Franklin Pangborn

Franklin Pangborn
from the trailer for Topper Takes a Trip (1939)
Born	January 23, 1889(1889-01-23) Newark, New Jersey, USA
Died	July 20, 1958 (aged 69) (after surgery) Santa Monica, California, USA

Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 - July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor. Pangborn was famous for small, but memorable roles, with a comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W.C. Fields films International House, The Bank Dick, and Never Give a Sucker an Even Break. For his contributions to motion pictures, Pangborn has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 Vine Street.

In the early 1930s Pangborn worked in short subjects for Mack Sennett, Hal Roach, Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and Pathe, almost always in support of the leading players. (He played a befuddled photographer opposite "Spanky" McFarland in the Our Gang short subject Wild Poses, for example.) He also appeared in dozens upon dozens of feature films in small roles, cameos, and in recurring gags of various types.

One of those character actors who always played essentially the same character no matter the situation, Pangborn portrayed a fussy type of person, polite, elegant, and highly energetic, often officious, fastidious, somewhat nervous, prone to becoming flustered but essentially upbeat, and with an immediately recognizable high-speeed patter-type speech pattern. He typically played and officious desk clerk in a hotel, a self-important musician, a fastidious headwaiter, an enthusiastic birdwatcher, and the like, and was usually put in a situation of frustration or was comedically flustered by someone else's topsy-turvy antics.

Pangborn's screen character, which might be described at times as prissy or flighty, was often considered a gay stereotype, although such a topic was too sensitive in his day to be discussed overtly in the dialogue. A rare exception occurred in International House, which was filmed before the Hays Office fully censored filmmaking, and was notable for several risqué references (by 1933 standards). In this scene, Fields has just arrived by autogyro at the titular hotel in the fictitious Chinese city called "Wu Hu", but he does not know for sure where he is. Pangborn is the hotel manager:

Fields: Where am I?

Pangborn: Wu Hu!

Fields (giving him a sharp look and removing a flower from his lapel): Don't let the posy fool you!

Pangborn was an effective foil for many major comedians, including Fields, Harold Lloyd, Olsen and Johnson, and The Ritz Brothers. He appeared regularly in comedies and musicals of the 1940s. When movie roles became scarce, he worked in television, including a Red Skelton show (in which he played a murderous bandit!) and a This Is Your Life tribute to his old boss, Mack Sennett. Pangborn was very briefly the announcer on Jack Paar's Tonight Show but was replaced by Hugh Downs. The first episode is practically the only one that survives completely intact since the others were taped over by the network to save money except for select clips, the policy through the early 1970s, and the show begins with Pangborn enthusiastically reading the introduction with the coda "...and it's all live!"

According to IMDB, Pangborn's final public performance came as a supporting player in The Red Skelton Show episode for April 22, 1958. His name in the closing credits was spelled "Franklyn". [1]

Pangborn died on July 20, 1958 after undergoing surgery.

Partial filmography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Franklin Pangborn

• Franklin Pangborn at the Internet Movie Database
• Franklin Pangborn at the Internet Broadway Database
• Franklin Pangborn at Find a Grave