J. Farrell MacDonald
Acting • Born 1875-06-05 – Died 1952-08-02
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a 41-year career from 1911 to 1951, and directed forty-four silent films from 1912 to 1917. MacDonald was the principal director of L. Frank Baum's Oz Film Manufacturing Company, and he can frequently be seen in the films of Frank Capra, Preston Sturges and, especially, John Ford. Early in his career, MacDonald was a singer in minstrel shows, and he toured the United States extensively for two years with stage productions. He made his first silent film in 1911, a dramatic short entitled The Scarlett Letter made by Carl Laemmle's Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), the forerunner of Universal Pictures,. He continued to act in numerous films each year from that time on, and by 1912 he was directing them as well. The first film he directed was The Worth of a Man, another dramatic short, again for IMP, and he was to direct 43 more films until his last in 1917, Over the Fence, which he co-directed with Harold Lloyd. MacDonald had crossed paths with Lloyd several years earlier, when Lloyd was an extra and MacDonald had given him much-needed work – and he did the same with Hal Roach, both of whom appearing in small roles in The Patchwork Girl of Oz, which MacDonald directed in 1914. When Roach set up his own studio, with Lloyd as his principal attraction, he hired MacDonald to direct. By 1918, MacDonald, who was to become one of the most beloved character men in Hollywood, had given up directing and was acting full-time, predominantly in Westerns and Irish comedies. He first worked under director John Ford in 1919's A Fight for Love. In all, Ford would use MacDonald on twenty-five films between 1919 and 1950. With a voice that matched his personality, MacDonald made the transition to sound films easily, with no noticeable drop in his acting output – if anything, it went up. In 1931, for instance, MacDonald appeared in 14 films – among them the first version of The Maltese Falcon, in which he played "Detective Tom Polhaus" – and in 22 of them in 1932. Although he played laborers, policemen, military men and priests, among many other characters, his roles were usually a cut above a "bit part". His characters usually had names, and he was most often credited for his performances. A highlight of this period was his performance as the hobo "Mr. Tramp" in Our Little Girl with Shirley Temple (1935). In the 1940s, MacDonald was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in seven films written and directed by Sturges. MacDonald appeared in Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The Great Moment, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, Unfaithfully Yours and The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend, Sturges' last American film. Earlier, MacDonald had also appeared in The Power and the Glory, which Sturges wrote. His work on Sturges' films was generally uncredited. He was notable in 1946 in John Ford's My Darling Clementine in which he played "Mac," the bartender in the town saloon. MacDonald also had uncredited roles in It's a Wonderful Life and Here Comes The Groom.
