Jack Oakie

"America's Joyboy," beefy, plump-faced comedian 'Jack Oakie' (qv), was one of the funniest top and second banana jokesters of stage, radio and especially film's "Golden Age." He would accomplish so much despite the fact that he was "functionally deaf" throughout his career and performed primarily with the aid of lip reading or vibrations.The stories vary on how he became deaf -- scarlet fever at age 9, a Wall Street building explosion where he worked -- but, whatever the case, it seems a minor miracle that he managed to become a performing success not only for his famous "triple take" comedy but also for his work in Broadway and Hollywood musicals, which could not have been an easy task! A slapstick inspiration to future comedians like 'Jackie Gleason' (qv), Oakie's lightweight foolery and participation in films was pretty much standard cornball with a lot of mugging to boot, but then he surprised audiences by topping it all off in the hands of the legendary 'Charles Chaplin' (qv) with a scene-stealing Oscar-nominated support role in a political satire masterpiece.Jack was born Lewis Delaney Offield in Sedalia, Missouri on November 12, 1903, the son of a grain dealer (who died while Jack was quite young) and a teacher of psychology (Mary 'Evelyn Oakie' (qv) Offield). His family moved to moved to Muskogee, Oklahoma. He was raised at times with his grandmother in Kansas City, Missouri, and made extra money there as a paperboy for The Kansas City Star.Moving eventually to New York, Jack first worked as a runner for a brokerage firm on Wall Street, and nearly lost his life when a nearby Wall Street building was bombed on September 16, 1920. Interested in comedy and mime by this point, he began building up confidence on the amateur stage and giving himself a new name, 'Jack Oakie' (qv), which was comprised of the first character he ever played on stage and his mother's maiden name.Jack took his first professional curtain call on Broadway in 1923 as a chorus boy in 'George M. Cohan' (qv)'s production of "Little Nellie Kelly." From there he found employment in a number of comedies, as well as musicals throughout the mid to late 1920s, including "Sharlee" (1923), the revues "Innocent Eyes" (1924) and "Artists and Models" (1925), and the musical "Peggy-Ann" in 1926. He also appeared in a couple of unbilled film parts in 1923 and 1924.Films came calling toward the end of the silent era in 1927, and he relocated to Los Angeles where he made several non-talkies on his arrival, including _Finders Keepers (1928)_ (qv) starring 'Laura La Plante' (qv) and 'John Harron' (qv) (Bobby's little brother) and directed by 'Wesley Ruggles' (qv); 'Clara Bow' (qv)'s _The Fleet's In (1928)_ (qv); and the western _Sin Town (1929)_ (qv). With the advent of sound, Oakie was signed, with the help of director Ruggles, to a contract by Paramount and appeared in his first talkie, the 'Ruth Chatterton' (qv)/'Fredric March' (qv) starrer _The Dummy (1929)_ (qv). Jack went on to support 'Wallace Beery' (qv) in _Chinatown Nights (1929)_ (qv); 'Dorothy Mackaill' (qv) in _Hard to Get (1929)_ (qv); 'Betty Compson' (qv) and 'John Harron' (qv) in _Street Girl (1929)_ (qv); and 'Nancy Carroll' (qv) in the musical _Sweetie (1929)_ (qv). Settling in, he never returned to the Broadway stage.Jack finally shared top billing with 'Evelyn Brent' (qv) in the comedy film _Fast Company (1929)_ (qv) as Elmer Kane, a character based on the 'George M. Cohan' (qv) Broadway show "Elmer the Great." This led to top billing in the film version of the Broadway hit musical _Hit the Deck (1929)_ (qv), as well as the early talking comedy vehicles _The Social Lion (1930)_ (qv), _The Sap from Syracuse (1930)_ (qv), _Let's Go Native (1930)_ (qv), _Sea Legs (1930)_ (qv), _The Gang Buster (1931)_ (qv), _June Moon (1931)_ (qv), _Dude Ranch (1931)_ (qv), _Once in a Lifetime (1932)_ (qv), _Madison