Ernest Truex(1889-1973)
- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
The ultimate milquetoast and ineffectual boss in comedy outings, meek
character actor Ernest Truex was a small (5'3"), adenoidal, very
well-dressed fellow, a popular avuncular type in later years who
enjoyed a seven-decade-long career. He was born September 19, 1889, in
Kansas City, Missouri, the son of a physician. Raised in Rich Hill,
Missouri, he was actually trained in acting by one of his father's
actor/patients (in exchange for mounting medical bills). An acting
prodigy, Truex performed Shakespeare as a small child and was at one
time dubbed "The Youngest Hamlet" by promoters (the five-year-old
actually played the "ghost" of Hamlet). Upon his parents' separation when
Ernest was nine, he and his mother toured the West in a show billed as
"The Child Entertainers," in which the young talent recited everything
from "Othello" to "Romeo and Juliet." Making appearances in stock and
vaudeville, he took his first Broadway bow as a teenager with
"Wildfire" starring Lillian Russell in
1908, and continued in the same vein with "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm"
(1910) and "Very Good Eddie" (1915), which also featured his first
wife, actress Julia Mills. In 1913,
he appeared on Broadway with Mary Pickford
in the popular play "A Good Little Devil."
That same year Truex made his film debut with Pickford in
Caprice (1913), then appeared with her in
the film version of
A Good Little Devil (1914).
With his film career now off and running, he found a fairly comfortable
niche for himself as mild-mannered, mischievous heroes in comedy
capers. He played the title role in
Artie, the Millionaire Kid (1916),
as well as the protagonist in
Come on In (1918) and
Good-Bye, Bill (1918), not to
mention a number of humorous shorts. His last silent film,
Six Cylinder Love (1923) as
Gilbert Sterling, came from an earlier Broadway success.
Truex continued to rack up a strong body of stage work in the late
1920s and early 1930s. His first wife had died around this time and he
married stage actress Mary Jane Barrett, appearing with her in New York
in such plays as "The Third Little Show" (1931), "The Hook-Up (1935),
and "Fredericka" (1937). In 1934 Truex directed,
co-produced, and starred in the play "Sing and Whistle" which
co-starred Sylvia Field. She would later
become his third wife upon his divorce from Ms. Barrett, and came into
her own in later years as the kindly Mrs. Wilson on the
Dennis the Menace (1959)
sitcom.
With his first wife Julia Mills he had two children, Philip and James.
With his second wife Mary Jane Barrett he had one child, Barry Truex.
All three of his sons went into acting for the first decade of their adult lives.
Philip and James Truex were mainly theatre actors but Barry Truex also had
substantial roles in movies.
Barry Truex's best known role was as the young Benny Goodman in
The Benny Goodman Story (1956)
A much sought-after character lead and farceur after the arrival of
sound, Truex appeared in a host of standout roles in such comedies as
Get That Venus (1933),
Whistling in the Dark (1933)
(another stage success),
Everybody Dance (1936), a British
musical comedy that co-starred
Cicely Courtneidge, and
Mama Runs Wild (1937). Forever the
henpecked husband or exasperated executive, he was an avid scene
stealer in
The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938),
Bachelor Mother (1939), the
classic His Girl Friday (1940),
Lillian Russell (1940) and
Christmas in July (1940).
Broadway triumphs kept rolling in as well with "Best Sellers," "George
Washington Slept Here" and "Androcles and the Lion."
The quality of his films fell off in the postwar years and he started
scouting out TV projects. He appeared as a regular on the
Mister Peepers (1952) series,
as a grandfather in Jamie (1953), a
boss in
The Ann Sothern Show (1958),
and as "Pop" in the
December Bride (1954) spin-off
Pete and Gladys (1960). Truex
died on June 27, 1973, in Fallbrook, California, of a heart attack at
age 83.
character actor Ernest Truex was a small (5'3"), adenoidal, very
well-dressed fellow, a popular avuncular type in later years who
enjoyed a seven-decade-long career. He was born September 19, 1889, in
Kansas City, Missouri, the son of a physician. Raised in Rich Hill,
Missouri, he was actually trained in acting by one of his father's
actor/patients (in exchange for mounting medical bills). An acting
prodigy, Truex performed Shakespeare as a small child and was at one
time dubbed "The Youngest Hamlet" by promoters (the five-year-old
actually played the "ghost" of Hamlet). Upon his parents' separation when
Ernest was nine, he and his mother toured the West in a show billed as
"The Child Entertainers," in which the young talent recited everything
from "Othello" to "Romeo and Juliet." Making appearances in stock and
vaudeville, he took his first Broadway bow as a teenager with
"Wildfire" starring Lillian Russell in
1908, and continued in the same vein with "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm"
(1910) and "Very Good Eddie" (1915), which also featured his first
wife, actress Julia Mills. In 1913,
he appeared on Broadway with Mary Pickford
in the popular play "A Good Little Devil."
That same year Truex made his film debut with Pickford in
Caprice (1913), then appeared with her in
the film version of
A Good Little Devil (1914).
With his film career now off and running, he found a fairly comfortable
niche for himself as mild-mannered, mischievous heroes in comedy
capers. He played the title role in
Artie, the Millionaire Kid (1916),
as well as the protagonist in
Come on In (1918) and
Good-Bye, Bill (1918), not to
mention a number of humorous shorts. His last silent film,
Six Cylinder Love (1923) as
Gilbert Sterling, came from an earlier Broadway success.
Truex continued to rack up a strong body of stage work in the late
1920s and early 1930s. His first wife had died around this time and he
married stage actress Mary Jane Barrett, appearing with her in New York
in such plays as "The Third Little Show" (1931), "The Hook-Up (1935),
and "Fredericka" (1937). In 1934 Truex directed,
co-produced, and starred in the play "Sing and Whistle" which
co-starred Sylvia Field. She would later
become his third wife upon his divorce from Ms. Barrett, and came into
her own in later years as the kindly Mrs. Wilson on the
Dennis the Menace (1959)
sitcom.
With his first wife Julia Mills he had two children, Philip and James.
With his second wife Mary Jane Barrett he had one child, Barry Truex.
All three of his sons went into acting for the first decade of their adult lives.
Philip and James Truex were mainly theatre actors but Barry Truex also had
substantial roles in movies.
Barry Truex's best known role was as the young Benny Goodman in
The Benny Goodman Story (1956)
A much sought-after character lead and farceur after the arrival of
sound, Truex appeared in a host of standout roles in such comedies as
Get That Venus (1933),
Whistling in the Dark (1933)
(another stage success),
Everybody Dance (1936), a British
musical comedy that co-starred
Cicely Courtneidge, and
Mama Runs Wild (1937). Forever the
henpecked husband or exasperated executive, he was an avid scene
stealer in
The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938),
Bachelor Mother (1939), the
classic His Girl Friday (1940),
Lillian Russell (1940) and
Christmas in July (1940).
Broadway triumphs kept rolling in as well with "Best Sellers," "George
Washington Slept Here" and "Androcles and the Lion."
The quality of his films fell off in the postwar years and he started
scouting out TV projects. He appeared as a regular on the
Mister Peepers (1952) series,
as a grandfather in Jamie (1953), a
boss in
The Ann Sothern Show (1958),
and as "Pop" in the
December Bride (1954) spin-off
Pete and Gladys (1960). Truex
died on June 27, 1973, in Fallbrook, California, of a heart attack at
age 83.