Filmography
276 credits
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Movie • 1927
The Photographer
It's a Wonderful Life
Movie • 1946
Man Whose Grandfather Planted Tree (uncredited)
My Darling Clementine
Movie • 1946
Mac the barman
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
Movie • 1947
Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Topper
Movie • 1937
Policeman
Stormy
Movie • 1935
Trinidad Dorn
The Wallop
Movie • 1921
Neuces River
The Vanishing Frontier
Movie • 1933
Waco
The Palm Beach Story
Movie • 1942
Officer O'Donnell (uncredited)
Panhandle
Movie • 1948
Doc Cooper
3 Bad Men
Movie • 1926
Mike Costigan
Captains of the Clouds
Movie • 1942
Dr. Neville
This Sporting Age
Movie • 1932
Jerry O'Day
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
Movie • 1947
Mac, Bailiff (uncredited)
The Freeze-Out
Movie • 1921
Bobtail McGuire
The Maltese Falcon
Movie • 1931
Det. Sgt. Tom Polhaus
Woman on the Run
Movie • 1950
Cap, the Retired Ferryboat Captain
The Living Ghost
Movie • 1942
Police Lt. 'Pete' Peterson
No Man of Her Own
Movie • 1932
"Dickie" Collins
Johnny Angel
Movie • 1945
Capt. Angel
Bullet Proof
Movie • 1920
Jim Boone
Over the Border
Movie • 1922
Peter Galbraith
Superman and the Mole Men
Movie • 1951
Pop Shannon
$5,000 Reward
Movie • 1918
Norcross
Thunder in the Valley
Movie • 1947
McPherson - Innkeeper
The Ape Man
Movie • 1943
Captain O'Brien
Drifting
Movie • 1923
Murphy
Steady Company
Movie • 1932
Hogan
Quicksands
Movie • 1923
Col. Patterson
Racing Hearts
Movie • 1923
Silas Martin
Bowery at Midnight
Movie • 1942
Capt. Mitchell
Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell
Movie • 1951
Mr. Kroeger
Reap the Wild Wind
Movie • 1942
Port Captain
Let Women Alone
Movie • 1925
Commodore John Gordon
A Trip to Chinatown
Movie • 1926
Benjamin Strong
Barefoot Boy
Movie • 1938
Warden
The Crime Doctor
Movie • 1934
Kemp
Riding with Death
Movie • 1921
Sheriff Pat Garrity
Hostile Country
Movie • 1950
Mr. Lane (uncredited)
Riders of the Timberline
Movie • 1941
Jim Kerrigan
The Whole Town's Talking
Movie • 1935
Prison Warden (uncredited)
The Iron Horse
Movie • 1925
Corporal Casey
The Stolen Jools
Movie • 1931
Policeman
Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl
Movie • 1926
Sloan
Harrigan's Kid
Movie • 1943
Frank (uncredited)
The Walls of Jericho
Movie • 1948
Bailiff (uncredited)
Desperate Youth
Movie • 1921
You're My Everything
Movie • 1949
Doorman (uncredited)
The Thirteenth Guest
Movie • 1932
Captain Ryan
The Working Man
Movie • 1933
Henry 'Hank' Davis
The Power and the Glory
Movie • 1933
Mulligan
The Phantom Express
Movie • 1932
D.J. 'Smokey' Nolan
Under Eighteen
Movie • 1932
Pop Evans
Riffraff
Movie • 1936
'Brains'
Manslaughter
Movie • 1922
(uncredited)
In Old Cheyenne
Movie • 1941
Tim Casey
Full Confession
Movie • 1939
Joe, Police Sergeant (uncredited)
I Loved a Woman
Movie • 1933
Shuster
Paid to Love
Movie • 1927
Peter Roberts
Masquerade
Movie • 1929
Joe Hickey
Sky High
Movie • 1922
Jim Frazer (as J. Farrel MacDonald)
Zenobia
Movie • 1939
Judge
The Last Alarm
Movie • 1940
Jim Hadley
Streets of San Francisco
Movie • 1949
Pop Lockhart
Fury at Furnace Creek
Movie • 1948
Pops Murphy (uncredited)
