J. Farrell MacDonald

Acting · 0.7 popularity

Age

151

Movies

275

Born: June 5, 1875 – August 2, 1952
From: Waterbury, Connecticut, USA

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a 41-year career from 1911 to 1951, and directed forty-four silent films from 1912 to 1917. MacDonald was the principal director of L. Frank Baum's Oz Film Manufacturing Company, and he can frequently be seen in the films of Frank Capra, Preston Sturges and, especially, John Ford. Early in his career, MacDonald was a singer in minstrel shows, and he toured the United States extensively for two years with stage productions. He made his first silent film in 1911, a dramatic short entitled The Scarlett Letter made by Carl Laemmle's Independent Moving Pictures Company (IMP), the forerunner of Universal Pictures,. He continued to act in numerous films each year from that time on, and by 1912 he was directing them as well. The first film he directed was The Worth of a Man, another dramatic short, again for IMP, and he was to direct 43 more films until his last in 1917, Over the Fence, which he co-directed with Harold Lloyd. MacDonald had crossed paths with Lloyd several years earlier, when Lloyd was an extra and MacDonald had given him much-needed work – and he did the same with Hal Roach, both of whom appearing in small roles in The Patchwork Girl of Oz, which MacDonald directed in 1914. When Roach set up his own studio, with Lloyd as his principal attraction, he hired MacDonald to direct. By 1918, MacDonald, who was to become one of the most beloved character men in Hollywood, had given up directing and was acting full-time, predominantly in Westerns and Irish comedies. He first worked under director John Ford in 1919's A Fight for Love. In all, Ford would use MacDonald on twenty-five films between 1919 and 1950. With a voice that matched his personality, MacDonald made the transition to sound films easily, with no noticeable drop in his acting output – if anything, it went up. In 1931, for instance, MacDonald appeared in 14 films – among them the first version of The Maltese Falcon, in which he played "Detective Tom Polhaus" – and in 22 of them in 1932. Although he played laborers, policemen, military men and priests, among many other characters, his roles were usually a cut above a "bit part". His characters usually had names, and he was most often credited for his performances. A highlight of this period was his performance as the hobo "Mr. Tramp" in Our Little Girl with Shirley Temple (1935). In the 1940s, MacDonald was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in seven films written and directed by Sturges. MacDonald appeared in Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The Great Moment, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, Unfaithfully Yours and The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend, Sturges' last American film. Earlier, MacDonald had also appeared in The Power and the Glory, which Sturges wrote. His work on Sturges' films was generally uncredited. He was notable in 1946 in John Ford's My Darling Clementine in which he played "Mac," the bartender in the town saloon. MacDonald also had uncredited roles in It's a Wonderful Life and Here Comes The Groom.

