James Dunn

American actor James Dunn (1901-1967) was a versatile star on stage, screen and television. He became a star in Frank Borzage's Bad Girl (1931) with Sally Eilers. In his films, he was usually the boy next door or the nice guy. In the 1950s, Dunn pursued a new direction as a character actor on television.


British postcard in the Colourgraph series, London, no. C181. Photo: Fox.


British postcard in the Film Partners series, London, no. P 12. Photo: Sally Eilers and James Dunn in Bad Girl (Frank Borzage, 1931).


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 552.

A star, virtually overnight

James Howard Dunn was born in 1901 in New York City, New York. He was the only child of Ralph H. Dunn, a prominent New York stockbroker and Jessie L. Archer, a homemaker. He grew up and attended public schools in New Rochelle, New York.

Dunn's interest in pursuing a career in acting became apparent when he started playing hooky in high school, preferring to work as an extra in various film studios scattered throughout the city. His father, Ralph, had different ideas for him and took him into his brokerage firm as a security salesman. However, Dunn continued to work as an extra or in small parts at Paramount's Astoria studios in the late 1920s.

In 1927, he had a bit part in the Broadway play 'Nightstick', so he could always claim his career started on Broadway. For three years, he honed his acting skills in Englewood, New Jersey and Winnipeg, Manitoba stock companies. On Broadway, he appeared in the musical 'Sweet Adeline' (1929) with Helen Morgan. Fox offered him to make a screen test and he signed a long-term contract with the studio.

At Fox, he starred in Sob Sister (Alfred Santell, 1931) with Linda Watkins. His big break came when director Frank Borzage chose him to play the young newlywed in Bad Girl (Frank Borzage, 1931) opposite Sally Eilers. He received outstanding reviews from the critics and became a star, virtually overnight. He went on to make several formula films, including Society Girl (Sidney Lanfield, 1932) with Peggy Shannon and Hello, Sister! (Erich von Stroheim, a.o., 1933) with Boots Mallory and ZaSu Pitts.

In six films, he co-starred with Sally Eilers. In 1934, he helped introduce film audiences to Shirley Temple as he sang and tap danced with her in her first major picture, Stand Up and Cheer (Hamilton MacFadden, 1934). That same year, he also appeared with her in Baby, Take a Bow (Harry Lachman, 1934), Change of Heart (John G. Blystone, 1934) and Bright Eyes (David Butler, 1934).


British postcard, no. 124. Photo: Fox Films.


Vintage postcard. Photo: Hal Phyfe / Fox Pictures. The back of the card has an ink stamp from a cinema owner in the city of Weltevreden, part of the former Batavia (now Jakarta) in the former Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).


Postcard, ed. and nationality unknown. Reproduction of the poster for the film Bad Girl (Frank Borzage, 1931), starring James Dunn and Sally Eilers.

Increasingly dependent on alcohol

Between 1931 and 1935, James Dunn made over 20 pictures for Fox and a few more on loan out. In 1935, Fox merged with Twentieth Century and musicals were out at the new studio. 20th Century Fox bought out Dunn's contract. His career soon began to wane as he was forced to work freelance. In Warner Bros's The Payoff (Robert Florey, 1935) he played the nice guy newspaper columnist whose wife ruined his career.

Dunn was becoming increasingly dependent on alcohol, earning him a reputation as an erratic, irresponsible performer, further diminishing his employment prospects. His decline from top box office draw to B movie actor was almost as startling as his meteoric rise to fame had been. Nevertheless, he usually managed to keep working, whether on stage, on the radio, or in low-budget poverty-row films.

In 1945 Dunn was given a second chance at movie stardom when young director, Elia Kazan chose him for the role of Johnny Nolan in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Elia Kazan, 1945) starring Dorothy McGuire. His sensitive portrayal of the gentle, alcoholic father earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The award, however, failed to reignite his film career and he made few substantial films after that.

One notable exception was Killer McCoy (Roy Rowland, 1947), starring Mickey Rooney, in which he again played the role of a ne'er-do-well, but sympathetic alcoholic father. By 1951 he was again unemployed and bankrupt. With the advent of television, new opportunities opened up for Dunn, as he appeared in scores of productions during the 1950s and 1960s. He acted in most of the classic anthology series such as G.E. Theater and Playhouse 90, and guest starred in many of the most popular series of the era, including Route 66, The Fugitive and Ben Casey. Between 1954 and 1956, he starred as the irascible Uncle Earl in the sitcom, It's a Great Life. The show also featured Frances Bavier, as his long-suffering sister, Amy Morgan.

Dunn continued to work in television, almost up to the time of his death in 1967. Dunn was married three times. His first marriage, to Edna O’Lier, ended in divorce. He was married to the actress Frances Gifford from 1938 until 1942. He married his third wife, Edna Rush in 1945, who survived him at his death in 1967 at the age of 65 from complications following stomach surgery in Santa Monica, California. He is one of the relatively few actors to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 552a. Photo: Fox.


British postcard in the Film Weekly series, London.


Dutch postcard, no. 263. Photo: Hal Phyfe / Fox Film. James Dunn and Sally Eilers in Over the Hill (Henry King, 1931).

Sources: Rhonda Brown (IMDb), Tony Fontana (IMDb), Hollywood Walk of Fame, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia and IMDb.