William Clement "Bill" Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stage entertainer,
screenA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. Although Frawley acted in over 100 films, he achieved his greatest fame playing
landlordA landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant . When a juristic person is in this position, the term landlord is used. Other terms include lessor and owner...
Fred MertzFrederick Hobart Mertz, born in 1887 is a fictional character in the 1950s American sitcom I Love Lucy, originally from Indianapolis before his relocation to New York City. He is a World War I veteran and often talks about his times in the war. He is married to Ethel Mae Potter Mertz , and they...
for the situation comedy
I Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
.
Early life
William was born to Michael A. Frawley and Mary E. Brady in
BurlingtonBurlington is a city in, and the county seat of Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,663 in the 2010 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in the 2000 census. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area including West Burlington, Iowa and Middletown, Iowa and...
,
IowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. As a young boy, Bill (as he was commonly called) attended Roman
Catholic schoolCatholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
and sang with the St. Paul's Church
choirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
. As he got older, he loved playing
bit rolesA bit part is a supporting acting role with at least one line of dialogue . In British television, bit parts are referred to as under sixes...
in local theater productions, as well as performing in amateur shows.
However, his mother, a religious woman, discouraged the idea.
William did two years of office work at
Union Pacific RailroadThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
in
OmahaOmaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
,
NebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
. He later relocated to
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and found a job as a
court reporterA court reporter, stenotype reporter, voice writing reporter, or transcriber is a person whose occupation is to transcribe spoken or recorded speech into written form, using machine shorthand or voice writing equipment to produce official transcripts of court hearings, depositions and other...
. Soon thereafter, against his mother's wishes, Frawley obtained a singing part in the musical comedy
The Flirting Princess. To appease his mother, Bill relocated to
St. LouisSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
,
MissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, to work for another railroad company.
Unhappy with his railroad job, Frawley longed to be an actor. He finally decided he couldn't resist and formed a
vaudevilleVaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
act with his younger brother, Paul. Six months later, Frawley's mother told Paul to return to Iowa. It was during this period that William Frawley wrote a script titled,
Fun in a Vaudeville Agency. He earned more than five hundred dollars for his efforts. After this, he decided to relocate to the
West.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
, settling in
DenverThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
,
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. Frawley was hired as a singer at a
caféA café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
and teamed with
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Franz Rath. The two men relocated to San Francisco with their act, "A Man, a Piano, and a Nut." During his vaudeville career, Frawley introduced and helped popularize the songs, "
My Mammy"My Mammy" is a U.S. popular song with music by Walter Donaldson and lyrics by Joe Young and Sam M. Lewis.Though associated with Al Jolson, who performed the song very successfully, "My Mammy" was performed first by William Frawley as a vaudeville-style act during 1918. Jolson heard the song and...
," "
My Melancholy Baby"My Melancholy Baby" is a popular song published in 1912 and first sung publicly by William Frawley. The music was written by Ernie Burnett, the lyrics by George A...
" and "
Carolina in the Morning"Carolina in the Morning" is a popular song with words by Gus Kahn and music by Walter Donaldson, first published in 1922 by Jerome H. Remick & Co....
." In 1958, he recorded many of his old stage songs on the
LPThe LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
,
Bill Frawley Sings the Old Ones. In 1965, he performed for the CBS-TV show
I've Got A SecretI've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?...
, where he sang, "
My Melancholy Baby"My Melancholy Baby" is a popular song published in 1912 and first sung publicly by William Frawley. The music was written by Ernie Burnett, the lyrics by George A...
," to the panel after revealing his secret (that he first introduced this famous song).
Early career
Frawley began performing in Broadway theater. His first such show was the musical comedy,
Merry, Merry, in 1925. Frawley made his first dramatic role in 1932, playing
press agentA press agent, or flack, is a professional publicist who acts on behalf of his or her client on all matters involving public relations. Press agents are typically employed by public personalities and organizations such as performers and businesses...
