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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
February 25, 1887
Died
March 3, 1966
Place of Birth
Burlington, Iowa, USA
Also Known As
- Bill Frawley
- William Clement Frawley
William Frawley
1.2 Popularity
Biography
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
10.0
Fred Mertz
I Love Lucy Christmas Special
2016
🎬
0.0
Self (archive footage)
Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy
2000
7.5
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
7.0
Trainer
The Lucy Show
1962
4.2
Bill Turner
Safe at Home!
1962
6.5
Bub O'Casey
My Three Sons
1960
5.8
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
8.6
Fred Mertz
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
1957
🎬
5.5
Jim Comstock
The Gale Storm Show
1956
6.5
Fred Mertz
Lucy's Really Lost Moments
1956
Credits
I Love Lucy Christmas Special
as Fred Mertz
2016
10.0
🎬
Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy
as Self (archive footage)
2000
0.0
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self
1962
7.5
The Lucy Show
as Trainer
1962
7.0
Safe at Home!
as Bill Turner
1962
4.2
My Three Sons
as Bub O'Casey
1960
6.5
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
5.8
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
as Fred Mertz
1957
8.6
🎬
The Gale Storm Show
as Jim Comstock
1956
5.5
Lucy's Really Lost Moments
as Fred Mertz
1956
6.5
The Dirty Look
1954
5.0
Letter to Loretta
as Sam
1953
6.5
I Love Lucy: The Movie
as Fred Mertz
1953
7.4
This Is Your Life
as Self
1952
6.4
Rancho Notorious
as Baldy Gunder
1952
6.5
I Love Lucy
as Fred Mertz
1951
7.9
Rhubarb
as Len Sickles
1951
5.3
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man
as Det. Roberts
1951
6.3
The Lemon Drop Kid
as Gloomy Willie
1951
6.5
Pretty Baby
as Corcoran
1950
6.0
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
as Byers
1950
6.8
Kill the Umpire
as Jimmy O'Brien
1950
6.3
The Bob Hope Show
as Self
1950
7.0
Blondie's Hero
as Marty Greer
1950
6.3
East Side, West Side
as Bill the Bartender
1949
6.9
The Lady Takes a Sailor
as Oliver Harker
1949
4.3
🎬
The Ed Wynn Show
as Self
1949
7.0
Red Light
as Hotel Night Clerk
1949
5.8
The Lone Wolf and His Lady
as Inspector Crane
1949
5.0
Home in San Antone
as O'Fleery
1949
0.0
Chicken Every Sunday
as George Kirby
1949
6.0
The Girl from Manhattan
as Mr. Bernouti
1948
5.0
Joe Palooka in Winner Take All
as Knobby Walsh
1948
6.0
The Babe Ruth Story
as Jack Dunn
1948
5.8
Good Sam
as Tom
1948
6.0
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
as Agent
1948
5.3
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self
1948
6.8
My Wild Irish Rose
as William Scanlon
1947
6.0
Blondie's Anniversary
as Sharkey the Loen Shark
1947
5.6
Monsieur Verdoux
as Jean La Salle
1947
7.7
Down to Earth
as Police Lieutenant
1947
5.9
Mother Wore Tights
as Mr. Schneider
1947
5.3
I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now
as Jim Mason
1947
5.0
Miracle on 34th Street
as Charlie Halloran
1947
7.4
Crime Doctor's Man Hunt
as Police Inspector Harry B. Manning
1946
5.8
The Inner Circle
as Det. Lt. Webb
1946
5.2
Rendezvous with Annie
as General Trent
1946
6.0
The Virginian
as Honey Wiggen
1946
6.0
Ziegfeld Follies
as Martin (segment "A Sweepstakes Ticket")
1945
6.0
Lady on a Train
as Desk Sgt. Brennan
1945
6.6
Hitchhike to Happiness
as Sandy Hill
1945
5.0
Flame of Barbary Coast
as Wolf Wylie
1945
5.3
Lake Placid Serenade
as Jiggers
1944
0.0
The Fighting Seabees
as Eddie Powers
1944
6.2
Going My Way
as Max Dolan, Publisher (uncredited)
1944
6.7
Whistling in Brooklyn
as Detective Ramsey
1943
6.3
Larceny with Music
as Mike Simms
1943
4.0
We've Never Been Licked
as Traveling Salesman
1943
0.0
Gentleman Jim
as Billy Delaney
1942
7.1
The Yankee Doodler
1942
5.0
Moonlight in Havana
as Barney Crane
1942
0.0
Wildcat
as Oliver Westbrook
1942
3.5
Give Out, Sisters
as Harrison
1942
5.0
It Happened in Flatbush
as Sam Sloan
1942
4.8
Roxie Hart
as O'Malley
1942
6.9
🎬
Treat 'Em Rough
as 'Hotfoot'
1942
6.0
🎬
Gangs Of The City
as Bang
1941
0.0
Blondie in Society
as Waldo Pincus
1941
7.4
The Bride Came C.O.D.
as Sheriff McGee
1941
6.9
Cracked Nuts
as James Mitchell
1941
0.0
Footsteps in the Dark
as Det. 'Hoppy' Hopkins
1941
6.9
Six Lessons From Madame La Zonga
as Chauncey Beheegan
1941
5.0
One Night in the Tropics
as Roscoe
1940
5.6
Sandy Gets Her Man
as Police Chief J. A. O'Hara
1940
4.0
Dancing on a Dime
as Mac
1940
4.5
The Quarterback
as Coach
1940
0.0
Rhythm on the River
as Mr. Westlake
1940
6.8
Golden Gloves
as Emory Balzar
1940
5.0
Untamed
as Les Woodbury
1940
4.2
Those Were the Days!
as Prisoner
1940
0.0
Opened by Mistake
as Matt Kingsley
1940
0.0
The Farmer's Daughter
as Scoop Trimble
1940
4.6
Stop, Look and Love
as Joe Haller
1939
5.0
Night Work
as Bruiser Brown
1939
7.0
Grand Jury Secrets
as Bright Eyes
1939
0.0
Ex-Champ
as Mushy Harrington
1939
6.0
Rose of Washington Square
as Harry Long
1939
5.8
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
as The 'Duke'
1939
6.6
Persons in Hiding
as Alec Inglis
1939
2.7
St. Louis Blues
as Major Martingale
1939
6.0
Ambush
as Inspector J.L. Weber
1939
5.0
Sons of the Legion
as Uncle Willie Lee
1938
5.0
🎬
Touchdown, Army
as Jack Heffernan
1938
0.0
Professor Beware
as Snoop Donlan
1938
6.1
Mad About Music
as Dusty Turner
1938
6.9
Blossoms On Broadway
as Francis X. Rush
1937
3.7
Something to Sing About
as Hank Mayers
1937
6.1
Double or Nothing
as John Pederson
1937
6.6
High, Wide and Handsome
as Mac
1937
6.3
Rose Bowl
as 'Soapy' Moreland
1936
6.0
The General Died at Dawn
as Brighton
1936
6.3
Three Married Men
as Bill Mullins
1936
0.0
The Princess Comes Across
as Benton
1936
6.1
F-Man
as Detective Rogan
1936
0.0
Desire
as Mr. Gibson
1936
6.9
Strike Me Pink
as Mr. Copple
1936
6.6
🎬
Beautiful Dreamer
1935
0.0
Ship Cafe
as Briney O'Brien
1935
0.0
Harmony Lane
as Edwin P. 'Ed' Christy
1935
3.4
It's a Great Life
as Lt. McNulty
1935
0.0
Welcome Home
as Painless
1935
0.0
College Scandal
as Chief of Police Magoun
1935
5.2
Alibi Ike
as Cap
1935
5.8
Hold 'Em Yale
as Sunshine Joe
1935
7.0
Roberta
as Bartender (uncredited)
1935
7.0
Car 99
as Training Sgt. Barrel
1935
5.0
Here Is My Heart
as James Smith
1934
6.8
The Lemon Drop Kid
as William Dunhill aka The Professor
1934
5.0
Shoot the Works
as Larry Hale
1934
5.5
The Witching Hour
as Jury Foreman
1934
5.3
The Crime Doctor
as Fraser
1934
2.7
Bolero
as Mike DeBaere
1934
6.3
Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen
as Captain Murphy
1934
5.0
🎬
Hell and High Water
as Milton J. Bunsey
1933
0.0
Moonlight and Pretzels
as Mac
1933
0.0
🎬
Ventriloquist
as 'Hoak' salesman
1927
0.0
Should Husbands Be Watched?
as Beat Cop
1925
6.0