Douglass Dumbrille
Douglass Rupert Dumbrille was a Canadian actor who appeared regularly in films from the early 1930s.
Life and career
The son of Richard and Elizabeth Dumbrille, Douglass Rupert Dumbrille was born in Hamilton, Ontario. As a young man, he was employed as a bank clerk in Hamilton while pursuing an interest in acting. He eventually left banking for the theatere, finding work with a stock company that led him to Chicago, Illinois, another another that toured the United States.In 1913, the East Coast film industry was flourishing and that year he appeared in the film What Eighty Million Women Want, but it would be another 11 years before he appeared on screen again. In 1924, he made his Broadway debut and worked off and on in the theatre for several years while supplementing his income by selling such products as car accessories, tea, insurance, real estate, and books.
During the Great Depression, Dumbrille moved to the West Coast of the U.S., where he specialized in playing secondary character roles alongside the great stars of the day. His physical appearance and suave voice equipped him for roles as slick politician, corrupt businessman, crooked sheriff, or unscrupulous lawyer. He was highly regarded by the studios, and was sought out by Cecil B. DeMille, Frank Capra, Hal Roach and other prominent Hollywood filmmakers.
He played similar roles in Capra's film Broadway Bill the remake, Riding High. He also appeared in DeMille's version of The Buccaneer and twenty years later in the 1958 color remake. A friend of fellow Canadian-born director Allan Dwan, Dumbrille played Athos in Dwan's adaptation of The Three Musketeers.
Dumbrille had roles in more than 200 motion pictures and, with the advent of television, made numerous appearances in the 1950s and 1960s. He had the ability to project a balance of menace and pomposity in roles as the "heavy" in comedy films, such as those of the Marx Brothers or Abbott and Costello.
, Dumbrille, Yul Brynner, and others in the trailer for The Ten Commandments
He portrayed the Egyptian priest and magician Jannes in DeMille's final film, The Ten Commandments.
Also working in television, Dumbrille was cast in six episodes of the religion anthology series, Crossroads. He portrayed Senator Bates in "Thanksgiving Prayer" with Ron Hagerthy of Sky King. Dumbrille then portrayed Mr. Willoughby in "Big Sombrero". In 1958, he was cast as Mayor John Geary in three episodes of the NBC western series, The Californians. He subsequently guest-starred in Frank Aletter's CBS sitcom, Bringing Up Buddy.
Dumbrille made two guest appearances as a judge on CBS's Perry Mason; in 1964 he played Judge Robert Adler in "The Case of the Latent Lover", and in 1965 he played an unnamed judge in "The Case of the Duplicate Case". In his final television role, he portrayed a doctor in episode 10 of Batman in February 1966.
Personal life
After 47 years of marriage, Dumbrille's wife, Jessie Lawson, mother of their son John and daughter Douglass, died in 1957. In 1960, at the age of seventy, Dumbrille married Patricia Mowbray, the 28-year-old daughter of his friend and fellow actor, Alan Mowbray. In response to criticism of the May–December marriage, Dumbrille rebuffed: "Age doesn’t mean a blasted thing. The important thing is whether two people can be happy together. Pat and I agreed that I had some years left and we could best share them together. We don’t give a continental damn what other people think."Dumbrille died of a heart attack on April 2, 1974, at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.
Selected filmography
- What 80 Million Women Want as Minor Role
- The Declaration of Independence as Thomas Paine
- His Woman as Alisandroe
- The Wiser Sex as Chauffeur - aka The Wop
- Blondie of the Follies as Murchenson
- That's My Boy as Coach 'Daisy' Adams
- The Pride of the Legion as McMahon
- I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang as District Attorney
- Laughter in Hell as Ed Perkins
- Hard to Handle as District Attorney
- Smoke Lightning as Sam Edson
- King of the Jungle as Ed Peters
- Rustlers' Roundup as Bill Brett
- The Working Man as Hammersmith - Lawyer
- Elmer, the Great as Stillman
- The Silk Express as Myton Associate
- Heroes for Sale as Jim - Chief Engineer
- The Man Who Dared as Judge Collier
- Baby Face as Brody
- Voltaire as Actor - Oriental King in Play
- The Big Brain as Dan Thomas
- I Loved a Woman as U.S. Attorney Brandt
- The Way to Love as Agent Chapusard
- Female as George Mumford
- The World Changes as Buffalo Bill Cody
- Lady Killer as Spade Maddock
- Convention City
- Massacre as Sen. Emory - Chairman
- Hi, Nellie! as Dawes
- Journal of a Crime as Germaine Cartier
- Harold Teen as H.H. Snatcher
