Jonathan Hale
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Hale was a Canadian
-born film and television actor.
, Canada
, Hale was well known as Dagwood Bumstead
's boss, Julius Caesar Dithers, in the Blondie
film series in the 1940s. He is also notable for playing Inspector Farnack in various The Saint
films by RKO Pictures
. He also appeared in two different episodes of Adventures of Superman
"The Evil Three", in which a he played a murderous "Southern Colonel"
-type character, and "Panic in the Sky", one of the most famous episodes, in which he played the lead astronomer
at the Metropolis
Observatory (actually one of the California
observatories).
on February 28, 1966. He was interred in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
in North Hollywood
, California
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-born film and television actor.
Career
Born Jonathan Hatley in OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Hale was well known as Dagwood Bumstead
Dagwood Bumstead
Dagwood Bumstead is a main character in comic artist Chic Young's long-running comic strip Blondie. He first appeared sometime prior to 17 February 1933....
's boss, Julius Caesar Dithers, in the Blondie
Blondie (film)
Blondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
film series in the 1940s. He is also notable for playing Inspector Farnack in various The Saint
Simon Templar
Simon Templar is a British fictional character known as The Saint featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris’s...
films by RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
. He also appeared in two different episodes of Adventures of Superman
Adventures of Superman (TV series)
Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
"The Evil Three", in which a he played a murderous "Southern Colonel"
Kentucky colonel
Kentucky colonel is the highest title of honor bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Commissions for Kentucky colonels are given by the Governor and the Secretary of State to individuals in recognition of noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to a community, state or the nation...
-type character, and "Panic in the Sky", one of the most famous episodes, in which he played the lead astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
at the Metropolis
Metropolis
A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...
Observatory (actually one of the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
observatories).
Death
Hale committed suicideSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
on February 28, 1966. He was interred in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 10621 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood, California.The cemetery has a special section called the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation that is the final resting place for a number of aviation pioneers — barnstormers, daredevils and...
in North Hollywood
North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
North Hollywood is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, along the Tujunga Wash. It is bounded on the south by Moorpark Street and the Ventura Freeway, on the southwest by Burbank Blvd...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Selected filmography
- Alice AdamsAlice Adams (film)Alice Adams, also known as Booth Tarkington's Alice Adams, is a 1935 romantic film made by RKO. It was directed by George Stevens and produced by Pandro S. Berman from a screenplay by Dorothy Yost, Mortimer Offner adapted by Jane Murfin from the novel, Alice Adams, by Booth Tarkington...
(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:...
) - A Night at the OperaA Night at the Opera (film)A Night at the Opera is a 1935 American comedy film starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx and Harpo Marx, and featuring Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones, Margaret Dumont, Sig Ruman, and Walter Woolf King. It was the first film the Marx Brothers made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after their departure from...
(1935) (uncredited) - Charlie Chan's SecretCharlie Chan's SecretCharlie Chan's Secret is the tenth Fox-produced film in the Charlie Chan series with Warner Oland as the detective.- Plot :Alan Colby, heir to a vast fortune, reappears after a seven year absence, only to be murdered before he can claim his inheritance. The Lowells have been living off the Colby...
(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...
) - Fury (1936)
- The Devil is a SissyThe Devil is a SissyThe Devil is a Sissy is a 1936 American MGM comedy drama film directed by W.S. Van Dyke and Rowland Brown. The film stars Freddie Bartholomew, Jackie Cooper and Mickey Rooney.The film premiered on September 18, 1936.-Cast:...
(1936) - A Star is BornA Star Is Born (1937 film)A Star Is Born is a 1937 Technicolor romantic drama film produced by David O. Selznick and directed by William A. Wellman, with a script by Wellman, Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell. It stars Janet Gaynor as an aspiring Hollywood actress, and Fredric March as an aging movie star who...
