Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 28, 1983) was an American actor, known especially for his roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and as Uncle Charley in the sitcom My Three Sons.[1] Demarest, who frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles, was a prolific film and television actor, appearing in over 140 films, beginning in 1926 and ending in the late 1970s. Before his career in movies, he performed in vaudeville for two decades.[2]
Early life
Carl William Demarest was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the youngest of three sons of Wilhelmina (née Lindgren) and Samuel Demarest.[3] During William's infancy, the family moved to New Bridge, a hamlet in Bergen County, New Jersey.[citation needed]
Demarest served in the U.S. Army during World War I.[4]
Career
Demarest started in show business working in vaudeville, performing initially in his youth with his two older brothers and later with his wife Estelle Collette (real name Esther Zichlin) as "Demarest and Colette".[2] He then moved to work on Broadway. Demarest, by 1926 also began working in films, often in productions directed by Preston Sturges and as a member of a troupe of actors whom Sturges repeatedly cast in his screen projects. He appeared in 10 films written by Sturges, eight of which were under his direction, including The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. Demarest was such a familiar figure at the Paramount studio that just his name was used in the movie Sunset Boulevard as a potential star for William Holden's unsold baseball screenplay.
Demarest was married twice. His first wife was his vaudeville partner Estelle Collette, born Esther Zichlin.[9][10] Demarest helped raise her daughter, author Phyllis Gordon Demarest, from her earlier marriage, in 1907, to English poet and novelist Samuel Gordon, who had divorced Zichlin before his death.[11] Demarest's second wife was Lucille Thayer, born Lucille Theurer, whom he married in Prescott, Arizona on August 31, 1942.[12] Thayer, who later became an activist on health issues in the motion picture industry, was, in October 1960, appointed California's lay-chairman of the American Nurses Association.[13]
Death
Demarest died at his home in Palm Springs, California on December 28, 1983,[2] and his body was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[14]
^ abcPareles, Jon (1983). "William Demarest, 91, Actor, Known for Roles in Comedies", obituary, The New York Times, December 29, 1983, p. D19. Retrieved via subscription to ProQuest Historical Newspapers (Ann Arbor, Michigan), August 27, 2022.
^"Minnesota, Birth and Death Records, 1866-1916," database, Carl William Demorest [sic], February 28, 1892; FHL microfilm 1,309,044, Public Health Center records, Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota. Retrieved via FamilySearch archives, Salt Lake City, Utah.
^Kaufman, Dave (1968). TV 69: Who's Who, What's What in the New TV Season (mass market paperback). New York: Signet. p. 129.
^"New Life Member". Vaudeville News. September 30, 1921. p. 8. Retrieved January 20, 2021 – via University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign University Library Digital Collections.
^"New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1938", subscribed online database, Carl William Demarest and Esther (née Zichlin) Gordon, February 5, 1923; records of Manhattan, New York accessed via FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, August 29, 2022.
^Jewish Chronicle of London, January 14, 1927, issue and June 14, 1907, issue. Obituary of her first husband Samuel Gordon (b. 1871 Buk, Bavaria, German Empire, m. June 12, 1907, Miss Esther Zichlin, "a violinist of great promise. There was one child of the marriage, a daughter.", d. 1927 in Wandsworth, London, England).
^Jewish Chronicle of London, April 3, 1908, issue.
^"Arizona, County Marriages, 1871-1964," database with images, Carl William Demarest and Lucille Theurer, 31 August 1942 in Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona; FHL microfilm record 004251853 in Arizona Department of Libraries, Archives, and Public Records, Phoenix. Original marriage documents accessed via FamilySearch, August 29, 2022.