The Easiest Way
Movie • 1931
Ben Murdock
Swellhead
Movie • 1935
Umpire
Come On, Rangers
Movie • 1938
Colonel Forbes
Heritage of the Desert
Movie • 1932
Adam Naab
Hotel Continental
Movie • 1932
Detective Martin
Phantom Killer
Movie • 1942
Police Captain
Scandal for Sale
Movie • 1932
Treadway
Discarded Lovers
Movie • 1932
Sommers
Peg o' My Heart
Movie • 1933
Patrick Shamus 'Pat' O'Connell
The Brass Bowl
Movie • 1924
Hickey
Hearts of Humanity
Movie • 1932
Tom O'Hara
Exclusive Story
Movie • 1936
Michael Devlin
Murder on the Campus
Movie • 1933
Police Capt. Ed Kyne
The Healer
Movie • 1935
Applejack
East Side, West Side
Movie • 1927
Pug Malone
Danger Ahead
Movie • 1935
Harry Cromwell
Shadows of the Orient
Movie • 1935
Inspector Sullivan
Lightnin'
Movie • 1925
Lemuel Townsend
4 Devils
Movie • 1928
The Clown
The Squaw Man
Movie • 1931
Big Bill
Waterfront Lady
Movie • 1935
Capt. O'Brien
The Truth About Youth
Movie • 1930
Colonel Graham
Romance in Manhattan
Movie • 1935
Murphy
Riley the Cop
Movie • 1928
James 'Aloysius' Riley
Cradle Snatchers
Movie • 1927
George Martin
The Millionaire
Movie • 1931
Dan Lewis
The Pride of the Legion
Movie • 1932
Chief Scott
Probation
Movie • 1932
George Holman
I Take This Oath
Movie • 1940
Insp. Tim Ryan
The Best Man Wins
Movie • 1935
Captain--Harbor Patrol
Man of Two Worlds
Movie • 1934
Michael
The Hit Parade
Movie • 1937
Sgt. O'Hara
Flying Fists
Movie • 1937
Bill 'One-Punch' Fagin
The Signal Tower
Movie • 1924
Pete
Sporting Blood
Movie • 1931
MacGuire
Keeper of the Bees
Movie • 1947
Postmaster
Submarine Patrol
Movie • 1938
CWO 'Sails' Quincannon
Other Men's Women
Movie • 1931
Peg-Leg
River's End
Movie • 1930
O'Toole
Laughing at Life
Movie • 1933
Prison Warden
White Banners
Movie • 1938
Dr. Thompson
Smoky
Movie • 1946
Jim, the Cook
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Movie • 1944
Sheriff (uncredited)
Private Snuffy Smith
Movie • 1942
Gen. Rosewater
Ankles Preferred
Movie • 1927
McGuire
Hitch Hike Lady
Movie • 1935
Judge Hale
Beggar's Holiday
Movie • 1934
Pop Malloy
Gang Bullets
Movie • 1938
Chief Reardon
Let 'em Have It
Movie • 1935
Mr. Keefer
The Crowd Roars
Movie • 1938
Father Patrick Ryan
The Shamrock Handicap
Movie • 1926
Con O'Shea
Men without Women
Movie • 1930
Costello
The Painted Desert
Movie • 1931
Jeff Cameron
Conspiracy
Movie • 1939
Captain of the Falcon
Myrt and Marge
Movie • 1933
Grady
Men Are Such Fools
Movie • 1932
Prison Warden Randolph
Kentucky Pride
Movie • 1925
Donavan
Mysterious Crossing
Movie • 1936
Police Chief Bullock
One Thrilling Night
Movie • 1942
Police Sergeant Haggerty
Mademoiselle Midnight
Movie • 1924
Duc de Moing (Prologue)
The Racing Strain
Movie • 1932
Mr. Martin
Our Little Girl
Movie • 1935
Hobo
Slave Ship
Movie • 1937
Proprietor
The First Year
Movie • 1926
Mr. Barstow
Come on Over
Movie • 1922
Michael Morahan
Susannah of the Mounties
Movie • 1939
Pat O'Hannegan
None But the Brave
Movie • 1928
John Craig
Whispering Smith
Movie • 1948
Bill Baggs
The Lone Ranger Rides Again
Movie • 1939
Craig Dolan
Belle Starr's Daughter
Movie • 1948
Doc Benson
There Goes My Heart
Movie • 1938
Officer
My Dear Miss Aldrich
Movie • 1937
'Doc' Howe
Week-End Marriage
Movie • 1932
Mr. Davis
