Edward Pawley
Encyclopedia
Edward Joel Pawley was an American
actor of radio, films and Broadway. The full name on his birth certificate is Edward Joel Stone Pawley, however, he never used the Stone name. It derived from a Stone family in Illinois.
At maturity, Pawley was 5'-10" tall with thick black hair and blue eyes. While in high school, he became interested in both journalism and acting. Acting won out after taking drama classes and appearing in high school plays. After moving to New York City
in 1920 to pursue a career in the theater, he married (in 1922) his high school sweetheart, Martina May Martin
, who had become a professional stage actress. They had one child, a son named Martin Herbert Pawley (b. 1923). Edward and Martina later divorced only to remarry and divorce again. In 1937, he married the then popular Broadway singer, dancer and actress Helen Shipman
. They remained married for 47 years until her death on April 13, 1984.
career in 1920 and reached the Broadway
stage in 1923 in The Shame Woman. He went on to star in various well-known Broadway plays, including Elmer Gantry (1928), Processional (1928), Street Scene
(1929), Subway Express (1929), Two Seconds
(1931), Life Begins
(1932) and The Willow and I (1942). Pawley's rich, baritone voice was hailed by leading journalists of the day, including Walter Winchell
and Heywood Hale Broun
. Although he was probably best known in the theater for his portrayal of Elmer Gantry
in the Broadway play of the same name, it was his portrayal of John Allen in Two Seconds
that brought him to the attention of Hollywood by way of Warner Brothers. Winchell wrote that Pawley received a standing ovation after his opening night performance in Two Seconds
.
came into vogue, Pawley left the theater after 1932 and went to Hollywood where he performed in over 50 movies during a relatively brief (for Hollywood) ten-year span. He had feature roles in such movies as Hoosier Schoolboy with Mickey Rooney
, G-Men
with James Cagney
, The Oklahoma Kid
with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart
, King Solomon of Broadway with Edmund Lowe
and Louise Henry, Each Dawn I Die
with George Raft
and Cagney, Tom Sawyer, Detective
with Janet Waldo
and Donald O'Connor
and Romance on the Range
with Roy Rogers
and Gabby Hayes. He played mostly "bad guy" roles in gangster
, horror
, comedy
and Western films. He became friends with Cagney (with whom he made five movies), Jackie Cooper
(four movies) and Francis Lederer
. One of his earliest friends in the entertainment industry was Arthur Hughes
who played Bill Davidson on the long-running radio show, Just Plain Bill
. Arthur also acted in some Broadway plays and was Pawley's best man at his wedding (in 1922) to stage actress Martina May Martin (his first wife).
radio program; consequently, he also became involved with radio upon his return to NYC. He played opposite Lucille Wall
in the radio soap opera, Portia Faces Life
. He and Wall were the "Love Story Boy and Girl" on that show. In 1943, Pawley auditioned for and was cast in the starring role of "Steve Wilson" on the top-rated radio drama series, Big Town
. He left Portia Faces Life to replace actor Edward G. Robinson
who had played the Steve Wilson role from 1937–42, when the show was produced in Hollywood. Steve Wilson's sidekick on Big Town was "girl reporter" Lorelei Kilbourne, played by Fran Carlon. That role was originally played first by Claire Trevor
and, later, by Ona Munson
when Edward G. Robinson starred as "Steve Wilson (from 1937 to 1942).
