WARREN HYMER 110
Posted: February 25th, 2016, 1:15 pm
The great character actor Warren Hymer was born on this day in 1906. Warren was born into a theatrical family (his mother Eleanor was an actress and his father John B. was an actor and playwright who penned one of the biggest Broadway hits, East is West in 1918 that eventually led to two filmed adaptations). Warren attended Yale University (Class of 1928) and was schooled in drama by the renowned acting and play-writing teacher George Pierce Baker. He appeared in several Yale drama productions, toured the United Kingdom with his father's play Crime and acted on Broadway before getting signed to a film contract by Fox Studios in 1928. Warren's early film career had him playing serious and unsavory villains and sadly of his first 10 FOX films, 5 are completely missing and 2 only exist in a silent film format. Despite being a well-read and intelligent gentleman, Warren was soon pigeon-holed into a role he played perfectly, the dumb but lovable gangster/boxer/detective/sidekick in comedies and dramas. He was one of the most recognizable and prolific character actors, appearing in 129 films in 17 years before passing away only a month after his 42nd birthday.
Here's to Warren on his 110th!