Joseph Cawthorn
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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.
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Movies (53)
The Postman Didn't Ring
1942 · Silas Harwood
So Ends Our Night
1941 · Leopold Potzloch
Scatterbrain
1940 · Nicholas Raptis
Lillian Russell
1940 · Leopold Damrosch
Crime Over London
1936 · Mr. Sherwood / Reilly
Hot Money
1936 · Max Dourfuss
One Rainy Afternoon
1936 · Monique's Father
Brides Are Like That
1936 · Fred Schultz
The Great Ziegfeld
1936 · Dr. Ziegfeld
Freshman Love
1936 · Wilson, Sr.
Beautiful Dreamer
1935
Harmony Lane
1935 · Professor Henry Kleber
Page Miss Glory
1935 · Mr. Freischutz
Bright Lights
1935 · Oscar Schlemmer
Smart Girl
1935 · Karl Krausemeyer
Naughty Marietta
1935 · Herr 'Schumie' Schuman
Gold Diggers of 1935
1935 · August Schultz
Sweet Music
1935 · Sidney Selzer
Maybe It's Love
1935 · Adolph Sr.
Sweet Adeline
1934 · Oscar Schmidt
Music in the Air
1934 · Hans Uppman
Young and Beautiful
1934 · Herman Cline
The Human Side
1934 · Fritz Speigal
Housewife
1934 · Krueger (as Joe Cawthorne)
Twenty Million Sweethearts
1934 · Herbert Brokman
The Last Gentleman
1934 · Dr. Wilson
Lazy River
1934 · Mr. Julius Ambrose
Broken Dreams
1933 · Pop
Best of Enemies
1933 · Gus Schneider
Made on Broadway
1933 · Maxie Schultz
Blondie Johnson
1933 · Jewelry Store Manager (as Joe Cawthorn)
Grand Slam
1933 · Alex Alexandrovitch
Whistling in the Dark
1933 · Barfuss
Men Are Such Fools
1932 · Werner (as Joseph Cawthorne)
They Call It Sin
1932 · Mr. Hollister
Love Me Tonight
1932 · Dr. Armand de Fontinac
White Zombie
1932 · Dr. Bruner
Peach-o-Reno
1931 · Joe Bruno
The Runaround
1931 · Lou
A Tailor-Made Man
1931 · Huber
Kiki
1931 · Alfred Rapp
The Princess and the Plumber
1930 · Merkl
Dixiana
1930 · Cornelius Van Horn, Carl's Father
Dance Hall
1929 · Bremmer
Jazz Heaven
1929 · Herman Kemple
The Taming of the Shrew
1929 · Gremio
Street Girl
1929 · Keppel - Cafe Owner
Speakeasy
1929 · Yokel
Hold 'Em Yale
1928 · Professor George Bradbury
Silk Legs
1927 · Ezra Fulton
Very Confidential
1927 · Donald Allen
Two Girls Wanted
1927 · Philip Hancock
The Secret Studio
1927 · Pa Merton
TV shows (0)
No credits available.