Joseph Cawthorn
Acting • Born 1868-03-27 – Died 1949-01-21
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joseph Cawthorn (March 29, 1868, New York City, New York – January 21, 1949, Beverly Hills, California) was an American stage and film comic actor. Cawthorn started out in show business as a child, debuting at Robinson's Music Hall in his hometown of New York in 1872. He appeared in minstrel shows and vaudeville as a "Dutch" comic, employing a thick German dialect. He later worked in British music halls and American touring companies. Cawthorn made his Broadway debut in 1895, 1897 or 1898, and embarked on a long career lasting over two decades. His first success was playing Boris in Victor Herbert's 1898 operetta The Fortune Teller. Other notable Broadway roles included the title character in Mother Goose (1903) and inventor Dr. Pill in the fantasy musical Little Nemo (1908). In the latter, he was called upon to ad lib to buy time during one performance. As "the scene called for him to describe imaginary animals he had hunted", he invented the "whiffenpoof" on the spot. Yale students in the audience appropriated it for the name of their glee club. When his Broadway stardom waned, Cawthorn moved to Hollywood in 1927 and started a second prolific career, appearing in over 50 films, the last in 1942. He played Gremio in the first sound adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew in 1929, starring Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks; Schultz in Gold Diggers of 1935; and Florenz Ziegfeld's father in The Great Ziegfeld (1936). Cawthorn died peacefully on January 21, 1949. He was survived by his wife, actress Queenie Vassar.
Filmography
53 credits
Blondie Johnson
Movie • 1933
Jewelry Store Manager (as Joe Cawthorn)
The Postman Didn't Ring
Movie • 1942
Silas Harwood
Dixiana
Movie • 1930
Cornelius Van Horn, Carl's Father
Love Me Tonight
Movie • 1932
Dr. Armand de Fontinac
White Zombie
Movie • 1932
Dr. Bruner
The Great Ziegfeld
Movie • 1936
Dr. Ziegfeld
Sweet Adeline
Movie • 1934
Oscar Schmidt
Naughty Marietta
Movie • 1935
Herr 'Schumie' Schuman
Best of Enemies
Movie • 1933
Gus Schneider
Peach-o-Reno
Movie • 1931
Joe Bruno
Kiki
Movie • 1931
Alfred Rapp
Young and Beautiful
Movie • 1934
Herman Cline
Silk Legs
Movie • 1927
Ezra Fulton
The Last Gentleman
Movie • 1934
Dr. Wilson
Sweet Music
Movie • 1935
Sidney Selzer
One Rainy Afternoon
Movie • 1936
Monique's Father
Harmony Lane
Movie • 1935
Professor Henry Kleber
Brides Are Like That
Movie • 1936
Fred Schultz
Housewife
Movie • 1934
Krueger (as Joe Cawthorne)
Hot Money
Movie • 1936
Max Dourfuss
Broken Dreams
Movie • 1933
Pop
Dance Hall
Movie • 1929
Bremmer
The Runaround
Movie • 1931
Lou
They Call It Sin
Movie • 1932
Mr. Hollister
Scatterbrain
Movie • 1940
Nicholas Raptis
Hold 'Em Yale
Movie • 1928
Professor George Bradbury
Jazz Heaven
Movie • 1929
Herman Kemple
Twenty Million Sweethearts
Movie • 1934
Herbert Brokman
Lazy River
Movie • 1934
Mr. Julius Ambrose
Whistling in the Dark
Movie • 1933
Barfuss
Page Miss Glory
Movie • 1935
Mr. Freischutz
Maybe It's Love
Movie • 1935
Adolph Sr.
Street Girl
Movie • 1929
Keppel - Cafe Owner
Smart Girl
Movie • 1935
Karl Krausemeyer
Music in the Air
Movie • 1934
Hans Uppman
Freshman Love
Movie • 1936
Wilson, Sr.
Lillian Russell
Movie • 1940
Leopold Damrosch
Men Are Such Fools
Movie • 1932
Werner (as Joseph Cawthorne)
Bright Lights
Movie • 1935
Oscar Schlemmer
The Taming of the Shrew
Movie • 1929
Gremio
So Ends Our Night
Movie • 1941
Leopold Potzloch
A Tailor-Made Man
Movie • 1931
Huber
Crime Over London
Movie • 1936
Mr. Sherwood / Reilly
Very Confidential
Movie • 1927
Donald Allen
Gold Diggers of 1935
Movie • 1935
August Schultz
Speakeasy
Movie • 1929
Yokel
Grand Slam
Movie • 1933
Alex Alexandrovitch
The Princess and the Plumber
Movie • 1930
Merkl
The Human Side
Movie • 1934
Fritz Speigal
Two Girls Wanted
Movie • 1927
Philip Hancock
Made on Broadway
Movie • 1933
Maxie Schultz
Beautiful Dreamer
Movie • 1935
The Secret Studio
Movie • 1927
Pa Merton