Square Garden (1932)_ (qv), _Uptown New York (1932)_ (qv), _Sitting Pretty (1933)_ (qv) and _Shoot the Works (1934)_ (qv). Occasional dramas came his way with _Dancers in the Dark (1932)_ (qv) co-starring 'Miriam Hopkins' (qv) and _Sky Bride (1932)_ (qv) co-starring 'Richard Arlen' (qv).Throughout the 1930s, the 30-year-old plus actor appeared in a host of light college-themed comedies and was lovingly dubbed "The World's Oldest Freshman" while adding to the humor of such films as _College Humor (1933)_ (qv), _College Rhythm (1934)_ (qv) and _Collegiate (1936)_ (qv). Elsewhere, in _Too Much Harmony (1933)_ (qv), his mother Evelyn was featured as his mother, and he played Tweedledum to 'Roscoe Karns' (qv)' Tweedledee in the all-star version of _Alice in Wonderland (1933)_ (qv).Oakie's contract ended with Paramount in 1934 and he continued as a freelancing agent until an RKO contract came his way a couple of years later. Starting to now gain a bit in girth, Oakie went back into support roles in musicals, adventures and comedies. Among the better known films were _Call of the Wild (1935)_ (qv) with 'Clark Gable' (qv) and 'Loretta Young' (qv); _Colleen (1936)_ (qv) with 'Dick Powell' (qv) and 'Ruby Keeler' (qv); _The Toast of New York (1937)_ (qv) with 'Edward Arnold' (qv) and 'Frances Farmer' (qv); _Tin Pan Alley (1940)_ (qv) with 'Alice Faye' (qv) and 'Betty Grable' (qv) and _Iceland (1942)_ (qv) with 'Sonja Henie' (qv) and 'John Payne' (qv).In the late 1930s, Jack traveled to Europe for some work and suffered a huge career setback when he returned to Hollywood and found himself unwanted. The draught lasted nearly two years until a major comeback thanks to 'Charles Chaplin' (qv). While such film highlights must include _Million Dollar Legs (1932)_ (qv), _King of Burlesque (1936)_ (qv), _The Affairs of Annabel (1938)_ (qv) and _Rise and Shine (1941)_ (qv), Oakie will in all probability be best remembered for his lip-smacking parody of 'Benito Mussolini' (qv) ("Il Duce")in Chaplin's classic _The Great Dictator (1940)_ (qv). As Benzino Napaloni, the dictator of the fictional country of Bacteria, Jack earned his only Oscar nomination in the "Supporting Actor" category. Throughout his lead career, he worked with a quality number of diverse leading ladies on film from 'Carole Lombard' (qv) to 'Lily Pons' (qv).Oakie also found work on radio, hosting his own show, "'Jack Oakie' (qv)'s College," between 1936 and 1938. His deafness did not affect the output of his work, and, as a pro, seldom were there problems in accommodating his disability. Director 'Jules Dassin' (qv), in fact, once made it a point to state that Oakie never caused any delays in the filming of his film noir _Thieves' Highway (1949)_ (qv).Into the 1950s and 1960s, his career slowed down quite a bit, primarily due to his disability. He appeared to good advantage in the films _The Rat Race (1960)_ (qv) and _Lover Come Back (1961)_ (qv) and with TV comedy and drama on such popular shows as "The Real McCoys," "Daniel Boone," "Bonanza" and, his last, "Night Gallery" in 1972.'Jack Oakie' (qv) was married twice. His first marriage (1936-1945) was to 'Venita Varden' (qv), who perished in the 1948 air crash of United Airlines Flight 624 at Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. Oakie's second marriage was to actress 'Victoria Horne' (qv) in 1950; they moved to an estate in Northridge and lived there until his death. The USC School of Cinematic Arts continues its durable ties with Hollywood history in the form of The 'Jack Oakie' (qv) and 'Victoria Horne' (qv) Oakie Charitable Foundation, which provides scholarships.The comic actor died on January 23, 1978, in Los Angeles, California at the age of 74 from an aortic aneurysm. His remains were interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in the Los Angeles area.::Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net