William Frawley
Acting
Biography
William Frawley was born in Burlington, Iowa. As a boy he sang at St. Paul's Catholic Church and played at the Burlington Opera House. His first job was as a stenographer for the Union Pacific Railroad. He did vaudeville with his brother Paul, then joined pianist Franz Rath in an act they took to San Francisco in 1910. Four years later he formed a light comedy act with his new wife Edna Louise Broedt, "Frawley and Louise", touring the Orpheum and Keith circuits until they divorced in 1927. He next moved to Broadway and then, in 1932, to Hollywood with Paramount. By 1951, when he contacted Lucille Ball about a part in her TV show I Love Lucy (1951), he had performed in over 100 films. His Fred Mertz role lasted until the show ended in 1960, after which he did a five-year stint on My Three Sons (1960). Poor health forced his retirement. He collapsed of a heart attack on March 3, 1966, aged 79, walking along Hollywood Boulevard after seeing a movie. He is buried in San Fernando Mission Cemetery.
Born: February 25, 1887
Place of Birth: Burlington, Iowa, USA
Known For
I Love Lucy Christmas Special
Celebrate the holidays with the I LOVE LUCY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, a new one-hour special featuring two back-to-back colorized classic episodes of the series. In "The Fashion Show," Lucy's lifelong dream of appearing in a motion picture seems to have come true when Ricky arranges for her to play a showgirl in a new musical. Unfortunately, the enormous feathered headdress she is expected to wear as she descends a staircase proves to be too cumbersome. After numerous mishaps on the stairs, the musical's frustrated director decides to make a change.
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour is a collection of thirteen one-hour specials airing occasionally from 1957 to 1960, and originally served as part of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse. Its original network title was The Ford Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show for the first season, and The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Presents The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show for the following seasons. It was the successor to the classic comedy, I Love Lucy, and featured the same major cast members. The production schedule avoided the grind of a regular weekly series. Desilu produced the show, which was mostly filmed at their Los Angeles studios with occasional on-location shoots at Lake Arrowhead, Las Vegas and Sun Valley, Idaho. CBS reran the show under the "Lucy-Desi" title during the summers of 1962-1967, after which it went into syndication.
I Love Lucy
Cuban Bandleader Ricky Ricardo would be happy if his wife Lucy would just be a housewife. Instead she tries constantly to perform at the Tropicana where he works, and make life comically frantic in the apartment building they share with landlords Fred and Ethel Mertz, who also happen to be their best friends.
Monsieur Verdoux
The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
Blondie in Society
Dagwood brings home a pedigreed Great Dane which an important company client wants and which Blondie enters in the big dog show.
I Love Lucy: The Movie
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.
Miracle on 34th Street
Kris Kringle, seemingly the embodiment of Santa Claus, is asked to portray the jolly old fellow at Macy's following his performance in the Thanksgiving Day parade. His portrayal is so complete that many begin to question if he truly is Santa Claus, while others question his sanity.
Gentleman Jim
As bare-knuckled boxing enters the modern era, brash extrovert Jim Corbett uses new rules and dazzlingly innovative footwork to rise to the top of the boxing world.
The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962–68. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965–66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program for its second season, remained. For the first three seasons, Vivian Vance was the co-star. The earliest scripts were entitled The Lucille Ball Show, but when this title was declined, producers thought of calling the show This Is Lucy or The New Adventures of Lucy, before deciding on the title The Lucy Show. Ball won consecutive Emmy Awards as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the series' final two seasons, 1966–67 and 1967–68.
Filmography
as Fred Mertz
as Trainer
as Bill Turner
as Bub O'Casey
as Fred Mertz
as Fred Mertz
as Sam
as Fred Mertz
as Self
as Baldy Gunder
as Fred Mertz
as Len Sickles
as Gloomy Willie
as Det. Roberts
as Corcoran
as Byers
as Jimmy O'Brien
as Self
as Marty Greer
as Bill the Bartender
as Oliver Harker
as Hotel Night Clerk
as Inspector Crane
as O'Fleery
as George Kirby
as Mr. Bernouti
as Knobby Walsh
as Jack Dunn
as Tom
as Agent
as Self
as William Scanlon
as Sharkey the Loen Shark
as Jean La Salle
as Police Lieutenant
as Mr. Schneider
as Jim Mason
as Charlie Halloran
as Police Inspector Harry B. Manning
as Det. Lt. Webb
as General Trent
as Honey Wiggen
as Martin (segment "A Sweepstakes Ticket")
as Desk Sgt. Brennan
as Sandy Hill
as Wolf Wylie
as Jiggers
as Eddie Powers
as Max Dolan, Publisher (uncredited)
as Detective Ramsey
as Mike Simms
as Traveling Salesman
as Billy Delaney
as Barney Crane
as Oliver Westbrook
as Harrison
as Sam Sloan
as O'Malley
as 'Hotfoot'
as Waldo Pincus
as Sheriff McGee
as James Mitchell
as Det. 'Hoppy' Hopkins
as Chauncey Beheegan
as Roscoe
as Police Chief J. A. O'Hara
as Mac
as Coach
as Mr. Westlake
as Emory Balzar
as Les Woodbury
as Prisoner
as Matt Kingsley
as Scoop Trimble
as Joe Haller
as Bruiser Brown
as Bright Eyes
as Mushy Harrington
as Harry Long
as The 'Duke'
as Alec Inglis
as Major Martingale
as Inspector J.L. Weber
as Uncle Willie Lee
as Snoop Donlan
as Dusty Turner
as Francis X. Rush
as Hank Mayers
as John Pederson
as Mac
as 'Soapy' Moreland
as Brighton
as Bill Mullins
as Benton
as Detective Rogan
as Mr. Gibson
as Mr. Copple
as Briney O'Brien
as Edwin P. 'Ed' Christy
as Lt. McNulty
as Painless
as Chief of Police Magoun
as Cap
as Sunshine Joe
as Bartender (uncredited)
as Training Sgt. Barrel
as James Smith
as William Dunhill aka The Professor
as Larry Hale
as Jury Foreman
as Fraser
as Mike DeBaere
as Captain Murphy
as Mac
as Beat Cop