Person
Joseph Cawthorn
New York City, New York, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joseph Cawthorn (March 29, 1868, New York City, New York – January 21, 1949, Beverly Hills, California) was an American stage and film comic…
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joseph Cawthorn (March 29, 1868, New York City, New York – January 21, 1949, Beverly Hills, California) was an American stage and film comic actor. Cawthorn started out in show business as a child, debuting at Robinson's Music Hall in his hometown of New York in 1872. He appeared in minstrel shows and vaudeville as a "Dutch" comic, employing a thick German dialect. He later worked in British music halls and American touring companies. Cawthorn made his Broadway debut in 1895, 1897 or 1898, and embarked on a long career lasting over two decades. His first success was playing Boris in Victor Herbert's 1898 operetta The Fortune Teller. Other notable Broadway roles included the title character in Mother Goose (1903) and inventor Dr. Pill in the fantasy musical Little Nemo (1908). In the latter, he was called upon to ad lib to buy time during one performance. As "the scene called for him to describe imaginary animals he had hunted", he invented the "whiffenpoof" on the spot. Yale students in the audience appropriated it for the name of their glee club. When his Broadway stardom waned, Cawthorn moved to Hollywood in 1927 and started a second prolific career, appearing in over 50 films, the last in 1942. He played Gremio in the first sound adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew in 1929, starring Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks; Schultz in Gold Diggers of 1935; and Florenz Ziegfeld's father in The Great Ziegfeld (1936). Cawthorn died peacefully on January 21, 1949. He was survived by his wife, actress Queenie Vassar.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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1942
The Postman Didn't Ring
Movie Silas Harwood
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1941
So Ends Our Night
Movie Leopold Potzloch
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1940
Scatterbrain
Movie Nicholas Raptis
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1940
Lillian Russell
Movie Leopold Damrosch
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1936
Crime Over London
Movie Mr. Sherwood / Reilly
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1936
Hot Money
Movie Max Dourfuss
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1936
One Rainy Afternoon
Movie Monique's Father
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1936
Brides Are Like That
Movie Fred Schultz
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1936
The Great Ziegfeld
Movie Dr. Ziegfeld
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1936
Freshman Love
Movie Wilson, Sr.
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1935
Beautiful Dreamer
Movie
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1935
Harmony Lane
Movie Professor Henry Kleber
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1935
Page Miss Glory
Movie Mr. Freischutz
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1935
Bright Lights
Movie Oscar Schlemmer
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1935
Smart Girl
Movie Karl Krausemeyer
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1935
Naughty Marietta
Movie Herr 'Schumie' Schuman
More credits
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1935
Gold Diggers of 1935
Movie August Schultz
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1935
Sweet Music
Movie Sidney Selzer
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1935
Maybe It's Love
Movie Adolph Sr.
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1934
Sweet Adeline
Movie Oscar Schmidt
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1934
Music in the Air
Movie Hans Uppman
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1934
Young and Beautiful
Movie Herman Cline
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1934
The Human Side
Movie Fritz Speigal
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1934
Housewife
Movie Krueger (as Joe Cawthorne)
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1934
Twenty Million Sweethearts
Movie Herbert Brokman
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1934
The Last Gentleman
Movie Dr. Wilson
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1934
Lazy River
Movie Mr. Julius Ambrose
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1933
Broken Dreams
Movie Pop
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1933
Best of Enemies
Movie Gus Schneider
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1933
Made on Broadway
Movie Maxie Schultz
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1933
Blondie Johnson
Movie Jewelry Store Manager (as Joe Cawthorn)
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1933
Grand Slam
Movie Alex Alexandrovitch
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1933
Whistling in the Dark
Movie Barfuss
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1932
Men Are Such Fools
Movie Werner (as Joseph Cawthorne)
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1932
They Call It Sin
Movie Mr. Hollister
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1932
Love Me Tonight
Movie Dr. Armand de Fontinac
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1932
White Zombie
Movie Dr. Bruner
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1931
Peach-o-Reno
Movie Joe Bruno
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1931
The Runaround
Movie Lou
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1931
A Tailor-Made Man
Movie Huber
