William Frawley Overview:

Character actor, William Frawley, was born William Clement Frawley on Feb 26, 1887 in Burlington, IA. Frawley died at the age of 79 on Mar 3, 1966 in Hollywood, CA .

MINI BIO:

Lovable, cherubic, American character actor who vies with Allen Jenkins and Jesse White in the memory as cigar-chewing gangsters with tough exteriors and soft centres. Overcame an alcohol problem to become a TV star of the early fifties as the irascible Fred Mertz in I Love Lucy then, in the sixties, as Bub in another long-running TV series, My Three Sons. Died from a heart attack.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Character Actors: an Illustrated Directory).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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He was honored with one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Motion Pictures. In addition, Frawley was inducted into the TV Hall of Fame .

BlogHub Articles:

By Michele on Jul 22, 2016 From Timeless Hollywood

Most people know as Fred Mertz, the landlord to the Ricardo?s in the long running comedy show I Love Lucy.? However, long before television he got his start in Vaudville. For a time he performed a vaudeville act with his brother Paul.? In 1914 Frawley married Edna Louise Broedt and t... Read full article


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William Frawley Quotes:

Sidney Melbourne: Santy Claus don't drink.
Gloomy Willie: Oh, no? Well, how come he's always falling down chimleys?


Hank Meyers: Here they come now, Grief, Trouble and Worry.


Sheriff McGee: One of you's gonna get married and the other one's going to jail, so you really got a lot in common.


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William Frawley on the
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William Frawley Facts
Both he and Vivian Vance had nothing but contempt for each other during the run of "I Love Lucy" (1951), which is probably what filtered into their TV characters and made them work so beautifully. The two were given the opportunity to move into their own "Fred and Ethel" spin-off once "Lucy" had run its course in 1959. Despite his animosity towards her, Frawley saw a lucrative opportunity and was quite game, but Vance nixed the idea, having no interest in ever working with Frawley again. Vance got her own series, "Guestward Ho!" (1960), which failed, but went on to make sporadic appearances on Lucille Ball's sitcoms and in films throughout the 1960's. Frawley hit it big as Bub on "My Three Sons" (1960).

Never felt comfortable with the out-of-sequence filming method used on "My Three Sons" (1960) after doing "I Love Lucy" (1951) in sequence for years.

Possessed of a fine singing voice in his younger days, it was supposedly Frawley, not Al Jolson, who introduced the song "My Mammy" to vaudeville audiences.

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Television Hall of Fame

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