Works

275 films

It's a Wonderful Life

19468.3

My Darling Clementine

19467.5

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

19277.8

Fallen Angel

19456.6

Meet John Doe

19417.3

The Millionaire

19317.6

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer

19476.9

Slim

19376.5

Front Page Woman

19355.9

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

19457.5

The Great Lie

19417.0

Reap the Wild Wind

19426.4

Dark Command

19406.4

Goodbye, Weeds

1946

Topper

19376.8

When Willie Comes Marching Home

19506.9

Superman and the Mole Men

19515.4

3 Bad Men

19266.9

Zenobia

19395.0

Show Boat

19366.7

The Maltese Falcon

19316.4

Desperate Youth

19218.0

The Stolen Jools

19315.6

Flying Fists

19376.0

Action

19216.3

Rags

19157.5

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

19446.8

Hangover Square

19457.0

Parnell

19374.6

The Palm Beach Story

19427.0

Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line

19977.7

Woman on the Run

19506.8

Greenwich Village

19446.7

Sitting Pretty

19487.1

Susannah of the Mounties

19396.5

Slave Ship

19375.1

The Painted Angel

192910.0

Whispering Smith

19486.7

The Whole Town's Talking

19356.9

Heritage of the Desert

19325.7

The Strange Love of Molly Louvain

19326.1

Bowery at Midnight

19425.1

No Man of Her Own

19326.6

Belle Starr's Daughter

19485.1

The Iron Horse

19256.8

The Housekeeper's Daughter

19394.6

Other Men's Women

19315.7

Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell

19517.2

Thunder in the Valley

19478.3

Shep Comes Home

19486.5

The Bachelor Daddy

19228.0

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock

19476.4

Roped

19197.0

The Working Man

19336.5

Panhandle

19485.8

You're My Everything

19494.8

Thank You

19254.8

Abie's Irish Rose

192810.0

A Sporting Chance

19196.0

Drifting

19237.0

There Goes My Heart

19387.3

East Side of Heaven

19397.4

Here Comes the Groom

19515.4

Numbered Woman

19387.0

Our Little Girl

19355.2

Coast Guard

19396.0

Happy Days

19296.3

I Take This Oath

19405.8

Maid of Salem

19376.2

The Storm Daughter

19249.0

Men Without Women

19306.4

Broadway Limited

19415.0

Swellhead

193510.0

Come on Over

19229.0

The Crime Doctor

19343.8

Exclusive Story

19367.2

Christmas Eve

19475.4

This Sporting Age

19328.0

Submarine Patrol

19386.7

Laughing at Life

19337.3

Peg o' My Heart

19335.0

Ankles Preferred

19278.0

One Thrilling Night

19425.4

The Freeze-Out

19217.0

The Dalton Gang

19495.3

Under Eighteen

19326.3

Let 'em Have It

19357.6

Johnny Angel

19456.0

Florida Special

19367.0

The Best Man Wins

19356.6

Wild Bill Hickok Rides

19425.5

Circumstantial Evidence

19455.2

Masked Emotions

19298.0

Fashionable Fakers

19239.0

The Brat

19315.4

Trouble Preferred

19486.0

The Painted Desert

19315.2

The Lone Ranger Rides Again

19397.3

In Old Arizona

19285.4

Masquerade

192910.0

East Side, West Side

19277.2

Dakota Lil

19505.4

Courage of the West

19378.0

Riders of Vengeance

19196.5

Western Luck

19247.0

The Thirteenth Guest

19325.2

The Great Moment

19445.8

Captains of the Clouds

19426.4

The Game That Kills

19376.3

Gerald Cranston's Lady

19249.0

My Dear Miss Aldrich

19376.3

Manslaughter

19225.5

Kentucky Pride

19256.2

State Police

19388.0

They Shall Have Music

19396.5

The Squaw Man

19315.4

The Light of Western Stars

19405.0

Beggar's Holiday

19349.0

The Great Barrier

19377.5

Riffraff

19365.4

In Old Cheyenne

19414.6

Star of Midnight

19355.9

Extortion

19387.0

Sporting Blood

19315.4

Pillow of Death

19456.7

Men Are Such Fools

19327.0

Waterfront Lady

19355.3

The Crowd Roars

19387.0

Knights of the Range

19407.0

The Lucky Horseshoe

19258.0

Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl

19269.0

Madame Racketeer

19325.3

Stagecoach War

19406.0

The Power and the Glory

