Arthur Lake (actor)
| Arthur Lake | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | Arthur Silverlake, Jr. April 17, 1905 Corbin, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | January 9, 1987 (aged 81) Indian Wells, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
Arthur Lake (April 17, 1905—January 9, 1987) was an American actor known best for bringing Dagwood Bumstead, the bumbling husband of Blondie, to life in film, radio and television.
Contents |
[edit] Early life and career
At the time of his birth in 1905, Arthur Silverlake, Jr.'s father and uncle were touring with a circus in an aerial act known as "The Flying Silverlakes".[1] His mother, Edith Goodwin, was an actress. His parents later appeared in vaudeville in a skit "Family Affair", traveling throughout the South and Southwest United States. Arthur first appeared on stage as a baby in Uncle Tom's Cabin and he and his sister, Florence, became part of the act in 1910.[1] Their mother brought the children to Hollywood to get into films, and Arthur made his screen debut in the silent Jack and the Beanstalk (1917). Florence became a successful actress, achieving a degree of fame as one of the screen wives of comedian Edgar Kennedy.
Universal Pictures signed him to a contract, where he acted in westerns as an adolescent character actor. Shortly after the formation of RKO Pictures in 1928, he signed with that studio, where he made Dance Hall (1929) and Cheer Up and Smile (1930).[1] During this early sound film era, he typically played light romantic roles, usually with a comic "Mama's Boy" tone to them, in films such as Indiscreet (1931) with Gloria Swanson.
[edit] Dagwood in Blondie
Arthur Lake is best known for portraying the Blondie comic strip character of Dagwood Bumstead in twenty-eight[1] Blondie films produced by Columbia Pictures from 1938 until 1950. For the first seven of those years,[1] a radio version was also broadcast with Lake in the Dagwood role. He also portrayed the character in a short-lived 1957 Blondie TV series. His work in the popular Blondie radio show earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6646 Hollywood Blvd.
[edit] Personal life
Lake became very friendly with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst and his mistress Marion Davies. He was a frequent guest at the beach house of Davies, where he met Patricia Lake (née Van Cleeve) (1923–1993). They were married at San Simeon on the 24th of July 1942. The parentage of Patricia Van Cleeve is unclear, but at the time of her death, she claimed to be the daughter of Davies and Hearst.
In his book about the Black Dahlia murder case, author Donald H. Wolfe asserts that Lake was questioned by the Los Angeles Police Department as a suspect, having been acquainted with the victim through her volunteer work at the Hollywood Canteen.[2] No charges were filed and Lake was one of many suspects in a case that remains unsolved.
Lake died of a heart attack in Indian Wells, California on January 9, 1987 and was interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, in the Douras family mausoleum, along with actress Marion Davies and her husband, Horace G. Brown.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Lamparski, Richard (1982). Whatever Became Of ...? Eighth Series. New York: Crown Publishers. pp. 166–67. ISBN 0-517-54855-0.
- ^ Donald H. Wolfe (2005). The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul, and the Murder that transfixed Los Angeles. ReganBooks. p. 155.
[edit] External links
- Arthur Lake at the Internet Movie Database
- Blondie: The Movie Series
- "Arthur Lake". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=1867. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
