| Dave Willock | |
|---|---|
Willock with Cliff Arquette on Dave and Charley, 1952. |
|
| Born | August 13, 1909 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | November 12, 1990 (aged 81) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California |
| Other names | Dave "Tugwell" Willock David Willock |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1939–1979 |
Dave Willock (August 13, 1909 – November 12, 1990) was an American character actor. Willock appeared in 181 films and television shows from 1939 to 1989. He is probably most familiar to modern audiences from his performance as Baby Jane Hudson's father in the opening scenes of the cult classic What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). He played seven different characters on CBS's Green Acres with Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor, but mostly portrayed clerks or elevator operators.
He also teamed with actor Jack Carson on stage and radio, including a five-season run on CBS as Carson's nephew Tugwell on The Jack Carson Show from 1943-1949. Willock and Cliff Arquette had their own radio and television shows in the early 1950s. Both versions were called Dave and Charley; the radio version was heard circa 1950, but the television version of it was on the aire for only three months in early 1952. He maintained a lifelong friendship with Arquette.[1][2]
He appeared on an episode of Dragnet as an ex-vaudevillean who is cheated out of $9,000 that he found on a sidewalk. In the 1961–1962 season, he played Harvey Clayton, father of the 1920s teenager Margie Clayton, portrayed by Cynthia Pepper in ABC's Margie.Willock also appeared in animated roles, such as the offscreen narrator on Wacky Races (1968) and as father Augustus "Gus" Holiday on The Roman Holidays (1972). He appeared in a television commercial for "The Great American Soups," directed by American satirist Stan Freberg, alongside tap-dancing star Ann Miller.
He is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery. For his contribution to the television industry, Dave Willock has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 6358 Hollywood Blvd.