
William Demarest
Biography
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).
Filmography

Television: The First Fifty Years

Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line

The Millionaire

Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood

The Wild McCullochs

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

That Darn Cat!

Viva Las Vegas

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

Son of Flubber

Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon

Twenty Plus Two

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

Pepe

The Rawhide Years

The Mountain

Hell on Frisco Bay

Sincerely Yours

Lucy Gallant

The Private War of Major Benson

The Far Horizons

Jupiter's Darling

The Yellow Mountain

Escape from Fort Bravo

Here Come the Girls

Dangerous When Wet

The Lady Wants Mink

The Blazing Forest

What Price Glory

Behave Yourself!

The Strip

Excuse My Dust

The First Legion

He's a Cockeyed Wonder

Never a Dull Moment

Riding High

When Willie Comes Marching Home

Red, Hot and Blue

Jolson Sings Again

Sorrowful Jones

Whispering Smith

Night Has a Thousand Eyes

The Sainted Sisters

On Our Merry Way

Variety Girl

The Perils of Pauline

The Jolson Story

Our Hearts Were Growing Up

Pardon My Past

Hollywood Victory Caravan

Duffy's Tavern

Along Came Jones

Salty O'Rourke

The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek

Hail the Conquering Hero

The Great Moment

Once Upon a Time

Nine Girls

True to Life

Dangerous Blondes

Stage Door Canteen

Johnny Doughboy

Life Begins at Eight-Thirty

Behind the Eight Ball

The Palm Beach Story

Pardon My Sarong

My Favorite Spy

True to the Army

All Through the Night

Glamour Boy

Sullivan's Travels

Dressed to Kill

Country Fair

Ride on Vaquero

Rookies on Parade

The Devil and Miss Jones

The Lady Eve

Little Men

Christmas in July

The Golden Fleecing

Comin' Round the Mountain

The Great McGinty

The Farmer's Daughter

Wolf of New York

Laugh It Off

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Miracles for Sale

The Cowboy Quarterback

The Gracie Allen Murder Case

King of the Turf

The Great Man Votes

While New York Sleeps

Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus

Josette

One Wild Night

Romance on the Run

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Rosalie

Big City

Wake Up and Live

Blonde Trouble

Easy Living

The Great Gambini

The Great Hospital Mystery

The Hit Parade

Oh, Doctor

Don't Tell the Wife

Time Out for Romance

Mind Your Own Business

Charlie Chan at the Opera

Love on the Run

Wedding Present

The Great Ziegfeld

White Lies

Hands Across the Table

Diamond Jim

Bright Lights

The Murder Man

The Casino Murder Case

After Office Hours

Fugitive Lady

Many Happy Returns

Fog Over Frisco

Seeing Things

The Crash

The Butter and Egg Man

Five and Ten Cent Annie

Pay as You Enter

A Girl in Every Port

Sharp Shooters

The Night Court

A Reno Divorce

The Jazz Singer

A Sailor's Sweetheart

The Bush Leaguer

The First Auto

What Happened To Father

The Black Diamond Express

Simple Sis

A Million Bid

The Gay Old Bird

Don't Tell the Wife
