
Ned Sparks
Actor · 1883 – 1957 · Guelph, Ontario, Canada
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
Movies24
Movie6.9ComedyDramaBroadway director Julian Marsh needs just one more hit show so he can retire and recover his health. It looks like he just may pull it off until temperamental star Dorthy Brock breaks her ankle on the eve of the show's premiere and has to be replaced by her understudy Peggy.
42nd Street
1933 · 224 votes
Movie7.1ComedyDramaApple Annie is an aging New York City fruit seller whose daughter Louise has been raised in a Spanish convent since she was an infant. As she grows up, Louise is led to believe that her mother is a society matron called Mrs. E. Worthington Manville. Annie worries that her lie is in danger of being uncovered when she learns that Louise is sailing to New York with her new fiancé and his nobleman father.
Lady for a Day
1933 · 98 votes
Movie7.2ComedyDramaWhen all Broadway shows are shut down during the Depression, a trio of desperate showgirls scheme to bilk a repugnant high society man of his money to keep their show going.
Gold Diggers of 1933
1933 · 182 votes
Movie6.1FamilyFantasyIn Victorian England, a bored young girl dreams that she has entered a fantasy world called Wonderland, populated by even more fantastic characters.
Alice in Wonderland
1933 · 66 votes
Movie6.7ComedyRomanceRip Smith's opinion-poll business is a failure...until he discovers that the small town of Grandview is statistically identical to the entire country. He and his assistants go there to run polls cheaply and easily, in total secrecy (it would be fatal to let the townsfolk get self-conscious). And of course, civic crusader Mary Peterman must be kept from changing things too much. But romantic involvement with Mary complicates life for Rip; then suddenly everything changes.
Magic Town
1947 · 35 votes
Movie7.0DramaRomanceA struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter. The two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.
Imitation of Life
1934 · 88 votes
Movie6.7ComedyDramaManaging Editor Brad Bradshaw refuses to run a story linking the disappearance of Frank Canfield with embezzlement of the bank. He considers Frank a straight shooter and he goes easy on the story. Every other paper goes with the story that Frank took the money and Brad is demoted, by the publisher, to the Heartthrob column - writing advice to the lovelorn. After feeling sorry for himself for two months, he takes the column seriously and makes it the talk of the town. But Brad still wants his old job back so he will have to find Canfield and the missing money.
Hi, Nellie!
1934 · 11 votes
Movie5.3DramaA former All-American football star, now working as a steel mill supervisor in New Jersey, falls in love with the mill owner's wealthy, very spoiled daughter.
Kept Husbands
1931 · 27 votes
Movie6.3ComedyRomanceA young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of theatre and film appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance.
Stage Door Canteen
1943 · 20 votes
Movie6.2MusicSatire on radio, built around the supposed feud between bandleader Ben Bernie and journalist Walter Winchell.
Wake Up and Live
1937 · 5 votes
Movie5.4ComedyRomanceCarolyn Martin is a fashion model who hastily marries her boyfriend, engineer Michael Martin. But part of the marriage arrangement requires that Carolyn quit her $50-per-week modeling job to be a full-time housewife; the couple will instead live on Michael’s $35-per-week job.
The Bride Walks Out
1936 · 15 votes
Movie5.7CrimeMysteryA beautiful showgirl, name "the Canary" is a scheming nightclub singer. Blackmailing is her game and with that she ends up dead. But who killed "the Canary". All the suspects knew and were used by her and everyone had a motive to see her dead. The only witness to the crime has also been 'rubbed out'. Only one man, the keen, fascinating, debonair detective Philo Vance, would be able to figure out who is the killer.
The Canary Murder Case
1929 · 28 votes
Movie7.0ComedyMusicA Broadway playboy inherits an almost bankrupt girls' school and tries to save it by a big show.
Collegiate
1935 · 1 votes
Movie5.2DramaWesternIn the 1860s, Mary Marlowe defies her father's wishes to marry a British lord and runs away with clerk John Carlton as he heads West to make his fortune. Mary and John endure the difficult journey and settle into a small cabin, then face the hostilities of a cattle rustling gang, as well as the tragic loss of their only son. With Mary's help, John defeats the gang, which propels him to political power that, over the years, gradually erodes the once-happy marriage.
Secrets
1933 · 14 votes
Movie7.0ComedyMusicAmerican theatrical manager discovers Greta Muller preparing for the Olympics in Switzerland and brings her to Madison Square Garden.
One in a Million
1937 · 8 votes
Movie6.5RomanceComedyLeft only with their yacht after going broke in the Great Depression, a high-society family sets sail for the South Seas. Screwball comedy, with songs.
Down to Their Last Yacht
1934 · 8 votes
Movie6.3ComedyCrimeJohnny Quinlan is so desperate for a job that he takes a gig as a "bag man" for the mob. Meanwhile, his beleaguered wife has to deal with her bizarre, unemployed, wise-cracking brother and various neighbors while keeping house in their Brooklyn tenement.
The Fall Guy
1930 · 3 votes
Movie7.0ComedyMusicThis is a film about the life of Gus Edwards, a well known vaudeville composer, entertainer, and producer.
The Star Maker
1939 · 1 votes
Movie6.8MusicRomanceA midwest band leader and his lead singer share a love-hate relationship as they try for success in New York.
Sweet Music
1935 · 4 votes
Movie7.0Comedy"Private Scandal" is a 1934 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by Ralph Murphy and written by Vera Caspary, Garrett Fort and Bruce Manning. The film stars ZaSu Pitts, Phillips Holmes, Mary Brian, Ned Sparks, Lew Cody, June Brewster, and Harold Waldridge. The film was released on May 11, 1934 by Paramount Pictures.
Private Scandal
1934 · 1 votes
Movie4.4AdventureA stock market broker plans to liven up his boring life by taking up piracy on the high seas.
Corsair
1931 · 15 votes
Movie5.9ComedyDramaAn Indiana boy comes into an inheritance and moves to New York City, living it up with his girlfriend until he gets in over his head and someone gets killed.
Big City Blues
1932 · 14 votes
Movie6.0DramaAfter being nabbed while trying to stow away on board an ocean liner en route to Hawaii, young Bobby Breen sings for his travel fare and, along with sidekick Pua, turns detective to recover stolen naval documents from crooks
Hawaii Calls
1938 · 6 votes
Movie6.3DramaRomanceBeautiful manicurist Hallie Hobart sets her sights on handsome David Stone, the son of wealthy wheat farmer Ezra Stone. Professing to hate men, Hallie is only interested in luring David in for a lucrative business deal. David easily falls in love, but older brother Mark brands Hallie a gold-digger. To get even with the straight-laced Stone family, Hallie accepts David's marriage proposal.
The Devil's Holiday
1930 · 12 votes
Series1
TV6.7AnimationCourageous Cat and Minute Mouse is a children's cartoon television show that was produced by Trans-Artists Productions and syndicated by Tele Features Inc. in 1960. The characters were created by Bob Kane as a parody of his earlier works Batman and Robin and in many ways predict the more campy aspects of the later live action series. This series and characters are trademarked and copyrighted and is currently owned by Telefeatures, LLC.
Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse
1960 · 3 votes