Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 27, 1983) was an American character actor, known for playing Uncle Charley in My Three Sons. Demarest became a prolific film and television actor, appearing in over 140 films, beginning in 1927 and ending in the 1970s. He frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles.
Early life
Carl William Demarest was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the son of Samuel and Wilhelmina (née Lindgren) Demarest. They moved to New Bridge, a hamlet in Bergen County, New Jersey, during his infancy.
Demarest served in the United States Army during World War I.
Career
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 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.
He played folksy Jeb Gaine, an occasional sidekick to the main character, in the 1961–62 season of the Western series Tales of Wells Fargo.
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.
Awards
Demarest received a single Academy Award nomination, for his supporting role in The Jolson Story (1946), playing Al Jolson’s fictional mentor. He had previously shared the screen with the real Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer.
Demarest also received an Emmy nomination for the 1968–1969 season of My Three Sons as Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Role.
Demarest has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to motion pictures, bestowed upon him on August 8, 1979, by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. In attendance at the ceremony and then later at Musso & Frank Grill for celebrations were his My Three Sons co-stars Fred MacMurray and wife June Haver, Tina Cole, Stanley Livingston, Barry Livingston, and Dawn Lyn.
In 1998 a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.
Personal life and later years
Demarest was married twice. His first wife was his vaudeville partner Estelle Collette, born Esther Zichlin. Demarest helped raise her daughter, author Phyllis Gordon Demarest, from her earlier marriage, in 1907, to poet and novelist Samuel Gordon, who had divorced Zichlin before his death. Demarest’s second wife was Lucile Thayer, born Lucile Theurer, daughter of Herman Theurer and Lillie Sjoberg, who due to her activism on health issues in the motion picture industry in October 1960 was named California lay-chairman of the ANA fundraising campaign.
According to Hollywood Be Thy Name, the 1993 memoir of Jack Warner, Jr. and Cass Warner Sperling, Demarest claimed that Sam Warner was murdered by his own brothers. This allegation, leveled in 1977, was never corroborated and Demarest’s reliability was questioned because of his long dependence on alcohol.
Demarest’s favorite recreations were hunting, fishing, golf, and playing the cello.
He died in Palm Springs, California December 27, 1983, and was interred in Glendale’s Forest Lawn Memorial Park. At the time of his death, he was suffering from prostate cancer and pneumonia.
Partial filmography
Features
When the Wife’s Away (1926)
Finger Prints (1927) as Cuffs Egan
Don’t Tell the Wife (1927) as Ray Valerian
The Gay Old Bird (1927) as Mr. Fixit
Matinee Ladies (1927) as Man-About-Town
A Million Bid (1927) as George Lamont
Simple Sis (1927) as Oscar
The Black Diamond Express (1927) as Fireman
What Happened to Father? (1927) as Detective Dibbin
The First Auto (1927) as The Village Cut-Up
The Bush Leaguer (1927) as John Gilroy
A Sailor’s Sweetheart (1927) as Detective
The Jazz Singer (1927) as Buster Billings (uncredited)
A Reno Divorce (1927) as James, the chauffeur
Sharp Shooters (1928) as ‘Hi Jack’ Murdock
A Girl in Every Port (1928) as Man in Bombay (uncredited)
The Escape (1928) as Trigger Caswell
Pay as You Enter (1928) as ‘Terrible Bill’ McGovern
Five and Ten Cent Annie (1928) as Briggs
The Butter and Egg Man (1928) as Jack McLure
The Crash (1928) as Louie
Seeing Things (1930)
Fog Over Frisco (1934) as Spike Smith
Many Happy Returns (1934) as Brinker
The Circus Clown (1934) (scenes deleted)
Fugitive Lady (1934) as Steve Rogers
After Office Hours (1935) as Police Detective (uncredited)
The Casino Murder Case (1935) as Auctioneer (uncredited)
The Murder Man (1935) as ‘Red’ Maguire
Bright Lights (1935) as Detective
Diamond Jim (1935) as Harry Hill
Hands Across the Table (1935) as Natty (uncredited)
White Lies (1935) as Roberts
The Great Ziegfeld (1936) as Gene Buck (uncredited)
Wedding Present (1936) as ‘Smiles’ Benson
Love on the Run (1936) as Editor Lees Berger
Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) as Sgt. Kelly
Mind Your Own Business (1936) as Droopy
Time Out for Romance (1937) as Willoughby Sproggs
Don’t Tell the Wife (1937) as Larry ‘Horace’ Tucker
Oh Doctor (1937) as Marty Short
The Hit Parade (1937) as Parole Officer
The Great Hospital Mystery (1937) as Mr. Beatty
The Great Gambini (1937) as Sergeant Kirby
Easy Living (1937) as Wallace Whistling
Blonde Trouble (1937) as Paul Sears
Wake Up and Live (1937) as Radio Station Attendant
Big City (1937) as Beecher
Rosalie (1937) as Army Coach
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938) as Henry Kipper