(1937) (uncredited) - The League of Frightened MenThe League of Frightened Men (1937 film)The League of Frightened Men is a 1937 mystery film based on the second Nero Wolfe novel by Rex Stout. Directed by Alfred E. Green, the Columbia Pictures film stars Walter Connolly as Nero Wolfe, a role played by Edward Arnold in the previous year's Meet Nero Wolfe...
(19371937 in filmThe year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
) - SaratogaSaratoga (film)Saratoga is a 1937 film written by Anita Loos and directed by Jack Conway. The movie stars Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in their sixth and final film collaboration....
(1937) - Madame XMadame X (1937 film)Madame X is a drama film, a sanitized remake of several Pre-Code films of the same name. It was directed by Sam Wood with additional direction by Gustav Machatý .-Plot:...
(1937) - The Saint in New YorkThe Saint in New York (film)The Saint in New York is a 1938 crime film, based on Leslie Charteris's novel of the same name. Released by RKO Pictures, The Saint in New York marks the first screen appearance of Simon Templar - "the Saint"...
(19381938 in filmThe year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
) - Boys Town (1938)
- BlondieBlondie (film)Blondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
(1938) - Stand Up and FightStand Up and FightStand Up and Fight is a 1939 film starring Wallace Beery and Robert Taylor. The supporting cast includes Florence Rice, Helen Broderick, Charles Bickford, Barton MacLane, Charley Grapewin, and John Qualen, and the movie was directed by W.S. Van Dyke...
(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...
) - The Saint Strikes BackThe Saint Strikes BackThe Saint Strikes Back, released in 1939, is the second film featuring the crimefighting crusader Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". George Sanders replaced Louis Hayward, who had played the Saint in The Saint in New York. The movie was produced by RKO and also featured Wendy Barrie as female gang...
(1939) - The Story of Alexander Graham BellThe Story of Alexander Graham BellThe Story of Alexander Graham Bell is a somewhat fictionalized 1939 screen biography of the famous inventor of the telephone. It was filmed in black-and-white and released by Twentieth Century-Fox. The film stars Don Ameche as Bell and Loretta Young as Mabel, his wife, who contracted scarlet fever...
(1939) - In Name OnlyIn Name OnlyIn Name Only is a 1939 romantic film starring Cary Grant, Carole Lombard and Kay Francis. It was based on the 1935 novel Memory of Love by Bessie Breuer.-Plot:...
(1939) - The Saint's Double TroubleThe Saint's Double TroubleThe Saint's Double Trouble is a 1940 action-adventure film produced by RKO Pictures. The film stars George Sanders as Simon Templar, a.k.a. "The Saint", a master criminal turned crime-fighter, and features horror film legend Bela Lugosi as "The Partner"...
(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....
) - Johnny ApolloJohnny ApolloJohnny Apollo was a Marx Toy Company toy line featuring two astronauts, first released in 1968 in response to the then current interest in outer space and the US/Soviet Space Race...
(1940) - The Saint Takes OverThe Saint Takes OverThe Saint Takes Over, released in 1940 by RKO Pictures, was the fifth motion picture featuring the adventures of Simon Templar, a.k.a. "The Saint" the Robin Hood-inspired crimefighter created by Leslie Charteris...
(1940) - The Saint in Palm SpringsThe Saint in Palm SpringsThe Saint in Palm Springs is the name of a crime thriller motion picture released by RKO Pictures in early 1941. The film continued the screen adventures of the Robin Hood-inspired anti-hero, Simon Templar, alias The Saint, created by Leslie Charteris. The film itself was based upon a story by...
(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:...
) - Miss Annie RooneyMiss Annie RooneyMiss Annie Rooney is a 1942 American drama film directed by Edwin L. Marin. The screenplay by George Bruce was based on the silent film, Little Annie Rooney starring Mary Pickford. Miss Annie Rooney is about a teenager from a humble background who falls in love with a rich classmate...
(19421942 in filmThe year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
) - The Amazing Mrs. HollidayThe Amazing Mrs. HollidayThe Amazing Mrs. Holliday is a 1943 film starring Deanna Durbin as a missionary who goes to great lengths, even posing as "Mrs. Holliday", in order to get some Chinese war orphans into the United States. Director Jean Renoir was replaced by Bruce Manning partway through production...
