Classic Hollywood, by nature of the studio system, had a great number of character actors. These men and women, many under long term contracts to a studio, would jump from project to project, appearing in many films a year, from B movies to Oscar baiting prestige pictures. Today is the birthday of one of those people. Jack Carson made his film debut in 1937, appearing in 14 films, some of them uncredited, most of them forgettable. Throughout the rest of the decade he worked steadily, in films like Carefree, Destry Rides Again, and The Saint in New York, as well as uncredited roles in two big 30s movie, Bringing Up Baby and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. He continued to work in both forgotten films and well remembered classics like Mildred Pierce, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, A Star Is Born and, my favorite of his performances, Arsenic and Old Lace, where he plays a beat cop trying to pitch a play hes writing to drama critic Cary Grant, completely oblivious of the strange doings going on around him. He also gained fame in the new medium of TV, appearing in over 30 shows in the 50s and 60s, include his own self named sitcom where, like Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, and, much later, Jerry Seinfeld, he played a version of himself. Everyone remembers the big stars...sometimes we need to be reminded of the little stars.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 09:06:59 +0000