J. Farrell MacDonald

J. Farrell MacDonald

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a 41-year career from 1911 to 1951, and directed forty-four silent films from 1912 to 1917.

MacDonald was the principal director of L. Frank Baum's Oz Film Manufacturing Company, and he can frequently be seen in the films of Frank Capra, Preston Sturges and, especially, John Ford.

Early in his career, MacDonald was a singer in minstrel shows, and he toured the United States extensively for two years with stage productions. He made his first silent film in 1911, a dramatic short entitled The Scarlett Letter made by Carl Laemmle's Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), the forerunner of Universal Pictures,. He continued to act in numerous films each year from that time on, and by 1912 he was directing them as well. The first film he directed was The Worth of a Man, another dramatic short, again for IMP, and he was to direct 43 more films until his last in 1917, Over the Fence, which he co-directed with Harold Lloyd. MacDonald had crossed paths with Lloyd several years earlier, when Lloyd was an extra and MacDonald had given him much-needed work – and he did the same with Hal Roach, both of whom appearing in small roles in The Patchwork Girl of Oz, which MacDonald directed in 1914. When Roach set up his own studio, with Lloyd as his principal attraction, he hired MacDonald to direct.

By 1918, MacDonald, who was to become one of the most beloved character men in Hollywood, had given up directing and was acting full-time, predominantly in Westerns and Irish comedies. He first worked under director John Ford in 1919's A Fight for Love. In all, Ford would use MacDonald on twenty-five films between 1919 and 1950.

With a voice that matched his personality, MacDonald made the transition to sound films easily, with no noticeable drop in his acting output – if anything, it went up. In 1931, for instance, MacDonald appeared in 14 films – among them the first version of The Maltese Falcon, in which he played "Detective Tom Polhaus" – and in 22 of them in 1932. Although he played laborers, policemen, military men and priests, among many other characters, his roles were usually a cut above a "bit part". His characters usually had names, and he was most often credited for his performances. A highlight of this period was his performance as the hobo "Mr. Tramp" in Our Little Girl with Shirley Temple (1935).

In the 1940s, MacDonald was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in seven films written and directed by Sturges. MacDonald appeared in Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The Great Moment, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, Unfaithfully Yours and The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend, Sturges' last American film. Earlier, MacDonald had also appeared in The Power and the Glory, which Sturges wrote. His work on Sturges' films was generally uncredited. He was notable in 1946 in John Ford's My Darling Clementine in which he played "Mac," the bartender in the town saloon. MacDonald also had uncredited roles in It's a Wonderful Life and Here Comes The Groom.

Personal info

Gender

Male

Birthday

1875-06-05

Place of birth

Waterbury, Connecticut, USA

Images

Cast

Topper

Topper

1937

6.73

Stormy

Stormy

1935

0.00

The Wallop

The Wallop

1921

4.00

Panhandle

Panhandle

1948

5.82

3 Bad Men

3 Bad Men

1926

6.80

Johnny Angel

Johnny Angel

1945

5.90

Bullet Proof

Bullet Proof

1920

0.00

The Ape Man

The Ape Man

1943

4.20

Drifting

Drifting

1923

6.20

Quicksands

Quicksands

1923

5.00

Barefoot Boy

Barefoot Boy

1938

4.83

Riffraff

Riffraff

1936

5.00

Manslaughter

Manslaughter

1922

5.40

Paid to Love

Paid to Love

1927

6.00

Masquerade

Masquerade

1929

0.00

Sky High

Sky High

1922

5.50

Zenobia

Zenobia

1939

4.60

Swellhead

Swellhead

1935

0.00

The Healer

The Healer

1935

5.70

Danger Ahead

Danger Ahead

1935

4.17

Lightnin'

Lightnin'

1925

5.20

4 Devils

4 Devils

1928

7.00

Probation

Probation

1932

5.00

Flying Fists

Flying Fists

1937

5.00

River's End

River's End

1930

6.20

Smoky

Smoky

1946

5.20

Gang Bullets

Gang Bullets

1938

5.70

Conspiracy

Conspiracy

1939

5.50

Slave Ship

Slave Ship

1937

4.80

Come on Over

Come on Over

1922

0.00

County Fair

County Fair

1937

6.00

Coast Guard

Coast Guard

1939

5.00

Western Luck

Western Luck

1924

0.00

Untamed

Untamed

1940

4.30

Tiger Fangs

Tiger Fangs

1943

4.00

Dark Command

Dark Command

1940

6.32

Trailin'

Trailin'

1921

4.50

Fallen Angel

Fallen Angel

1945

6.50

Slim

Slim

1937

6.30

The Dream

The Dream

1911

5.50

The Brat

The Brat

1931

5.60

Happy Days

Happy Days

1929

6.00

Roped

Roped

1919

5.00

Strong Boy

Strong Boy

1929

5.00

Thank You

Thank You

1925

4.00

Rags

Rags

1915

7.50

Dakota Lil

Dakota Lil

1950

5.00

Parnell

Parnell

1937

4.60

Marked Men

Marked Men

1919

5.00

Woman Hungry

Woman Hungry

1931

0.00

Action

Action

1921

4.00

True to Life

True to Life

1943

6.00

State Police

State Police

1938

6.00

Show Boat

Show Boat

1936

6.73

Prairie Law

Prairie Law

1940

5.50

Extortion

Extortion

1938

5.00

Touchdown!

Touchdown!

1931

0.00

Parnell

Parnell

1937

4.60