County Fair
Movie • 1937
Calvin Williams
Greenwich Village
Movie • 1944
O'Shea, policeman
Maybe It's Love
Movie • 1935
The Cop
The Young Rajah
Movie • 1922
Amhad Beg - Prime Minister
Northern Frontier
Movie • 1935
Inspector
East Side of Heaven
Movie • 1939
Doorman (uncredited)
They Shall Have Music
Movie • 1939
Police Chief (uncredited)
Sitting Pretty
Movie • 1948
Cop (uncredited)
Coast Guard
Movie • 1939
Capt. Hansen (uncredited)
Square Shooter
Movie • 1935
Sheriff
The Housekeeper's Daughter
Movie • 1939
Captain
Under Secret Orders
Movie • 1933
John Burke
Western Luck
Movie • 1924
'Chuck' Campbell
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line
Movie • 1997
Self (archive footage)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Movie • 1945
Mr. Carney The Junkman (uncredited)
Star of Midnight
Movie • 1935
Inspector Doremus
The Iron Master
Movie • 1933
J.C. Stillman
Stagecoach War
Movie • 1940
Jeff Chapman
Christmas Eve
Movie • 1947
Policeman (uncredited)
Those Who Dare
Movie • 1924
When Willie Comes Marching Home
Movie • 1950
Gilby - Pharmacist (uncredited)
Untamed
Movie • 1940
Dr. Billar
Bringing Up Father
Movie • 1928
Jiggs
My Old Kentucky Home
Movie • 1938
Mayor Jim Hopkins
Maid of Salem
Movie • 1937
Captain of Ship
The Great Lie
Movie • 1941
Dr. Ferguson
The Scarlet Letter
Movie • 1911
The Calling of Louis Mona
Movie • 1913
Front Page Woman
Movie • 1935
Hallohan
The Daltons' Women
Movie • 1950
Alvin
The Game That Kills
Movie • 1937
Joe Holland
Me and My Gal
Movie • 1932
Pop Riley
The Last Express
Movie • 1938
William Barton (Detective Agency Head)
Numbered Woman
Movie • 1938
Capt. Mike Ryan
The Gentleman from Arizona
Movie • 1939
Wild Bill Coburn
Little Orphan Annie
Movie • 1938
'Pop' Corrigan
South Sea Rose
Movie • 1929
Hackett
Law of the Timber
Movie • 1941
Adams
Tiger Fangs
Movie • 1943
Geoffrey MacCardle
The Light of Western Stars
Movie • 1940
Bill Stillwell
Once to Every Woman
Movie • 1934
Flannigan
Dark Command
Movie • 1940
Dave
The Irish in Us
Movie • 1935
Capt. Jackson
Trailin'
Movie • 1921
Joseph Piotto
Texas Masquerade
Movie • 1944
John Martindale
Fallen Angel
Movie • 1945
Bank Guard (uncredited)
Here Comes the Groom
Movie • 1951
Husband on Airplane (uncredited)
Slim
Movie • 1937
Pop
The Dream
Movie • 1911
Secondary Role (uncredited)
If You Knew Susie
Movie • 1948
Police Sergeant (uncredited)
The Arizonian
Movie • 1935
Marshal Andy Jordan
The Brat
Movie • 1931
Timson, the butler
Knights of the Range
Movie • 1940
Cappy
While Paris Sleeps
Movie • 1923
Pony Express Days
Movie • 1940
Nevada Jim
Happy Days
Movie • 1929
Train Conductor
Friendly Neighbors
Movie • 1940
Sheiff Potts
Goodbye, Weeds
Movie • 1946
Gardener
Meet John Doe
Movie • 1941
'Sourpuss'
Roped
Movie • 1919
Butler
The Dixie Merchant
Movie • 1926
Jean Paul Fippany
Too Young to Marry
Movie • 1931
Rev. Stump
Web of Danger
Movie • 1947
Scotty MacKronish - Bus Driver
Masked Emotions
Movie • 1929
Will Whitten
Madame Racketeer
Movie • 1932
John Adams
Wild Bill Hickok Rides
Movie • 1942
Henry Hathaway
The Fighting Heart
Movie • 1925
Jerry
Strong Boy
Movie • 1929
Angus McGregor
Thank You
Movie • 1925
Andy
A Fight For Love
Movie • 1919
The Priest
Riders of Vengeance
