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Jay C. Flippen

 
Actor: Jay C. Flippen
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Mar 06, 1898 in Little Rock, Arkansas
  • Died: Feb 03, 1970 in Los Angeles, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '50s-'60s
  • Major Genres: Western, Drama
  • Career Highlights: The Killing, They Live by Night, The Wild One
  • First Major Screen Credit: They Live by Night (1949)

Biography

Discovered by famed African-American comedian Bert Williams, actor Jay C. Flippen attained his first Broadway stage role in 1920's Broadway Brevities. Entertainers of the period were expected to sing, dance, act and clown with equal expertise, and the young Flippen was no slouch in any of these categories. He not only shared billing with such stage luminaries as Jack Benny and Texas Guinan, but he boned up on his ad-lib skills as a radio announcer for the New York Yankees games. At one time president of the American Guild of Variety Artists, Flippen did as many benefits for worthy causes as he did paid performances and worked tirelessly in all showbiz branches: movies, stage (including the touring version of Olsen and Johnson's Hellzapoppin), radio (he was one of the first game show emcees) and even early experimental television broadcasts. After several years of alternating between raspy-voiced villains and lovable "Pop"- type characters in films, Flippen increased his fan following with a supporting role as C.P.O. Nelson on the 1962 sitcom Ensign O'Toole, which, though it lasted only one network season, was a particular favorite in syndicated reruns. In 1964, Flippen suffered a setback when a gangrenous leg had to be amputated. Choosing not to be what he described as "a turnip," Jay C. Flippen continued his acting career from a wheelchair, performing with vim and vinegar in films and on television until his death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Jay C. Flippen
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Jay C. Flippen (March 6, 1899 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA – February 3, 1971 in Los Angeles) is best remembered as a gruff-faced actor usually playing a police officer or weary criminal in many movies of the 1940s and 1950s.

Flippen was already an established vaudeville singer and stage actor, after being discovered by famed African-American comedian Bert Williams in the 1920s, before shifting his focus to films. At one time he was a radio announcer for New York Yankees games and was one of the first game show announcers. (Between 1924 and 1929, Flippen recorded over 30 songs for Columbia, Perfect and Brunswick). He called himself "The Ham What Am," and performed occasionally in blackface.

He worked quite a few times with director Anthony Mann, also with Nicholas Ray and Stanley Kubrick.

His films include They Live by Night (1948), Winchester '73 with James Stewart (1950), Flying Leathernecks with John Wayne (1951), Bend of the River again with Stewart (1952), The Wild One with Marlon Brando (1953), Thunder Bay again with Stewart (1953), Oklahoma! (1955) (his only singing role), The Far Country again with James Stewart and with Walter Brennan (1955), Strategic Air Command again with Stewart (1955), The Killing (1956), Night Passage again with Stewart and with Audie Murphy (1957), Jet Pilot again with John Wayne (1957), Firecreek again with James Stewart and with Henry Fonda (1968), and Hellfighters (1968) again with John Wayne. He had a cameo role in 1962's How The West Was Won.

Flippen also appeared on television, most notably as Chief Petty Officer Homer Nelson on the 1962-1963 sitcom Ensign O'Toole, starring Dean Jones. He also guest starred on the The Dick Van Dyke Show in its first season, playing the role of Rob Petrie's early mentor Happy Spangler. In 1963, he guest starred on Bonanza; in 1966, he appeared on the ABC comedy western The Rounders. In 1967, he and Tom Tryon appeared in the episode "Charade of Justice" of the NBC western series The Road West.

Later in life, Flippen continued acting even though he used a wheelchair after an amputation.

He was married for twenty-five years to screenwriter Ruth Brooks Flippen.

Jay Flippen died at the age of seventy-two of an aneurysm caused by a swollen artery while in surgery. He is buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

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Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Jay C. Flippen".  Read more