Arthur Housman
Encyclopedia
Arthur Housman was an American
actor
in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
s in features but with better opportunities in short films. His best remembered roles were in several Laurel and Hardy
films, notably Scram
, Our Relations
and (in the title role) The Live Ghost
. He also played a frustrated timekeeper in the Three Stooges' film Punch Drunks
.
at age 52.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Career
Initially as a leading man, Housman later became known as Hollywood's most familiar comic drunkard in films of the 1930s, usually playing cameo partCameo appearance
A 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...
s in features but with better opportunities in short films. His best remembered roles were in several Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
films, notably Scram
Scram (1932 film)
- Plot :Ordered out of town by angry Judge Beaumont, vagrants Stanley and Oliver meet a congenial drunk who invites them to stay at his luxurious mansion. The drunk can't find his key, but the boys find a way in, sending the surprised woman inside into a faint. They revive her with what they think...
, Our Relations
Our Relations
Our Relations is a 1936 feature film starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, produced by Laurel for Hal Roach Studios.-Plot:Laurel and Hardy star as both their famous Stan and Ollie characters and as Stan and Ollie's twin brothers Bert and Alf...
and (in the title role) The Live Ghost
The Live Ghost
The Live Ghost is a 1934 American short film starring Laurel and Hardy, directed by Charles Rogers and produced by Hal Roach.-Plot:A tough sea captain is unable to hire on any new crew because his ship is reputed to be haunted, so he persuades fish-market workers Laurel and Hardy to shanghai a...
. He also played a frustrated timekeeper in the Three Stooges' film Punch Drunks
Punch Drunks
Punch Drunks is the second short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
.
Death
Housman's "drunk" act was continued off-screen as well, as he apparently had a drinking problem in real life, and died of pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
at age 52.
Selected filmography
- It May Be YouIt May Be YouIt May Be You is a 1915 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Arthur Housman - Jack Kenwood* Andy Clark - The Office Boy * Dallas Welford - Hi Jinks* Mabel Dwight - Mrs. Jinks* Maxine Brown - Jinks's Stenographer...
(1915) - The Simp and the SophomoresThe Simp and the SophomoresThe Simp and the Sophomores is a 1915 silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy.-Cast:* Raymond McKee - Percy Quince* Harry Eytinge - Professor Stout* Arthur Housman - Tom Haze* Oliver Hardy - Professor Arm. Strong...
(19151915 in filmThe year 1915 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 8 : D.W Griffith's The Birth of a Nation premieres at Clune's Auditorium Los Angeles and breaks box office and film length records, running at a total length of 3 hrs 10 minutes.* June 18 : The Motion Picture Directors...
) - Back to the WoodsBack to the Woods (1918 film)Back to the Woods is a 1918 short comedy film featuring Harold Lloyd. It was produced by Goldwyn Pictures when it and many other early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based in Fort Lee, New Jersey at the beginning of the 20th century...
(19181918 in filmThe year 1918 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*Following litigation for anti-trust activities, the US Supreme Court orders the Motion Picture Patents Company to disband....
) - Brown of HarvardBrown of HarvardBrown of Harvard is the title of three silent films all based on the 1906 Broadway play of the same name by Rida Johnson Young. The 1926 version is notable for featuring John Wayne's screen debut.*Brown of Harvard...
(1918) - The FlapperThe FlapperThe Flapper is a 1920 American silent comedy film starring Olive Thomas. It was the first movie in the United States to portray the "flapper" lifestyle which would soon become a 1920's fad.-Plot:...
(19201920 in filmThe year 1920 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 27 - The Mark of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks opens.-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1920:U.S.A. unless stated*The $1,000,000 Reward...
) - The BatThe Bat (1926 film)The Bat is a silent film based on the 1920 hit Broadway play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, directed by Roland West and starring Jack Pickford and Louise Fazenda...
(1926) - SunriseSunrise (film)Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, also known as Sunrise, is a 1927 American silent film directed by German film director F. W. Murnau. The story was adapted by Carl Mayer from the short story "Die Reise nach Tilsit" by Hermann Sudermann.Sunrise won an Academy Award for Unique and Artistic Production...
