File:James_Dunn.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
OverviewAI-generated
James Howard Dunn was an American actor born in New York City on November 2, 1901. He worked as a stage, film, and television actor from 1927 until 1966. Dunn was married to Frances Gifford.
He received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for the same award. He also holds a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Dunn died in Santa Monica on September 1, 1967.
Synthesized by Vinony from 23 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, TMDb, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film & TV
New York City, New York, USA
James Dunn worked on the stage, in vaudeville and as an extra in silent movies before he was signed by Fox in 1931. His first movie with Fox was 1931's Sob Sister (1931). While at Fox, he appeared with Shirley Temple in her first three features: Baby Take a Bow (1934), Stand Up and Cheer! (1934) and Bright Eyes (1934). Dunn's screen character was usually the boy next door or the nice guy. In 1935…
Known for
- Hollywood’s Children — Self (archive footage)1982
- The Biggest Little Star of the 30's — Self(archive footage)1976
- Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? — Self (archive footage)1975
- Shadow Over Elveron — Luke Travers1968
- The Oscar — TV executive1966
- Branded1965
- The Great Adventure — Indian Agent McLean1963
- The Fugitive — Lou Bragan1963
- Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre1963
- Vacation Playhouse — P.J. Cunningham1963
via TMDB
Key facts
- Born
- James Howard Dunn , ( 1901-11-02 ) November 2, 1901, Manhattan, New York , U.S.
- Died
- September 1, 1967 (1967-09-01) (aged 65), Santa Monica, California , U.S.
- Occupations
- Actor, vaudeville performer
- Years active
- 1927–1966
- Spouses
- Edna O'Lier ( divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1922 ) Frances Gifford ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1937 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1943 ) Edna Rush ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1945 – 1967 )
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- James
- Family name
- Dunn
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- New York City
- Place of death
- Santa Monica
- Spouse
- Frances Gifford
- Occupation
- actor
- Image
- James Dunn.jpg
Show 8 more facts
- date of birth
- 1901-11-02
- date of death
- 1967-09-03
- Commons category
- James Dunn
- nominated for
- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
- start of work period
- 1927-00-00
- birth name
- James Howard Dunn
- name in native language
- James Dunn
- end of work period
- 1966-00-00
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
~22 min read
Encyclopedic overview
James Howard Dunn (November 2, 1901 – September 1, 1967), billed as Jimmy Dunn in his early career, was an American actor and vaudeville performer. The son of a New York stockbroker, he initially worked in his father's firm but was more interested in theater. He landed jobs as an extra in short films produced by Paramount Pictures in its Long Island studio, and also performed with several stock theater companies, culminating with playing the male lead in the 1929 Broadway musical Sweet Adeline. This performance attracted the attention of film studio executives, and in 1931, Fox Film signed him to a Hollywood contract.
His screen debut in the 1931 film Bad Girl made him an overnight box-office star and he was cast as the lead in a succession of romantic drama and comedy films. In 1934, he co-starred with Shirley Temple in her first three films. In 1935, at the height of his popularity, he broke his studio contract two years before it expired and became a free agent. With musicals on the wane in the late 1930s, he was cast in a series of B movies and struggled with alcoholism in his personal life. In 1945, having not worked for a major studio for five years, he was selected by director Elia Kazan for the role of Johnny Nolan, the dreamy alcoholic father in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “James Dunn” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.