19335.9

Me and My Gal

19326.4

Little Orphan Annie

19388.0

The Healer

19356.2

If You Knew Susie

19487.3

The Ghost Breaker

192210.0

True to Life

19438.0

70,000 Witnesses

19325.7

The Walls of Jericho

19485.6

Smoky

19465.7

The Spirit of Notre Dame

19317.3

Streets of San Francisco

19499.0

I Loved a Woman

19334.8

Riders of the Timberline

19414.5

Maybe It's Love

19357.0

The Arizonian

19358.0

The Last Alarm

19404.5

Full Confession

19395.6

Scandal for Sale

19328.5

The Irish in Us

19357.5

Roaring Timber

19376.0

Tracks

19228.0

Pony Express Days

19406.3

South Sea Rose

192910.0

Hostile Country

19504.3

The Hurricane Express

19325.4

Steady Company

193210.0

River's End

19306.4

4 Devils

19287.6

Shadows of the Orient

19356.0

The Country Beyond

192610.0

The Hit Parade

19376.3

The Family Upstairs

19268.0

Fury at Furnace Creek

19486.3

The Vanishing Frontier

19338.0

The Last Express

19384.0

The Truth About Youth

19306.2

Keeper of the Bees

194710.0

Untamed

19405.0

White Banners

19386.1

Strong Boy

19296.0

Trixie from Broadway

19197.0

Riley the Cop

19285.7

Bringing Up Father

19285.0

Come On, Rangers

19388.0

The Ape Man

19434.4

The Bonded Woman

19224.8

Hearts of Humanity

19324.8

Conspiracy

19396.7

The McGuerins from Brooklyn

19426.7

Web of Danger

19475.5

Probation

19326.3

Over the Border

192210.0

Man of Two Worlds

19346.5

The Fighting Heart

19256.0

Gang Bullets

19385.9

Romance in Manhattan

19347.8

The Living Ghost

19424.3

Friendly Neighbors

19408.0

Barefoot Boy

19385.4

The Scarlet Letter

19111.0

The Young Rajah

19227.7

Hitch Hike Lady

19357.8

Paid to Love

19276.5

The Pride of the Legion

19327.0

The Shamrock Handicap

19265.4

Quicksands

19237.0

Stormy

19357.0

The Last Frontier

19269.0

The Easiest Way

19315.4

Prairie Law

19407.0

How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 9: 'The Driver'

19317.5

The Crosby Case

19345.0

The Age of Desire

192310.0

Molly of the Follies

19198.0

Too Young to Marry

19318.0

Week-End Marriage

19325.5

The Daltons' Women

19504.5

Hotel Continental

19328.0

None But the Brave

192810.0

Once to Every Woman

19346.1

Phantom Killer

19425.3

Fighting Youth

19357.7

The Wallop

19216.5

Trailin'

19215.7

Northern Frontier

19358.0

Lightnin'

19256.6

Joe Palooka, Champ

19468.0

Those Who Dare

19248.0

The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris

19288.0

Mickey the Kid

19399.0

The Girl of the Golden West

193010.0

Sky High

19225.6

How to Break 90 #6: Fine Points

19336.5

The First Year

19268.0

Touchdown!

19318.0

Tiger Fangs

19437.0

Private Snuffy Smith

19424.3

Danger Ahead

19355.0

Texas Masquerade

19446.5

Under Secret Orders

193310.0

Woman Hungry

193110.0

The Dream

19115.5

County Fair

19377.5

Song o' My Heart

19304.8

Hitchin' Posts

19206.3

Stranger in Town

19315.0

Mysterious Crossing

193610.0

Cradle Snatchers

19273.8

A Trip to Chinatown

192610.0

Law of the Timber

19417.0

The Dixie Merchant

19267.0

The Outcasts of Poker Flat

19196.0

My Old Kentucky Home

19387.5

Mademoiselle Midnight

19245.7

Bullet Proof

19209.0

The Racing Strain

193210.0

While Paris Sleeps

192310.0

The Phantom Express

19325.0

Murder on the Campus

19335.5

Harrigan's Kid

19437.0

Discarded Lovers

19324.9

The Lighthouse Keeper

1911

The Iron Master

19337.0

Myrt and Marge

19334.1

The Signal Tower

19245.8

The Brass Bowl

192410.0

Fair Enough

19189.0

$5,000 Reward

1918

Marked Men

19196.5

The Gentleman from Arizona

193910.0

Let Women Alone

19258.0

A Fight For Love

19196.0

The Time-Lock Safe

1910

Racing Hearts

19238.0

A Timely Repentance

19127.0

Riding with Death

19219.0

This Hero Stuff

19199.0

Square Shooter

19356.2

'Tween Two Loves

1911

The Path She Chose

19207.0

The Calling of Louis Mona

19138.0