Stanley Clements (born Stanislaw Klimowicz; July 16, 1926 – October 16, 1981) was an American actor and comedian, best known for portraying "Stash" in the East Side Kids film series, and group leader Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie in The Bowery Boys film series.

Life and career

Stanley Clements was born in

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18t ...

. Young "Stosh" (the Polish diminutive nickname for "Stanislau") realized that he wanted a show-business career while he was in grammar school, and after he graduated from Brooklyn's P.S. 49 in 1938, for the next two years he toured in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...

and found work in radio. He then joined the touring company of the ''

Major Bowes Amateur Hour The ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' was an American radio talent show broadcast in the 1930s and 1940s, created and hosted by Edward Bowes (1874–1946). Selected performers from the program participated in touring vaudeville performances, under ...

''. His career stalled in 1940, and Clements was reduced to panhandling for a time to survive. In 1941, he was signed to a contract by 20th Century-Fox and appeared in juvenile/teen roles in several B films for the studio.

East Side Kids

In 1942 he was loaned to

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios in ...

. Among his friends he was known offscreen as "Stosh," so he adopted the nickname "Stash" in the ensemble-cast film series, the East Side Kids. He appeared as an East Side Kid in '' Smart Alecks'', ''

'Neath Brooklyn Bridge ''Neath Brooklyn Bridge'' is a 1942 film released by Monogram Pictures. It is the eleventh installment in the ''East Side Kids'' series and one of the more dramatic films of the series, released at a time when they were making lighter, more humoro ...

'', and '' Ghosts on the Loose''. He retained the character name of "Stash" in other films: '' Right to the Heart'', '' Military Academy with That Tenth Avenue Gang'', and ''

Boots Malone ''Boots Malone'' is a 1952 American drama film directed by William Dieterle. It stars William Holden as a down-on-his-luck sports agent and Johnny Stewart as a rich runaway who wants to become a jockey. Plot Down on his luck, jockey agent "Boots ...

''.

Marriage

In August 1945, Clements married actress

Gloria Grahame Gloria Grahame Hallward (November 28, 1923 – October 5, 1981) was an Academy Award-winning American actress and singer. She began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in ''It's a Won ...

, who played bad girl Violet Bick in ''

It's a Wonderful Life ''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet '' The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loo ...

'', and who later won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for ''

The Bad and The Beautiful ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' is a 1952 American melodrama that tells the story of a film producer who alienates everyone around him. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli, written by George Bradshaw and Charles Schnee, and starring Lana T ...

''. The marriage was a stormy one, with Grahame objecting to Clements's drinking and gambling, and Clements being jealous of her dalliances with other men, and it ended in 1948. He married Maria Walek in 1951. In 1964 they adopted her eight-year-old nephew, Sylvester, bringing him to the United States from Poland.

Other roles

After the East Side Kids, Clements then set out on his own again, this time landing roles in more prestigious pictures. He was featured in perhaps his best-known role as teenage street-tough-turned-choirboy "Tony Scaponi" in the 1944

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 ...

hit '' Going My Way'', and scored a great success as a jockey in the 1945 Alan Ladd feature '' Salty O'Rourke''. Clements's acting career was interrupted by U.S. Army service as a private first class just after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. When he returned in 1947, he began appearing in more adult roles in lower-budgeted films, including ''

Johnny Holiday Johnny Holiday (October 28, 1912 – February 28, 2009) was an American actor who entered the field of acting at the age of 87. Biography A former barkeep, Holiday (born John Taube) came out of a 25-year retirement, first appearing in pri ...

'' (cast against type as a psychopath) and '' Destination Murder'' (as a hired killer). He starred in a series of action/detective pictures at the successor to Monogram Pictures, Allied Artists, for producer Ben Schwalb and director

Edward Bernds Edward Bernds (July 12, 1905May 20, 2000) was an American screenwriter and director, born in Chicago, Illinois. Career While in his junior year in Lake View High School, he and several friends formed a small radio clique and obtained amateur li ...

The Bowery Boys

In 1945 after

Leo Gorcey Leo Bernard Gorcey (June 3, 1917– June 2, 1969) was an American stage and film actor, famous for portraying the leader of a group of hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids and, as adults, The Bowery Boys. Gorcey w ...

left the East Side Kids in a salary dispute with producer

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. Ea ...

