Jack Oakie

Jack Oakie (November 12, 1903 – January 23, 1978) was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on stage, radio, and television.

Early life

Oakie was born as Lewis Delaney Offield in Sedalia, Missouri. However, he grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma, which is how he obtained his "Oakie" nickname. His adopted first name, Jack, was the name of the first character he played on stage.

Early career

Oakie worked as a runner on Wall Street, New York, and narrowly escaped being killed in the Wall Street bombing of 16 September 1920. While in New York, he also started appearing in amateur theatre as a mimic and a comedian, finally making his professional debut on Broadway in 1923 as a chorus boy in a production of "Little Nelly Kelly" by George M. Cohan.

Oakie worked in various musicals and comedies on Broadway from 1923 to 1927, when he moved to Hollywood to work in movies at the end of the silent film era. Oakie appeared in five silent films during 1927 and 1928. As the age of the "talkies" began, he signed with Paramount Pictures, making his first talking film, The Dummy, in 1929.

Film career

When his contract with Paramount ended in 1934, Oakie decided to freelance. He was remarkably successful, appearing in 87 films, most made in the 1930s and 1940s. In the film Too Much Harmony (1933), the part of Oakie's on-screen mother was played by his real mother Mary Evelyn Offield. During the 1930s he was known as "The World's Oldest Freshman", as a result of appearing in numerous films with a collegiate theme. He was also known for refusing to wear screen make-up of any kind, and the frequent use of double-take in his comedy. Oakie was quoted as saying of his studio career:

The pictures I made were called the bread and butter pictures of the studio. They cost nothing and made millions, and supported the prestige productions that cost millions and made nothing.

Not being limited by a film studio contract, Oakie branched into radio and had his own radio show between 1936 and 1938.

Oakie is probably most notable for his portrayal of Benzino Napaloni, the boisterous dictator of Bacteria, in Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940), for which he received an Oscar nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Award. This role was a broad parody of the fascist dictator of Italy, Benito Mussolini.

Marriages and television work

Oakie was married twice. His first marriage to Venita Varden in 1936 ended in divorce in 1945. (She died in 1948 in the crash of United Airlines Flight 624 at Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania). In 1950, he married a second time to actress Victoria Horne, with whom he lived until his passing in 1978.

Late in his career he appeared in various episodes of a number of television shows, including The Real McCoys (1957), Daniel Boone (1966), and Bonanza (1966).

Jack Oakie died on 23rd January 1978 in Los Angeles, California at the age of 74 from an aortic aneurysm. His remains were interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale (top of the hill, Whispering Pines section), in Los Angeles County.

Memorials

In 1981, the "Jack Oakie Lecture on Comedy in Film" was established as an annual event of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At the inaugural presentation, Oakie was described as "a master of comic timing and a beloved figure in the industry.

A small display celebrating the comedy and fame of Jack Oakie is on display at Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located at 6752 Hollywood Boulevard, and his hand and footprints may be found at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

