Ned Sparks
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Ned Sparks (19 November 1883, Guelph, Ontario - 3 April 1957, Victorville, California), born Edward Arthur Sparkman was a Canadian actor who became famous in Hollywood.
Sparks, a dour-faced, cigar-chomping character actor in the 1930s, was noted for a caustic wit and was often caricatured in cartoons. Tex Avery depicts him as a hermit crab in Fresh Fish (1939) and he appears briefly in Friz Freleng's Warner Brothers cartoon Malibu Beach Party (1940).
Sparks also appears in animated form in brief cameo spots in the following Warner Brothers shorts: The CooCoo Nut Grove, Speaking of the Weather, and a few others. In one short, they have the impersonation of Sparks' voice coming from a crab to hammer home the point of the deadpan, crabby demeanor that Sparks brought to his roles. Many film buffs consider his most memorable performance to be that of a sarcastic detective in the 1934 Paramount comedy-mystery A Private Scandal.
[edit] Notable Roles
Like most character actors, Sparks appeared in numerous films. Among those films still studied, he appeared in:
- Servants' Entrance (1934) (Hjalmar Gnu)
- Imitation of Life (1934) (Elmer Smith)
- Alice in Wonderland (1933) (Caterpillar)
- Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) (Barney Hopkins)
- 42nd Street (1933) (Thomas Barry)
- Going Hollywood (1933) (Bert Conroy)
- The Miracle Man (1932) (Harry Evans)
- Iron Man (1931)
- The Little Miss Brown (1915) (first film appearance)