During Pawley's eight-year reign, Big Town achieved the "number one" rating for reporter-type drama shows on radio. In the January 1948 Nielson Ratings, the show was ranked #12 among ALL radio programs... ahead of such popular shows as Suspense
, Sam Spade
, Mr. District Attorney
, The FBI in Peace and War
, Blondie
, and Mr. and Mrs. North
. His audience was estimated anywhere from 10 million to 20 million listeners which is still a huge following, even in the 21st century, for any radio or TV series/show.
in rural Rappahannock County, Virginia
. He had fallen in love with the State early during his theatrical career. In retirement, Pawley raised and sold championship goats, wrote poetry, and worked part-time as a radio announcer at local radio station WCVA in Culpeper, Virginia
. Edward and Helen later moved to Rock Mills, Virginia in the mid-1950s where they lived on the original site of the Rock Mill at the confluence of the Thornton and Rush Rivers. To Edward, living at Rock Mills was the fruition of his dream to live close to nature. He and Helen maintained an organic vegetable farm and goat farm, where they produced pesticide-free vegetables, goat milk and cheese. For a while, they also ran a local grocery store, the "Cash and Totem Store", where they sold, among other staples, some of their own produce. Helen marketed her "Virginia Honey Girl" line of fruits preserved in honey and offered it for sale in their store.
Edward and Helen were proponents of "back-to-the-earth living with nature" before it became popular. They had no children together, but became spiritual parents of many children in the area. In his will, Edward named the Rottier family children as his spiritual children - Jane, Ross, Kathyrn, Juia, Richard, and Robin. Kathryn Rottier is a mural painter in Northern Virginia.
Edward fell in love with Virginia while touring with the play East Is West in 1920. He played the role of a Chinaman in that stage production, and it was his first professional acting role. After retirement, Pawley would become the quintessential "Virginia Gentleman" and was loved for his integrity
, patriotism
, and charm. He was admired for his vocabulary and speaking voice, as well as his status as an entertainer in three different media forms (theater, film, and radio).
Edward died just two months shy of his 87th birthday as the result of a heart condition while a patient at the University of Virginia
Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. His residence at the time of his death was in the village of Rock Mills, Rappahannock County, Virginia. Pawley and his second wife, Helen Shipman
, were cremated, and their ashes were scattered at their favorite spot alongside the Rush River which partially flows through their former estate in the village of Rock Mills. A raised bronze plaque at that site is a memorial to their lives and careers in the entertainment medium.
Pawley had two younger brothers who were also actors: William M. Pawley (b. ca. 1903) and J. Anthony Pawley (b. ca. 1910). Both brothers acted in Broadway plays, as well as films, but neither achieved the success and acclaim which their older brother received.
NOTE: The bulk of the information mentioned in this biography is contained in the book titled.. EDWARD J. PAWLEY: BROADWAY'S ELMER GANTRY, RADIO'S STEVE WILSON, AND HOLLYWOOD'S PERENNIAL BAD GUY (pub. Outskirts Press, 2006) by Robert Gibson Corder, Ph.D.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor of radio, films and Broadway. The full name on his birth certificate is Edward Joel Stone Pawley, however, he never used the Stone name. It derived from a Stone family in Illinois.
At maturity, Pawley was 5'-10" tall with thick black hair and blue eyes. While in high school, he became interested in both journalism and acting. Acting won out after taking drama classes and appearing in high school plays. After moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1920 to pursue a career in the theater, he married (in 1922) his high school sweetheart, Martina May Martin
Martina May Martin
Martina May Martin was an American stage actress who starred in various theatrical productions around the country during the 1920s and 1930s....
, who had become a professional stage actress. They had one child, a son named Martin Herbert Pawley (b. 1923). Edward and Martina later divorced only to remarry and divorce again. In 1937, he married the then popular Broadway singer, dancer and actress Helen Shipman
Helen Shipman
Helen Shipman was an American singer, dancer and actress who starred in various Broadway musicals and musical comedies and who also acted in movies.-Early life and career:...
. They remained married for 47 years until her death on April 13, 1984.
Broadway
Pawley began his theatricalTheatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
career in 1920 and reached the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
stage in 1923 in The Shame Woman. He went on to star in various well-known Broadway plays, including Elmer Gantry (1928), Processional (1928), Street Scene
Street Scene (1931 film)
Street Scene is a 1931 black-and-white drama film produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by King Vidor. With a screenplay by Elmer Rice adapted from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Street Scene takes place on a New York City street from one evening until the following afternoon...
