Jack Carson

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Jack Carson I
from the trailer for the film The Hard Way (1945).
Born	John Elmer Carson October 27, 1910(1910-10-27) Carman, Manitoba,Canada
Died	January 2, 1963 (aged 52) (stomach cancer) Encino, California
Occupation	Actor
Spouse(s)	Lola Albright (1952-1958) Kay St. Germain Wells (1941-1950) 2 Children Elizabeth Lindy (1938-1939) Sandra Jolley (1963-His Death)

Jack Carson (October 27, 1910 – January 2, 1963) was a Canadian-born U.S.-based film actor.

Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the golden age of Hollywood, with a film career which spanned the 30's, 40s and 50s. Primarily employed for comic relief, his work in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof proved he could also master dramatic material. During his career, he worked at RKO, MGM (cast opposite Myrna Loy and William Powell in Love Crazy), but most of his memorable work was at Warner Brothers. Carson's trademark was the wisecracking know it all who eventually and typically was undone by his own excess self-confidence.

1 Early years
2 Film career
3 Death
4 Personal life
5 Partial filmography
6 External links

[edit] Early years

John Elmer Carson was born in Carman, Manitoba to Elmer and Elsa Carson. Shortly afterwards the family moved to Milwaukee, which he always thought of as his home town, although there exists no specific evidence confirming that he took out United States citizenship. He attended high school at Hartford School, Milwaukee and St. John's Military Academy, Delafield--but it was while attending Carleton College that he developed a taste for acting.

Jack Carson, because of his size - 6' 2" and 220 pounds, had his first stage appearance as Hercules in a college production. During 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 began. This piece of unplanned business would be typical of the sorts of things that tended to happen to Carson during some of his film roles

During the 1930s, as vaudeville went into decline due to increased competition from radio and movies, Willock and Carson sought work in Hollywood, initially landing bit roles at RKO. Radio also proved to be a source of employment for the team following a 1938 appearance on the Bing Crosby Kraft Music Hall program. This led to a number of other appearances which would culminate in Carson's own radio show in 1943.

[edit] Film career

Carson's success on radio led to a more lucrative contract with Warner Brothers. He was teamed with Dennis Morgan in a number of films, supposedly to compete with the popular Crosby and Hope road pictures. Like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, Morgan and Carson enjoyed a genuine off-screen friendship. Their first film together was a dark drama called The Hard Way, which was nothing like their subsequent pairings.

However, despite this auspicious beginning, most of his work at Warner Brothers was limited to light comedies with Morgan and later with Doris Day (who in her autobiography would credit Carson as one of her early Hollywood mentors). Critics generally agree that Carson's best work was in Mildred Pierce, where he played the perpetually scheming Wally Fay, opposite Joan Crawford in the title role. Another role which would win accolades for Carson was that of Matt Libby in A Star is Born.

Carson's work in the 1950s included a number of appearances on television including The Twilight Zone and Alcoa Theatre.

[edit] Death

In 1962, while rehearsing the Broadway play "Critics Choice," he collapsed and was subsequently diagnosed with stomach cancer. Carson died in Encino in 1963, aged 52. The death of the burly Carson, whose screen image was one of energy and vitality, made front page news, along with the death of fellow actor Dick Powell.

[edit] Personal life

Carson married four times: Elizabeth Lindy (married 1938, divorced 1939), Kay St. Germain (m. 1941, div. 1950), Lola Albright (m. 1952, div. 1958), Sandra Jolley (1961-1963). He also had an affair between his second and third marriages with Doris Day from 1950-1951,^{[citation needed]} but she left him for Marty Melcher, who would become her third husband.