Jack Carson
Jack Carson | |
|---|---|
 from the trailer for the film The Hard Way (1945). | |
| Born | John Elmer Carson |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse(s) | Lola Albright (1952-1958) Kay St. Germain Wells (1941-1950) 2 Children Elizabeth Lindy (1938-1939) Sandra Jolley (1963-His Death) |
John Elmer "Jack" Carson (27 October 1910 – 2 January 1963) was a Canadian-born U.S.-based film actor.
Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the 'golden age of Hollywood', with a film career spanning the 1930s, '40s and '50s. Primarily employed for comic relief, his work in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof proved he could also master dramatic material. During his career, he worked at RKO, MGM (cast opposite Myrna Loy and William Powell in Love Crazy), but most of his memorable work was at Warner Brothers. Carson's trademark was the wisecracking know it all who eventually and typically was undone by his own excessive self-confidence.
Early years
Carson was born in Carman, Manitoba to Elmer and Elsa Carson. Shortly afterwards the family moved to Milwaukee, which he always thought of as his home town, although there exists no specific evidence confirming that he took out United States citizenship. He attended high school at Hartford School, Milwaukee and St. John's Military Academy, Delafield, but it was while attending Carroll College that he developed a taste for acting.
Jack Carson, because of his size — 6 ft 2 in (1.9 m) and 220 lb (100 kg), had his first stage appearance as Hercules in a college production. During a performance, he tripped and took half the set with him. A college friend, Dave Willock, thought it was so funny he persuaded Carson to team with him in a vaudeville act—Willock and Carson—and a new career began. This piece of unplanned business would be typical of the sorts of things that tended to happen to Carson during some of his film roles.
During the 1930s, as vaudeville went into decline owing to increased competition from radio and the movies, Willock and Carson sought work in Hollywood, initially landing bit roles at RKO. The radio also proved to be a source of employment for the team following a 1938 appearance on the Kraft Music Hall during Bing Crosby's period as program host. This led to a number of other appearances which would culminate in Carson's own radio show in 1943.
From 1950-51, Carson was one of four alternating hosts of NBC's "4 Star Revue." Other hosts that season were Jimmy Durante, Ed Wynn. and Danny Thomas. The show aired Wednesday evenings. Carson's second season was his last with the comedy-variety program when its title was changed to "All Star Revue."
Film career
Carson's success on radio led to a more lucrative contract with Warner Brothers. He was teamed with Dennis Morgan in a number of films, supposedly to compete with the popular Crosby and Hope road pictures. Like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, Morgan and Carson enjoyed a genuine off-screen friendship. Their first film together was a dark drama called The Hard Way, which was nothing like their subsequent pairings.
However, despite this auspicious beginning, most of his work at Warner Brothers was limited to light comedies with Morgan and later with Doris Day (who in her autobiography would credit Carson as one of her early Hollywood mentors). Critics generally agree that Carson's best work was in Mildred Pierce (1945) where he played the perpetually scheming Wally Fay opposite Joan Crawford in the title role. Another role which won accolades for Carson was publicist Matt Libby in A Star is Born (1954).
Carson's work during this period included a number of appearances on television including The Guy Mitchell Show (1957), Alcoa Theatre (1959), Bonanza (1959) and The Twilight Zone (1961).
Death
In 1962, while rehearsing the Broadway play Critics Choice, he collapsed and was subsequently diagnosed with stomach cancer. Carson died in Encino in 1963, aged 52. The early death of the burly Carson, whose screen image was one of energy and vitality, made front page news, along with the death of fellow actor Dick Powell. He was entombed in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
Personal life
Carson married four times: Elizabeth Lindy (married 1938, divorced 1939), Kay St. Germain (m. 1941, div. 1950), Lola Albright (m. 1952, div. 1958), Sandra Jolley (1961-1963). He also had an affair between his second and third marriages with Doris Day from 1950-1951,[citation needed] but she left him for Marty Melcher, who would become her third husband.
Partial filmography
- Bringing Up Baby (1938) (uncredited) with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant
- Vivacious Lady (1938) with Ginger Rogers and James Stewart
- The Saint in New York (1938) with Louis Hayward as Simon Templar
- Destry Rides Again (1939) with Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart
- Carefree (1939) with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
- Lucky Partners (1940) with Ronald Colman, Ginger Rogers, Spring Byington and Harry Davenport
- I Take This Woman (1940) with Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) with Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery
- Love Crazy (1941) with William Powell and Myrna Loy
- The Strawberry Blonde (1941) with James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland
- The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941) with James Cagney and Bette Davis
- The Male Animal (1942) with Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland
- Gentleman Jim (1942) with Errol Flynn, Alan Hale, William Frawley and Ward Bond
- The Hard Way (1943) with Ida Lupino
- Princess O'Rourke (1943) with Olivia de Havilland, Robert Cummings and Charles Coburn
- Hollywood Canteen (1944)
- Make Your Own Bed (1944) with Jane Wyman and Alan Hale
- Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) with Cary Grant and Priscilla Lane
- The Doughgirls (1944) with Ann Sheridan and Alexis Smith
- Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944) with Ann Sheridan
- Mildred Pierce (1945) with Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth and Eve Arden
- Roughly Speaking (1945) with Rosalind Russell
- The Time, the Place, and the Girl (1946) with Dennis Morgan and Janis Paige
- Two Guys from Milwaukee (1946) with Dennis Morgan
- Love and Learn (1947) with Martha Vickers
- Romance on the High Seas (1948) with Janis Paige, Don DeFore, and Doris Day
- Two Guys from Texas (1948) with Dennis Morgan and Dorothy Malone
- John Loves Mary (1949) with Ronald Reagan, Wayne Morris and Edward Arnold
- My Dream Is Yours (1949) with Doris Day
- It's a Great Feeling (1949) with Doris Day
- Dangerous When Wet (1953) with Esther Williams and Fernando Lamas
- A Star Is Born (1954) with Judy Garland and James Mason
- Red Garters (1954) with Rosemary Clooney
- Phffft! (1954) with Judy Holliday, Jack Lemmon, and Kim Novak
- Magnificent Roughnecks (1956) with Mickey Rooney
- The Tarnished Angels (1958) with Rock Hudson, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone
- Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958) with Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Joan Collins
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) with Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, and Burl Ives
- Sammy the Way Out Seal (1962) with Robert Culp
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