(1929), Subway Express (1929), Two Seconds
Two Seconds
Two Seconds is a 1932 Pre-Code film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Edward G. Robinson with Vivienne Osborne and Preston Foster. It was based on a successful Broadway play of the same name by Elliott Lester. The title refers to the two seconds it takes the condemned person to die in the...
(1931), Life Begins
Life Begins (film)
Life Begins is a drama film set in a 1930s maternity ward and deals with unwed mothers. It was adapted from the play of the same name by Mary M. Axelson.-Cast:*Loretta Young as Grace Sutton*Eric Linden as Jed Sutton...
(1932) and The Willow and I (1942). Pawley's rich, baritone voice was hailed by leading journalists of the day, including Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell was an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator.-Professional career:Born Walter Weinschel in New York City, he left school in the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as Gus Edwards' "Newsboys Sextet."His career in journalism was begun by posting...
and Heywood Hale Broun
Heywood Hale Broun
Heywood Hale Broun was an American an author, sportswriter, commentator and actor. He was born and raised in New York City, the son of writer and activist Ruth Hale and columnist Heywood Broun. He was educated at private schools and Swarthmore College....
. Although he was probably best known in the theater for his portrayal of Elmer Gantry
Elmer Gantry
Elmer Gantry is a satirical novel written by Sinclair Lewis in 1926 and published by Harcourt in March 1927.-Background:Lewis did research for the novel by observing the work of various preachers in Kansas City in his so-called "Sunday School" meetings on Wednesdays. He first worked with William L...
in the Broadway play of the same name, it was his portrayal of John Allen in Two Seconds
Two Seconds
Two Seconds is a 1932 Pre-Code film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Edward G. Robinson with Vivienne Osborne and Preston Foster. It was based on a successful Broadway play of the same name by Elliott Lester. The title refers to the two seconds it takes the condemned person to die in the...
that brought him to the attention of Hollywood by way of Warner Brothers. Winchell wrote that Pawley received a standing ovation after his opening night performance in Two Seconds
Two Seconds
Two Seconds is a 1932 Pre-Code film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Edward G. Robinson with Vivienne Osborne and Preston Foster. It was based on a successful Broadway play of the same name by Elliott Lester. The title refers to the two seconds it takes the condemned person to die in the...
.
Hollywood
Not long after talkiesFilm
A 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...
came into vogue, Pawley left the theater after 1932 and went to Hollywood where he performed in over 50 movies during a relatively brief (for Hollywood) ten-year span. He had feature roles in such movies as Hoosier Schoolboy with Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
, G-Men
G Men
G Men is a 1935 Warner Bros. crime film starring James Cagney and Ann Dvorak. It also marked Lloyd Nolan's film debut. According to Variety Magazine, it was one of the top-grossing films of 1935....
with James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
, The Oklahoma Kid
The Oklahoma Kid
The Oklahoma Kid is a 1939 western film starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. The movie was directed for Warner Bros. by Lloyd Bacon. Cagney plays an adventurous gunslinger in a broad-brimmed cowboy hat while Bogart portrays his black-clad and viciously villainous nemesis...
with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, King Solomon of Broadway with Edmund Lowe
Edmund Lowe
Edmund Dantes Lowe was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film. He was born in San Jose, California.-Film career:...
and Louise Henry, Each Dawn I Die
Each Dawn I Die
Each Dawn I Die is a 1939 gangster film featuring James Cagney and George Raft in their only movie together as leads, although Raft had made an unbilled appearance in a 1932 Cagney vehicle called Taxi! in which he won a dance contest against Cagney, after which he and Cagney brawl...
with George Raft
George Raft
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s...