Owen O’Malley in the original production of
Ben HechtBen Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of...
and
Charles MacArthurCharles Gordon MacArthur was an American playwright and screenwriter.-Biography:Charles MacArthur was the second youngest of seven children born to stern evangelist William Telfer MacArthur and Georgiana Welsted MacArthur. He early developed a passion for reading...
's
Twentieth CenturyTwentieth Century is a play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur based on the unproduced play Napoleon of Broadway by Charles B. Millholland, inspired by his experience working for the eccentric Broadway impresario David Belasco....
. He continued to be a dramatic actor at various locales until 1933.
In 1916, Frawley had appeared in two
short subjectA short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
silent films. He performed subsequently in three other short films, but it wasn’t until 1933 that he decided to develop a cinematic career, beginning with short comedy films, and the feature musical
Moonlight and PretzelsMoonlight and Pretzels is a musical film directed by Karl Freund, and is about a man who puts on a Broadway show. The film was released by Universal Studios, and featured Mary Brian and William Frawley who was later cast in I Love Lucy. Freund was also the cinematographer for I Love Lucy...
(Universal Studios, 1933). He relocated to
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and signed a seven-year contract with
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
.
Finding much work as a
character actorA character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
, he had roles in many different
genreGenre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
s of films —
comediesComedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
,
dramasA drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
,
musicalsThe musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
, westerns and romances. Frawley had a notable performance in the 1947
holidayChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
favorite,
Miracle on 34th StreetMiracle on 34th Street is a 1947 Christmas film written by George Seaton from a story by Valentine Davies, directed by George Seaton and starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn...
, as Judge Harper's political adviser (who warns his client in great detail the dire political consequences if he rules that there is not any
Santa ClausSanta Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
). Some of his other memorable film roles were as the baseball manager in
Joe E. BrownJoseph Evans Brown was an American actor and comedian, remembered for his amiable screen persona, comic timing, and enormous smile. In 1902 at the age of nine, he joined a troupe of circus tumblers known as the Five Marvelous Ashtons which toured the country on both the circus and vaudeville...
's,
Alibi IkeAlibi Ike is a short story written by Ring Lardner and first published in the Saturday Evening Post on July 31, 1915. The story is about Frank X. Farrell, a baseball player who continually makes excuses for everything that goes wrong or right...
(1935), and as the wedding host in
Charlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
's,
Monsieur VerdouxMonsieur Verdoux is a 1947 black comedy film directed by and starring Charles Chaplin. The supporting cast includes Martha Raye, William Frawley, and Marilyn Nash.-Plot:...
(1947).
I Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
By 1951 the 64-year-old Frawley had appeared in over 100 movies but was starting to find film role offers becoming fewer. When he heard that
Desi ArnazDesi Arnaz was a Cuban-born American musician, actor and television producer. While he gained international renown for leading a Latin music band, the Desi Arnaz Orchestra, he is probably best known for his role as Ricky Ricardo on the American TV series I Love Lucy, starring with Lucille Ball, to...
and
Lucille BallLucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
were casting a new television situation comedy, he applied eagerly to play the role of the cantankerous, miserly landlord Fred Mertz.
Actress
Bea BenaderetBea Benaderet was an American actress born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, California. She is best remembered for her wide variety of television work, which included a starring role in the 1960s television series Petticoat Junction and Green Acres as Shady Rest Hotel owner Kate...
, a friend of Lucille Ball, was the first choice to play the
characterA character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
of Ethel Mertz. Benederet was unavailable, however, owing to a prior commitment. One evening, Frawley telephoned Lucille Ball, asking her what his chances were. Ball was surprised to hear from him — a man she barely knew. Both Ball and Arnaz agreed that it would be great to have Frawley, a motion picture
veteranA veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
, appear as Fred Mertz. Less enthusiastic were
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
executives, who warned of Bill's frequent drinking and instability. Arnaz immediately told Frawley about the network's concerns, telling him that if he was late to work, arrived drunk, or was unable to perform because of something other than legitimate
illnessIllness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...
more than once, he would be written out of the show. To the contrary, Frawley never arrived at work drunk, and in fact mastered his lines after only one reading. Arnaz eventually became one of the misanthropic Frawley's few close friends.
I Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
debuted October 15, 1951 on CBS and was a huge success. The series was broadcast for six years as half-hour
episodeAn episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...
s, later changing to hour-long
specialsA television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
from 1957 to 1960 titled
The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz ShowThe Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour is a CBS television situation comedy. The show is a collection of occasional specials rather than a regular series and originally served as part of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse...
(later retitled
The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour).
Vivian VanceVivian Roberta Jones was an American television and theater actress and singer. Often referred to as “TV’s most beloved second banana,” she is best known for her role as Ethel Mertz, sidekick to Lucille Ball on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, and as Vivian Bagley on The Lucy...
played
Ethel MertzEthel Roberta Louise Mae Mertz is one of the four main fictional characters in the highly popular 1950s and 1960s American television sitcom I Love Lucy, played by Vivian Vance. Ethel is the main character Lucy's middle-aged landlady - supposed to have been born about 1905, and raised in New Mexico...
, Frawley’s on-screen wife. Although the two actors worked well together, they greatly disliked each other. Most attribute their mutual hatred to Vance's vocal resentment of having to play wife to a man 22 years her senior. Frawley reportedly overheard Vance complaining; he took offense and never forgave her. "She's one of the finest girls to come out of
KansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
," he once observed, "But I often wish she'd go back there."
An avid
New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
fan, Frawley had it written into his
I Love Lucy contract that he did not have to work during the
World SeriesThe World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
if the Yankees were playing. The Yankees were in every World Series during that time except for 1954 and 1959. He missed two episodes of the show as a result.
For his work on the show, Frawley was
EmmyAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-nominated five times (for 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957) for "Outstanding Supporting Actor" in a comedy series.
During 1960, Ball and Arnaz gave Frawley and Vance the opportunity to have their own "Fred and Ethel" spin-off series for Desilu Studios. Despite his animosity towards her, Frawley saw a lucrative opportunity and accepted. Vance, however, refused the offer, having no desire to work with Frawley again. Afterward, and for the remainder of Frawley's life, he and Vance had very little contact with each other.
My Three Sons
Frawley next performed for the
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
(later CBS) situation comedy
My Three SonsMy Three Sons is an American situation comedy. The series ran from 1960 to 1965 on ABC, and moved to CBS until its end on August 24, 1972. My Three Sons chronicles the life of a widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas , raising his three sons.The series was a cornerstone of the CBS...
, playing live-in grandfather/housekeeper Michael Francis "Bub" O'Casey beginning in 1960. Featuring
Fred MacMurrayFrederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
as main actor, the series was about a widower raising his three sons.
Frawley reportedly never felt comfortable with the out-of-sequence filming method used for
My Three Sons after doing
I Love Lucy in sequence for years. Each season's episodes were arranged so that main actor Fred MacMurray could film all of his scenes during two separate intensive blocks of filming for a total of 65 working days on the set; Frawley and the other actors worked around the absent MacMurray for the remainder of the year's production schedule.
Poor health forced Frawley's retirement from the show after five years. He was dropped from
My Three Sons after the studio could no longer obtain
insuranceIn law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
for him. He was replaced as live-in housekeeper by actor
William DemarestCarl William Demarest was an American character actor. He frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles.-Early life and career:...
, who played Bub's brother, Uncle Charley. According to the book
Meet the Mertzes, Frawley often would visit the studio after his retirement. He did not hide his resentment of Demarest and was eventually asked not to return to the set.
Personal life
In 1914, Frawley married fellow vaudevillian Edna Louise Broedt (1892–1992). They developed an act, "Frawley and Louise," which they performed all across the country. Their act was described as "light comedy, with singing, dancing, and patter." The couple
separatedLegal separation is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a de facto separation while remaining legally married. A legal separation is granted in the form of a court order, which can be in the form of a legally binding consent decree...
in 1921 (later divorcing in 1927). They did not have any children.
