William Frawley

William Frawley

William Frawley was born in Burlington, Iowa. As a boy he sang at St. Paul's Catholic Church and played at the Burlington Opera House. His first job was as a stenographer for the Union Pacific Railroad. He did vaudeville with his brother Paul, then joined pianist Franz Rath in an act they took to San Francisco in 1910. Four years later he formed a light comedy act with his new wife Edna Louise Broedt, "Frawley and Louise", touring the Orpheum and Keith circuits until they divorced in 1927. He next moved to Broadway and then, in 1932, to Hollywood with Paramount. By 1951, when he contacted Lucille Ball about a part in her TV show I Love Lucy (1951), he had performed in over 100 films. His Fred Mertz role lasted until the show ended in 1960, after which he did a five-year stint on My Three Sons (1960). Poor health forced his retirement. He collapsed of a heart attack on March 3, 1966, aged 79, walking along Hollywood Boulevard after seeing a movie. He is buried in San Fernando Mission Cemetery.

Known For: Acting

Born: Burlington, Iowa, USA, 1887-02-25

Died: 1966-03-03

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1925	Should Husbands Be Watched?	Beat Cop	60
2	1927	Ventriloquist	'Hoak' salesman	0
3	1933	Moonlight and Pretzels	Mac	0
4	1933	Hell and High Water	Milton J. Bunsey	0
5	1934	Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen	Captain Murphy	50
6	1934	Bolero	Mike DeBaere	63
7	1934	The Crime Doctor	Fraser	35
8	1934	The Witching Hour	Jury Foreman	53
9	1934	Shoot the Works	Larry Hale	50
10	1934	The Lemon Drop Kid	William Dunhill aka The Professor	50
11	1934	Here Is My Heart	James Smith	68
12	1935	Car 99	Training Sgt. Barrel	50
13	1935	Roberta	Bartender	70
14	1935	Hold 'Em Yale	Sunshine Joe	70
15	1935	Alibi Ike	Cap	58
16	1935	College Scandal	Chief of Police Magoun	52
17	1935	Welcome Home	Painless	0
18	1935	It's a Great Life	Lt. McNulty	0
19	1935	Harmony Lane	Edwin P. 'Ed' Christy	35
20	1935	Ship Cafe	Briney O'Brien	0
21	1935	Beautiful Dreamer		0
22	1936	Strike Me Pink	Mr. Copple	66
23	1936	Desire	Mr. Gibson	69
24	1936	F-Man	Detective Rogan	0
25	1936	The Princess Comes Across	Benton	61
26	1936	Three Married Men	Bill Mullins	0
27	1936	The General Died at Dawn	Brighton	62
28	1936	Rose Bowl	'Soapy' Moreland	60
29	1937	High, Wide and Handsome	Mac	63
30	1937	Double or Nothing	John Pederson	66
31	1937	Something to Sing About	Hank Mayers	59
32	1937	Blossoms On Broadway	Francis X. Rush	40
33	1938	Mad About Music	Dusty Turner	69
34	1938	Professor Beware	Snoop Donlan	61
35	1938	Touchdown, Army	Jack Heffernan	0
36	1938	Sons of the Legion	Uncle Willie Lee	50
37	1939	Ambush	Inspector J.L. Weber	50
38	1939	St. Louis Blues	Major Martingale	0
39	1939	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	The 'Duke'	65
40	1939	Persons in Hiding	Alec Inglis	35
41	1939	Rose of Washington Square	Harry Long	58
42	1939	Ex-Champ	Mushy Harrington	60
43	1939	Grand Jury Secrets	Bright Eyes	0
44	1939	Night Work	Bruiser Brown	70
45	1939	Stop, Look and Love	Joe Haller	50
46	1940	The Farmer's Daughter	Scoop Trimble	50
47	1940	Opened by Mistake	Matt Kingsley	0
48	1940	Those Were the Days!	Prisoner	0
49	1940	Untamed	Les Woodbury	43
50	1940	Golden Gloves	Emory Balzar	50
51	1940	Rhythm on the River	Mr. Westlake	60
52	1940	The Quarterback	Coach	0
53	1940	Dancing on a Dime	Mac	50
54	1940	Sandy Gets Her Man	Police Chief J. A. O'Hara	40
55	1940	One Night in the Tropics	Roscoe	56