Romance on the Run (1938) as Police Lt. Eckhardt
One Wild Night (1938) as Editor Collins
Josette (1938) as Joe, Diner Owner
Peck’s Bad Boy with the Circus (1938) as Daro
While New York Sleeps (1938) as Red Miller
The Great Man Votes (1939) as Charles Dale
King of the Turf (1939) as Arnold
The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939) as Police Sgt. Ernest Heath
The Cowboy Quarterback (1939) as Rusty Walker
Miracles for Sale (1939) as Quinn
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) as Bill Griffith
Laugh It Off (1939) as Barney ‘Gimpy’ Cole
Wolf of New York (1940) as Bill Ennis
The Farmer’s Daughter (1940) as Victor Walsh
The Great McGinty (1940) as Skeeters – The Politician
Comin’ Round the Mountain (1940) as Gutsy Mann
The Golden Fleecing (1940) as Swallow
Christmas in July (1940) as Mr. Bildocker
Little Men (1940) as Constable Tom Thorpe
The Lady Eve (1941) as Muggsy
The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) as First Detective
Rookies on Parade (1941) as Mike Brady
Ride on Vaquero (1941) as Bartender Barney
Country Fair (1941) as Stogie McPhee
Dressed to Kill (1941) as Inspector Pierson
All Through the Night (1941) as Sunshine
Sullivan’s Travels (1941) as Mr. Jones
Glamour Boy (1941) as Papa Doran
True to the Army (1942) as Sgt. Butts
My Favorite Spy (1942) as Flower Pot Policeman
Pardon My Sarong (1942) as Detective Kendall
The Palm Beach Story (1942) as First Member Ale and Quail Club
Behind the Eight Ball (1942) as McKenzie
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty (1942) as Police Officer
Johnny Doughboy (1942) as Harry Fabian
Sullivan’s Travels (1942) as Mr. Jonas
Stage Door Canteen (1943) as William Demarest
Dangerous Blondes (1943) as Detective Gatling
True to Life (1943) as Uncle Jake
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944) as Constable Edmund Kockenlocker
Nine Girls (1944) as Walter Cummings
Once Upon a Time (1944) as Brandt
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) as Sgt. Heffelfinger
The Great Moment (1944) as Eben Frost
Salty O’Rourke (1945) as Smitty
Along Came Jones (1945) as George Fury
Duffy’s Tavern (1945) as HImself
Pardon My Past (1945) as Chuck Gibson
Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946) as Peanuts Schultz
The Jolson Story (1946) as Steve Martin
The Perils of Pauline (1947) as George ‘Mac’ McGuire
Variety Girl (1947) as Barker
On Our Merry Way (1948) as Floyd
The Sainted Sisters (1948) as Vern Tewilliger
Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948) as Lieut. Shawn
Whispering Smith (1948) as Bill Dansing
Sorrowful Jones (1949) as Regret
Jolson Sings Again (1949) as Steve Martin
Red, Hot and Blue (1949) as Charlie Baxter, Press Agent
When Willie Comes Marching Home (1950) as Herman Kluggs
Riding High (1950) as Happy
Never a Dull Moment (1950) as Mears
He’s a Cockeyed Wonder (1950) as Bob Sears
The First Legion (1951) as Monsignor Michael Carey
Excuse My Dust (1951) as Harvey Bullitt
The Strip (1951) as Fluff
Behave Yourself! (1951) as Officer O’Ryan
What Price Glory (1952) as Cpl. Kiper
The Blazing Forest (1952) as Syd Jessup
The Lady Wants Mink (1953) as Harvey Jones
Dangerous When Wet (1953) as Pa Higgins
Here Come the Girls (1953) as Dennis Logan
Escape from Fort Bravo (1953) as Campbell
The Yellow Mountain (1954) as Jackpot Wray
Jupiter’s Darling (1955) as Mago
The Far Horizons (1955) as Sgt. Gass
The Private War of Major Benson (1955) as John
Lucy Gallant (1955) as Charles Madden
Sincerely Yours (1955) as Sam Dunne
Hell on Frisco Bay (1956) as Dan Bianco
The Rawhide Years (1956) as Brand Comfort
The Mountain (1956) as Father Belacchi
Pepe (1960) as Movie Studio Gateman
The Big Bankroll (1961) as Henry Hecht
Twenty Plus Two (1961) as Desmond Slocum
Son of Flubber (1963) as Mr. Hummel
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) as Aloysius, Chief of the Santa Rosita Police Department
Viva Las Vegas (1964) as Mr. Martin
That Darn Cat (1965) as Mr. MacDougall
Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark (1973) as Mr. Harris
The Wild McCullochs (1975) as Father Gurkin
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) as Studio Gatekeeper
Short subjects
A Night at Coffee Dan’s (1927) as M.C.
Amateur Night (1927) as Theatre Manager
The Night Court (1927) as Defense Counsel (uncredited)
Seeing Things (1930)
The Run Around (1932)
Television
The Danny Thomas Show in 5 episodes (1957–1958) as Mr. Daly
The Rebel in “The Hope Chest (1960) as Ulysses Bowman
Love and Marriage (1959–1960) as William Harris
Tales of Wells Fargo (1961–1962) as Jeb Gaine
Going My Way in “The Slasher” (1963) as Marty
Bonanza in the episode “The Hayburner” (1963) as Enos Milford
Bonanza in the episode “Old Sheba” (1964) as Angus Tweedy
The Twilight Zone in the episode “What’s in the Box?” (1964) as Joe Britt
My Three Sons (215 episodes, 1965–1972) as Uncle Charley O’Casey
McMillan and Wife [Two Dollars on Trouble to Win] S2/Ep07 (1973) as Uncle Cyrus
Radio appearances
| Year |
Program |
Episode/source |
| 1940 |
Stars over Hollywood |
The Town Constable |
External Links
Actor William Demarest – Wikipedia
