Jerome Cowan

'Jerome Cowan' (qv) was one of Hollywood's most prolific and instantly recognisable character actors. His trademark pencil-thin moustache and slicked back hair, immaculate suits and sophisticated manner were his stock-in-trade for impersonating an assortment of rejected husbands, shifty politicians, lawyers and shady detectives. He also excelled at delivering snappy repartee and witty or barbed one-liners which were typical of the gritty Warner Brothers films of the 1930's and 40's.Straight out of high school, Jerome began to work his way up through stock companies and burlesque, making his debut on Broadway in the 1923 comedy 'We've Got to Have Money'. On the strength of his most successful stage performance in 'Boy Meets Girl' (1935-37), he was contracted by producer 'Samuel Goldwyn' (qv) to appear in _Beloved Enemy (1936)_ (qv) as an Irish patriot. Several films later, he found his niche as the dapper sophisticate with attitude, in films like _There's Always a Woman (1938)_ (qv), as Nick Shane, _Torrid Zone (1940)_ (qv), _Crime by Night (1944)_ (qv) - a rare leading role as private eye Sam Campbell; and _Mr. Skeffington (1944)_ (qv), as 'Bette Davis' (qv)'s ex. He was the short-lived partner, Miles Archer, to 'Humphrey Bogart' (qv)'s Sam Spade in _The Maltese Falcon (1941)_ (qv), a nervous informer in _Riffraff (1947)_ (qv) and the district attorney who fails to indict Chris Cringle in _Miracle on 34th Street (1947)_ (qv). Add to that several well-acted gangsters (_Frisco Lil (1942)_ (qv), _Fog Island (1945)_ (qv), _Deadline for Murder (1946)_ (qv), to mention a few) and some unexpected comedy, particularly as Dagwood's boss George Radcliffe in the _Blondie (1957)_ (qv) series. In the 1950's and 1960's, Cowan adapted perfectly to the medium of television and became a regular on several shows, alternating drama with comedy, from _Perry Mason (1957)_ (qv)to _The Munsters (1964)_ (qv). He gave a short, but poignant performance opposite 'Ida Lupino' (qv) in 'The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine', a 1959 episode of 'Rod Serling' (qv)'s _The Twilight Zone (1959)_ (qv), as an unrecognisably aged former matinee idol.::I.S.Mowis