William Frawley Trailers
I Love Lucy Christmas Special TrailerLucille Ball: Finding Lucy TrailerSafe at Home! Trailer
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.
Most Popular William Frawley Trailers
Total trailers found: 115
30 November 1936
Paddy O'Riley and Ossie Merrill, Bellport high school football heroes, enroll in distant colleges; Paddy at a small school in the East, where he is barely a substitute, and Ossie at a powerhouse-football school, where he is an instant star and all-American candidate.
15 June 1935
Idiosyncratic new recruit Francis "Ike" Farrell tries to help the Cubs to the pennant with his pitching and hitting.
29 July 1938
Egyptologist, Dean Lambert, accused of car-theft, skips bail and begins a cross-country trek to join a group in New York headed for Egypt.
08 March 1941
A high-society gent has a secret life - he writes murder mysteries and hangs out with the police attempting to solve crimes.
19 September 1948
Joe is scheduled for the big fight as usual. This one has more fight sequences than plot.
22 October 1935
The life and loves of composer Stephen Foster, from his early success through his decline, degradation, and death from alcoholism.
02 August 1940
An amateur boxer's girlfriend inspires him to face a ring pro entered by a gangster.
01 January 1953
The film plays out, with three first-season episodes edited together into a single story: "The Benefit", "Breaking the Lease", and "The Ballet", with new footage included between episodes to help transition the episodes into one coherent storyline.
08 November 1942
Ancestors of music videos, YANKEE DOODLER, ROSIE THE RIVETER, and DEAR ARABELLA were made during World War II for coin-operated jukebox devices found in restaurants, bars and train stations.
29 July 1943
Young Brad Craig enters the military school with a chip on his shoulder which upperclassmen quickly knock off.
10 February 1939
During a stick-up, a woman is excited by the criminal and joins him on his crime spree.
16 September 1950
A young woman living in Manhattan pretends to be the mother of an infant in order to get a seat on the subway.
26 April 1934
Jack Brookfield, a gambler with clairvoyant and hypnotic powers, is able to win at cards through his unique gift.
18 September 1938
Sons of The Legion is a film about a group of young men looking to start a squadron in their Legion Post.
01 November 1940
Director Ted Brooks and comedians Jack Norcross, Dandy Joslyn and Phil Miller are part of a troupe of promising young players rehearsing for a WPA show at the Garrick Theater in New York and are stunned when the government withdraws their funding on the day of the show's dress rehearsal.
22 September 1939
Daughter has trouble holding onto boyfriends because of her critical mother until understanding father comes to her aid.
04 August 1938
Prep football star Jimmy Howal gets a reception far different from what he expected when he enters West Point.
07 March 1935
Football player John Kent tags along as Huck Haines and the Wabash Indianians travel to an engagement in Paris, only to lose it immediately.
18 January 1949
A woman takes in boarders to support her husband's harebrained financial schemes.
24 September 1936
Jennie Mullins and her fiancé Peter Cary are happily in love but their families are miserable about their relationship.
24 December 1947
Musical biography of Irish 19th century tenor Chauncey Olcott.
16 July 1948
Eddie Tayloe's grandfather leaves him six thousand dollars and the money belt it came in, freeing Tayloe to leave his dull newspaper job in Texas and move to New York to become a playwright.
01 October 1948
A small-town girl who's made it big in New York as a fashion model returns home, only to find that her somewhat dotty uncle has mortgaged his boarding house to the hilt.
03 August 1945
While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When she alerts the police, they think she has read one too many mystery novels.
04 June 1947
Kris Kringle, seemingly the embodiment of Santa Claus, is asked to portray the jolly old fellow at Macy's following his performance in the Thanksgiving Day parade.
09 November 1935
The singing stoker and the vamp.
16 July 1945
An aspiring playwright gets a job in a New York City restaurant favored by celebrities in hopes of getting a break.
11 May 1939
A former prizefighter tries to help his son pay off his gambling debts.
18 December 1947
Blondie finds a valuable watch that has been hidden by hubby Dagwood. She assumes that it's a surprise wedding gift, but the truth is that Dagwood has been guarding the watch on behalf of a client who bought the gift for his own wife, which soon leads to trouble with his boss, a loan shark, and crooked building contractors.
03 February 1939
A Broadway musical comedy star tires of the same old grind and flees the city. She runs into the skipper of a showboat who befriends her, and they make plans to put together a musical revue.