Death
Frawley made two final on-screen appearances before his death. An appearance on
I've Got a SecretI've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?...
consisted of contestants guessing Frawley's, "secret," which was that he was the first performer ever to sing "
My Melancholy Baby"My Melancholy Baby" is a popular song published in 1912 and first sung publicly by William Frawley. The music was written by Ernie Burnett, the lyrics by George A...
" in 1912. He then performed the song one last time. His final on-camera performance was in October 1965, a brief
cameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in Lucille Ball's second television sitcom
The Lucy ShowThe Lucy Show is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from 1962 until 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965-66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program...
with Frawley playing a horse trainer and Lucy commenting, "He reminds me of someone I used to know." (
Vivian VanceVivian Roberta Jones was an American television and theater actress and singer. Often referred to as “TV’s most beloved second banana,” she is best known for her role as Ethel Mertz, sidekick to Lucille Ball on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, and as Vivian Bagley on The Lucy...
, who by then had left
The Lucy ShowThe Lucy Show is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from 1962 until 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965-66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program...
except for an occasional guest appearance, does not appear in that episode.)
On March 3, 1966, Frawley collapsed of a
heart attackMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
while walking down
Hollywood Boulevard-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
after seeing a movie,
Inside Daisy CloverInside Daisy Clover is a 1965 American drama film based on the 1963 novel by Gavin Lambert. It stars Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowall and Ruth Gordon in her Academy Award nominated role.- Plot :...
. He was dragged to the nearby
Knickerbocker HotelThe Hollywood Knickerbocker Apartments, formerly the Knickerbocker Hotel, is a senior home 1714 Ivar Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Built in 1925 by E.M. Frasier in Spanish Colonial Revival style, the historic hotel catered to the region's nascent film industry, and is the site for some of...
, where he had previously lived for many years, by his male nurse — a constant companion since his
prostate cancerProstate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
operation more than a year before. He was then rushed to the nearby Hollywood Receiving Hospital (now the Hollywood
LAPDThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
Precinct) on Wilcox Ave, where he was pronounced dead.
Soon after his death, Desi Arnaz paid for a full-page advertisement in the newspaper
Hollywood Reporter. It had a picture of Frawley, surrounded in black, the dates of his birth and death, and the caption, "Buenas Noches, Amigo!" ("Good Night, Friend!"). Arnaz, Frawley's
My Three SonsMy Three Sons is an American situation comedy. The series ran from 1960 to 1965 on ABC, and moved to CBS until its end on August 24, 1972. My Three Sons chronicles the life of a widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas , raising his three sons.The series was a cornerstone of the CBS...
co-star
Fred MacMurrayFrederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
, and executive producer
Don FeddersonDon Fedderson was an American television executive producer who created a number of television programs including The Millionaire, Date with the Angels, Who Do You Trust?, My Three Sons, Family Affair, To Rome with Love and The Smith Family...
were
pallbearerA pall-bearer is one of several funeral participants who helps carry the casket of a deceased person from a religious or memorial service or viewing either directly to a cemetery or mausoleum, or to and from the hearse which carries the coffin....
s at Frawley's funeral.
Lucille Ball issued the statement: "I've lost one of my dearest friends and show business has lost one of the greatest character actors of all time. Those of us who knew him and loved him will miss him."
In memoriam
He is buried in the
San Fernando Mission CemeteryThe San Fernando Mission Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery located at 11160 Stranwood Avenue in the Mission Hills community of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, near the San Fernando Mission....
in
Mission Hills, Los AngelesMission Hills is a suburban community in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California.It is located near the northern junction of the Golden State Freeway and the San Diego Freeway . The Ronald Reagan Freeway bisects the neighborhood. Mission Hills is the northern...
, California.
For his achievements in the field of motion pictures, Frawley was awarded a star on the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
, at 6322 Hollywood Blvd.