- Fog Over Frisco as Mayard
- Operator 13 as Gen. Stuart
- Treasure Island as Israel Hands
- Hide-Out as DeSalle - Nightclub Owner
- Broadway Bill as Eddie Morgan
- The Secret Bride as Breeden
- The Lives of a Bengal Lancer as Mohammed Khan
- Naughty Marietta as Uncle
- Cardinal Richelieu as Count Baradas
- Air Hawks as Victor Arnold
- Unknown Woman as Phil Gardner
- Love Me Forever as Miller
- The Public Menace as Mario Tonelli
- Peter Ibbetson as Col. Forsythe
- Crime and Punishment as Grilov
- The Calling of Dan Matthews as Jeff Hardy
- The Lone Wolf Returns as Morphew
- You May Be Next as Beau Gardner
- The Music Goes 'Round as Bishop
- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town as John Cedar
- The Witness Chair as Stanley Whittaker
- The Princess Comes Across as Detective Lorel
- M'Liss as Lou Ellis
- End of the Trail as Bill Mason
- Counterfeit Lady as August Marino
- Woman in Distress as Jerome Culver
- A Day at the Races as J.D. Morgan
- The Emperor's Candlesticks as Mr. Korum - a Conspirator
- The Firefly as Marquis de Melito
- Ali Baba Goes to Town as Prince Musah
- The Buccaneer as Governor William C.C. Claiborne
- Stolen Heaven as Klingman
- Fast Company as Arnold Stamper
- The Mysterious Rider as Pecos Bill - aka Ben Wade
- Crime Takes a Holiday as J.J. Grant
- Storm Over Bengal as Ramin Khan
- Sharpshooters as Count Maxim
- Kentucky as John Dillon - 1861
- The Three Musketeers as Athos
- Mr. Moto in Danger Island as La Costa
- Tell No Tales as Matt Cooper
- Captain Fury as Preston
- Charlie Chan at Treasure Island as Thomas Gregory
- Thunder Afloat as District Commander
- Rovin' Tumbleweeds as Stephen Holloway
- Charlie Chan in City in Darkness as Petroff
- Slightly Honorable as George Taylor
- Virginia City as Major Drewery
- South of Pago Pago as Williams
- Michael Shayne, Private Detective as Gordon
- Murder Among Friends as Carter Stevenson
- The Round Up as Capt. Bob Lane
- Road to Zanzibar as Slave Trader
- Washington Melodrama as Donnelly
- The Big Store as Mr. Grover
- Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime as John Matthews
- Castle in the Desert as Paul Manderley
- Ride 'Em Cowboy as Jake Rainwater
- A Gentleman After Dark as Enzo Calibra
- Ten Gentlemen from West Point as Gen. William Henry Harrison
- I Married an Angel as Baron Szigethy
- King of the Mounties as Harper
- Stand by for Action as Capt. Ludlow
- DuBarry Was a Lady as Willie / Duc de Rigor
- False Colors as Mark Foster
- Uncertain Glory as Police Commissioner LaFarge
- Lumberjack as Daniel J. Keefer
- Jungle Woman as District Attorney
- Forty Thieves as Tad Hammond
- Gypsy Wildcat as Baron Tovar
- Lost in a Harem as Nimativ
- Jungle Queen as Lang
- A Medal for Benny as General
- The Frozen Ghost as Inspector Brant
- Flame of the West as Marshal Tom Nightlander
- The Daltons Ride Again as Sheriff Hoskins
- Road to Utopia as Ace Larson
- Pardon My Past as Uncle Wills
- The Catman of Paris as Henry Borchard
- Night in Paradise as High Priest
- The Cat Creeps as Tom McGalvey
- Spook Busters as Dr. Coslow
- Under Nevada Skies as Courtney
- Monsieur Beaucaire as George Washington
- It's a Joke, Son! as Big Dan Healey
- Dishonored Lady as District Attorney O'Brien
- Dragnet as Frank Farrington
- Blonde Savage as Mark Harper
- Christmas Eve as Dr. Bunyan
- The Fabulous Texan as Luke Roland
- Beyond Our Own as E.W. Osborne
- Last of the Wild Horses as Charlie Cooper
- Dynamite as Hank Gibbons
- Riders of the Whistling Pines as Henry Mitchell
- The Lone Wolf and His Lady as John J. Murdock
- Addio Mimí! as Rouchard
- Alimony as Burton Crail
- Joe Palooka in the Counterpunch as Capt. Lance
- Tell It to the Judge as George Ellerby
- Buccaneer's Girl as Capt. Martos
- Riding High as Eddie Howard
- The Savage Horde as Col. Price
- Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion as Sheik Hamud El Khalid
- The Kangaroo Kid as Vincent Moller
- Rapture as W.C. Hutton
- A Millionaire for Christy as J.C. Thompson
- Scaramouche as Assembly President
- Son of Paleface as Sheriff McIntyre
- Apache War Smoke as Maj. Dekker
- Sky Full of Moon as Rodeo Official
- Julius Caesar as Lepidus
- Plunder of the Sun as Consul
- Captain John Smith and Pocahontas as Chief Powhatan
- World for Ransom as Insp. McCollum
- The Lawless Rider as Marshal Brady
- Jupiter's Darling as Scipio
- A Life at Stake as Gus Hillman
- Davy Crockett and the River Pirates as Saloon owner
- Shake, Rattle & Rock! as Eustace Fentwick III
- The Ten Commandments as Jannes
- The Go-Getter as Dr. Baker
- The Buccaneer as Collector of the Port
- High Time as Judge Carter
- Air Patrol as Millard Nolan
- Johnny Cool as Corrupt City Council Member
- What a Way to Go! as Minor Role
- Shock Treatment as Judge