Ned Sparks
Birthday: Born in 1883-11-18 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Deathday: 1957-04-03
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ned Sparks (born Edward Arthur Sparkman, November 19, 1883 – April 3, 1957) was a Canadian-born character actor of the American stage and screen. Sparks was known for his deadpan expression and deep, gravelly voice. Born in Guelph, Ontario, Sparks left home at age 16 and attempted to work as a gold prospector on the Klondike Gold Rush. After running out of money, he won a spot as a singer on a traveling musical company's tour. At age 19, he returned to Canada and briefly attended a Toronto seminary. After leaving the seminary, he worked for the railroad and worked in theater in Toronto. In 1907, he left Toronto for New York City to try his hand in the Broadway theatre, where he appeared in his first show in 1912. While working on Broadway, Sparks developed his trademark deadpan expression while portraying the role of a desk clerk in the play Little Miss Brown. His success on the stage soon caught the attention of MGM's Louis B. Mayer who signed Sparks to a six picture deal. Sparks began appearing in numerous silent films before finally making his "talkie" debut in the 1928 film The Big Noise. In the 1930s, Sparks became known for portraying dour-faced, sarcastic, cigar-chomping characters. He became so associated with the type that, in 1936, The New York Times reported that Sparks had his face insured for USD$100,000 with Lloyd's of London. The market agreed to pay the sum to any photographer who could capture Sparks smiling (Sparks later admitted that the story was a publicity stunt and he was only insured for $10,000). Sparks was also caricatured in cartoons including the Jack-in-the-Box character in the Disney short Broken Toys (1935), and the jester in Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938), a hermit crab in both Tex Avery's Fresh Fish (1939) and Bob Clampett's Goofy Groceries (1941), a chicken in Bob Clampett's Slap Happy Pappy (1940), Friz Freleng's Warner Bros. cartoon Malibu Beach Party (1940), and Tex Avery's Hollywood Steps Out (1940). Sparks also voiced the cartoon characters Heckle and Jeckle from 1947 to 1951. Sparks appeared in ten stage productions on Broadway and over 80 films. He retired from films in 1947, saying that everyone should retire at 65
TV Credits
Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse
Character:
Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse is a children's cartoon television show that was produced by Trans-Artists Productions and syndicated by Tele Features Inc. in 1960. The characters were created by Bob Kane as a parody of his earlier works Batman and Robin and in many ways predict the more campy aspects of the later live action series. This series and characters are trademarked and copyrighted and is currently owned by Telefeatures, LLC....
Movie Credits
42nd Street
Character: Barry
A producer puts on what may be his last Broadway show, and at the last moment a chorus girl has to replace the star....
Gold Diggers of 1933
Character: Barney
When all Broadway shows are shut down during the Depression, a trio of desperate showgirls scheme to bilk a repugnant high society man of his money to keep their show going....
Alice in Wonderland
Character: Caterpillar
In Victorian England, a bored young girl dreams that she has entered a fantasy world called Wonderland, populated by even more fantastic characters....
Lady for a Day
Character: Happy McGuire
Never-wed, poor, rough around the edges Apple Annie has always written to her daughter, Louise, in Spain that she is married and a member of New York's high society. Upon receiving unexpected word from Louise (who hasn't seen Annie since infancy) that she is en route to America with her new fiancé and his father, a count, so the three of them can meet her, Annie panics, despairing that her beloved daughter will be destroyed by the deception....
Blessed Event
Character: George Moxley
A New York gossip columnist feuds with a singer and enjoys the power of the press....
Sweet Adeline
Character: Dan Herzig
In 1898, composer Sid Barnett manages to get his sweetheart, Adeline the beer-garden singer, to sing the lead in his new Broadway operetta; this infuriates Elysia, the erstwhile star. But Sid frets as Adeline spends increasing amounts of time with the dashing Major Day....
In Search of a Sinner
Character: Waiter
Georgiana Chadbourne is a young widow. Her dead husband was such a straight arrow that it bored her, and after a proper enough mourning period, she goes out in search of adventure. She gets in trouble for picking flowers in Central Park, but is rescued by Jack Garrison, who she mistakes for an artistic, bohemian type of character....
Imitation of Life
Character: Elmer Smith
A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter. The two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way....
The Canary Murder Case
Character: Tony Skeel
A beautiful showgirl, name "the Canary" is a scheming nightclub singer. Blackmailing is her game and with that she ends up dead. But who killed "the Canary". All the suspects knew and were used by her and everyone had a motive to see her dead. The only witness to the crime has also been 'rubbed out'. Only one man, the keen, fascinating, debonair detective Philo Vance, would be able to figure out who is the killer....
Corsair
Character: Slim
A stock market broker plans to liven up his boring life by taking up piracy on the high seas....
Nothing But the Truth
Character: The Monocle Man
Robert Bennett, an idle socialite, wagers $30,000 with his three friends that he can tell nothing but the truth for a period of one week. His troubles begin at a party where his friends' wives question Robert about their husbands' outside activities. Forced to tell the truth, Robert's veracity results in domestic disharmony. Consequently, his vengeful trio of friends pursue Robert for the next five days, intent upon silencing him until the week is over. They finally resort to committing Robert t...
Love's Blindness
Character: Valet
A British nobleman, heavily in debut to a moneylender, agrees to marry the man's daughter in exchange for his debt being cleared. However, since the girl is Jewish, her new "husband" lets her know that the marriage is strictly a business matter and that he could never have romantic feelings for one of "her kind"....
This Way Please
Character: Inky Wells
A famous singer and matinée idol helps a pretty young theater usher in her dreams of becoming a singer, but when her career begins to take off and she becomes engaged to a wealthy young man, he realizes he's fallen for her and plots to break up her impending marriage....
Street Girl
Character: Happy Winter
A homeless and destitute violinist joins a combo to bring it success, but has problems with her love life....
The Bride Walks Out
Character: Paul Dodson
Carolyn Martin is a fashion model who hastily marries her boyfriend, engineer Michael Martin. But part of the marriage arrangement requires that Carolyn quit her $50-per-week modeling job to be a full-time housewife; the couple will instead live on Michael’s $35-per-week job....
One in a Million
Character: Danny Simpson
American theatrical manager discovers Greta Muller preparing for the Olympics in Switzerland and brings her to Madison Square Garden....
Big City Blues
Character: Mr. 'Stacky' Stackhouse
An Indiana boy comes into an inheritance and moves to New York City, living it up with his girlfriend until he gets in over his head and someone gets killed....
Marie Galante
Character: Plosser
On the French coast, unlucky Marie Galante is abducted and forced to board an American cargo ship bound for the Panama Canal. When an escape attempt leaves Marie high and dry in the Yucatan, she takes work as a nightclub singer to earn her safe passage to the Canal region. But Marie faces bigger problems when she gets mixed up in a destructive plot against the U.S. Naval fleet, and so she accepts the kindly assistance of secret agent Dr. Crawbett....
Seven Keys to Baldpate
Character:
A writer, looking for some peace and quiet in order to finish a novel, takes a room at the Baldpate Inn. However, peace and quiet are the last things he gets, as there are some very strange goings-on at the establishment....
Conspiracy
Character: Winthrop 'Little Nemo' Clavering
Margaret Holt and her brother Victor set out to smash a narcotics ring responsible for their father's death. Young reporter John Howell and eccentric mystery writer Winthrop Clavering help unravel the truth about the murder....
Sweet Music
Character: 'Ten Percent' Nelson
A midwest band leader and his lead singer share a love-hate relationship as they try for success in New York....
George White's 1935 Scandals
Character: Elmer
A Broadway producer discovers new talent in a small Georgia town and brings them to New York for his new show....
Sing and Like It
Character: Toots McGuire
While breaking into a bank safe, a gangster overhears a bank employee singing and decides to put her in a Broadway revue...
The Bond Boy
Character: Cyrus Morgan
For the sake of his impoverished mother, Joe Newbolt bonds himself to harsh Isom Chase. Ollie Chase tires of the difficult life her husband has forced on her and plans to elope with Cyrus Morgan, but Joe's sense of honor forces him to intervene. While Joe is trying to persuade Ollie not to proceed with her plans, Chase discovers him with his wife, misunderstands, reaches for his gun, and is accidentally killed. Joe protects Mrs. Chase, though he is accused of murder, tried, convicted, and senten...