Frawley is memorialized in the
Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz CenterThe Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center is a museum in Jamestown, New York, dedicated to the lives and careers of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The museum officially opened in 1996 "to preserve and celebrate the legacy of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and enrich the world through the healing powers of love...
in
JamestownJamestown is a city in Chautauqua County, New York in the United States. The population was 31,146 at the 2010 census.The City of Jamestown is adjacent to Town of Ellicott and is at the southern tip of Chautauqua Lake...
, New York, which also contains his "Hop-Along the Frog" costume from an episode of
I Love Lucy.
Filmography
- Lord Loveland Discovers America (1916)
- Persistent Percival (1916) (short subject)
- Should Husbands Be Watched? (1925) (short subject)
- Ventriloquist (1927) (short subject listed in BFI Database
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
)
- Turkey for Two (1929) (short subject)
- Fancy That (1929) (short subject)
- Moonlight and Pretzels
Moonlight and Pretzels is a musical film directed by Karl Freund, and is about a man who puts on a Broadway show. The film was released by Universal Studios, and featured Mary Brian and William Frawley who was later cast in I Love Lucy. Freund was also the cinematographer for I Love Lucy...
(1933)
- Hell and High Water (1933)
- Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen
Miss Fane's Baby is Stolen is an American comedy-drama film produced in 1934 written by Adela Rogers St. Johns and Jane Storm from a novel and story by Rupert Hughes, and directed by Alexander Hall. It stars Dorothea Wieck, Alice Brady and Baby LeRoy...
(1934)
- Bolero
Bolero is a musical drama film starring George Raft and Carole Lombard. The movie was a rare chance for Raft to star and to play a dancer, which had been his profession in New York City, rather than a gangster. The film takes its title from the Maurice Ravel composition Boléro .-Plot:The film...
(1934)
- The Crime Doctor (1934)
- The Witching Hour (1934)
- Shoot the Works (1934)
- The Lemon Drop Kid (1934)
- Here Is My Heart (1934)
- Car 99 (1935)
- Roberta
Roberta is a 1935 musical film by RKO starring Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Randolph Scott. It was an adaptation of a 1933 Broadway theatre musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller...
(1935)
- Hold 'Em Yale (1935)
- Alibi Ike
Alibi Ike is a short story written by Ring Lardner and first published in the Saturday Evening Post on July 31, 1915. The story is about Frank X. Farrell, a baseball player who continually makes excuses for everything that goes wrong or right...
(1935)
- College Scandal (1935)
- Welcome Home (1935)
- It's a Great Life (1935)
- Harmony Lane (1935)
- Ship Cafe (1935)
- Strike Me Pink (1936)
- Desire
Desire is an American romantic drama film released in 1936 and directed by Frank Borzage. It was produced by Borzage and Ernst Lubitsch. The picture is a remake of the 1933 German film Die Schönen Tage von Aranjuez. The screenplay was written by Samuel Hoffenstein, Edwin Justus Mayer and Waldemar...
(1936)
- F-Man (1936)
- The Princess Comes Across
Released by Paramount in 1936, The Princess Comes Across is a film starring Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray.-Plot:A mixture of screwball comedy and murder mystery, a Swedish princess with a secret and a concertina-playing band leader with a past board the liner Mammoth, bound for New York...
(1936)
- Three Cheers for Love (1936)
- The General Died at Dawn
The General Died at Dawn is a 1936 film that tells the story of a mercenary who meets a beautiful girl while trying to keep arms from getting to a vicious warlord in war-torn China. The movie was written by Charles G. Booth and Clifford Odets, and directed by Lewis Milestone.It stars Gary Cooper,...
(1936)
- Three Married Men (1936)
- Rose Bowl (1936
- Something to Sing About (1937)
- High, Wide, and Handsome
High, Wide, and Handsome is a 1937 American musical film starring Irene Dunne, Randolph Scott, Alan Hale, Sr., Charles Bickford, and Dorothy Lamour....
(1937)
- Double or Nothing (1937)
- Something to Sing About
"Something to Sing About" is a patriotic song written by folk singer Oscar Brand that sings the praises of the many different regions of Canada...
