William Demarest

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).

Known For	Acting
Most Rating	0.02
Birthday	1892-02-27
Place of Birth	Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
Also Known As

Viva Las Vegas

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

The Lady Eve

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

The Jolson Story

The Palm Beach Story

Night Has a Thousand Eyes

Sharp Shooters

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

The Murder Man

Charlie Chan at the Opera

Christmas in July

The Great Moment

The Great McGinty

Hail the Conquering Hero

Dressed to Kill

The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek

All Through the Night

King of the Roaring 20's – The Story of Arnold Rothstein

Jolson Sings Again

Sullivan's Travels

The Butter and Egg Man

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Don't Tell the Wife

Once Upon a Time

Seeing Things

The Gracie Allen Murder Case

Excuse My Dust

Big City

Along Came Jones

Pepe

What Price Glory

Hell on Frisco Bay

Escape from Fort Bravo

Sorrowful Jones

The Mountain

The Far Horizons

The Strip

Twenty Plus Two

My Favorite Spy

The Great Ziegfeld

The Cowboy Quarterback

While New York Sleeps

The Rawhide Years

The Black Diamond Express

The Private War of Major Benson

Salty O'Rourke

Riding High

Jupiter's Darling

Variety Girl

Here Come the Girls

The Golden Fleecing

The Perils of Pauline

He's a Cockeyed Wonder

Wolf of New York

The Night Court

Behave Yourself!

Sincerely Yours

Pardon My Past

Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus

Red, Hot and Blue

The Yellow Mountain

Ride on Vaquero

Mind Your Own Business

The Hit Parade

The Sainted Sisters

Miracles for Sale

True to Life

Johnny Doughboy

The Lady Wants Mink

The Blazing Forest

Romance on the Run

The First Legion

The Great Man Votes

Life Begins at Eight-Thirty

Don't Tell the Wife

Wedding Present

Love on the Run

The First Auto

The Wild McCullochs