Estate to be redeveloped

Oakie made his home in Northridge in the San Fernando Valley, in 1940-41, buying the 11 acre estate of actress Barbara Stanwyck at 18650 Devonshire Street (just west of Reseda Boulevard). Here he planted a citrus orchard and bred Afghan Hounds, at one time having up to 100 dogs on the property. After his death, his wife Victoria remained in the home until her passing. She left the property to the University of Southern California (USC). A January 2007 article in the Los Angeles Daily News reported that Oakie's estate, one of the last remnants of the large Northridge estates famed for thoroughbred breeding, had been sold by to a developer and for subdivision into 29 homes. The article mentioned that Oakie's house, originally commissioned by Barbara Stanwyck and designed by Paul Williams, will remain, possibly as a community centre.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role
1961	Lover Come Back	J. Paxton Miller
1960	The Rat Race	Mac, Owner of Macs Bar
1959	The Wonderful Country	Travis Hyte
1956	Around the World in Eighty Days	Captain of the Henrietta
1951	Tomahawk (UK title: Battle of Powder River)	Sol Beckworth
1950	Last of the Buccaneers	Sgt. Dominick
1949	Thieves' Highway	Slob
1948	When My Baby Smiles at Me	Bozo
1948	Northwest Stampede	Mike Kirby (Clem)
1946	She Wrote the Book	Jerry Marlowe
1945	On Stage Everybody	Michael Sullivan
1945	That's the Spirit	Steve "Slim" Gogarty
1944	Bowery to Broadway	Michael O'Rourke
1944	The Merry Monahans	Pete Monahan
1944	Sweet and Low-Down	Popsy
1944	It Happened Tomorrow	Uncle Oscar Smith aka Gigolini
1943	Wintertime	Skip Hutton
1943	Hello Frisco, Hello	Dan Daley
1943	Something to Shout About	Larry Martin
1942	Iceland (UK title: Katina)	Slip Riggs
1942	Song of the Islands	Rusty Smith
1941	Rise and Shine	Boley Bolenciecwcz (pronounced Bolenkowitz)
1941	Navy Blues	Cake O'Hara
1941	The Great American Broadcast	Chuck Hadley
1940	Little Men	Willie the Fox
1940	Tin Pan Alley	Harry Calhoun
1940	The Great Dictator	Benzino Napaloni
1940	Young People	Joe Ballantine
1938	Thanks for Everything	Brady
1938	Annabel Takes a Tour (aka Annabel Takes a Trip Takes a Trip)	Lanny Morgan
1938	The Affairs of Annabel	Lanny Morgan
1938	Radio City Revels	Harry Miller
1937	Hitting a New High	Corny Davis
1937	Fight for Your Lady	Ham Hamilton
1937	The Toast of New York	Luke
1937	Super-Sleuth	Willard "Bill" Martin
1937	Champagne Waltz	Happy Gallagher
1936	That Girl from Paris	Whammo Lonsdale
1936	The Texas Rangers	Wahoo Jones
1936	Florida Special	Bangs Carter
1936	Colleen	Joe Cork
1936	Collegiate (UK title: Charm School)	Jerry Craig
1935	King of Burlesque	Spud Miller
1935	The Big Broadcast of 1936	Spud Miller
1935	The Call of the Wild	Shorty Hoolihan
1934	College Rhythm	Francis J. Finnegan
1934	Shoot the Works (UK title: Thank Your Stars)	Nicky Nelson
1934	Murder at the Vanities	Jack Ellery
1934	Looking for Trouble	Casey
1933	Alice in Wonderland	Tweedledum
1933	Sitting Pretty	Chick Parker
1933	Too Much Harmony	Benny Day
1933	College Humor	Barney Shirrel
1933	The Eagle and the Hawk	Mike Richards
1933	Sailor Be Good	Kelsey Jones
1933	From Hell to Heaven	Charlie Bayne
1932	If I Had a Million	Pvt. Mulligan
1932	Uptown New York	Eddie Doyle
1932	Madison Sq. Garden	Eddie Burke
1932	Once in a Lifetime	George Lewis
1932	Million Dollar Legs	Migg Tweeny
1932	Sky Bride	Alec Dugan
1932	Dancers in the Dark	Duke Taylor
1931	Touchdown (UK title: Playing the Game)	Babe Barton
1931	Dude Ranch	Jennifer
1931	June Moon	Frederick Martin Stevens
1931	The Gang Buster	"Cyclone" Case
1930	Sea Legs	Searchlight Doyle
1930	Let's Go Native	Voltaire McGinnis
1930	The Sap From Syracuse (aka The Sap from Abroad from Abroad)	Littleton Looney
1930	The Social Lion	Marco Perkins
1930	Hit the Deck	Bilge
1929	Sweetie	Tap-Tap Thoompson
1929	Fast Company	Elmer Kane
1929	Hard to Get	Marty Martin
1929	Street Girl (USA title: Barber John's Boy)	Joe Spring
1929	The Man I Love	Lew Layton
1929	Close Harmony	Ben Barney
1929	The Wild Party	Al
1929	The Dummy	Dopey Hart
1929	Sin Town	"Chicken" O'Toole
1928	Someone to Love	Michael Casey
1928	The Fleet's In	Searchlight Doyle
1928	Road House	Sam
1923	His Children's Children	?

Bibliography

• Jack Oakie (1980). Jack Oakie's Double Takes. Strawberry Hill Press. ISBN 0-89407-019-3. Autobiography published posthumously by Oakie's widow on 1 January 1980. 240 pages.
• Victoria Horne Oakie (1994). "Dear Jack": Hollywood birthday reminiscences to Jack Oakie. Strawberry Hill Press. ISBN 0-89407-113-0, ISBN 978-0894071133. Letters of congratulation and reminiscence sent from almost 150 celebrities to Jack Oakie in celebration of his 70th birthday. Compiled & edited by Mrs Oakie to commemorate his 90th birthday. 140 pages.

References

External links

• Jack Oakie at the Internet Movie Database
• Jack Oakie Lecture on Comedy in Film (official website)
• Biography of Jack Oakie
• NY Times Biography of Jack Oakie
• Jack Oakie's Gravesite
• Overhead shot of Jack Oakie's estate (circa 2006-07, prior to redevelopment)
• Photographs of Jack Oakie