and Cagney, Tom Sawyer, Detective
Tom Sawyer, Detective
Tom Sawyer, Detective is an 1896 novel by Mark Twain. It is a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , and Tom Sawyer Abroad . Tom Sawyer attempts to solve a mysterious murder in this burlesque of the immensely popular detective novels of the time...
with Janet Waldo
Janet Waldo
Janet Waldo is an American actress and voice artist with a career encompassing radio, television, animation and live-action films. She is best known in animation for voicing Judy Jetson, Penelope Pitstop and Josie McCoy in Josie and the Pussycats...
and Donald O'Connor
Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule...
and Romance on the Range
Romance on the Range (film)
Romance on the Range is a 1942 American film starring Roy Rogers....
with Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
and Gabby Hayes. He played mostly "bad guy" roles in gangster
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
, horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
and Western films. He became friends with Cagney (with whom he made five movies), Jackie Cooper
Jackie Cooper
Jackie Cooper was an American actor, television director, producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to make the transition to an adult career. Cooper was the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination...
(four movies) and Francis Lederer
Francis Lederer
Francis Lederer was a film and stage actor with a successful career, first in Europe, then in the United States.-Europe:...
. One of his earliest friends in the entertainment industry was Arthur Hughes
Arthur Hughes (actor)
Arthur Hughes was an American actor on the stage, radio and films. On Broadway, he performed in two dozen plays between 1923 and 1968, including Mourning Becomes Electra and Elizabeth the Queen...
who played Bill Davidson on the long-running radio show, Just Plain Bill
Just Plain Bill
Just Plain Bill was a long run 15-minute daytime radio drama program heard on CBS and NBC. The series was sponsored by Anacin for 18 of the program's 23-year run. Other sponsors over the years were Kolynos toothpaste, Clapp’s baby food and BiSoDol...
. Arthur also acted in some Broadway plays and was Pawley's best man at his wedding (in 1922) to stage actress Martina May Martin (his first wife).
Radio
Pawley became disenchanted with Hollywood during the attempted infiltration by the communists in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Consequently, he left in 1942 and returned briefly to Broadway where he starred with Gregory Peck in The Willow and I. Previously when in New York City in the 1930s, Pawley had performed leading romantic roles on The Collier HourThe Collier Hour
The Collier Hour, broadcast on the NBC Blue Network from 1927 to 1932, was radio's first major dramatic anthology, aka Collier's Radio Hour. It offered adaptations of stories and serials from Collier's in a calculated move to increase subscriptions and compete with The Saturday Evening Post...
radio program; consequently, he also became involved with radio upon his return to NYC. He played opposite Lucille Wall
Lucille Wall
Lucille Wall was an American actress who played the role of Lucille March Weeks on the ABC soap opera General Hospital from 1963 to 1976. At times the role was also played by Mary Grace Canfield....
in the radio soap opera, Portia Faces Life
Portia Faces Life
Portia Faces Life is a soap opera which began in syndication on April 1, 1940. It was broadcast on some stations that carried NBC programs, although it does not seem to have been an official part of that network's programming...
. He and Wall were the "Love Story Boy and Girl" on that show. In 1943, Pawley auditioned for and was cast in the starring role of "Steve Wilson" on the top-rated radio drama series, Big Town
Big Town
Big Town is a popular long-running radio drama series which was later adapted to both film and television and a comic book published by DC Comics.-Radio:...
. He left Portia Faces Life to replace actor Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
who had played the Steve Wilson role from 1937–42, when the show was produced in Hollywood. Steve Wilson's sidekick on Big Town was "girl reporter" Lorelei Kilbourne, played by Fran Carlon. That role was originally played first by Claire Trevor
Claire Trevor
Claire Trevor was an Academy Award-winning American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers...
and, later, by Ona Munson
Ona Munson
Ona Munson was an American actress perhaps best known for her portrayal of prostitute Belle Watling in Gone with the Wind .- Career :...
when Edward G. Robinson starred as "Steve Wilson (from 1937 to 1942).
