Frank Faylen
Birthday:
Birthplace:
Not Available
American actor Frank Faylen was born into a vaudeville act; as an infant, he was carried on stage by his parents, the song-and-dance team Ruf and Clark. Traveling with his parents from one engagement to another, Faylen somehow managed to complete his education at St. Joseph's Prep School in Kirkwood, Missouri. Turning pro at age 18, Faylen worked on stage until getting a Hollywood screen test in 1936. For the next nine years, Faylen played a succession of bit and minor roles, mostly for Warner Bros.; of these minuscule parts he would later say, "If you sneezed, you missed me." Better parts came his way during a brief stay at Hal Roach Studios in 1942 and 1943, but Faylen's breakthrough came at Paramount in 1945, where he was cast as Bim, the chillingly cynical male nurse at Bellevue's alcoholic ward in the Oscar-winning The Lost Weekend. Though the part lasted all of four minutes' screen time, Faylen was so effective in this unpleasant role that he became entrenched as a sadistic bully or cool villain in his subsequent films. TV fans remember Faylen best for his more benign but still snarly role as grocery store proprietor Herbert T. Gillis on the 1959 sitcom Dobie Gillis. For the next four years, Faylen gained nationwide fame for such catch-phrases as "I was in World War II--the big one--with the good conduct medal!", and, in reference to his screen son Dobie Gillis, "I gotta kill that boy someday. I just gotta." Faylen worked sporadically in TV and films after Dobie Gillis was canceled in 1963, receiving critical plaudits for his small role as an Irish stage manager in the 1968 Barbra Streisand starrer Funny Girl. The actor also made an encore appearance as Herbert T. Gillis in a Dobie Gillis TV special of the 1970s, where his "good conduct medal" line received an ovation from the studio audience. Faylen was married to Carol Hughes, an actress best-recalled for her role as Dale Arden in the 1939 serial Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, and was the father of another actress, also named Carol.
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|---|
93% | Funny Girl |
|
— | 1968 |
No Score Yet | The Monkey's Uncle |
|
— | 1965 |
50% | North to Alaska |
|
— | 1960 |
83% | Gunfight at the O.K. Corral |
|
— | 1957 |
No Score Yet | Dino |
|
— | 1957 |
No Score Yet | Three Brave Men |
|
— | 1956 |
No Score Yet | 7th Cavalry |
|
— | 1956 |
No Score Yet | Away All Boats |
|
— | 1956 |
No Score Yet | Everything but the Truth |
|
— | 1956 |
No Score Yet | The McConnell Story |
|
— | 1955 |
No Score Yet | Red Garters |
|
— | 1954 |
100% | Riot in Cell Block 11 |
|
— | 1954 |
100% | 99 River Street |
|
— | 1953 |
No Score Yet | Hangman's Knot |
|
— | 1952 |
100% | The Lusty Men |
|
— | 1952 |
88% | The Sniper |
|
— | 1952 |
No Score Yet | My Favorite Spy |
|
— | 1951 |
75% | Detective Story |
|
— | 1951 |
No Score Yet | Passage West |
|
— | 1951 |
83% | 14 Hours |
|
— | 1951 |
100% | Father's Little Dividend |
|
— | 1951 |
No Score Yet | Copper Canyon |
|
— | 1950 |
No Score Yet | Convicted |
|
— | 1950 |
80% | Francis |
|
— | 1950 |
No Score Yet | The Nevadan |
|
— | 1950 |
83% | Whispering Smith |
|
— | 1948 |
100% | Blood on the Moon |
|
— | 1948 |
No Score Yet | Variety Girl |
|
— | 1947 |
No Score Yet | The Perils of Pauline |
|
— | 1947 |
No Score Yet | Welcome Stranger |
|
— | 1947 |
100% | Road to Rio |
|
— | 1947 |
94% | It's a Wonderful Life |
|
— | 1946 |
No Score Yet | California |
|
— | 1946 |
83% | Blue Skies |
|
— | 1946 |
100% | The Blue Dahlia |
|
— | 1946 |
81% | To Each His Own |
|
— | 1946 |
No Score Yet | Two Years Before the Mast |
|
— | 1946 |
No Score Yet | Our Hearts Were Growing Up |
|
— | 1946 |
98% | The Lost Weekend |
|
— | 1945 |
86% | The Canterville Ghost |
|
— | 1944 |
67% | A Guy Named Joe |
|