Movie • 1919
Buell
The Dalton Gang
Movie • 1949
Judge Price
A Sporting Chance
Movie • 1919
Luther Ripley aka Kennedy
Song o' My Heart
Movie • 1930
Rafferty
The Hurricane Express
Movie • 1932
Jim Baker
The Lighthouse Keeper
Movie • 1911
The Lighthouse Keeper
Rags
Movie • 1915
Paul Ferguson (as Joseph Farrell MacDonald)
'Tween Two Loves
Movie • 1911
Farmer Howard
A Timely Repentance
Movie • 1912
Louis Nordell
Florida Special
Movie • 1936
Harrigan
Roaring Timber
Movie • 1937
Andrew MacKinley
The Lucky Horseshoe
Movie • 1925
Mack
The Girl of the Golden West
Movie • 1930
Sonora Slim
The Ghost Breaker
Movie • 1922
Sam Marcum
The Crosby Case
Movie • 1934
The Doorman--Mike Costello
Dakota Lil
Movie • 1950
Ellis
How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 9: 'The Driver'
Movie • 1931
How to Break 90 #6: Fine Points
Movie • 1933
Himself
Parnell
Movie • 1937
Irish Laborer (uncredited)
Marked Men
Movie • 1919
Tom Placer McGraw
The Painted Angel
Movie • 1929
Pa Hudler
The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
Movie • 1932
Police Sgt. J.B. Antrim (uncredited)
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Movie • 1919
Woman Hungry
Movie • 1931
Buzzard
Fighting Youth
Movie • 1935
Coach Parker
70,000 Witnesses
Movie • 1932
State Coach
The McGuerins from Brooklyn
Movie • 1942
Cop
Courage of the West
Movie • 1937
Buck Saunders
Action
Movie • 1921
Mormon Peters
Circumstantial Evidence
Movie • 1945
Jury Foreman
True to Life
Movie • 1943
Man (uncredited)
Joe Palooka, Champ
Movie • 1946
Long-Count Bowman
State Police
Movie • 1938
Charlie Wheeler
The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris
Movie • 1928
Patrick Kelly
Abie's Irish Rose
Movie • 1928
Patrick Murphy
The Family Upstairs
Movie • 1926
Joe Heller
Stranger in Town
Movie • 1931
Scout
Hangover Square
Movie • 1945
Street Vendor (uncredited)
Show Boat
Movie • 1936
Windy MacLaine
The Spirit of Notre Dame
Movie • 1931
The Coach
Broadway Limited
Movie • 1941
Mulcahey
The Bonded Woman
Movie • 1922
Captain Gaskell
Hitchin' Posts
Movie • 1920
Joe Alabam (as J. Farrell McDonald)
Prairie Law
Movie • 1940
Sheriff Jim Austin
In Old Arizona
Movie • 1928
Stage Passenger (uncredited)
Extortion
Movie • 1938
Coach Pearson
Touchdown!
Movie • 1931
Pop Stewart
Mickey the Kid
Movie • 1939
Sheriff J.J. Willoughby
The Great Barrier
Movie • 1937
Major Rogers
Shep Comes Home
Movie • 1948
Sheriff Cap Weatherby
Pillow of Death
Movie • 1945
The Great Moment
Movie • 1944
The Priest
The Path She Chose
Movie • 1920
Father
Trouble Preferred
Movie • 1948
Apartment House Manager (uncredited)
The Country Beyond
Movie • 1926
Sgt. Cassidy
The Age of Desire
Movie • 1923
Dan Reagan
Parnell
Movie • 1937
Irish Laborer
The Time-Lock Safe
Movie • 1910
Office Worker
The Bachelor Daddy
Movie • 1922
Joe Pelton
This Hero Stuff
Movie • 1919
Softnose Smith
Fair Enough
Movie • 1918
Chief of Police Morgan
The Last Frontier
Movie • 1926
Wild Bill Hickok
Gerald Cranston's Lady
Movie • 1924
Rennie
Tracks
Movie • 1922
Jack Bess
Fashionable Fakers
Movie • 1923
Pat O'Donnell
The Storm Daughter
Movie • 1924
Con Mullaney
Molly of the Follies
Movie • 1919
Swannick
Trixie from Broadway
Movie • 1919
Slim Hayes