, Gorcey's teammate

Bobby Jordan Robert G. Jordan (April 1, 1923 – September 10, 1965) was an American actor, most notable for being a member of the Dead End Kids, the East Side Kids, and The Bowery Boys. Early life and career Jordan was born in Harrison, New York, At ...

arranged a meeting with his agent, Jan Grippo. Gorcey partnered with Grippo to produce a new "gang" series called The Bowery Boys, with Gorcey owning a 40% share in the franchise. Gorcey's real-life father

Bernard Gorcey Bernard Gorcey (9 January 1886 – 11 September 1955) was a Russian-born American actor. He began in Vaudeville, performed on Broadway, and appeared in multiple shorts and films. He portrayed ice cream shop proprietor Louie Dumbrowski i ...

was added to the cast as Louie Dumbrowski, proprietor of Louie's Sweet Shop, the headquarters of The Bowery Boys. Younger brother David Gorcey, formerly one of the East Side Kids, returned to appear in the new series. After Bernard Gorcey was killed in an auto accident in 1955, a grief-stricken Leo Gorcey turned to alcohol for solace and became a disruptive presence in the studio during the filming of '' Crashing Las Vegas'', trashing scenery and destroying props. In 1956 Gorcey demanded a larger share of ownership from Allied Artists, which was denied, and after a heated conversation, Gorcey stormed off the studio lot and quit the series. When the series's then-producer Ben Schwalb needed a replacement for Gorcey, he asked Stanley Clements to step in as The Bowery Boys' new ringleader, Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie (although Huntz Hall received top billing). Clements comfortably settled into the role of

Huntz Hall Henry Richard "Huntz" Hall (August 15, 1920 – January 30, 1999) was an American radio, stage, and movie performer who appeared in the popular " Dead End Kids" movies, including '' Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938), and in the later " Bower ...

's sidekick, and co-starred in the final seven Bowery Boys comedies, beginning with '' Fighting Trouble''.

Later career and death

Following the end of The Bowery Boys franchise in 1958, Clements went on to a steady career of supporting roles in film and television. Clements co-wrote the film '' The Devil's Partner'' (1958, not released until 1961). In 1960 Clements appeared as Clyde Simpson in the TV western ''

Tales of Wells Fargo ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' is an American Western television series starring Dale Robertson that ran from 1957 to 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until its final season, when it expanded to a ...

'' starring '' Dale Robertson'' in the episode "Doc Dawson." He appeared in a 1962 episode, "The Craziest Race in Town," of the adventure drama series '' Straightaway''. Clements also appeared in an episode of Gomer Pyle USMC entitled "Sergeant of The Guard" aired April 2, 1965. One of his last jobs was an appearance in a nationally advertised commercial for Pringle's potato chips. On October 16, 1981, Stanley Clements died at age 55 from

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the a ...

in Pasadena, California, 11 days after the passing of his first wife Gloria Grahame. He is buried at

Riverside National Cemetery Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers , making it the largest cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administratio ...

in Riverside, California.

Films

*'' Tall, Dark and Handsome'' (1941) - Detroit Harry Morrison Jr. *'' Accent on Love'' (1941) - Patrick Henry Lombroso *'' Down in San Diego'' (1941) - Louie Schwartz *'' I Wake Up Screaming'' (1941) - Newsboy (uncredited) *'' Right to the Heart'' (1942) - Stash *'' On the Sunny Side'' (1942) - Tom Sanders *'' Smart Alecks''* (1942) - Stash *''

''* (1942) - Stash *'' They Got Me Covered'' (1943) - Office Boy (uncredited) *'' The More the Merrier'' (1943) - Morton Rodakiewicz *'' Ghosts on the Loose''* (1943) - Stash *'' Thank Your Lucky Stars'' (1943) - Boy (uncredited) *'' Sweet Rosie O'Grady'' (1943) - Danny (uncredited) *''

You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith ''You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr Smith'' is a 1943 American musical film directed by Felix E. Feist and starring Allan Jones, Evelyn Ankers and Billie Burke. Plot A woman marries a man to fulfill the conditions of a will. Cast * Allan Jones as Tony ...

'' (1943) - Alexander Archibald "Squirt" O'Reilly *''

Cover Girl A cover girl is a woman whose photograph features on the front cover of a magazine. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a casual, once-off appearance by a person on the cover of a maga ...

'' (1944) - Elevator Boy (uncredited) *'' The Girl in the Case'' (1944) - Tuffy *'' Going My Way'' (1944) - Tony Scaponi (uncredited) *''

See My Lawyer ''See My Lawyer'' is a 1945 American comedy film directed by Edward F. Cline and written by Edmund Hartmann and Stanley Davis. It is based on the 1939 musical ''See My Lawyer'' by Richard Maibaum and Harry Clork. The film stars Ole Olsen, Ch ...