(1937)
- Blossoms on Broadway (1937)
- Mad About Music
Mad About Music is a 1938 musical film about a girl at an exclusive boarding school who invents an exciting father. When her schoolmates doubt his existence, she has to produce him...
(1938)
- Professor Beware (1938)
- Sons of the Legion (1938)
- Touchdown, Army (1938)
- Ambush (1939)
- St. Louis Blues
St. Louis Blues is a 1939 musical film directed by Raoul Walsh that was set on a Mississippi River showboat. Although the plot was not related to the song, the "St. Louis Blues" was sung as one of the numbers. Artists included jazz singer Maxine Sullivan and composer/singer/actor Hoagy Carmichael...
(1939)
- Persons in Hiding (1939)
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a 1939 film adaptation of Mark Twain's classic novel of the same name, starring Mickey Rooney in the title role.-Cast:*Mickey Rooney as Huckleberry Finn*Walter Connolly as the 'King'*William Frawley as the 'Duke'...
(1939)
- Rose of Washington Square
Rose of Washington Square is a 1939 American musical drama film. Set in 1920s New York City, it focuses on singer Rose Sargent and her turbulent relationship with con artist Barton DeWitt Clinton, whose criminal activities threaten her professional success in the Ziegfeld Follies.Although the names...
(1939)
- Ex-Champ (1939)
- Grand Jury Secrets (1939)
- Night Work (1939)
- Stop, Look and Love (1939)
- The Farmer's Daughter (1940)
- Opened by Mistake (1940)
- Those Were the Days! (1940)
- Untamed (1940)
- Golden Gloves
-Cast:* Richard Denning as Bill Crane* Jeanne Cagney as Mary Parker* J. Carrol Naish as Joe Taggerty* Robert Paige as Wally Matson* William Frawley as Emory Balzar* Edward Brophy as Potsy Brill* Robert Ryan as Pete Wells* George Ernest as Joey Parker...
(1940)
- Rhythm on the River
Rhythm on the River is a 1940 musical comedy film starring Bing Crosby and Mary Martin as ghostwriters whose songs are credited to a composer played by Basil Rathbone. James V...
(1940)
- The Quarterback (1940)
- One Night in the Tropics
One Night in the Tropics is a 1940 comedy film noteworthy for being the film debut of Abbott and Costello. The team play minor roles but steal the picture with five classic routines, including an abbreviated version of "Who's On First?" Their work earned them a two-picture deal with Universal, and...
(1940)
- Dancing on a Dime (1940)
- Sandy Gets Her Man (1940)
- Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga (1941)
- Footsteps in the Dark
Footsteps in the Dark is a light-hearted 1941 mystery film starring Errol Flynn as an amateur detective investigating a murder. It was based on the play Blondie White.-Cast:*Errol Flynn as Francis Monroe Warren II*Brenda Marshall as Rita Warren...
(1941)
- Blondie in Society
Blondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
(1941)
- The Bride Came C.O.D.
The Bride Came C.O.D. is a 1941 Warner Bros. screwball romantic comedy starring James Cagney as a pilot and Bette Davis as a runaway heiress. Although the film was publicized as the first movie pairing of Warner Bros.' two biggest stars, they had actually made Jimmy the Gent together in 1934.The...
(1941)
- Cracked Nuts (1941)
- Public Enemies (1941)
- Treat 'Em Rough
Treat 'Em Rough is a film about a boxer called the Panama Kid who returns to his hometown with his trainer Hotfoot and valet Snake Eyes when his father is accused of embezzling, and becomes involved with his father's ravishing secretary...
(1942)
- Roxie Hart
Roxie Hart is a 1942 film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, George Montgomery, Nigel Bruce, Phil Silvers, William Frawley, and Spring Byington....
(1942)
- It Happened in Flatbush (1942)
- Give Out, Sisters (1942)
- Wildcat (1942)
- Moonlight in Havana (1942)
- Gentleman Jim
Gentleman Jim is a 1942 film starring Errol Flynn as heavyweight boxing champion James J. Corbett. The supporting cast includes Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, William Frawley, and Ward Bond. The movie was based upon Corbett's autobiography, The Roar of the Crowd, and directed by Raoul...