During Pawley's eight-year reign, Big Town achieved the "number one" rating for reporter-type drama shows on radio. In the January 1948 Nielson Ratings, the show was ranked #12 among ALL radio programs... ahead of such popular shows as Suspense
Suspense (radio program)
-Production background:One of the premier drama programs of the Golden Age of Radio, was subtitled "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" and focused on suspense thriller-type scripts, usually featuring leading Hollywood actors of the era...
, Sam Spade
The Adventures of Sam Spade
The Adventures of Sam Spade was a radio series based loosely on the private detective character Sam Spade, created by writer Dashiell Hammett for The Maltese Falcon. The show ran for 13 episodes on ABC in 1946, for 157 episodes on CBS in 1946-1949, and finally for 51 episodes on NBC in 1949-1951...
, Mr. District Attorney
Mr. District Attorney
Mr. District Attorney is a popular radio crime drama which aired on NBC and ABC from April 3, 1939 to June 13, 1952 . The series focused on a crusading D.A., initially known only as "Mister District Attorney," or "Chief", and was later translated to television. On television the D.A...
, The FBI in Peace and War
The FBI in Peace and War
The FBI in Peace and War was a radio crime drama inspired by Frederick Lewis Collins' book, The FBI in Peace and War.The idea for the show came from Louis Pelletier who wrote many of the scripts. Among the show's other writers were Jack Finke, Ed Adamson and Collins...
, Blondie
Blondie (radio)
Blondie is a radio situation comedy adapted from the long-run Blondie comic strip by Chic Young. The radio program had a long run on several networks from 1939 to 1950....
, and Mr. and Mrs. North
Mr. and Mrs. North
Mr. and Mrs. North are fictional American amateur detectives. Created by Frances and Richard Lockridge, the couple were featured in a series of 26 Mr. and Mrs. North novels, a Broadway play, a motion picture and several radio and television series....
. His audience was estimated anywhere from 10 million to 20 million listeners which is still a huge following, even in the 21st century, for any radio or TV series/show.
Retirement
Edward Pawley left Big Town in 1951 and retired to the small village of AmissvilleAmissville, Virginia
Amissville is an unincorporated community in Rappahannock County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is located on U.S. Route 211 about halfway between Warrenton and the small town of Washington, Virginia. Amissville was first settled by French Huguenots and the English. In about 1763, Thomas...
in rural Rappahannock County, Virginia
Rappahannock County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 7,373 people, 2,788 households, and 2,004 families residing in the county. The population density was 26 people per square mile . There were 3,303 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...
. He had fallen in love with the State early during his theatrical career. In retirement, Pawley raised and sold championship goats, wrote poetry, and worked part-time as a radio announcer at local radio station WCVA in Culpeper, Virginia
Culpeper, Virginia
Culpeper is an incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. The population was 9,664 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Culpeper County. Culpeper is part of the Culpeper Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Culpeper County. Both the Town of Culpeper and...
. Edward and Helen later moved to Rock Mills, Virginia in the mid-1950s where they lived on the original site of the Rock Mill at the confluence of the Thornton and Rush Rivers. To Edward, living at Rock Mills was the fruition of his dream to live close to nature. He and Helen maintained an organic vegetable farm and goat farm, where they produced pesticide-free vegetables, goat milk and cheese. For a while, they also ran a local grocery store, the "Cash and Totem Store", where they sold, among other staples, some of their own produce. Helen marketed her "Virginia Honey Girl" line of fruits preserved in honey and offered it for sale in their store.
Edward and Helen were proponents of "back-to-the-earth living with nature" before it became popular. They had no children together, but became spiritual parents of many children in the area. In his will, Edward named the Rottier family children as his spiritual children - Jane, Ross, Kathyrn, Juia, Richard, and Robin. Kathryn Rottier is a mural painter in Northern Virginia.
