Frank Faylen (December 8, 1905 – August 2, 1985) was an American movie and television actor.
Born Frank Ruf in St. Louis, Missouri, he began his acting career as an infant appearing with his vaudeville performing parents on stage. After traveling with his showbiz parents through his childhood, Faylen became a stage actor at 18, and eventually began working in movies in the 1930s. He began playing a number of unmemorable bit parts for Warner Brothers, then freelanced for other studios in gradually larger character roles. He appears as Walt Disney's musical conductor in The Reluctant Dragon, and as a stern railroad official in the Laurel and Hardy comedy A-Haunting We Will Go. Faylen and L & H supporting player Charlie Hall were teamed briefly by Monogram Pictures.
Faylen's breakthrough came in 1945, where he was cast as Bim, the cynical male nurse at Bellevue's alcoholic ward in The Lost Weekend. His most familiar movie appearance is as Ernie Bishop, the friendly taxi driver in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. Faylen appeared in almost 200 films.
Faylen's career also stretched to television, playing long-suffering grocer Herbert T. Gillis on the 1950s television sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. In 1968 he had a small part in the Barbra Streisand film Funny Girl. Faylen was married to Carol Hughes, also a movie actress.
Faylen died from pneumonia in 1985. He was interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California.
Selected filmography
The Invisible Menace (1938)
A-Haunting We Will Go (1942)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Blood on the Moon (1948)
Detective Story (1951)
The Sniper (1952)
Hangman's Knot (1952)
99 River Street (1953)
7th Cavalry (1956)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
Funny Girl (1968)
External links
Frank Faylen at the Internet Movie Database
Find-A-Grave profile for Frank Faylen
Persondata
NAME
Faylen, Frank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Actor
DATE OF BIRTH
December 8, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH
St. Louis, Missouri
DATE OF DEATH
August 2, 1985
PLACE OF DEATH
Burbank, California
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Faylen"
Categories: 1905 births | 1985 deaths | American film actors | American television actors | Hollywood Walk of Fame | People from St. Louis, Missouri | Vaudeville performers
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