'' (1945) - Willie *'' Salty O'Rourke'' (1945) - Johnny Cates *''

Variety Girl ''Variety Girl'' is a 1947 American musical comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Mary Hatcher, Olga San Juan, DeForest Kelley, Frank Ferguson, Glenn Tryon, Nella Walker, Torben Meyer, Jack Norton, and William Demarest. It was ...

'' (1947) - Stanley Clements (uncredited) *'' Big Town Scandal'' (1948) - Tommy Malone *''

Hazard A hazard is a potential source of harm. Substances, events, or circumstances can constitute hazards when their nature would allow them, even just theoretically, to cause damage to health, life, property, or any other interest of value. The probab ...

'' (1948) - Joe Zinkle, Bellhop *'' Canon City'' (1948) - New *'' The Babe Ruth Story'' (1948) - Western Union Boy *'' Joe Palooka in Winner Take All'' (1948) - Tommy Malone *'' Racing Luck'' (1948) - Boots Warren *'' Bad Boy'' (1949) - Bitsy Johnson *'' Mr. Soft Touch'' (1949) - Yonzi *'' Red Light'' (1949) - Bellboy *''

'' (1949) - Eddie Duggan *'' Military Academy with That Tenth Avenue Gang'' (1950) - Stash Martin *'' Destination Murder'' (1950) - Jackie Wales *'' Pride of Maryland'' (1951) - Frankie Longworth *''

'' (1952) - Stash Clements *''

Jet Job ''Jet Job'' is a 1952 American aviation action film directed by William Beaudine. The film stars Stanley Clements, John Litel and Robert Nichols (actor), Bob Nichols. ''Jet Job'' features stock footage of various types of United States Air Force ...

'' (1952) - Joe Kovak *'' Army Bound'' (1952) - Frank Cermak *'' Off Limits'' (1952) - Bullets Bradley *'' White Lightning'' (1953) - Mike Connors *'' Hot News'' (1953) - Mark Miller - Reporter *'' The Rocket Man'' (1954) - Bob *'' Air Strike'' (1955) - G.H. Alexander *''Mad at the World'' (1955) - Marty aka Ignatz *'' Robbers' Roost'' (1955) - Chuck *'' Wiretapper'' (1955) - Tony *'' Last of the Desperados'' (1955) - Bert McGuire *'' Fighting Trouble''* (1956) - Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie *''

Death of a Scoundrel ''Death of a Scoundrel'' is a 1956 film written, directed and produced by Charles Martin (1910-1983) and starring George Sanders, Yvonne De Carlo, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Victor Jory and Coleen Gray. This film and ''The Falcon's Brother'' are the only two ...

'' (1956) - Taxi Driver (uncredited) *'' Hot Shots''* (1956) - Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie *'' Hold That Hypnotist''* (1957) - Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie *'' Spook Chasers''* (1957) - Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie *'' Looking for Danger''* (1957) - Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie *'' Up in Smoke''* (1957) - Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie *''

Official Detective ''Official Detective'' is an American anthology television series which aired in syndication from 1957 to March 19, 1958. The series was hosted by veteran film actor Everett Sloane.McNeil, Alex (1996). ''Total Television'' (4th ed.). New York: ...

'' (1957, TV Series) - Rudy Armstrong *'' In the Money''* (1958) - Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie *''

A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed ''A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed'' is a 1958 American comedy film directed by Henry Levin and written by Sydney Boehm. The film stars Tom Ewell, Mickey Rooney, Mickey Shaughnessy, Dina Merrill, Madge Kennedy and Frances Bavier. The fil ...

'' (1958) - Fitz *''

Sniper's Ridge ''Sniper's Ridge'' is a 1961 Korean War drama film directed by John A. Bushelman and starring Jack Ging and Stanley Clements. Plot In the days before the cease-fire, a hard-luck platoon run by Lt. Peer and the cowardly Sgt. Sweatish is under ...

'' (1961) - Cpl. Pumphrey *'' Saintly Sinners'' (1962) - Slim *'' Devil's Partner'' (1962, screenwriter) *'' Tammy and the Doctor'' (1963) - Wally Day *''

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' is a 1963 American comedy film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer with a story and screenplay by William Rose and Tania Rose. The film, starring Spencer Tracy with an all-star cast of comedians, is ...

'' (1963) - local reporter at police station (uncredited) *'' Panic in the City'' (1968) - Albert *'' The Timber Tramps'' (1975) *'' Hot Lead and Cold Feet'' (1978) - Saloon Man 2 (final film role) - East Side Kids or Bowery Boys series

Television

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clements, Stanley 1926 births 1981 deaths American male film actors Burials at Riverside National Cemetery Deaths from emphysema Vaudeville performers 20th Century Studios contract players 20th-century American male actors United States Army soldiers