Jerome Cowan(1897-1972)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jerome Cowan was one of Hollywood's most prolific and instantly
recognizable character actors. His trademark pencil-thin mustache and
slicked back hair, immaculate suits and sophisticated manner were his
stock-in-trade for impersonating an assortment of rejected husbands,
shifty politicians, lawyers and shady detectives. He also excelled at
delivering snappy repartee and witty or barbed one-liners which were
typical of the gritty Warner Brothers films of the 1930's and 40's.
Straight out of high school, Jerome began to work his way up through
stock companies and burlesque, making his debut on Broadway in the 1923
comedy
'We've Got to Have Money'. On the
strength of his most successful stage performance in 'Boy Meets Girl' (1935-37), he was
contracted by producer Samuel Goldwyn
to appear in Beloved Enemy (1936)
as an Irish patriot. Several films later, he found his niche as the
dapper sophisticate with attitude, in films like
There's Always a Woman (1938),
as Nick Shane, Torrid Zone (1940),
Crime by Night (1944) - a rare
leading role as private eye Sam Campbell; and
Mr. Skeffington (1944), as
Bette Davis's ex. He was the short-lived
partner, Miles Archer, to
Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade in
The Maltese Falcon (1941), a
nervous informer in Riffraff (1947) and
the district attorney who fails to indict Kris Kringle in
Miracle on 34th Street (1947).
Add to that several well-acted gangsters
(Frisco Lil (1942),
Fog Island (1945),
Deadline for Murder (1946),
to mention a few) and some unexpected comedy, particularly as Dagwood's
boss George Radcliffe in the
Blondie (1957) series. In the 1950's
and 1960's, Cowan adapted perfectly to the medium of television and
became a regular on several shows, alternating drama with comedy, from
Perry Mason (1957)to
The Munsters (1964). He gave a
short, but poignant performance opposite
Ida Lupino in
'The Sixteen-Millimeter
Shrine', a 1959 episode of Rod Serling's
The Twilight Zone (1959),
as an unrecognizable aged former matinee idol.
recognizable character actors. His trademark pencil-thin mustache and
slicked back hair, immaculate suits and sophisticated manner were his
stock-in-trade for impersonating an assortment of rejected husbands,
shifty politicians, lawyers and shady detectives. He also excelled at
delivering snappy repartee and witty or barbed one-liners which were
typical of the gritty Warner Brothers films of the 1930's and 40's.
Straight out of high school, Jerome began to work his way up through
stock companies and burlesque, making his debut on Broadway in the 1923
comedy
'We've Got to Have Money'. On the
strength of his most successful stage performance in 'Boy Meets Girl' (1935-37), he was
contracted by producer Samuel Goldwyn
to appear in Beloved Enemy (1936)
as an Irish patriot. Several films later, he found his niche as the
dapper sophisticate with attitude, in films like
There's Always a Woman (1938),
as Nick Shane, Torrid Zone (1940),
Crime by Night (1944) - a rare
leading role as private eye Sam Campbell; and
Mr. Skeffington (1944), as
Bette Davis's ex. He was the short-lived
partner, Miles Archer, to
Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade in
The Maltese Falcon (1941), a
nervous informer in Riffraff (1947) and
the district attorney who fails to indict Kris Kringle in
Miracle on 34th Street (1947).
Add to that several well-acted gangsters
(Frisco Lil (1942),
Fog Island (1945),
Deadline for Murder (1946),
to mention a few) and some unexpected comedy, particularly as Dagwood's
boss George Radcliffe in the
Blondie (1957) series. In the 1950's
and 1960's, Cowan adapted perfectly to the medium of television and
became a regular on several shows, alternating drama with comedy, from
Perry Mason (1957)to
The Munsters (1964). He gave a
short, but poignant performance opposite
Ida Lupino in
'The Sixteen-Millimeter
Shrine', a 1959 episode of Rod Serling's
The Twilight Zone (1959),
as an unrecognizable aged former matinee idol.