56	1941	Six Lessons From Madame La Zonga	Chauncey Beheegan	50
57	1941	Footsteps in the Dark	Det. 'Hoppy' Hopkins	69
58	1941	Cracked Nuts	James Mitchell	0
59	1941	The Bride Came C.O.D.	Sheriff McGee	71
60	1941	Blondie in Society	Waldo Pincus	74
61	1941	Gangs Of The City	Bang	0
62	1942	Treat 'Em Rough	'Hotfoot'	60
63	1942	Roxie Hart	O'Malley	68
64	1942	It Happened in Flatbush	Sam Sloan	48
65	1942	Give Out, Sisters	Harrison	50
66	1942	Wildcat	Oliver Westbrook	35
67	1942	Moonlight in Havana	Barney Crane	0
68	1942	The Yankee Doodler		50
69	1942	Gentleman Jim	Billy Delaney	72
70	1943	We've Never Been Licked	Traveling Salesman	0
71	1943	Larceny with Music	Mike Simms	40
72	1943	Whistling in Brooklyn	Detective Ramsey	63
73	1944	Going My Way	Max Dolan, Publisher (uncredited)	67
74	1944	The Fighting Seabees	Eddie Powers	62
75	1944	Lake Placid Serenade	Jiggers	0
76	1945	Flame of Barbary Coast	Wolf Wylie	56
77	1945	Hitchhike to Happiness	Sandy Hill	50
78	1945	Lady on a Train	Desk Sgt. Brennan	66
79	1945	Ziegfeld Follies	Martin (segment "A Sweepstakes Ticket")	61
80	1946	The Virginian	Honey Wiggen	61
81	1946	Rendezvous with Annie	General Trent	60
82	1946	The Inner Circle	Det. Lt. Webb	52
83	1946	Crime Doctor's Man Hunt	Police Inspector Harry B. Manning	58
84	1947	Miracle on 34th Street	Charlie Halloran	74
85	1947	I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now	Jim Mason	50
86	1947	Mother Wore Tights	Mr. Schneider	53
87	1947	Down to Earth	Police Lieutenant	58
88	1947	Monsieur Verdoux	Jean La Salle	77
89	1947	Blondie's Anniversary	Sharkey the Loen Shark	56
90	1947	My Wild Irish Rose	William Scanlon	60
91	1948	Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven	Agent	53
92	1948	Good Sam	Tom	60
93	1948	The Babe Ruth Story	Jack Dunn	58
94	1948	Joe Palooka in Winner Take All	Knobby Walsh	60
95	1948	The Girl from Manhattan	Mr. Bernouti	50
96	1949	Chicken Every Sunday	George Kirby	60
97	1949	Home in San Antone	O'Fleery	0
98	1949	The Lone Wolf and His Lady	Inspector Crane	50
99	1949	Red Light	Hotel Night Clerk	58
100	1949	The Lady Takes a Sailor	Oliver Harker	43
101	1949	East Side, West Side	Bill the Bartender	70
102	1950	Blondie's Hero	Marty Greer	63
103	1950	Kill the Umpire	Jimmy O'Brien	63
104	1950	Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye	Byers	68
105	1950	Pretty Baby	Corcoran	60
106	1951	The Lemon Drop Kid	Gloomy Willie	65
107	1951	Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man	Det. Roberts	63
108	1951	Rhubarb	Len Sickles	55
109	1952	Rancho Notorious	Baldy Gunder	65
110	1953	I Love Lucy: The Movie	Fred Mertz	74
111	1954	The Dirty Look		50
112	1956	Lucy's Really Lost Moments	Fred Mertz	65
113	1962	Safe at Home!	Bill Turner	38
114	2000	Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy	Self (archive footage)	0
115	2016	I Love Lucy Christmas Special	Fred Mertz	100

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1948	The Ed Sullivan Show	Self	68
2	1949	The Ed Wynn Show	Self	70
3	1950	The Bob Hope Show	Self	70
4	1951	I Love Lucy	Fred Mertz	79
5	1952	This Is Your Life	Self	64
6	1953	Letter to Loretta	Sam	65
7	1956	The Gale Storm Show	Jim Comstock	55
8	1957	The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour	Fred Mertz	86
9	1958	Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse		58
10	1960	My Three Sons	Bub O'Casey	65
11	1962	The Lucy Show	Trainer	70
12	1962	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Self	75

William Frawley

Film

Television