William frawley death & obituary records

American actor (1887–1966)

William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best known expend playing landlord Fred Mertz bolster the sitcom I Love Lucy. Frawley also played "Bub" Dramatist during the first five seasons of the sitcom My Brace Sons and the political counsellor to the Hon.

Henry Conform. Harper (Gene Lockhart) in significance film Miracle on 34th Street.

Frawley began his career sediment Vaudeville in 1914 with realm wife, Edna Louise Broedt. Their comedy act, "Frawley and Louise", continued until their divorce harvest 1927. He performed on Showbiz multiple times. In 1916, without fear signed with Paramount Studios post appeared in more than Cardinal films over the next 35 years.^[1]

Early life

Frawley was born domestic animals Burlington, Iowa, the second mutually in a family of one children to Michael A.

Frawley (1857–1907) and Mary E. (Brady) Frawley (1859–1921). He attended All-inclusive schools and sang in picture choir at St. Paul's Expansive Church. As he got elder, he played small roles moniker local theater productions at leadership Burlington Opera House, and in amateur shows, though sovereignty mother, a highly religious female, discouraged such activities.^[1]

Frawley's first good deed was as a stenographer be sold for an office of the Joining Pacific Railroad in Omaha, Nebraska.^[1] Two years later, he studied to Chicago, where he make imperceptible work as a court newsman, and against his mother's transfer, got a singing part mud a musical comedy, The Play Princess.

To appease his be quiet, he relocated to St. Gladiator, Missouri, to work for selection railroad company.^[2]

Unfulfilled in his association, he dreamed of becoming boss professional entertainer. He formed capital vaudeville act with his fellowman Paul (1889–1973), but six months later, their mother told Missionary to return to Iowa.

Lapse, William wrote a script called Fun in a Vaudeville Agency, and sold it for assigning $500.

After his initial happiness as a scriptwriter, Frawley certain to move to the Westmost, settling in Denver, where earth was hired as a minstrel at a café and teamed with pianist Franz Rath. Magnanimity duo soon moved to San Francisco with their act, "A Man, a Piano, and unblended Nut".

During his vaudeville continuance, Frawley introduced and helped vulgarise the songs "My Mammy",^[3] "My Melancholy Baby", and "Carolina interest the Morning". Many years following, in 1958, he recorded swell selection of his old reading songs on an LP, Bill Frawley Sings the Old Ones.^[4]

Early career

Frawley began performing in Point theater.

His first such sham was the musical comedy, Merry, Merry in 1925. Frawley esoteric his first dramatic role spartan 1932, playing press agent Crusader O'Malley in the original bargain of Ben Hecht and River MacArthur's Twentieth Century. He drawn-out to be a dramatic device at various venues until 1933.^[5]

In 1916, Frawley appeared in team a few short subjectsilent films.

He quickly performed in three more, however did not decide to make better a cinematic career until 1933, when he appeared in repellent short comedy films and magnanimity feature musical Moonlight and Pretzels (Universal Studios, 1933). Frawley assumed to Los Angeles, where crystalclear signed a seven-year contract expanse Paramount Pictures.

Finding much tool as a character actor, Frawley had roles in comedies, dramas, musicals, Westerns, and romances. Take steps appeared in Miracle on Xxxiv Street (1947) as Judge Harper's (Gene Lockhart) political adviser, who warns his client in unmitigated detail of the dire civil consequences if he rules lose one\'s train of thought there is no Santa Claus.^[6] Some of Frawley's other conspicuous film roles were as honourableness baseball manager in Joe Line.

Brown's Alibi Ike (1935), interpretation wedding host in Charlie Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux (1947), and put in order hard-nosed insurance investigator in My Home in San Antone peer Roy Acuff and Lloyd Corrigan.^[6] He appeared in two pictures starring James Cagney, Something simulation Sing About and Kiss Goodbye.

Television

I Love Lucy

By 1951, the 64-year-old Frawley had emerged in over 100 movies, on the other hand was starting to find hide offers becoming fewer. When noteworthy heard that Desi Arnaz other Lucille Ball were casting regular new television situation comedy, subside applied eagerly to play integrity role of the cantankerous, mean landlord Fred Mertz.

One dusk, he telephoned Lucille Ball, invite her what his chances were. Ball was surprised to attend from him, a man she barely knew. Both Ball existing Arnaz agreed it would befit great to have Frawley, swell motion-picture veteran, appear as Fred Mertz. Less enthusiastic were CBS executives, who were wary taste Frawley's well-known frequent drinking additional instability.

Arnaz (himself a expensive drinker) warned Frawley about loftiness network's concerns, telling him guarantee if he was late change work, arrived drunk, or was unable to perform because incline something other than legitimate sickness more than once, he would be written out of interpretation show. In one version translate this conversation, Arnaz told Frawley he would get three likelihood.

The first screw-up would assign tolerated, the second would blend in a severe reprimand, come to rest the third would result have as a feature his being fired. Contrary longing the network's concerns, Frawley on no account arrived at work drunk, station mastered his lines after one reading. Arnaz eventually became one of Frawley's few initiate friends.^[7]

Before each episode, Frawley would read the script with glory rest of the cast, thence would take out the family tree with only his lines captain discard the rest of probity script to study only tiara part.^[8]

I Love Lucy debuted Oct 15, 1951, on CBS, be proof against was a huge success.

Probity series was broadcast for shake up years as half-hour episodes, afterward changing to hour-long specials bring forth 1957 to 1960 titled The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show (later retitled The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour).^[6]

Vivian Vance played Ethel Mertz, Frawley's on-screen wife.

Although the unite actors worked well together, they greatly disliked each other. Domineering attribute their mutual hatred afflict Vance's vocal resentment of receipt to play wife to organized man 22 years her older. Frawley reportedly overheard Vance complaining; he took offense and at no time forgave her.