(19271927 in film-Events:*January 10 - Fritz Lang's science-fiction fantasy Metropolis premieres in Germany.*April 7 - Abel Gance's Napoleon often considered his best known and greatest masterpiece, premiers at the Paris Opéra and would demonstrate techniques and equipment that would not be used for years to...
) - Queen of the Night ClubsQueen of the Night ClubsQueen of the Night Clubs is a sound musical-drama film produced and directed by Bryan Foy and distributed by Warner Brothers. It is now considered a lost film.-Cast:*Texas Guinan - Texas Malone*John Davidson - Don Holland...
(19291929 in film-Events:The days of the silent film are numbered. A mad scramble to provide synchronized sound is on.*January 20 - The movie In Old Arizona is released. The film is the first full-length talking film to be filmed outdoors....
) - Fast CompanyFast Company (1929 film)Fast Company is a 1929 American comedy film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Evelyn Brent.-Preservation status:According to the Internet Movie Database entry, the UCLA Film and Television Archive has reels 1, 2, and 3 of this film, with reel 4 having disintegrated in 1990.- Cast :*...
(1929) - ScramScram (1932 film)- Plot :Ordered out of town by angry Judge Beaumont, vagrants Stanley and Oliver meet a congenial drunk who invites them to stay at his luxurious mansion. The drunk can't find his key, but the boys find a way in, sending the surprised woman inside into a faint. They revive her with what they think...
(19321932 in film-Events:*Cary Grant's film career begins*Katharine Hepburn's film career begins*Shirley Temple's film career begins*Disney released Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor film.*Santa, first sound film made in Mexico released....
) - No More OrchidsNo More OrchidsNo More Orchids is a 1932 drama film starring Carole Lombard and Lyle Talbot as mismatched lovers, based on the novel of the same name by Grace Perkins.-Plot:...
(1932) - Movie CrazyMovie Crazy- Plot :Harold Hall, a young man with little or no acting ability, desperately wants to be in the movies.After a mix-up with his application photograph, he gets an offer to have a screen-test, and goes off to Hollywood. At the studio, he does everything wrong and causes all sorts of trouble...
(1932) - Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage PatchMrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage PatchMrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch is a 1934 comedy-genre film, directed by Norman Taurog, and based on the 1901 novel by Alice Hegan Rice. It also appeared as a radio series between 1936 and 1938. It is one of two movies that feature a rare film performance by famed Broadway stage actress Pauline...
(19341934 in film-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
) - The Live GhostThe Live GhostThe Live Ghost is a 1934 American short film starring Laurel and Hardy, directed by Charles Rogers and produced by Hal Roach.-Plot:A tough sea captain is unable to hire on any new crew because his ship is reputed to be haunted, so he persuades fish-market workers Laurel and Hardy to shanghai a...
(1934) - Punch DrunksPunch DrunksPunch Drunks is the second short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1934) - The Fixer UppersThe Fixer UppersThe Fixer Uppers is a 1935 short film starring Laurel and Hardy, directed by Charles Rogers and produced by Hal Roach. The penultimate Laurel and Hardy short comedy made at Hal Roach Studios, the film is a reworking of Slipping Wives a silent comedy the comedians appeared in before they teamed up...
(19351935 in film-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
) - Our RelationsOur RelationsOur Relations is a 1936 feature film starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, produced by Laurel for Hal Roach Studios.-Plot:Laurel and Hardy star as both their famous Stan and Ollie characters and as Stan and Ollie's twin brothers Bert and Alf...
(19361936 in filmThe year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
) - The Flying DeucesThe Flying DeucesThe Flying Deuces, also known as Flying Aces, is a 1939 comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy, in which the duo join the French Foreign Legion. It is a partial remake of their 1931 short film Beau Hunks.- Plot :...
(19391939 in filmThe year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
) - Go West (19401940 in filmThe year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
) - Billy The KidBilly the Kid (1941 film)Billy the Kid is a 1941 American color remake of the 1930 film of the same name. The film features Robert Taylor as Billy and Brian Donlevy as a fictionalized version of Pat Garrett renamed "Jim Sherwood" in the film. Directed by David Miller and based on the book by Walter Noble Burns, the cast...
(19411941 in filmThe year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
)