Theatre Register

William Demarest

Shows · William Demarest

Actor 1892–1983 On stage 19201931

Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 28, 1983) was an American actor, known especially for his supporting roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and as Uncle Charley in the sitcom My Three Sons from 1965 until 1972. Demarest, who frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles, was a prolific film and television actor, appearing in over 140 films, beginning in 1926 and ending in the late 1970s. Before his career in movies, he performed in vaudeville for two decades.

On stage 4 productions, 11 years

1920 Silks and Satins George M Cohans Theatre · Original · directed by Earl Lindsay 60 perf.
1929 Earl Carroll's Sketch Book [1929] Earl Carroll Theatre · Original · directed by Edgar MacGregor 392 perf.
1931 Earl Carroll's Vanities [1931] Earl Carroll Theatre · Original · directed by Edgar MacGregor 300 perf.
1931 Earl Carroll Vanities Earl Carroll Theatre · Original · directed by Earl Carroll 278 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once12 names

Will Mahoney 3 productions
Violet Arnold 2 productions
Nelda Kincaid 2 productions
Milton Watson 2 productions
Maryjo Engers 2 productions
Marion Harcke 2 productions
Marian Carew 2 productions
Lillian Roth 2 productions
Irma Philbin 2 productions
Irene Ahlberg 2 productions
Eileen Wenzel 2 productions
Collette Francis 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 9 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

In the literature2 passages

  • Cast: Will Mahoney, Lillian Roth, William Demarest, Mitchell & Durant, Milton Watsonebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • and also featuring Franchot Tone, Dick Powell, Victor Moore, Mabel Paige, and William Demarest.theatre-pdfs/Mary Martin-Broadway Legend (Ronald L. Davis).txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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