Person Details

Birthday: 1883-11-19 16:23:13

Death: 1957-04-03 16:23:13

Aliases: Edward Arthur Sparkman , Ned A. Sparks

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 33

TV Involvements: 0


Most Famous Work

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ned Sparks (born Edward Arthur Sparkman, November 19, 1883 – April 3, 1957) was a Canadian-born character actor of the American stage and screen. Sparks was known for his deadpan expression and deep, gravelly voice. Born in Guelph, Ontario, Sparks left home at age 16 and attempted to work as a gold prospector on the Klondike Gold Rush. After running out of money, he won a spot as a singer on a traveling musical company's tour. At age 19, he returned to Canada and briefly attended a Toronto seminary. After leaving the seminary, he worked for the railroad and worked in theater in Toronto. In 1907, he left Toronto for New York City to try his hand in the Broadway theatre, where he appeared in his first show in 1912. While working on Broadway, Sparks developed his trademark deadpan expression while portraying the role of a desk clerk in the play Little Miss Brown. His success on the stage soon caught the attention of MGM's Louis B. Mayer who signed Sparks to a six picture deal. Sparks began appearing in numerous silent films before finally making his "talkie" debut in the 1928 film The Big Noise. In the 1930s, Sparks became known for portraying dour-faced, sarcastic, cigar-chomping characters. He became so associated with the type that, in 1936, The New York Times reported that Sparks had his face insured for USD$100,000 with Lloyd's of London. The market agreed to pay the sum to any photographer who could capture Sparks smiling (Sparks later admitted that the story was a publicity stunt and he was only insured for $10,000). Sparks was also caricatured in cartoons including the Jack-in-the-Box character in the Disney short Broken Toys (1935), and the jester in Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938), a hermit crab in both Tex Avery's Fresh Fish (1939) and Bob Clampett's Goofy Groceries (1941), a chicken in Bob Clampett's Slap Happy Pappy (1940), Friz Freleng's Warner Bros. cartoon Malibu Beach Party (1940), and Tex Avery's Hollywood Steps Out (1940). Sparks also voiced the cartoon characters Heckle and Jeckle from 1947 to 1951. Sparks appeared in ten stage productions on Broadway and over 80 films. He retired from films in 1947, saying that everyone should retire at 65

Most Famous Work

Alice in Wonderland
Average
6

Alice in Wonderland

(1933) Caterpillar
Imitation of Life
Average
7

Imitation of Life

(1934) Elmer Smith
Iron Man
Average
5

Iron Man

(1931) Riley
Hawaii Calls
Average
5

Hawaii Calls

(1938) Strings
Conspiracy
Average
5

Conspiracy

(1930) Winthrop 'Little Nemo' Clavering
The Canary Murder Case
Average
6

The Canary Murder Case

(1929) Tony Skeel
The Miracle Man
Average
5

The Miracle Man

(1932) Harry Evans
Secrets
Average
6

Secrets

(1933) Sunshine

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
1960 N/A
1947 Ike
1943 Ned Sparks
1941 Jonathan B. Sweet
1939 'Speed' King
1938 Strings
1937 Inky Wells
Steve Cluskey
Danny Simpson
1936 Paul Dodson
'Scoop' Oakland
1935 Elmer
'Ten Percent' Nelson
1934 Dan Herzig
Elmer Smith
Plosser
Hjalmar Gnu
Captain 'Sunny Jim' Roberts
Toots McGuire
Shammy
1933 Conroy
Caterpillar
Lem Spawn
Happy McGuire
Barney Hopkins
Sunshine
Thomas Barry
1932 Eddie Crane
Mr. 'Stacky' Stackhouse
George Moxley
Harry Evans
N/A
1931 Sheriff Jack Rancid
Slim
Bert Benedict
Riley
Hughie Hanready
1930 Sparks
Winthrop 'Little Nemo' Clavering
Danny Walsh
Charlie Thorne
Happy Max
Happy
1929 Happy Winter
Clarence van Dyke
Yacht First Mate
Tony Skeel
1928 Tim
William Howard
1927 J. Hamilton Beamish
Phinuit
1926 Valet
N/A
N/A
Mulligan
Lucius Fenton
Slinky
1925 Gibson
Barney Gallagher
N/A
Orrin Crumb
Adrian
1923 Cyrus Morgan
1920 Peter Stearns
Grimes, the Anarchist
Waiter
The Monocle Man
1919 N/A
Year Character Movie/Tv

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