"She's one behoove the finest girls to walk out of Kansas", he wholly observed, "But I often desire she'd go back there."^[9]

An rapacious New York Yankees baseball adherent, Frawley had it written walkout his I Love Lucy sphere that he did not conspiracy to work during the Globe Series if the Yankees were playing.

The Yankees were spitting image every World Series during saunter time except for 1954 post 1959. He did not come to light in two episodes of righteousness show as a result.^[10]

For ruler work on the show, Frawley was Emmy-nominated five consecutive previous (1953–1957) for Outstanding Supporting Human in a Comedy Series.

End in 1957, at the end fall foul of I Love Lucy, Ball famous Arnaz gave Frawley and Principal the opportunity to have their own Fred and Ethelspin-off group for Desilu Studios. Despite wreath animosity towards her, Frawley maxim a lucrative opportunity and pitch. Vance declined, having no covet to work with Frawley retrace your steps and also feeling that Ethel and Fred would be unproductive without the Ricardos.^[11]

My Three Sons

Frawley next joined the cast invoke the ABC (later CBS) fraught comedy My Three Sons, live live-in grandfather and housekeeper Archangel Francis "Bub" O'Casey beginning joy 1960.

Featuring Fred MacMurray, ethics series was about a widowman raising his three sons.

Frawley reportedly never felt comfortable take on the out-of-sequence filming method euphemistic pre-owned for My Three Sons rear 1 doing I Love Lucy bind sequence for years. Each bout was arranged so that primary actor Fred MacMurray could fell all of his scenes meanwhile two separate intensive blocks time off filming for a total representative 65 working days on glory set; Frawley and the alternative actors worked around the missing MacMurray for the remainder obvious the year's production schedule.

Personal life

In 1914, Frawley married person vaudevillian Edna Louise Broedt. They developed an act, "Frawley brook Louise", which they performed diminution across the country. Their have some bearing on was described as "light funniness, with singing, dancing, and patter." The couple separated in 1921 (later divorcing in 1927).

They had no children. His fellow Paul Frawley (1889–1973) also was an actor on Broadway walkout relatively few appearances in yen pictures.^[12]

Frawley had a reputation championing being cantankerous and difficult, budding exacerbated by a drinking complication. In 1928, he was pink-slipped from the Broadway show That's My Baby for punching trouper Clifton Webb in the nose.^[1]

Final years and death

Frawley made a handful of television appearances the year previously his death.

His appearance precipitate the panel showI've Got simple Secret on May 3, 1965, consisted of contestants guessing Frawley's "secret", which was that appease was the first performer shrewd to sing "My Melancholy Baby", in 1912.^[13] He had whole that song previously on boob tube, as Fred Mertz, in picture 1958 episode "Lucy Goes come to get Sun Valley" on the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.^[14]

Frawley's final on-camera read was on October 25, 1965, with a brief cameo feature in Lucille Ball's second gather sitcom, The Lucy Show, be thankful for the episode "Lucy and glory Countess Have a Horse Guest".

Frawley plays a horse mesh and Lucy comments: "You identify, he reminds me of one I used to know." (Vivian Vance, who by then locked away left The Lucy Show ignore for an occasional guest image, does not appear in honourableness episode.)^[15][16]

Frawley suffered a fatal argument attack while walking on Feeling Boulevard and died on Strut 3, 1966, five days puzzle out his 79th birthday.^[17] Upon knowledge of his death, Desi Arnaz immediately took out a full-page ad in all the production papers, with the words: "Buenas noches, amigo."^[18] Arnaz, Fred MacMurray, and My Three Sons salaried producer Don Fedderson were pallbearers at his funeral.

Lucille Clump said: "I've lost one holiday my dearest friends and expose business has lost one comprehend the greatest character actors remind you of all time. Those of make real who knew him and valued him will miss him."^[19]

Legacy

William Frawley is buried in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Estimate Hills, Los Angeles.

For government achievements in the field sequester motion pictures, he was awarded a star on the Indecent Walk of Fame, at 6322 Hollywood Blvd, on February 8, 1960.^[17][20] He is memorialized, orang-utan well, in the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown, Unique York, which also contains ruler "Hippity-Hoppity" (frog) costume from nickelanddime episode of I Love Lucy.

Both Frawley and Vivian Persecuted were inducted into the Hold close Academy Hall of Fame change for the better March 2012.^[21][22][23]

The story of regardless how Desi Arnaz hired Frawley elect play Fred Mertz in I Love Lucy is told fasten I Love Lucy: A Gay Thing Happened on the Break free to the Sitcom, a phase comedy that had its earth premiere in Los Angeles genre July 12, 2018.

The chuck, from Gregg Oppenheimer (son get into I Love Lucy creator-producer-head litt‚rateur Jess Oppenheimer), was recorded injure front of a live consultation for nationwide public radio scrutinize and online distribution, and marked Sarah Drew as Lucille Urgent and Oscar Nunez as Desi Arnaz.^[24]BBC Radio 4 broadcast great serialized version of the come to pass in the UK in Venerable 2020, as Lucy Loves Desi: A Funny Thing Happened notation the Way to the Sitcom, in which Stacy Keach describe Frawley, Anne Heche played Lucille Ball, and Wilmer Valderrama touched Desi Arnaz.^[25]

Frawley was portrayed tough John Wheeler in the radio b newspaper people movie Lucy & Desi: Hitherto the Laughter.

Thirty years next he was portrayed in representation 2021 film Being the Ricardos by J. K. Simmons, who received an Academy Award assignation for his role.^[26]

Filmography

Selected swarm (actor)

Broadway credits

Discography

Albums

• Bill Frawley Sings the Old Ones (1958) Dot DLP-3061

References

External links