(1942)
- We've Never Been Licked
We've Never Been Licked is a World War II propaganda film produced by Walter Wanger and released by United Artists. Parts of the movie were shot on location at the Texas A&M University campus...
(1943)
- Larceny with Music (1943)
- Whistling in Brooklyn
Whistling in Brooklyn is the third and last film starring comedian Red Skelton as radio personality and amateur detective Wally "The Fox" Benton. Wally prepares to marry his girlfriend, but gets sidetracked when he is mistaken for a serial murderer...
(1943)
- The Fighting Seabees
The Fighting Seabees is a 1944 war film starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward. The picture portrays a heavily fictionalized account of the dilemma that led to the creation of the U.S. Navy's "Seabees" in World War II...
(1944)
- Going My Way
Going My Way is a 1944 film directed by Leo McCarey. It is a light-hearted musical comedy-drama about a new young priest taking over a parish from an established old veteran . Crosby sings five songs in the film. It was followed the next year by a sequel, The Bells of St. Mary's. This picture was...
(1944)
- Minstrel Man (1944)
- Lake Placid Serenade (1944)
- Flame of Barbary Coast
Flame of Barbary Coast is a 1945 western film starring John Wayne, Ann Dvorak, Joseph Schildkraut, William Frawley, and Virginia Grey. The movie was scripted by Borden Chase and directed by Joseph Kane.-Plot:...
(1945)
- Hitchhike to Happiness (1945)
- Lady on a Train (1945)
- Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 Hollywood musical comedy film directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Vincente Minnelli, Merrill Pye, George Sidney and Charles Waters...
(1946)
- The Virginian
The Virginian is a 1946 film based upon the Owen Wister novel, with Joel McCrea as the Virginian and Brian Donlevy as Trampas. The film was directed by Stuart Gilmore and remains widely regarded as an inferior remake of the 1929 movie with Gary Cooper and Walter Huston. There have been several...
(1946)
- Rendezvous with Anne (1946)
- The Inner Circle (1946)
- Crime Doctor's Man Hunt (1946)
- Hit Parade of 1947 (1947)
- Monsieur Verdoux
Monsieur Verdoux is a 1947 black comedy film directed by and starring Charles Chaplin. The supporting cast includes Martha Raye, William Frawley, and Marilyn Nash.-Plot:...
(1947)
- Miracle on 34th Street
Miracle on 34th Street is a 1947 Christmas film written by George Seaton from a story by Valentine Davies, directed by George Seaton and starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn...
(1947)
- I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947)
- Mother Wore Tights
Mother Wore Tights is a 1947 musical film starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey as married vaudeville performers. This was Grable and Dailey's first film together, based on a book of the same name by Miriam Young. It was the highest grossing film of Grable's career up to that time, earning more...
(1947)
- Down to Earth
Down to Earth is a musical comedy starring Rita Hayworth, Larry Parks, and Marc Platt, and directed by Alexander Hall. It is a sequel to the 1941 film Here Comes Mr. Jordan, also directed by Hall. Edward Everett Horton and James Gleason reprise their roles from the earlier film, but Roland Culver...
(1947)
- Blondie's Anniversary
Blondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
(1947)
- My Wild Irish Rose (1947)
- Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven (1948)
- Good Sam
Good Sam is a 1948 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Gary Cooper as a Good Samaritan who is helpful to others at the expense of his own family. The film was directed by Leo McCarey and produced by McCarey's production company, Rainbow Productions.-Cast:*Gary Cooper as Samuel R....
(1948)
- The Babe Ruth Story
The Babe Ruth Story is a 1948 baseball film biography of Babe Ruth, the famed New York Yankees slugger. It stars William Bendix as the ballplayer and Claire Trevor as his wife. It was rush released while Ruth himself was still alive. It makes no mention whatsoever of Ruth's first wife,...
