Irving Bacon (born Irving Von Peters; September 6, 1893 – February 5, 1965) was an American

character actor A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...

who appeared in almost 500 films.

Early years

Bacon was the son of entertainers Millar Bacon and Myrtle Vane. He was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, and grew up in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

Career

Bacon played on the stage for a number of years before getting into films in 1912 in Mack Sennett productions. The actor returned to the Sennett studio in 1924, and appeared frequently in Sennett's silent and sound comedies as a supporting actor. By 1933 Bacon was so well established as a utility player that he was pressed into service to replace Andy Clyde -- wearing Clyde's "old man" costume and makeup -- in a Sennett comedy. Meet John Doe 1941

Irving Bacon was sometimes cast in films directed by Lloyd Bacon (incorrectly named as his brother in several sources) such as '' The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse'' (1938). He often played comical "average guys" in scores of feature films; in 1939 alone he appeared in three dozen features. Today's audiences may know him as the soda jerk in the

W. C. Fields William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathet ...

comedy '' Never Give a Sucker an Even Break'', the wily wagon driver in the

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

- Fred Astaire musical '' Holiday Inn'', the angry motel guest in the Oscar-winning short ''

Star in the Night ''Star in the Night'' is a 1945 American short drama film directed by Don Siegel and starring J. Carrol Naish, Donald Woods and Rosina Galli. The film was Siegel's directorial debut, and won an Oscar in 1946 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel) ...

'', and Glenn Miller's father in '' The Glenn Miller Story''. His most familiar role was as Mr. Beasley, the weary postman in

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

' '' Blondie'' film series. During the 1950s, Bacon worked steadily in a number of television sitcoms, most notably '' I Love Lucy'', in which he appeared in two episodes, one of which cast him as Ethel Mertz's father.
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Personal life

Bacon was married to Freda Lee Scoville until her death in 1928, and they had a son and a daughter. In June 1930, Bacon married Margaret Beaver, and they had a son, Frank.; the couple was divorced in 1934. Bacon finally found happiness in 1937, when he wed Bernice Peters.

Filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, Irving 1893 births 1965 deaths Actors from St. Joseph, Missouri American male film actors American male silent film actors American male television actors Male actors from Missouri 20th-century American male actors American male stage actors