Douglas Fowley

Douglas Fowley (born Daniel Vincent Fowley, May 30, 1911 – May 21, 1998) was an American movie and television actor in more than 240 films and dozens of television programs, He is probably best remembered for his role as the frustrated movie director Roscoe Dexter in Singin' in the Rain (1952), and for his regular supporting role as Doc Holliday in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp. He was the father of rock and roll musician and record producer Kim Fowley.[2]

Douglas Fowley
Fowley in 20 Mule Team (1940)
Born
Daniel Vincent Fowley

(1911-05-30)May 30, 1911
The Bronx, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 21, 1998(1998-05-21) (aged 86)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeMurrieta, California, Laurel Cemetery
Other namesDouglas V. Fowley[1]
OccupationActor
Years active1933–1982
Spouse
Jean Louise Paschall
​
​
(m. 1961)​
Children6

Early years

Fowley was born in the Bronx in New York City.[3] He attended Los Angeles City College.[1]

Fowley began as a singing waiter and then worked as a copy boy for The New York Times, a runner for a Wall Street broker,[3] a United States Postal Service employee, a barker, a salesman, a professional football player, and finally a professional actor.

Military service

Fowley enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II, where he served on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean.[4] An explosion aboard knocked out his upper front teeth. Later he ended up portraying one of the best-known dentists in American history. "I started playing old character roles by removing my false upper plate, adding a beard, voice and gait to match my interpretation," he explained to Western Clippings in 1994.[2]

Film

After nightclub performing and stage work, Fowley appeared in 1933 in his first film, The Mad Game, alongside Spencer Tracy.[1] Early in his acting career, he was usually cast as a movie heavy or gangster in B-movies, including Charlie Chan and Laurel and Hardy features.

Douglas Fowley in Raiders of Old California (1957)

Fowley's films include Twenty Mule Team, Fall Guy, Mighty Joe Young, Angels in the Outfield, Battleground, Armored Car Robbery, Chick Carter, Detective, The Naked Jungle, The High and the Mighty, and Walking Tall.

Television

Regular cast

For several seasons, Fowley played the key supporting role of John H. "Doc" Holliday in the 1955-1961 western television series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp[5]: 600  after having appeared as Doc Fabrique in the show's premiere season. This role allowed Fowley to demonstrate his flair for comedy and other acting skills as a clever, sharp-witted, sardonic, cynical, alcoholic, poker-playing foil to the square-jawed, milk-drinking, church-going Wyatt Earp (Hugh O'Brian), whom Holiday nicknamed "Deacon" due to his rigid sense of morality. Not at all so encumbered Doc would occasionally take the law into his own hands behind Earp's back to protect his friend from legal action or even death when the marshal was legally or morally ham-strung. Holliday, as played by Fowley, having no problem working around morals or the law, could be either hilarious or cold-blooded.[2]

From 1966 to 1967, Fowley portrayed Andrew Hanks in Pistols 'n' Petticoats,[5]: 837  a CBS sitcom. Hanks was the patriarch in a family of gun-toting women who seemed to have little need for male assistance.

Fowley portrayed retired businessman Robert Redford in Detective School (1979).[5]

Guest appearances

In the 1950s, he appeared as himself on NBC's The Donald O'Connor Show. In 1954, he demonstrated his comic appeal when he appeared alongside Gracie Allen in The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. He was cast in 1956 as Bob Egan in the "Two-Fisted Saint" episode of the religious anthology series Crossroads. He portrayed a con man in two episodes of the NBC sitcom It's a Great Life. He also guest-starred on Reed Hadley's CBS legal drama The Public Defender. He appeared, too, on the ABC situation comedy The Pride of the Family and on the NBC Western series The Californians and Jefferson Drum. He was cast on two Rod Cameron series, the syndicated City Detective and the Western-themed State Trooper, and in John Bromfield's series, U.S. Marshal. He guest-starred in the David Janssen crime drama Richard Diamond, Private Detective and guest-starred in season two, episode four of the Robert Culp Western Trackdown.

In 1959, Fowley appeared with Frank Ferguson in the episode "A Race for Life" of the CBS Western series The Texan, starring Rory Calhoun.[6]

On December 30, 1963, Fowley guest-starred in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, “Opie and his Merry Men”, as a hobo. Opie and his friends stole food from the “rich” and gave to the hobo, who quickly refused Andy’s help in finding a job.

In 1964, Fowley made a guest appearance on the CBS courtroom drama series Perry Mason playing agent Rubin Cason in "The Case of the Bountiful Beauty". In 1965, he was cast as Sorrowful in episode 83 of the series The Virginian.

In 1966, he appeared as "Rufus C. Hoops" in "The Search" season 2, episode 24, of the series "Daniel Boone". Original air date for this episode was March 3, 1966. In 1967, Fowley guest-starred on the short-lived CBS Western Dundee and the Culhane with John Mills.

In 1968, he appeared in episode 273 of My Three Sons as an old pal of Uncle Charley's. He had a role in the syndicated 1959-1960 Western Pony Express in the episode "Showdown at Thirty Mile Ridge". He was cast in 1963 in Miracle of the White Stallions.

In 1977, Fowley portrayed Dr. O. B. Mudd in the pilot episode of the NBC situation comedy Quark.

Fowley was usually typecast as a villain; when not playing an actual criminal, he often portrayed an argumentative troublemaker. Portraying a member of Tyrone Power's orchestra in Alexander's Ragtime Band, in the early scenes of the film, Fowley's character quarrels with his bandmates, but this is not developed in the film's later scenes.

Fowley continued to act into the 1970s and was frequently billed as "Douglas V. Fowley". One of his last roles was as Delaney Rafferty in Disney's The North Avenue Irregulars, in which he dressed in drag.

Personal life

Fowley's wife at the time of his death was named Jean. His children were Douglas Jr., Kim, Daniel, Gretchen and Kip.[7]

Death

Fowley died on May 21, 1998, at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, aged 86.[7] He was buried at the Murrieta, California, Laurel Cemetery.

Selected filmography

References
  1. Bergan, Ronald (June 9, 1998). "The happiest rain in Hollywood". The Guardian. England, London. p. 16. Retrieved January 29, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "The hobo of the Andy Griffith Show actually lost his teeth serving in World War II".
  3. Rowan, Terry (2015). Who's Who In Hollywood!. Lulu.com. p. 122. ISBN 9781329074491. Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  4. Steven Jay Rube, Combat Films (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2011), p. 28
  5. Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 255. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  6. "The Texan". Classic Television Archive. Archived from the original on April 8, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  7. "Douglas V. Fowley, 86, Versatile Character Actor". The New York Times. Associated Press. May 29, 1998. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012.
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