Ned Sparks

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ned Sparks (born Edward Arthur Sparkman, November 19, 1883 – April 3, 1957) was a Canadian-born character actor of the American stage and screen. Sparks was known for his deadpan expression and deep, gravelly voice. Born in Guelph, Ontario, Sparks left home at age 16 and attempted to work as a gold prospector on the Klondike Gold Rush. After running out of money, he won a spot as a singer on a traveling musical company's tour. At age 19, he returned to Canada and briefly attended a Toronto seminary. After leaving the seminary, he worked for the railroad and worked in theater in Toronto. In 1907, he left Toronto for New York City to try his hand in the Broadway theatre, where he appeared in his first show in 1912. While working on Broadway, Sparks developed his trademark deadpan expression while portraying the role of a desk clerk in the play Little Miss Brown. His success on the stage soon caught the attention of MGM's Louis B. Mayer who signed Sparks to a six picture deal. Sparks began appearing in numerous silent films before finally making his "talkie" debut in the 1928 film The Big Noise. In the 1930s, Sparks became known for portraying dour-faced, sarcastic, cigar-chomping characters. He became so associated with the type that, in 1936, The New York Times reported that Sparks had his face insured for USD$100,000 with Lloyd's of London. The market agreed to pay the sum to any photographer who could capture Sparks smiling (Sparks later admitted that the story was a publicity stunt and he was only insured for $10,000). Sparks was also caricatured in cartoons including the Jack-in-the-Box character in the Disney short Broken Toys (1935), and the jester in Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938), a hermit crab in both Tex Avery's Fresh Fish (1939) and Bob Clampett's Goofy Groceries (1941), a chicken in Bob Clampett's Slap Happy Pappy (1940), Friz Freleng's Warner Bros. cartoon Malibu Beach Party (1940), and Tex Avery's Hollywood Steps Out (1940). Sparks also voiced the cartoon characters Heckle and Jeckle from 1947 to 1951. Sparks appeared in ten stage productions on Broadway and over 80 films. He retired from films in 1947, saying that everyone should retire at 65

Known For: Acting

Born: Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 1883-11-18

Died: 1957-04-03

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1915	The Little Miss Brown	Night Clerk	0
2	1919	A Temperamental Wife	The Hotel Clerk	50
3	1920	Nothing But the Truth	The Monocle Man	0
4	1920	In Search of a Sinner	Waiter	0
5	1920	The Perfect Woman	Grimes, the Anarchist	0
6	1920	Good References	Peter Stearns	55
7	1923	The Bond Boy	Cyrus Morgan	0
8	1924	The Law Forbids	Clyde Vernon	0
9	1925	The Boomerang	Bert Hanks	0
10	1925	His Supreme Moment	Adrian	0
11	1925	Faint Perfume	Orrin Crumb	0
12	1925	Seven Keys to Baldpate		0
13	1925	Bright Lights	Barney Gallagher	0
14	1925	The Only Thing	Gibson	20
15	1926	Mike	Slinky	0
16	1926	Money Talks	Lucius Fenton	0
17	1926	The Hidden Way	Mulligan	0
18	1926	When the Wife's Away		0
19	1926	Twinkletoes		67
20	1926	Love's Blindness	Valet	0
21	1927	Alias The Deacon	Slim Sullivan	0
22	1927	Alias the Lone Wolf	Phinuit	0
23	1927	The Small Bachelor	J. Hamilton Beamish	0
24	1928	The Big Noise	William Howard	0
25	1928	The Magnificent Flirt	Tim	0
26	1929	The Canary Murder Case	Tony Skeel	56
27	1929	Strange Cargo	Yacht First Mate	60
28	1929	Nothing But the Truth	Clarence van Dyke	46
29	1929	Street Girl	Happy Winter	59
30	1930	Love Comes Along	Happy	50
31	1930	Double Cross Roads	Happy Max	0
32	1930	The Devil's Holiday	Charlie Thorne	63
33	1930	The Fall Guy	Danny Walsh	55
34	1930	Conspiracy	Winthrop 'Little Nemo' Clavering	48
35	1930	Leathernecking	Sparks	0
36	1931	Kept Husbands	Hughie Hanready	53
37	1931	Iron Man	Riley	56
38	1931	The Secret Call	Bert Benedict	0
39	1931	Corsair	Slim	44
40	1931	The Wide Open Spaces	Sheriff Jack Rancid	0
41	1932	Big Dame Hunting	Ned	0
42	1932	The Miracle Man	Harry Evans	57
43	1932	Blessed Event	George Moxley	65
44	1932	Big City Blues	Mr. 'Stacky' Stackhouse	53
45	1932	The Crusader	Eddie Crane	63
46	1933	42nd Street	Barry	69
47	1933	Secrets	Sunshine	51
48	1933	Gold Diggers of 1933	Barney	72
49	1933	Lady for a Day	Happy McGuire	70
50	1933	Too Much Harmony	Lem Spawn	50
51	1933	Alice in Wonderland	Caterpillar	60
52	1933	Going Hollywood	Conroy	55
53	1934	Hi, Nellie!	Shammy	65
54	1934	Sing and Like It	Toots McGuire	40
55	1934	Private Scandal	Inspector Riordan	0
56	1934	Down to Their Last Yacht	Captain 'Sunny Jim' Roberts	60
57	1934	Servants' Entrance	Hjalmar Gnu	0
58	1934	Marie Galante	Plosser	44
59	1934	Imitation of Life	Elmer Smith	70
60	1934	Sweet Adeline	Dan Herzig	57
61	1935	Sweet Music	'Ten Percent' Nelson	57
62	1935	George White's 1935 Scandals	Elmer	40
63	1936	Collegiate	'Scoop' Oakland	0
64	1936	The Bride Walks Out	Paul Dodson	53
65	1936	Two's Company	Al	0
66	1937	One in a Million	Danny Simpson	70
67	1937	Wake Up and Live	Steve Cluskey	53
68	1937	This Way Please	Inky Wells	55
69	1938	Hawaii Calls	Strings	54
70	1939	The Star Maker	'Speed' King	0
71	1941	For Beauty's Sake	Jonathan B. Sweet	0
72	1943	Stage Door Canteen	Ned Sparks	58
73	1947	Magic Town	Ike	67
74	2006	Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound	Self (archive footage)	49

No.

Year

Title

Role

Vote Average

1915