Acting
Sep 17, 1889
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Ernest Truex
Acting
Biography
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)
Feature Films (71)
Walter Burns is an irresistibly conniving newspaper publisher desperate to woo back his paper’s star reporter, who also happens to be his estranged wife. She’s threatening to quit and settle down with a new beau, but, as Walter knows, she has a weakness: she can’t resist a juicy scoop.
His Girl Friday
Daisy, the Bumstead's mischievous mutt, makes the family a little extra cash when she wins a contest to become a model for the Navy. From there she becomes the favorite calendar gal. All the attention to the dog, makes Dagwood feel that his position as master of the house is jeopardized. Meanwhile all the attention catches the greedy eyes of gangsters who try and abduct Daisy!
Life with Blondie
A rebellious young inductee has trouble toeing the line until he meets a retired officer's lovely daughter. James and his band are also drafted and decide to perk up their camp by putting on a big show.
Private Buckaroo
A patriotic but short American man tries without luck to qualify for the Army, but can't get in until a knock on the head raises a lump high enough for him to pass the height requirement. Meanwhile, his lady friend decides to become a Secret Service agent, though she is unable to keep the fact a secret, even from the German spies she hopes to apprehend.
Come on In
An office clerk loves entering contests in the hopes of someday winning a fortune and marrying the girl he loves. His latest attempt is the Maxford House Coffee Slogan Contest. As a joke, some of his co-workers put together a fake telegram which says that he won the $25,000 grand prize.
Christmas in July
Television & Series (27)
The Bradley family are proud owners of the Shady Rest Hotel. Kate and her three young daughters do the job of running the hotel.
Petticoat Junction
An American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. Studio One, presented by Westinghouse, was one of the first of the anthology TV programs. The episodes were often abridged remakes of movies from years gone by and many future well-known television and movie actors appeared in the productions.
Studio One
An anthology series containing drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, and/or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist.
The Twilight Zone
A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Cameo Theatre was an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from 1950 to 1955.
Cameo Theatre
This 1959-1963 television situation comedy series follows the lives of the Mitchell family, Henry, Alice, and their only child Dennis, an energetic, trouble-prone, mischievous, but well-meaning boy, who often tangles with his peace-and-quiet-loving neighbor George Wilson, a retired salesman, or, later, with George's brother John, a writer. Dennis is basically a good, well-intentioned boy who always tries to help people, but who winds up making situations worse – often at Mr. Wilson's expense.
