Edward Joel Pawley (March 16, 1901, Kansas City, Missouri - January 27, 1988, Charlottesville, Virginia) was an American actor of radio, films and Broadway. Events 597 BC - Babylonians capture Jerusalem, replace Jehoiachin with Zedekiah as king Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Kansas City Missouri only Items for the metro area Kansas City Kansas or North Kansas City MO should go on their respective pages Events 98 - Trajan becomes Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Charlottesville is an Independent city located within the confines of Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The full name on his birth certificate is Edward Joel Stone Pawley, however, he never used the Stone name. It derived from a Stone family in Illinois.
At maturity, Pawley was 5'-10" tall with thick black hair and blue eyes. While in high school, he became interested in both journalism and acting. Acting won out after taking drama classes and appearing in high school plays. After moving to New York City in 1920 to pursue a career in the theater, he married (in 1922) his high school sweetheart, Martina May Martin, who had become a professional stage actress. The City of New York Martina May Martin ( September 16, 1898 – April 6, 1988) was an American stage actress who starred in various theatrical They had one child, a son named Martin Herbert Pawley (b. 1923). Edward and Martina later divorced only to remarry and divorce again. In 1937, he married the then popular Broadway singer, dancer and actress Helen Shipman. Helen Shipman (1899&ndash1984 was an American singer Dancer and actress who starred in various Broadway musicals and musical comedies and They remained married for 47 years until her death on April 13, 1984. Events 1111 - Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. 1204 - The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar)
Contents |
Broadway
Pawley began his theatrical career in 1920 and reached the Broadway stage in 1923 in The Shame Woman. Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one Broadway theater, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located He went on to star in various well-known Broadway plays, including Elmer Gantry (1928), Processional (1928), Street Scene (1929), Subway Express (1929), Two Seconds (1931), Life Begins (1932) and The Willow And I (1942). A procession (via Middle English processioun, French procession, derived from Latin processio, itself from procedere, to go forth advance Two Seconds is a 1932 film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Edward G Life Begins is a British Television Drama broadcast on ITV, starring Caroline Quentin and Alexander Armstrong Pawley's rich, baritone voice was hailed by leading journalists of the day, including Walter Winchell and Heywood Hale Broun. Walter Winchell ( April 7, 1897 &ndash February 20, 1972) was an American newspaper and radio commentator Heywood Hale Broun ( March 10, 1918 – September 5, 2001 was an American sportswriter commentator and actor Although he was probably best known in the theater for his portrayal of Elmer Gantry in the Broadway play of the same name, it was his portrayal of John Allen in Two Seconds that brought him to the attention of Hollywood by way of Warner Brothers. For the film based on the novel see Elmer Gantry (film For information on the UK singer Elmer Gantry aka Dave Terry see Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Two Seconds is a 1932 film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Edward G Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and Winchell wrote that Pawley received a standing ovation after his opening night performance in Two Seconds. Two Seconds is a 1932 film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Edward G
Hollywood
Not long after talkies came into vogue, Pawley left the theater after 1932 and went to Hollywood where he performed in over 50 movies during a ten-year span. He had feature roles in such movies as Hoosier Schoolboy with Mickey Rooney, G-Men with James Cagney, The Oklahoma Kid with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, King Solomon of Broadway with Edmund Lowe and Louise Henry, Each Dawn I Die with George Raft and Cagney, Tom Sawyer, Detective with Janet Waldo and Donald O'Connor and Romance on the Range with Roy Rogers and Gabby Hayes. Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr; September 23, 1920) is an American Film Actor and Entertainer whose G-Man (short for G overnment Man) is Slang for a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI agent James Francis Cagney Jr ( July 17, 1899 &ndash March 30, 1986) was an Academy Award -winning American Film The Oklahoma Kid is a 1939 Western film starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. Edmund Dantes Lowe ( March 3, 1890 - April 21, 1971) was an American actor Each Dawn I Die is a 1939 gangster film featuring James Cagney and George Raft in their only movie together as leads although Raft George Raft ( 26 September 1895 – 24 November 1980) was an American Film Actor most closely identified Tom Sawyer Detective is an 1896 novel by Mark Twain. It is a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876 Adventures Janet Waldo (born February 4, Yakima Washington sources say born February 4 1918 [[Grandview Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor ( August 28, 1925 &ndash September 27, 2003) was an American Dancer, Singer Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye) (November 5 1911 &ndash July 6 1998 was a singer and Cowboy Actor. George Francis 'Gabby' Hayes ( May 7, 1885 – February 9, 1969) was an American actor He played mostly "bad guy" roles in gangster, horror, comedy and Western films. For other uses see Gangsta. A gangster is a criminal who is or at some point almost invariably becomes a member of a persistent violent Horror films are Movies that strive to elicit Fear, Horror and terror responses from viewers Comedy (from the Greek κωμωδίαkomodia has a popular meaning (any discourse generally intended to amuse especially in Television, Film, and The Western is a fiction Genre seen in Film, Television, Radio, Literature, Painting and other Visual arts. He became friends with Cagney (with whom he made five movies), Jackie Cooper (four movies) and Francis Lederer. Jackie Cooper (born September 15 1922 is an American Academy Award -nominated Actor, Emmy Award -winning TV director, and TV Francis Lederer ( 6 November, 1899 &ndash 25 May,) was an American film and stage actor One of his earliest friends in the entertainment industry was Arthur Hughes who played Bill Davidson on the long-running radio show, Just Plain Bill. Arthur Hughes ( June 24 1894 - December 28 1982) was an American Actor on the stage radio and films Just Plain Bill was a long run 15-minute daytime radio drama program heard on CBS and NBC Arthur was also Pawley's best man at his wedding (in 1922) to stage actress Martina May Martin (his first wife).
Radio
Pawley became disenchanted with Hollywood during the attempted infiltration by the communists in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based Consequently, he left in 1942 and returned briefly to Broadway where he starred with Gregory Peck in The Willow and I. Previously when in New York City in the 1930s, Pawley had performed leading romantic roles on the The Collier Hour radio program; consequently, he also became involved with radio upon his return to NYC. The Collier Hour, broadcast on the NBC Blue Network from 1927 to 1932 was radio's first major dramatic anthology adapting stories and serials from Collier's in a He played opposite Lucille Wall in the radio soap opera, Portia Faces Life. Lucille Wall ( January 18, 1898 &ndash July 11, 1986) was an American actress who played the role of Lucille March Weeks Portia Faces Life was a Soap opera which aired on the NBC Red Radio network starting in 1940. He and Wall were the "Love Story Boy and Girl" on that show. In 1943, Pawley auditioned for and was cast in the starring role of "Steve Wilson" on the top-rated radio drama series, Big Town. Big Town is a popular long-running Radio drama series which was later adapted to both Film and Television and a comic book published by He left Portia Faces Life to replace actor Edward G. Robinson who had played the Steve Wilson role from 1937-42, when the show was produced in Hollywood. Edward Goldenberg Robinson Sr (born Emanuel Goldenberg; Yiddish: עמנואל גאלדנבערג December 12 1893 &ndash January Steve Wilson's sidekick on Big Town was girl reporter Lorelei Kilbourne, played by Fran Carlon. That role was originally played first by Claire Trevor and, later, by Ona Munson when Edward G. Claire Trevor ( March 8, 1910 - April 8, 2000) was an Academy Award -winning American actress Ona Munson ( June 16, 1903 – February 11, 1955) was an American Actress perhaps best known for her portrayal of Robinson starred as "Steve Wilson (from 1937 to 1942).
During Pawley's eight-year reign, Big Town achieved the "number one" rating for reporter-type drama shows on radio. In the January 1948 Nielson Ratings, the show was ranked #12 among ALL radio programs. . . ahead of such popular shows as Suspense, Sam Spade, Mr. District Attorney, The FBI In Peace and War, Blondie and Mr. and Mrs. North. Suspense was a Radio drama series broadcast on CBS from 1942 through 1962 The Adventures of Sam Spade was a radio series based loosely on the private detective character Sam Spade, created by writer Dashiell Mr District Attorney was a popular radio crime drama which aired on NBC and ABC from April 3, 1939 to June 13 Blondie was a radio situation comedy adapted from the long-run Blondie comic strip by Chic Young. Mr and Mrs North are fictional American Amateur Detectives Created by Frances and Richard Lockridge, the couple His audience was estimated anywhere from 10 million to 20 million listeners which is still a huge following, even in the 21st century, for any radio or TV series.