Edward fell in love with Virginia while touring with the play East Is West in 1920. He played the role of a Chinaman in that stage production, and it was his first professional acting role. After retirement, Pawley would become the quintessential "Virginia Gentleman" and was loved for his integrity
Integrity
Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions...
, patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
, and charm. He was admired for his vocabulary and speaking voice, as well as his status as an entertainer in three different media forms (theater, film, and radio).
Edward died just two months shy of his 87th birthday as the result of a heart condition while a patient at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. His residence at the time of his death was in the village of Rock Mills, Rappahannock County, Virginia. Pawley and his second wife, Helen Shipman
Helen Shipman
Helen Shipman was an American singer, dancer and actress who starred in various Broadway musicals and musical comedies and who also acted in movies.-Early life and career:...
, were cremated, and their ashes were scattered at their favorite spot alongside the Rush River which partially flows through their former estate in the village of Rock Mills. A raised bronze plaque at that site is a memorial to their lives and careers in the entertainment medium.
Pawley had two younger brothers who were also actors: William M. Pawley (b. ca. 1903) and J. Anthony Pawley (b. ca. 1910). Both brothers acted in Broadway plays, as well as films, but neither achieved the success and acclaim which their older brother received.
NOTE: The bulk of the information mentioned in this biography is contained in the book titled.. EDWARD J. PAWLEY: BROADWAY'S ELMER GANTRY, RADIO'S STEVE WILSON, AND HOLLYWOOD'S PERENNIAL BAD GUY (pub. Outskirts Press, 2006) by Robert Gibson Corder, Ph.D.
Films
| Movie | Year | Character |
| The Desperadoes | 1943 | Blackie (Deputy Sheriff) |
| Eyes of the Underworld | 1943 | Lance Merlin(gangster) aka Criminals of the Underworld (USA: reissue title) |
| Flight Lieutenant | 1942 | Larsen |
| Romance on the Range | 1942 | Jerome Banning (Roy Rogers' boss and covert fur thief) |
| True to the Army | 1942 | Junior |
| Treat 'Em Rough | 1942 | Martin |
| Hold That Ghost Hold That Ghost Hold That Ghost is a 1941 comedy horror film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and featuring Joan Davis, Evelyn Ankers, and Shemp Howard.... |
1941 | (uncredited) High Collar (gangster) aka Oh, Charlie |
| Hit the Road | 1941 | Spike (the butcher/mob boss) |
| Riders of Death Valley | 1941 | |
| San Francisco Docks | 1940 | Monte March (gangster/club owner) |
| The Texas Rangers Ride Again | 1940 | Palo Pete (outlaw and sidekick of Anthony Quinn's character) |
| Flowing Gold Flowing Gold Flowing Gold is a 1940 adventure film starring John Garfield, Frances Farmer, and Pat O'Brien. It was based on the novel of the same name by Rex Beach. The film is set in the American oilfields and the title refers to oil.-Plot:... |
1940 | Collins (oil derrick worker and nemesis of John Garfield's character) |
| River's End aka Double Identity(USA: TV title) | 1940 | Frank Crandell (gangster) |
| Castle on the Hudson aka Years Without Days (UK) | 1940 | Black Jack/'Blackie' (gangster) |
| Old Hickory | 1939 | Vice President Calhoun (uncredited) |
| The Big Guy aka Warden of the Big House (USA: reissue title) | 1939 | Chuck Burkhart |
| Each Dawn I Die aka Killer Meets Killer | 1939 | Dale (A fellow convict in prison with James Cagney and George Raft and the one who led a failed prison break attempt). |
| Help Wanted | 1939 | (role unknown) |
| Unmarried | 1939 | Swade (gangster) |
| The Lady's from Kentucky (1939) (as Edward J. Pawley).... Spike Cronin (gangster) | ||