(19431943 in filmThe year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
) - Hangmen Also Die! (1943)
- Sweet Rosie O'GradySweet Rosie O'GradySweet Rosie O'Grady is a 1943 musical film about an American singer who attempts to better herself by marrying an English duke, but is harassed by a reporter...
(1943) - Dead Man's EyesDead Man's EyesDead Man's Eyes is a 1944 Inner Sanctum mystery film directed by Reginald Le Borg, and starring Lon Chaney, Jr. and Jean Parker. The film was distributed by Universal Pictures. The "Inner Sanctum" franchise originated with a popular radio series and all of the films star Lon Chaney, Jr.-Plot:Artist...
(19441944 in filmThe year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
) - DivorceDivorce (film)Divorce is a 1945 drama film about a much-divorced woman who sets her sights on her married childhood friend. It stars Kay Francis, Bruce Cabot, and Helen Mack.-Cast:*Kay Francis as Diane Carter*Bruce Cabot as Bob Phillips*Helen Mack as Martha Phillips...
(19451945 in filmThe year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
) - Allotment WivesAllotment WivesAllotment Wives is a film noir starring Kay Francis in her final screen appearance. An army investigator tries to shut down a scam that preys on soldiers and unknowingly falls in love with the woman behind it.-Cast:*Kay Francis as Sheila Seymour...
(1945) - DakotaDakota (film)Dakota is a 1945 Western film directed by Joseph Kane and starring John Wayne.-Cast:* John Wayne - John Devlin* Vera Ralston - Sandy Poli * Walter Brennan - Capt. Bounce of the Riverbird* Ward Bond - Jim Bender* Mike Mazurki - Bigtree Collins...
(1945) - The Beginning or the EndThe Beginning or the EndThe Beginning or the End is a 1947 film about the development of the atomic bomb in World War II.It was directed by Norman Taurog and starred Brian Donlevy and Hume Cronyn...
(19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) - High WallHigh WallHigh Wall is a film noir, starring Robert Taylor, Audrey Totter and Herbert Marshall. It was directed by Curtis Bernhardt from a screenplay by Sydney Boehm and Lester Cole, based on a play by Alan R...
(1947) - The Baron of ArizonaThe Baron of ArizonaThe Baron of Arizona is a 1950 film by Samuel Fuller and starring Vincent Price. Ed Wood was a stunt double in the film.The film concerns a master forger's attempted use of false documents to lay claim to the territory of Arizona late in the 19th century, and is based on the case of James Reavis,...
(19501950 in filmThe year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
) - Strangers on a TrainStrangers on a Train (film)Strangers on a Train is an American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. It was shot in the autumn of 1950 and released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1951. The film stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman,...
(19511951 in filmThe year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
) - Let's Go Navy!Let's Go Navy!Let's Go Navy! is a 1951 comedy film starring The Bowery Boys. The film was released on July 29, 1951 by Monogram Pictures and is the twenty-third film in the series.-Plot:...
(1951) - Scandal Sheet (19521952 in filmThe year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) - Carbine WilliamsCarbine WilliamsCarbine Williams is a 1952 American drama film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring James Stewart. The film follows the life of its namesake, David Marshall Williams, who invented the operating principle for the M1 Carbine while in a North Carolina prison...
(1952) - The Steel TrapThe Steel Trap- Plot :Joseph Cotten plays a bank officer who decides to rob his own bank and head to Brazil before he can be found out. Leaving with his wife , he finds it difficult exiting the country.- Trivia :...
(1952) - Kansas PacificKansas Pacific (film)Kansas Pacific is a 1953 U.S. Cinecolor western film released by Allied Artists Pictures and directed by Ray Nazarro. It stars Sterling Hayden and Eve Miller. The movie offers a fictionalized account of the struggle to build the Kansas Pacific Railway in the 1860s during the American Civil War...
(19531953 in filmThe year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
)