Ned Glass

Ned Glass
Glass in Charade
Born	April 1, 1906(1906-04-01) Poland
Died	June 15, 1984 (aged 78) Encino, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1937–1982

Ned Glass (April 1, 1906 – June 15, 1984) was an American character actor who appeared in more than eighty films and on television more than one hundred times, frequently playing nervous, cowardly or weasely characters. Short and bald, with a slight hunch to his shoulders, he was immediately recognizable by his distinct appearance, his nasal voice, and his pronounced New York City accent.

Career

Born in Poland, Glass immigrated to the United States at an early age and grew up in New York City.^[1] He attended college at City College.^[2]

Glass worked in vaudeville,^[1] and appeared on Broadway in 1931 in the Elmer Rice play Counsellor-at-Law.^[3] He continued to act and direct on Broadway until 1936,^[4] when he was signed as a MGM contract player.^[5] He made his first film appearance in 1937, with an uncredited role in True Confession,^[6] and his first credited film appearance came in two episodes of the serial Dick Tracy Returns (1938).^[7]

From 1937 on, Glass worked regularly in films, helped by friends like producer John Houseman and Glass's next door neighbor, Moe Howard of The Three Stooges, who got him a part in the Stooges' film Nutty But Nice.^[1] He also appeared in From Nurse to Worse and You Nazty Spy!. Glass did not appear in any films released between 1942 and 1947 (possibly due to national service), but generally worked in a handful of films almost every year, playing small roles and bit parts, including additional Stooge films Uncivil War Birds, Hokus Pokus and Three Hams on Rye. He was reportedly briefly blacklisted, during which time he worked as a carpenter.^[8]

Glass began showing up on television in 1952, when he did an episode of The Red Skelton Show.^[9]. He later was frequently seen in Jackie Gleason's The Honeymooners sketches.^[1] From 1955 to 1958, Glass played "Sgt. Andy Pendleton" on You'll Never Get Rich (better remembered as The Phil Silvers Show). In 1957, he appeared as "Jackson", an arms dealer to Indians, in an episode of the syndicated western series, Boots and Saddles^[10], as well as a railroad ticket agent in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest. In the fall of 1963, Glass guest starred in an episode of the 13-week CBS sitcom/drama Glynis, starring British actress Glynis Johns as a mystery writer and Keith Andes as her attorney-husband.

Glass popped up in the 1967 Monkees episode "Monkees in the Ring" as fight promoter Joey Sholto.^[11] He played "Sol Cooper" on the Diahann Carroll vehicle Julia from 1968 to 1971, and was nominated in 1969 for an Emmy Award for his performance in the "A Little Chicken Soup Never Hurt Anybody" episode^[12][13] Glass also played "Uncle Moe Plotnick" on the short-lived series Bridget Loves Bernie (1972-73).

Highlights of Glass's film career include playing "Doc" in West Side Story, "Popcorn" in Blake Edwards's thriller Experiment in Terror, and bad guy "Leopold W. Gideon" in Stanley Donen's Charade. He was notable in Kid Galahad with Elvis Presley, Disney's The Love Bug, Billy Wilder's The Fortune Cookie and Save the Tiger starring Jack Lemmon. His final film appearance was in the low-budget comedy Street Music, and his final TV appearance was as a pickpocket on Cagney & Lacey in 1982.

Personal life

Glass was married to actress Kitty McHugh, and was brother-in-law to character actor Frank McHugh,^[14] and bit player Matt McHugh.^[15] Kitty McHugh committed suicide on 3 September 1954, and Glass later married actress Jean Burton. That marriage ended in divorce.^[5]

Glass died in Encino Hospital in Encino, California on 15 June 1984 at the age of 78, after a long illness.^[16]

References

External links

• Ned Glass at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ned Glass at the Internet Movie Database
• Ned Glass at TCM Movie Database
• Ned Glass at Allmovie
• Ned Glass at Rotten Tomatoes
• Ned Glass at Great Character Actors
• Obituary in the New York Times
• Ned Glass at Find a Grave