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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
November 18, 1883
Died
April 3, 1957
Place of Birth
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Also Known As
- Edward Arthur Sparkman
- Ned A. Sparks
Ned Sparks
0.3 Popularity
Biography
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
4.9
Self (archive footage)
Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound
2006
6.0
Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse
1960
6.7
Ike
Magic Town
1947
6.1
Ned Sparks
Stage Door Canteen
1943
0.0
Jonathan B. Sweet
For Beauty's Sake
1941
0.0
'Speed' King
The Star Maker
1939
5.4
Strings
Hawaii Calls
1938
5.5
Inky Wells
This Way Please
1937
5.3
Steve Cluskey
Wake Up and Live
1937
6.8
Danny Simpson
One in a Million
1937
Credits
Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound
as Self (archive footage)
2006
4.9
Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse
1960
6.0
Magic Town
as Ike
1947
6.7
Stage Door Canteen
as Ned Sparks
1943
6.1
For Beauty's Sake
as Jonathan B. Sweet
1941
0.0
The Star Maker
as 'Speed' King
1939
0.0
Hawaii Calls
as Strings
1938
5.4
This Way Please
as Inky Wells
1937
5.5
Wake Up and Live
as Steve Cluskey
1937
5.3
One in a Million
as Danny Simpson
1937
6.8
Two's Company
as Al
1936
0.0
The Bride Walks Out
as Paul Dodson
1936
5.1
Collegiate
as 'Scoop' Oakland
1936
0.0
George White's 1935 Scandals
as Elmer
1935
4.0
Sweet Music
as 'Ten Percent' Nelson
1935
5.7
Sweet Adeline
as Dan Herzig
1934
5.7
Imitation of Life
as Elmer Smith
1934
7.0
Marie Galante
as Plosser
1934
4.6
Servants' Entrance
as Hjalmar Gnu
1934
0.0
Down to Their Last Yacht
as Captain 'Sunny Jim' Roberts
1934
6.0
Private Scandal
as Inspector Riordan
1934
0.0
Sing and Like It
as Toots McGuire
1934
4.0
Hi, Nellie!
as Shammy
1934
6.5
Going Hollywood
as Conroy
1933
5.3
Alice in Wonderland
as Caterpillar
1933
6.1
Too Much Harmony
as Lem Spawn
1933
5.0
Lady for a Day
as Happy McGuire
1933
7.1
Gold Diggers of 1933
as Barney
1933
7.2
Secrets
as Sunshine
1933
4.8
42nd Street
as Barry
1933
6.9
🎬
The Crusader
as Eddie Crane
1932
6.3
Big City Blues
as Mr. 'Stacky' Stackhouse
1932
5.3
Blessed Event
as George Moxley
1932
6.5
The Miracle Man
as Harry Evans
1932
5.7
🎬
Big Dame Hunting
as Ned
1932
0.0
The Wide Open Spaces
as Sheriff Jack Rancid
1931
0.0
Corsair
as Slim
1931
4.2
The Secret Call
as Bert Benedict
1931
7.0
Iron Man
as Riley
1931
5.4
Kept Husbands
as Hughie Hanready
1931
5.3
Leathernecking
as Sparks
1930
0.0
Conspiracy
as Winthrop 'Little Nemo' Clavering
1930
4.8
The Fall Guy
as Danny Walsh
1930
5.5
The Devil's Holiday
as Charlie Thorne
1930
6.3
Double Cross Roads
as Happy Max
1930
0.0
Love Comes Along
as Happy
1930
5.0
Street Girl
as Happy Winter
1929
5.8
Nothing But the Truth
as Clarence van Dyke
1929
4.6
Strange Cargo
as Yacht First Mate
1929
6.0
The Canary Murder Case
as Tony Skeel
1929
5.7
The Magnificent Flirt
as Tim
1928
0.0
The Big Noise
as William Howard
1928
0.0
The Small Bachelor
as J. Hamilton Beamish
1927
0.0
Alias the Lone Wolf
as Phinuit
1927
0.0
Alias The Deacon
as Slim Sullivan
1927
0.0
Love's Blindness
as Valet
1926
0.0
Twinkletoes
1926
6.7
🎬
When the Wife's Away
1926
0.0
The Hidden Way
as Mulligan
1926
0.0
The Auction Block
as Nat Saluson
1926
0.0
Money Talks
as Lucius Fenton
1926
0.0
🎬
Mike
as Slinky
1926
0.0
The Only Thing
as Gibson
1925
2.0
Bright Lights
as Barney Gallagher
1925
0.0
Seven Keys to Baldpate
1925
0.0
Faint Perfume
as Orrin Crumb
1925
0.0
Soul Mates
as Tancred's chauffeur
1925
0.0
His Supreme Moment
as Adrian
1925
0.0
The Boomerang
as Bert Hanks
1925
0.0
The Law Forbids
as Clyde Vernon
1924
0.0
The Bond Boy
as Cyrus Morgan
1923
0.0
Good References
as Peter Stearns
1920
5.5
The Perfect Woman
as Grimes, the Anarchist
1920
0.0
In Search of a Sinner
as Waiter
1920
0.0
Nothing But the Truth
as The Monocle Man
1920
0.0
A Temperamental Wife
as The Hotel Clerk
1919
5.0
🎬
The Little Miss Brown
as Night Clerk
1915
0.0