredited)
1942
Police Sergeant
1949
Newspaperman with Pills
1939
Counterman
1944
Mike Ryan (uncredited)
1940
Ordway
1944
Vic - Bartender (uncredited)
1939
Drugstore Proprieter
1940
Mr. Toby
1942
Detective
1940
Detective
1942
Mike Ryan (uncredited)
1938
Steve
1940
New York Editor (uncredited)
1940
Mr. Hungerford
1953
Detective Hendricks (uncredited)
1939
Auctioneer
1941
Messenger
1942
Rex Willet
1942
Mike Ryan
1942
Bickel (uncredited)
1942
Judge (uncredited)
1946
Clayfield Taxi Driver
1945
Brown, Clothing Store Owner
1938
Old Sailor in Bilge Area (uncredited)
1939
Henderson
1946
. Comic in Theater (uncredited)
1944
First Leopard (uncredited)
1938
Mike
1942
Mike Ryan
1941
Judge Barko
1937
Breezy Bradley
1947
Harris
1940
Lou, Cafe Proprietor
1941
Mike Ryan
1942
Hank Ford
1936
Newspaper Foreman (uncredited)
1940
Cocktail Waiter (uncredited)
1937
Captain Tweedy
1939
Skelly
1945
Window Washer
1940
Danny
1947
Dennis O'Brien
1940
Bar owner
1937
Tim McKelvy
1939
Cab Driver (uncredited)
1938
McGuiness
1942
Wichita
1937
Oscar Newsome
1948
Jim Jenks
1939
Taxi Driver
1943
Murgatroyd
1944
Dead Pan Charlie
1940
Tobacconist (uncredited)
1940
Mr. Philpotts
1948
Milkman
1946
Burlesque Theatre Manager (uncredited)
1937
Police Captain
1947
Porter (uncredited)
1935
Sheriff Frank Hinton
1938
Bartender
1943
Captain Tweedy
1938
Joe McGuire
1942
Soda Jerk
1940
Shorty Long
1937
Smith (uncredited)
1940
Franklin Johnson
1946
Tommy - Bartender
1936
Lou, Bartender at Sharkey's
1943
Jackson
1935
1930
Augustus T. Goodman
1945
Bert
1936
Peter Brennan
1941
Justice Abner Cuttler
1937
1929