(1948)
- Joe Palooka
Joe Palooka was an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher in 1921. The strip debuted in 1930 and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers....
in Winner Take All (1948)
- The Girl from Manhattan (1948)
- Chicken Every Sunday
Chicken Every Sunday is a 1949 American comedy film directed by George Seaton. The screenplay by Seaton and Valentine Davies is based on the 1944 play of the same title by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G...
(1949)
- The Lone Wolf and His Lady (1949)
- Home in San Antone (1949)
- Red Light
Red Light is a 1949 film noir, directed and produced by Roy Del Ruth. It is based on the story "This Guy Gideon" by Don "Red" Barry, and features strong religious overtones.-Plot:...
(1949)
- The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949)
- East Side, West Side
East Side, West Side is a melodramatic crime film, starring Barbara Stanwyck as a wronged wife and Ava Gardner in one of her earliest roles.-Plot:Wealthy socialite Brandon Bourne can't resist cheating on his faithful wife, Jessie...
(1949)
- Blondie's Hero
Blondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
(1950)
- Kill the Umpire
Kill the Umpire is a 1950 comedy starring William Bendix and Una Merkel, directed by Lloyd Bacon and written by Frank Tashlin.-Plot:Bendix plays a former baseball player who continues to be a baseball fanatic whose devotion to the game has cost him several jobs, but who remains steadfast in one...
(1950)
- Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (1950)
- Pretty Baby
Pretty Baby is a 1950 comedy film starring Dennis Morgan, Betsy Drake, Zachary Scott and Edmund Gwenn. A young woman's little white lie leads to unforeseen complications.-Plot:...
(1950)
- Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man is a 1951 comedy horror film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the team of Abbott and Costello alongside Nancy Guild.The film depicts the misadventures of Lou Francis and Bud Alexander, two private detectives investigating the murder of a...
(1951)
- The Lemon Drop Kid
The Lemon Drop Kid is a 1951 comedy film based on the short story of the same name by Damon Runyon, starring Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell, and directed by Sidney Lanfield.The song "Silver Bells," sung by Hope and Maxwell, was introduced in the film...
(1951)
- Rhubarb (1951)
- Rancho Notorious
Rancho Notorious is a 1952 Western shot in Technicolor, directed by Fritz Lang and starring Marlene Dietrich as the matron of a criminal hideout called Chuck-a-Luck...
(1952)
- I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy, aka I Love Lucy: The Movie is a 1953 American feature film spin-off of the sitcom I Love Lucy. Except for one test screening in Bakersfield, California, the film was never theatrically released and was shelved.-Plot:...
(1953) (unreleased feature)
- The Dirty Look (1954) (short subject)
- Better Football (1954) (short subject)
- Safe at Home! (1962)
Selected television (actor)
- I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
(1951–1957)
- The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show (1957–1960)
- The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
The Ford Show is a half-hour comedy/variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired in color on NBC television on Thursday evenings from October 4, 1956 to June 29, 1961....
(December 5, 1957)
- My Three Sons
My Three Sons is an American situation comedy. The series ran from 1960 to 1965 on ABC, and moved to CBS until its end on August 24, 1972. My Three Sons chronicles the life of a widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas , raising his three sons.The series was a cornerstone of the CBS...
(1960–1965)
- The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from 1962 until 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965-66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program...
(1965 — cameo)
Broadway credits
- Merry, Merry (1925–1926)
- Bye, Bye, Bonnie (1927)
- She's My Baby (1928)
- Here's Howe (1928)
- Sons O' Guns (1929–1930)
- She Lived Next to the Firehouse (1931)
- Tell Her the Truth (1932)
- Twentieth Century
Twentieth Century is a play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur based on the unproduced play Napoleon of Broadway by Charles B. Millholland, inspired by his experience working for the eccentric Broadway impresario David Belasco....
(1932–1933)
- The Ghost Writer (1933)
External links
- William Frawley at TV.com
TV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...