Retirement
Edward Pawley left Big Town in 1951 and retired to the small village of Amissville in rural Rappahannock County, Virginia. Amissville is an unincorporated community in Rappahannock County in the U Rappahannock County is a county located in the US state &mdash officially " Commonwealth " &mdash of Virginia. He had fallen in love with the State early during his theatrical career. In retirement, Pawley raised and sold championship goats, wrote poetry, and worked part-time as a radio announcer at local radio station WCVA in Culpeper, Virginia. Culpeper is an Incorporated town in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. Edward and Helen moved to Rock Mills, Virginia in the mid-1950s where they lived on the original site of the Rock Mill at the confluence of the Thornton and Rush Rivers. To Edward, living at Rock Mills was the fruition of his dream to live close to nature. He and Helen maintained an organic vegetable farm and goat farm, where they produced pesticide-free vegetables, goat milk and cheese. For a while, they also ran a local grocery store, the "Cash and Totem Store" where they sold some of their produce and Helen marketed her "Virginia Honey Girl" line of fruits preserved in honey.
Edward and Helen were proponents of "back-to-the-earth living with nature", before it became popular. They had no children together, but became spiritual parents of many children in the area. In his will, Edward named the Rottier children as his spiritual children - Jane, Ross, Kathyrn, Juia, Richard, and Robin. Kathryn Rottier is a mural painter in Northern Virginia.
Edward fell in love with Virginia while touring with the play East Is West in 1920. He played the role of a Chinaman in that stage production, and it was his first professional acting role. Pawley became the quintessential "Virginia Gentleman" and was loved for his integrity, patriotism, and charm. Integrity is Consistency of actions values methods measures and principles Patriotism is commonly defined as love of and/or devotion to one's country He was admired for his vocabulary and speaking voice, as well as his status as an entertainer in three different media forms (theater, film, and radio).
Edward died just two months shy of his 87th birthday as the result of a heart condition while a patient at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia. The University of Virginia (also called UVa, UVA, Mr Jefferson's University, or The University) is a highly selective public research His residence at the time of his death was in the village of Rock Mills, Rappahannock County, Virginia. Pawley and his second wife, Helen Shipman, were cremated, and their ashes were scattered at their favorite spot alongside the Rush River which flows through their former estate in the village of Rock Mills in Rappahannock County, Virginia. Helen Shipman (1899&ndash1984 was an American singer Dancer and actress who starred in various Broadway musicals and musical comedies and A raised bronze plaque at that site is a memorial to their lives and careers in the entertainment medium.
Pawley had two younger brothers who were also actors: William M. Pawley (b. ca. 1903) and J. Anthony Pawley (b. ca. 1910). Both brothers acted in Broadway plays, as well as films, but neither achieved the success and acclaim which their older brother received.
Biography
Pawley's life is detailed in the biography, Edward J. Pawley: Broadway's Elmer Gantry, Radio's Steve Wilson, and Hollywood's Perennial Bad Guy (Outskirts Press, Inc. , 2006) by Robert Gibson Corder, Ph. D.