Hi, Nellie!
Character: Shammy
Managing Editor Brad Bradshaw refuses to run a story linking the disappearance of Frank Canfield with embezzlement of the bank. He considers Frank a straight shooter and he goes easy on the story. Every other paper goes with the story that Frank took the money and Brad is demoted, by the publisher, to the Heartthrob column - writing advice to the lovelorn. After feeling sorry for himself for two months, he takes the column seriously and makes it the talk of the town. But Brad still wants his old...
The Crusader
Character: Eddie Crane
Gangsters scheme to get rid of a crusading District Attorney by blackmailing him through his daughter....
Wake Up and Live
Character: Steve Cluskey
Satire on radio, built around the supposed feud between bandleader Ben Bernie and journalist Walter Winchell....
Love Comes Along
Character: Happy
An American sailor comes to a seedy banana republic, and finds a fellow yank, a stranded girl, as a saloon singer. They fall in love, but a misunderstanding about her feelings toward the local dictator threatens their happiness....
The Star Maker
Character: 'Speed' King
This is a film about the life of Gus Edwards, a well known vaudeville composer, entertainer, and producer....
The Fall Guy
Character: Danny Walsh
Johnny Quinlan is so desperate for a job that he takes a gig as a "bag man" for the mob. Meanwhile, his beleaguered wife has to deal with her bizarre, unemployed, wise-cracking brother and various neighbors while keeping house in their Brooklyn tenement....
Down to Their Last Yacht
Character: Captain 'Sunny Jim' Roberts
Left only with their yacht after going broke in the Great Depression, a high-society family sets sail for the South Seas. Screwball comedy, with songs....
The Devil's Holiday
Character: Charlie Thorne
Beautiful manicurist Hallie Hobart sets her sights on handsome David Stone, the son of wealthy wheat farmer Ezra Stone. Professing to hate men, Hallie is only interested in luring David in for a lucrative business deal. David easily falls in love, but older brother Mark brands Hallie a gold-digger. To get even with the straight-laced Stone family, Hallie accepts David's marriage proposal....
Magic Town
Character: Ike
Rip Smith's opinion-poll business is a failure...until he discovers that the small town of Grandview is statistically identical to the entire country. He and his assistants go there to run polls cheaply and easily, in total secrecy (it would be fatal to let the townsfolk get self-conscious). And of course, civic crusader Mary Peterman must be kept from changing things too much. But romantic involvement with Mary complicates life for Rip; then suddenly everything changes....
Too Much Harmony
Character: Lem Spawn
A singer is involved with two women in his life, one a "good" girl and one a "bad" one."...
Secrets
Character: Sunshine
In the 1860s, Mary Marlowe defies her father's wishes to marry a British lord and runs away with clerk John Carlton as he heads West to make his fortune. Mary and John endure the difficult journey and settle into a small cabin, then face the hostilities of a cattle rustling gang, as well as the tragic loss of their only son. With Mary's help, John defeats the gang, which propels him to political power that, over the years, gradually erodes the once-happy marriage....
Hawaii Calls
Character: Strings
After being nabbed while trying to stow away on board an ocean liner en route to Hawaii, young Bobby Breen sings for his travel fare and, along with sidekick Pua, turns detective to recover stolen naval documents from crooks...
The Miracle Man
Character: Harry Evans
A gang of crooks evade the police by moving their operations to a small town. There the gang's leader, John Madison, encounters a faith healer and uses him to scam the gullible public of funds for a supposed chapel. But when a real healing takes place, a change comes over the gang....
The Small Bachelor
Character: J. Hamilton Beamish
What must a man do in order to put an end to his bachelorhood? For George Finch, one of nature's white mice and probably the worst artist ever to put brush to canvas, there are many obstacles. Undoubtedly the greatest is his beloved Molly's fearsome stepmother, Mrs. Waddington, who has her eye on an eligible English lord for a son-in-law. Luckily, George has an ally in sharp-witted Hamilton Beamish, an old family friend of the Waddingtons, not to mention George's butler, Mullett, and his light-f...
The Hidden Way
Character: Mulligan
The film tells the tale of three ex-cons who finally go straight, through the redemptive power of love. After rescuing Mary from certain death, the “three bad men” meet her saintly mother and stay on to help on their farm. In The Hidden Way, two of the ex-cons conspire to steal the family’s tiny nest egg, but through plot twists involving a medicinal spring, a wronged woman, a villainous Casanova, his avaricious father, and government inspectors (!), the pair eventually see their error and join ...
Going Hollywood
Character: Conroy
The film tells the story of Sylvia, a French teacher at an all-girl school, who wants to find love. When she hears Bill Williams on the radio, she decides to go visit and thank him. However, difficult problems lay ahead when Lili gets in the way....
The Only Thing
Character: Gibson
Thyra arrives in Chekia to wed its old and ugly king. The Duke falls in love with her. A revolution erupts and the king is assassinated. Chief revolutionary Gigberto also falls in love with Thyra. The revolutionaries plan to drown Thyra and Gigberto in a boat, but the Duke takes Gigberto's place. And the loving couple are rescued....
Servants' Entrance
Character: Hjalmar Gnu
Heiress Hedda Nillson certain that her family is about to lose all its money, takes a job as a maid. After the usual trials and tribulations, Hedda falls in love with humble chauffeur Eric Landstrom....
Private Scandal
Character: Inspector Riordan
"Private Scandal" is a 1934 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by Ralph Murphy and written by Vera Caspary, Garrett Fort and Bruce Manning. The film stars ZaSu Pitts, Phillips Holmes, Mary Brian, Ned Sparks, Lew Cody, June Brewster, and Harold Waldridge. The film was released on May 11, 1934 by Paramount Pictures....
Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound
Character: Self (archive footage)
Short documentary about the Great Depression's impact on film, specifically Berkeley musicals....
Kept Husbands
Character: Hughie Hanready
A former All-American football star, now working as a steel mill supervisor in New Jersey, falls in love with the mill owner's wealthy, very spoiled daughter....
Stage Door Canteen
Character: Ned Sparks
A young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of the theater and films appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance...
Double Cross Roads
Character: Happy Max
Ex-convict David Harvey attempts to go straight and settles in a small town where he meets and falls in love with Mary Carlyle. His former gang tries to persuade him to take part in a robbery of a wealthy woman but he refuses until discovering that Mary is in league with the gang....
Alias the Lone Wolf
Character: Phinuit
Michael Lanyard, aka the Lone Wolf, is sailing to America when he meets pretty Eve de Montalais. Eve wants to sneak her valuable necklace through U.S. customs so that she can use the money from its sale to help straighten out her brother. The only problem is that there is a gang of jewel thieves on board who are just as determined to steal the necklace....
Nothing But the Truth
Character: Clarence van Dyke
A young man bets $10,000 that for 24 hour he can tell nothing but the truth....
Iron Man
Character: Riley
Prizefighter Mason loses his opening fight so wife Rose leaves him for Hollywood. Without her around Mason trains and starts winning. Rose comes back and wants Mason to dump his manager Regan and replace him with her secret lover Lewis....
Alias The Deacon
Character: Slim Sullivan
A hillbilly deacon, who is actually a cardsharp in disguise, becomes involved in a small-town fight game....
Twinkletoes
Character:
"Twinkletoes" Minasi wants to be a great dancer like her deceased mother. Twink meets Chuck Lightfoot, a noted prizefighter, who falls in love with her at first sight. She tries to avoid falling in love with Chuck, whose wife, Cissie, is a drunken harridan and more than a little bit spiteful. Meanwhile, Twink has secured a job in a singing-dancing act in a Limehouse theater, under the auspices of Roseleaf, who has more than just a protective interest in the girl. The jealous Cissie discovers tha...
Good References
Character: Peter Stearns
The plot revolves around a down-on-her-luck woman named Mary whose lack of references makes it impossible for her to gain employment. When a friend falls ill, Mary impersonates her in order to take a job as secretary to an elderly socialite. Things immediately start going downhill when she is tasked to introduce a ne'er-do-well nephew to high society—but ends up bailing him out of a string of scandals instead....
The Secret Call
Character: Bert Benedict
The Secret Call is adapted from The Woman, a play by William C. DeMille (brother of Cecil B.) Peggy Shannon plays Wanda Kelly, the daughter of a disgraced politician. Reduced to working as a switchboard operator, Wanda is privy to the many secrets and indiscretions of the clients of a big-city hotel. She also finds romance in the form of handsome Tom Blake (Richard Arlen). The huge cast of characters comes in handy for the film's multitude of subplots, none of which ever get their wires crossed....
Faint Perfume
Character: Orrin Crumb
After a stormy six year marriage, Barnaby Powers divorces his wife Richmiel. She returns home, taking their young son Oliver with her. Barnaby follows her, to ask for custody of the boy, but meets and falls in love with Richmiel's pretty and sensitive cousin Ledda. Complications ensue....
His Supreme Moment
Character: Adrian
John Douglas, a down-on-his-luck engineer, takes his sweetheart, Sara Deeping, to a play starring Carla King, and he falls in love with the actress....
Leathernecking
Character: Sparks
Chick Evans is a Marine private in Honolulu, Hawaii. He falls for society girl Delphine Witherspoon, and begins to scheme as to how to win her over....
Money Talks
Character: Lucius Fenton
Sam Starling (Owen Moore) is deep in debt, his wife Phoebe (Claire Windsor) is leaving him and still he is confident. When Phoebe boards a luxury yacht and is wooed by the captain, Sam comes aboard as a woman and tries to seduce the captain (in fact, a liquor smuggler), away from his wife....
Collegiate
Character: 'Scoop' Oakland
A Broadway playboy inherits an almost bankrupt girls' school and tries to save it by a big show....
The Big Noise
Character: William Howard
John Stoval, a guard in a New York subway, thinks that Philip Hurd, who owns a concession at Coney Island, would make a good husband for his daughter Sophie. Sophie, however, has her sights set on Bill Hedges, the son of a wealthy farmer in upstate New York. Her father arranges for her to marry Hurd in exchange for a 25% interest in the concession, but matters come to a halt when John slips and falls off a subway platform and is injured....
Bright Lights
Character: Barney Gallagher
Tom loves Patsy, but she lives in the city while he is every bit the country bumpkin. When an invention of his sells, he decides to take the money and go to the city. There he will show Patsy that he can be just what he thinks she wants: a city slicker. But Patsy yearns for the simple pleasure of her country boy, Tom, and is shocked at what shows up at her door....
Strange Cargo
Character: Yacht First Mate
On board a yacht sailing from India to Britain, the owner of the vessel is murdered by one of the passengers. (This film was produced both in full sound and silent versions, the latter for theaters that had not yet been wired for sound.)...
The Magnificent Flirt
Character: Tim
Count D'Estrange tries to save his nephew Hubert from Denise Laverne he believes a heartless flirt. Denise's mother Mme. Florence Laverne uses all her charms to solve the problems. Finally Count D'Estrange marries Mme. Florence Laverne. Both couples leave for a honeymoon in Venice...
For Beauty's Sake
Character: Jonathan B. Sweet
A woman-hater who inherits a beauty salon gets a new perspective on females after capturing a gang of thieves....
A Temperamental Wife
Character: The Hotel Clerk
...
The Perfect Woman
Character: Grimes, the Anarchist
Mary Blake can charm any man, young or old, with her winning ways -- except for the one she really wants. James Stanhope is a misogynist who won't give her the time of day....
The Boomerang
Character: Bert Hanks
Lacking patients, Dr. Sumner sets himself up as a psychologist and opens a sanitarium, becoming quite successful. Virginia Zelva, a clairvoyant who wants to get into what she regards as a racket, signs on as his nurse. Sumner falls in love with Virginia and, after numerous complications, wins her for his bride....
The Law Forbids
Character: Clyde Vernon
Paul and Rhoda Remsen, having marital difficulties, separate; and each is awarded custody of their child Peggy for 6 months of the year. Rhoda and Peggy move to a farm town, while Paul remains in the big city to write a play for actress Inez Lamont, who is in love with him. Peggy knows that her mother still loves Paul, so she flees to the big city to explain the situation to her father....