The Resume

(May 23, 1882-April 12, 1959)
Born in New York, New York
Middle name was Austin
Acted in 'A Free Soul (1931),' 'Change of Heart (1934),' 'West Point of the Air (1935),' 'Babes on Broadway,' 'Here Comes Mr. Jordan,' 'Meet John Doe (all 1941),' 'Tales of Manhattan (1942),' 'A Guy named Joe (1943),' 'Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)' 'The Clock,' 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (both 1945),' 'The Bishop's Wife (1947),' 'What Price Glory (1952),' 'Suddenly (1954)' and 'The Last Hurrah (1958)
Portrayed Uncle Birdie in 'Night of the Hunter' (1955)
Portrayed police inspector Oscar Piper in the Hildegarde Withers film series opposite Edna May Oliver (1932-37)
Portrayed Mr. Joe Higgins in the Higgins Family serials (1938-40)

Why he might be annoying:

He resembled H.B. Warner.
He was typecast as hardboiled curmudgeons.
At the premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he could be seen sobbing profusely watching the dwarfs gathered around Snow White's funeral bier.
He lost out on the part of Hopalong Cassidy to William Boyd.
He starred opposite his wife and son in the Higgins Family movies from Republic Studios, which were a complete ripoff of the Andy Hardy films from MGM.

Why he might not be annoying:

He fought in the Spanish-American War.
After serving in World War I, he began performing on Broadway.
He had a successful turn as a screenwriter, and wrote the screenplays for 'The Broadway Melody' and 'Change of Heart.'
He received a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination for his performance in 'Here Comes Mr. Jordan.'
He received acclaim for his performance in 'Night of the Hunter' and got arguably the film's most memorable scene (discovering Shelley Winters' dead body at the bottom of the river with her hair drifting with seaweed).
His son, Russell, died after falling out of a fourth story window while awaiting deployment during WWII. It was never determined whether it was an accident or suicide.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Actors Turned Directors
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents [A-K]
• BoyWiththeGreenHair’s Profiles [Series 17]
• Frank Capra Films
• I Attended the Hollywood Premiere of ‘Giant’ [October 17, 1956]
• I Attended the Premiere of Disney’s ‘Snow White’ [1937]
• I Died in 1959 (Ranked: 76)
• I Directed Myself
• I Have a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame[F-I]
• I Have Asthma
• I Outlived My Child
• I'm Buried at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Cemetery [Culver City, Ca]
• Leave it to Beaver
• Night of the Hunter [1955]
• One of My Kids Committed Suicide
• Playwrights
• Profiles 47501-47750 (Ranked: 47629)
• Served in World War I
• Stars of Horror Films
• This Is Your Life Honorees [A-K]

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying