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Jack Carson

Jack Carson
Jack Carson in The Hard Way trailer.jpg
from the trailer for the film
The Hard Way (1943).
Born John Elmer Carson
(1910-10-27)October 27, 1910
Carman, Manitoba, Canada
Died January 2, 1963(1963-01-02) (aged 52)
Encino, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death stomach cancer
Occupation Actor
Years active 1937–1962
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Lindy (1938–1939)
Kay St. Germain Wells (1941–1950) 2 children
Lola Albright (1952–1958)
Sandra Jolley (1961–his death)

John Elmer "Jack" Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963) was a Canadian-born American-based film actor.

Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the "golden age of Hollywood", with a film career spanning the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Though he was primarily used in supporting roles for comic relief, his work in films such as Mildred Pierce (1945) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) displayed his mastery of "straight" dramatic actor roles as well. He worked for RKO and MGM (cast opposite Myrna Loy and William Powell in Love Crazy), but most of his memorable work was for Warner Brothers. His trademark character was the wisecracking know-it-all, typically and inevitably undone by his own smug cockiness.

He was born in Carman, Manitoba to Elmer and Elsa Carson. In 1914, the family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which he always thought of as his home town. He attended high school at Hartford School, Milwaukee and St. John's Military Academy, Delafield, but it was at Carleton College that he acquired a taste for acting. Carson became a U.S. citizen in California in 1949.

Because of his size — 6 ft 2 in (1.9 m) and 220 lb (100 kg), his first stage appearance (in a collegiate production) was as Hercules. In the midst of a performance, he tripped and took half the set with him. A college friend, Dave Willock, thought it was so funny he persuaded Carson to team with him in a vaudeville act — Willock and Carson — and a new career was born. This piece of unplanned business would be typical of the sorts of things that tended to happen to Carson in many of his film roles.


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