20 January 1939
Four bandits swoop down on a California bank and flee with $98,000, leaving a truck as the only clue to their identity.
23 June 1939
A newspaper reporter gets involved with shady stock promoters when he listens in on a jury room session.
05 May 1946
Arriving at Medicine Bow, eastern schoolteacher Molly Woods meets two cowboys, irresponsible Steve and the "Virginian," who gets off on the wrong foot with her.
14 March 1951
As novice detectives, Bud and Lou come face to face with the Invisible Man.
19 August 1950
Ralph Cotter, a ruthless criminal, escapes violently from a farm prison. Then, he seduces a dead inmate’s sister, gets back quickly into the crime business, faces corrupt local cops who run the city’s underworld and meets a powerful tycoon’s whimsical daughter.
19 November 1937
A young singer hopes to become a success on Broadway.
27 February 1938
A young woman at a girl's school in Switzerland makes up stories about and writes herself letters from an imaginary explorer-adventurer father; and is eventually put in a position where she has to produce him.
10 April 1952
A man in search of revenge infiltrates a ranch, hidden in an inhospitable region, where its owner, Altar Keane, gives shelter to outlaws fleeing from the law in exchange for a price.
30 September 1949
Nick Cherney, in prison for embezzling from Torno Freight Co., sees a chance to get back at Johnny Torno through his young priest brother Jess.
24 October 1946
A criminal psychologist investigates the murder of a veteran with amnesia.
27 August 1947
The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income.
01 January 1956
The legendary Lucille Ball as you've never seen her before! Laugh along with Lucy and Desi in these extremely rare television appearances, beautifully restored! Includes a rare appearance of the I Love Lucy cast on the Bob Hope Show and the lost Lucy pilot.
24 January 1936
Meek Eddie Pink becomes manager of an amusement park beset by mobsters.
28 August 1940
Popular songwriter Oliver Courtney has been getting by for years using one ghost writer for his music and another for his lyrics.
27 January 1944
Construction workers in World War II in the Pacific are needed to build military sites, but the work is dangerous and they doubt the ability of the Navy to protect them.
14 April 1949
Posing as unemployed musicians, Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys, are being helped by Ted Gibson owner of the Harmony Inn in San Antonio, Texas.
22 July 1946
A homesick American soldier stationed in England during World War II makes an unauthorized trip to see his wife and returns to England with only two people knowing he was home for a few hours.
29 March 1940
Broadway producer Nicksie North and press agent Scoop Trimble find an investor for their next show who insists that they cast his ex-girlfriend, Clarice Sheldon, in the lead role and rehearse out of town.
17 January 1941
The brash, opinionated owner of a nightclub manages to drive everybody crazy on a boat trip to Havana.
07 August 1946
A fresh-faced young detective gets set up, framed for murder, and alibied by a smart blonde.
04 August 1939
The Fitch family is managing an apartment building when the grandfather of their adopted son Butch decides the family isn't worthy of raising his grandson.
14 March 1925
Mr. Jump has come into some money and informs his wife that they can now hire a maid and won't have to do anymore housework.
01 January 1944
Youthful Father Chuck O'Malley led a colorful life of sports, song, and romance before joining the Roman Catholic clergy.
21 July 1937
The setting is a small town in 1870s Pennsylvania. Sally Waterson and her father have stopped in town with their traveling medicine show, but when their wagon catches fire, they find themselves stranded.
05 May 1939
Rose Sargent, a Roaring '20s singer, becomes a Ziegfeld Follies star as her criminal husband gets deeper in trouble.
21 June 1935
Julie Fresnel is a co-ed at Redgate University and her father, Dr. Henri Fresnel, is the new French professor.
10 September 1943
A former bootlegger is now the prosperous owner of a popular nightclub. A hustling promoter manages to pass off a young singer as the heir to a fortune and gets her booked at the club.
14 November 1942
As bare-knuckled boxing enters the modern era, brash extrovert Jim Corbett uses new rules and dazzlingly innovative footwork to rise to the top of the boxing world.
01 September 1948
Sam Clayton has a good heart and likes to help out people in need. In fact, he likes to help them out so much that he often finds himself broke and unable to help his own family buy the things they need--like a house.
03 September 1942
Wildcatter Johnny Maverick and his pal go to a town in oil country offering $25,000 to the person who brings in the first well.