— | 1944 |
No Score Yet | Address Unknown |
|
— | 1944 |
No Score Yet | Standing Room Only |
|
— | 1944 |
100% | The Gang's All Here |
|
— | 1943 |
No Score Yet | The Mystery of the 13th Guest |
|
— | 1943 |
No Score Yet | Thank Your Lucky Stars |
|
— | 1943 |
No Score Yet | Mission to Moscow |
|
— | 1943 |
No Score Yet | Slightly Dangerous |
|
— | 1943 |
No Score Yet | The Falcon Strikes Back |
|
— | 1943 |
No Score Yet | The Hard Way |
|
— | 1943 |
No Score Yet | She's for Me |
|
— | 1943 |
No Score Yet | Get Going |
|
— | 1943 |
No Score Yet | Star Spangled Rhythm |
|
— | 1942 |
97% | The Palm Beach Story |
|
— | 1942 |
88% | Wake Island |
|
— | 1942 |
90% | Yankee Doodle Dandy |
|
— | 1942 |
No Score Yet | Joe Smith, American |
|
— | 1942 |
No Score Yet | Across the Pacific |
|
— | 1942 |
93% | The Pride of the Yankees |
|
— | 1942 |
No Score Yet | Two Mugs from Brooklyn |
|
— | 1942 |
No Score Yet | Somewhere I'll Find You |
|
— | 1942 |
No Score Yet | H.M. Pulham, Esq. |
|
— | 1941 |
No Score Yet | Unholy Partners |
|
— | 1941 |
88% | Sergeant York |
|
— | 1941 |
No Score Yet | Tanks a Million |
|
— | 1941 |
No Score Yet | Let's Go Collegiate |
|
— | 1941 |
No Score Yet | The Reluctant Dragon |
|
— | 1941 |
No Score Yet | Affectionately Yours |
|
— | 1941 |
No Score Yet | Footsteps in the Dark |
|
— | 1941 |
No Score Yet | Come Live with Me |
|
— | 1941 |
No Score Yet | City Limits |
|
— | 1941 |
No Score Yet | Knockout |
|
— | 1941 |
No Score Yet | No Time for Comedy |
|
— | 1940 |
92% | They Drive by Night |
|
— | 1940 |
No Score Yet | Brother Orchid |
|
— | 1940 |
80% | Edison, the Man |
|
— | 1940 |
100% | The Grapes of Wrath |
|
— | 1940 |
No Score Yet | Castle on the Hudson |
|
— | 1940 |
71% | The Fighting 69th |
|
— | 1940 |
No Score Yet | Invisible Stripes |
|
— | 1939 |
91% | Gone With the Wind |
|
— | 1939 |
No Score Yet | Reno |
|
— | 1939 |
No Score Yet | The Star Maker |
|
— | 1939 |
No Score Yet | Five Came Back |
|
— | 1939 |
No Score Yet | Lucky Night |
|
— | 1939 |
No Score Yet | Women in the Wind |
|
— | 1939 |
40% | Idiot's Delight |
|
— | 1939 |
No Score Yet | Nick Carter, Master Detective |
|
— | 1939 |
No Score Yet | Too Hot to Handle |
|
— | 1938 |
No Score Yet | They Won't Forget |
|
— | 1937 |
No Score Yet | That Certain Woman |
|
— | 1937 |
No Score Yet | San Quentin |
|
— | 1937 |
No Score Yet | Ever Since Eve |
|
— | 1937 |
100% | Kid Galahad |
|
— | 1937 |
100% | Marked Woman |
|
— | 1937 |
No Score Yet | Back in Circulation |
|
— | 1937 |
No Score Yet | Cherokee Strip |
|
— | 1937 |
No Score Yet | Bullets or Ballots |
|
— | 1936 |
No Score Yet | Border Flight |
|
— | 1936 |
No Score Yet | The Golden Arrow |
|
— | 1936 |
TV
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet |
Quincy, M.E.
1976-1983
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962-1971
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Maverick
1957-1962
|
|
|
Quotes from Frank Faylen's Characters
Taxi driver: | Yes Maam. |
Gerry Jeffers: | Where's the best place to get a divorce? |
Tom Jeffers: | Gerry, for heavens sake! |
Taxi driver: | Well most people go to Reno NV, but for my money it's Palm Beach. This time of the year you've got the track, you've got the ocean, you've got the palm trees...; three months, you leave from Penn Station. |
Taxi driver: | Well most people go to Reno, Nevada, but for my money, it's Palm Beach. This time of the year you've got the track, you've got the ocean, you've got the palm trees. Three months, you leave from Penn Station. |
Gerry Jeffers: | Look, I'm in an awful hurry. I haven't got a dime - will you take me there for nothing? |
Taxi driver: | To where, Palm Beach? |
Gerry Jeffers: | No-no, just to the station |
Gerry Jeffers: | No no, just to the station |
Taxi driver: | - oh, sure. Hop in babe. |
Taxi driver: | Oh, sure. Hop in babe. |