| Money to Loan (1939) (uncredited) .... Calumette (gangster) | ||
| The Oklahoma Kid (1939) .... Ace Doolin (Humphrey Bogart's partner-in-crime) | ||
| Tom Sawyer, Detective (1938) .... Brace Dunlap (a wealthy but crooked land owner). | ||
| Angels with Dirty Faces Angels with Dirty Faces Angels with Dirty Faces is a 1938 American gangster film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, the Dead End Kids and Humphrey Bogart, along with Ann Sheridan and George Bancroft... (1938) .... Edwards ( Cagney's nemesis/prison guard) |
||
| Sons of the Legion (1938) .... Baker (a gunman) | ||
| Smashing the Rackets (1938) .... Chin Martin (gangster) | ||
| Little Tough Guy Little Tough Guy Little Tough Guy is a 1938 Universal Studios film that starred several of the Dead End Kids. Although re-release posters and the DVD release credit them as The Dead End Kids they did not go by that title in the on screen credits. It was in the follow-up films that they began using the team name... (1938)..... Jim Boylan (father of Billy Halop's character and husband of Marjorie Main's character) |
||
| Prison Break (1938) .... Joe Fenderson (brother of Glenda Farrell's character). | ||
| Romance of the Limberlost (1938) .... Jed Corson (suitor of Jean Parker's character, Laurie Mears, and wealthy land-owner) | ||
| You and Me (1938) (uncredited) .... 'Dutch' (gangster) | ||
| Gun Law (1938) .... 'The Raven' (who attempts to kill George O'Brien's character). | ||
| Dangerous to Know (1938) .... John Rance (mob boss) | ||
| White Banners White Banners White Banners is a 1938 Warner Brothers drama film starring Claude Rains, Fay Bainter, Jackie Cooper, Bonita Granville, Henry O'Neill, and Kay Johnson.... (1938) .... Bill Ellis (co-owner of a refrigeration shop along with his real-life brother, William Pawley, who played his brother, Joe Ellis). |
||
| The Last Gangster (1937) (uncredited) .... Brockett (gangster) | ||
| It Can't Last Forever (1937) .... Cronin (gangster) | ||
| *Hoosier Schoolboy (1937) .... Captain Fred Carter (father of Mickey Rooney's character, Shockey Carter, and a world War I hero) ... aka Forgotten Hero ... aka Yesterday's Hero (UK) |
||
| Mountain Justice (1937) .... Tod Miller | ||
| Dangerous Number (1937) (uncredited) .... Second Detective | ||
| Sinner Take All (1936) .... Capt. Bill Royce | ||
| Sworn Enemy (1936) .... 'Dutch' McTurk (gangster) | ||
| Tough Guy (1936) .... Tony (gangster) | ||
| King Solomon of Broadway (1935) .... 'Ice' Larson (gangster and night club owner) | ||
| Dante's Inferno (1935) (uncredited) .... Clinton, the Ship's Officer | ||
| 'G' Men (1935) .... Danny Leggett (gangster who was public enemy No. 1 and chased by James Cagney's character). | ||
| Mississippi (1935) .... Joe Patterson (Major Patterson's Brother) | ||
| Helldorado (1935) (uncredited) .... a Coal Miner | ||
| Treasure Island Treasure Island (1934 film) Treasure Island is a 1934 movie adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous 1883 novel Treasure Island. Jim Hawkins discovers a treasure map and travels on a sailing ship to a remote island, but pirates led by Long John Silver threaten to take away the honest seafarers’ riches and... (1934) .... William O'Brien (pirate of the Spanish Main) |
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| Olsen's Big Moment (1933) (uncredited) .... Joe 'Monk' West (gangster) ... aka Olsen's Night Out |
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| Footlight Parade (1933) (uncredited) ..... Sailor in a bar fight w/ Cagney and others | ||
| Tess of the Storm Country (1932) .... Ben Letts | ||
| Thirteen Women (1932) .... Chauffer named "Burns" (Irene Dunn's Chauffeur, and complicit lover of Myrna Loy) |