Films
| Movie | Year | Character |
| The Desperadoes | 1943 | Blackie (Deputy Sheriff) |
| Eyes of the Underworld | 1943 | Lance Merlin(gangster) aka Criminals of the Underworld (USA: reissue title) |
| Flight Lieutenant | 1942 | Larsen |
| Romance on the Range | 1942 | Jerome Banning (Roy Rogers' boss and covert fur thief) |
| True to the Army | 1942 | Junior |
| Treat 'Em Rough | 1942 | Martin |
| Hold That Ghost | 1941 | (uncredited) High Collar (gangster) aka Oh, Charlie |
| Hit the Road | 1941 | Spike (the butcher/mob boss) |
| San Francisco Docks | 1940 | Monte March (gangster/club owner) |
| The Texas Rangers Ride Again | 1940 | Palo Pete (outlaw and sidekick of Anthony Quinn's character) |
| Flowing Gold | 1940 | Collins (oil derrick worker and nemesis of John Garfield's character) |
| River's End aka Double Identity(USA: TV title) | 1940 | Frank Crandell (gangster) |
| Castle on the Hudson aka Years Without Days (UK) | 1940 | Black Jack/'Blackie' (gangster) |
| Old Hickory | 1939 | Vice President Calhoun (uncredited) |
| The Big Guy aka Warden of the Big House (USA: reissue title) | 1939 | Chuck Burkhart |
| Each Dawn I Die aka Killer Meets Killer | 1939 | Dale (A fellow convict in prison with James Cagney and George Raft and the one who led a failed prison break attempt). Hold That Ghost is a 1941 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. |
| Help Wanted | 1939 | (role unknown) |
| Unmarried | 1939 | Swade (gangster) |
| The Lady's from Kentucky (1939) (as Edward J. Pawley). . . . Spike Cronin (gangster) | ||
| Money to Loan (1939) (uncredited) . . . . Calumette (gangster) | ||
| The Oklahoma Kid (1939) . . . . Ace Doolin (Humphrey Bogart's partner-in-crime) | ||
| Tom Sawyer, Detective (1938) . . . . Brace Dunlap (a wealthy but crooked land owner). | ||
| Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) . Angels with Dirty Faces is a 1938 Warner Brothers Gangster film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney, . . . Edwards ( Cagney's nemesis/prison guard) | ||
| Sons of the Legion (1938) . . . . Baker (a gunman) | ||
| Smashing the Rackets (1938) . . . . Chin Martin (gangster) | ||
| Little Tough Guy (1938). Little Tough Guy is a 1938 Universal Studios film that starred several of the Dead End Kids. . . . . Jim Boylan (father of Billy Halop's character and husband of Marjorie Main's character) | ||
| Prison Break (1938) . . . . Joe Fenderson (brother of Glenda Farrell's character). | ||
| Romance of the Limberlost (1938) . . . . Jed Corson (suitor of Jean Parker's character, Laurie Mears, and wealthy land-owner) | ||
| You and Me (1938) (uncredited) . . . . 'Dutch' (gangster) | ||
| Gun Law (1938) . . . . 'The Raven' (who attempts to kill George O'Brien's character). | ||
| Dangerous to Know (1938) . . . . John Rance (mob boss) | ||
| White Banners (1938) . White Banners is a 1938 Warner Brothers drama motion picture starring Claude Rains, Fay Bainter, Jackie . . . Bill Ellis (co-owner of a refrigeration shop along with his real-life brother, William Pawley, who played his brother, Joe Ellis). | ||
| The Last Gangster (1937) (uncredited) . . . . Brockett (gangster) | ||
| It Can't Last Forever (1937) . . . . Cronin (gangster) | ||
| *Hoosier Schoolboy (1937) . . . . Captain Fred Carter (father of Mickey Rooney's character, Shockey Carter, and a world War I hero)
. . . aka Forgotten Hero . . . aka Yesterday's Hero (UK) |
||
| Mountain Justice (1937) . . . . Tod Miller | ||
| Dangerous Number (1937) (uncredited) . . . . Second Detective | ||
| Sinner Take All (1936) . . . . Capt. Bill Royce | ||
| Sworn Enemy (1936) . . . . 'Dutch' McTurk (gangster) | ||
| Tough Guy (1936) . . . . Tony (gangster) | ||
| King Solomon of Broadway (1935) . . . . 'Ice' Larson (gangster and night club owner) | ||
| Dante's Inferno (1935) (uncredited) . . . . Clinton, the Ship's Officer | ||
| 'G' Men (1935) . . . . Danny Leggett (gangster who was public enemy No. 1 and chased by James Cagney's character). | ||
| Mississippi (1935) . . . . Joe Patterson (Major Patterson's Brother) | ||
| Helldorado (1935) (uncredited) . . . . a Coal Miner | ||
| Treasure Island (1934) . Treasure Island ( 1934) is a movie adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson ’s famous 1883 novel Treasure Island . . . William O'Brien (pirate of the Spanish Main) | ||
| Olsen's Big Moment (1933) (uncredited) . . . . Joe 'Monk' West (gangster)
. . . aka Olsen's Night Out |
||
| Footlight Parade (1933) (uncredited) . . . . . Sailor in a bar fight w/ Cagney and others | ||
| Tess of the Storm Country (1932) . . . . Ben Letts | ||
| Thirteen Women (1932) . . . . Chauffer named "Burns" (Irene Dunn's Chauffeur, and complicit lover of Myrna Loy) |
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic