William Gargan

William Gargan
from the trailer for the film Black Fury (1935).
Born	(1905-07-17)July 17, 1905 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	February 17, 1979(1979-02-17) (aged 73) Died in flight between New York City and San Diego
Cause of death	heart attack
Resting place	Holy Cross Cemetery (San Diego), California
Years active	1925–1958
Spouse(s)	Mary Kenny (1928–1979) (his death)

William Gargan (July 17, 1905 – February 17, 1979) was an American film, television and radio actor.

Gargan was born William Dennis Gargan on July 17, 1905, in Brooklyn, New York. He was the younger brother of actor Edward Gargan, whose birthday July 17 he shared. His father was a detective, and his mother was a teacher. He graduated from St. James School in Brooklyn.

On leaving school, Gargan became a salesman of bootleg whiskey to New York speakeasies and then joined a detective agency.

While visiting his brother on a musical comedy stage, he was offered a stage job which he accepted. He began his stage career in Aloma of the South Seas

Gargan's first movie was Rain later he played in Misleading Lady and had character roles in many Hollywood productions, including two appearances as detective Ellery Queen.

He was cast in a number of stereotypical Irish parts in films playing policemen, priests, reporters, and blustering adventurers. In 1945 he played Joe Gallagher in The Bells of St. Mary's, starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman.

In 1935, Gargan went to England and made several movies there.

In 1940, Gargan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Joe, the foreman, in They Knew What They Wanted.

Gargan was best known for his role as private detective Martin Kane in the 1949–51 radio-television series, Martin Kane, Private Eye, sponsored by U.S. Tobacco. He also appeared as a private detective in the NBC radio show Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator, which ran from 1951 to 1955.