Clarence Kolb | |
---|---|
Born | Clarence William Kolb July 31, 1874
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
Died | November 25, 1964
Hollywood, California, U.S. | (aged 90)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1916–1957 |
Spouse |
May Cloy (
m. 1915) |
Clarence William Kolb, sometimes given as C. William Kolb, (July 31, 1874 – November 25, 1964) was an American vaudeville performer and actor known for his comedy routines that featured a Dutch dialect. [1]
Kolb started out as one half of a vaudeville comedy team, Kolb and Dill, with Max Dill. They styled their act on the famous team of Weber and Fields. [2] In addition to their stage work, they appeared in a series of short films and a feature-length movie in 1917. Afterwards, Kolb made a return to vaudeville, only returning to the movies in the late 1930s.
In 1935, Kolb left the act to work in films as a character actor, [2] eventually appearing in 75 feature films. [1] He became famous for portraying the same type of character in many films, namely, a politician or businessman. He is best remembered for his roles as the grumpy father in the multi-Academy Award-nominated hit comedy film Merrily We Live (1938), as the corrupt mayor in the comedy His Girl Friday (1940),[ citation needed] and as Mr. Honeywell in the television sitcom My Little Margie (1952). [3] Kolb played himself in his last movie appearance, Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), opposite Danny Beck (who played the late Max Dill).
On September 1, 1917, Kolb married dancer May Cloy (whose birth name was Mabel S. Larsen). [4] They were still married when he died. [5]
Kolb died at age 90 of a stroke at the Orchard Gables Sanitarium in Hollywood. [6] [7] [8]