 illiam
Gargan (Jul 17. 1905 - Feb 16. 1979) |
Height:
6' (1.83 m)
Eyes: blue
Hair: auburn
Wife: Mary
Elizabeth Patricia Kenny
(19 Jan 1928 - his death)
Children:
William Dennis Jr. "Barrie" (25 Feb 1929 - 12 Dec 1982)
Leslie Howard (28 Jun 1933)
Brother:
Edward Francis Gargan (Jul 17. 1902 - Feb 19. 1964), actor |
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Above right: William's mother in the background looks at her two
sons, his brother Edward and himself. The two girls are cousins. |
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Born
as
William Dennis Gargan
Jr.
in Brooklyn, New York, USA
and son of a gambler/ bill collector/bookmaker/saloon owner
with connections to the mob and Irene G. Flynn, a teacher. He was born a twin,
one of seven children, all but he and his older brother Edward died very young.
Reportedly Gargan's film debut -
albeit uncredited - came at the age of six or seven when he played a young
baseball player in a John Bunny comedy short filmed at Brooklyn's Vitagraph
Studios.
Gargan is know to have had a
series of jobs ranging from
soda jerking to street car conducting
but after leaving high school (1922 St. James School, Brooklyn)
he had a number of white collar jobs.
He
first worked as a credit investigator and collection agent for a clothing firm.
Once Gargan was shot at when he attempted to get a deadbeat customer to pay his
overdue account. Next, he worked for about a year as a
private detective with a New York agency for "$10.00 a day and expenses." Gargan
did many of the usual detective jobs: guarding payrolls, tailing possible
suspects, conducting stakeouts, and protecting clients with valuables. He was
fired when he lost track of a diamond salesman he was supposed to be protecting.
In 1924
he became bored with the routine of a regular job he turned
to acting ... within a year he made it
to Broadway.
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Upon encouragement from playwright Le Roy Clemens Bill auditioned for, and won a part in Aloma of the South Seas
(1925) on the Broadway stage. Bill married Mary Kenny, a former dancer
(in the George White's Scandals)
in 1928. He had met her several years before at an ice rink in Prospect Park, Brooklyn.
At 14 Bill had wangled a job brushing the ice in exchange for a free ticket to
the rink. One afternoon a lithe young thing when flashing by in a seal coat and
bright red skirt. He managed to brush her with his broom and knock her flat on
purpose. Mary climbed right back up, her eyes spitting fire and her mouth not
doing badly either. From that moment Bill knew he was in love.
(7)
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Top left: William and Mary Kenny walking down the street.
Top right: Gargan and his wife, Mary, at Palm Springs’ own Our Lady of
Solitude Church where they likely have just renewed their vows. The couple
was first married in 1928.
Above left: William Gargan and Mary Kenny at the Hollywood club The Coconut
Groove (May 12. 1933)
Above right: Mr & Mrs William Gargan with their children,
Barrie (the elder) and Leslie Howard Gargan. |
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Early in his career, between acting jobs, Gargan got a job selling
gin & bootleg
whiskey to New York City speakeasies. In total he played in 7 Broadway shows.
In 1932 he won great acclaim
("Drama Critics Award for Outstanding Performance of the Year") for his work in
Philip Barry's Broadway play
The Animal Kingdom. In it he played opposite Leslie Howard with whom he
developed a lifetime friendship. Gargan even named one of his children after the
actor.
The critical success leading to an invitation from Hollywood where he made
his film debut in 1932 in Rain. |
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Above: Mary Kenny (third girl from the left in
"Russell Markert's Markettes", believed to be one of the predecessors
of the famous Rockettes (Missouri Rockets, American Rockets,
Rosettes, Roxyettes). Early in their marriage, she became one of the first
Rockettes when Radio City Music Hall opened (1932). |
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In most of his screen appearances, Gargan basically
played himself: a robust, handsome, high-spirited Irishman.
Gargan was a member of what is affectionately known in
Hollywood as "the Irish Mafia".
His "serious" film
work included noteworthy performances in Rain
(1932), The Story of Temple
Drake
(1933), Four Frightened People
(1934), and
You Only Live Once
(1937). |
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Above left: A W. Somerset Maugham tale provided the story
for Rain (1932) Miss Sadie
Thompson (Joan Crawford), a prostitute, quickly catches the eye of Sergeant Tim
O'Hara (William Gargan)
Above right: Headline Shooters
(1933) Reporter Bill Allen (William Gargan) gets the story regardless of the
consequences but when Allen meets no-nonsense Jane Mallory (Frances Dee) he
falls in love. Co-stars included Ralph Bellamy and Jack La Rue. |

Above left: Stewart Corder (William Gargan) with schoolteacher
Judy Jones (Claudette Colbert) in Four Frightened People (1934).
Above right: Black Fury (1935) brought us William Gargan as Slim
Johnson opposite Paul Muni. |
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At RKO in 1933, actors were forced to accept a big cut in
salary, because of the depression. Bill was among them. He held a meeting with
fellow actors to determine if they would accept the terms dictated by RKO's
bigwigs - a 50 percent cut in pay. They signed but he refused one clause in the
new contract. It said they relinquish all rights for further compensation in the
event their movies would be sold to television. Everyone else signed. Thinking
television wouldn't happen in their lifetime. It did. Bill didn't have a crystal
ball he just hated giving anything away to the Hollywood moguls.
(7)
He was breezier, and more entertaining, in B-films
such as Headline Shooters
(1933), Man Hunt
(1936), Wings Over Honolulu
(1937), and Bombay Clipper
(1942). |
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Above left: William Gargan and the wonderful Helen Mack in
The Milky Way (1936) a Harold
Lloyd talkie.
Above right: Sky Parade
(1936) In this airborne adventure, three pals from WW I team up to run a
commercial airline. Katherine DeMille and William Gargan. |

Above left: The House of Fear (1939) An actor, John
Woodford , dies on stage during a performance of a play. His body is taken to
his dressing room, where it disappears. The theatre is closed for over a year,
and rumors that Woodford's ghost haunts it spread all over Broadway. A detective
(William Gargan), posing as a producer , rents the theatre and attempts to
present the same play, but all sorts of "ghostly occurrences" happen to try to
thwart his plans. With Irene Hervey, Harvey Stevens.
Above right: For his work in They Knew What They
Wanted (1940), he received a "Best Supporting Actor"
Oscar nomination. Here he is pictured with co-star Carole Lombard. |
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For his work in They Knew What They Wanted (1940), he received
a "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar nomination.
Whilst during the '30s he played
high-energy, gregarious leads in many "B"-movies and second leads in major
films; later he moved into character roles e.g.
I Wake Up Screaming
(1941), Who Done It?
(1942), The Canterville Ghost
(1944), and The Bells of St.
Mary's
(1945).
He played master detective Ellery Queen in three 1942 Columbia
programmers. The series could have outlasted the war but the
fact that he had no contractual obligation to a studio prevented him to continue
the role. The series was so quickly shelved Gargan and Lindsay had to go on in
an unrelated movie No Place for a Lady
(1943).
"Bellamy's Ellery Queen movies grossed far more than did
mine. "He's not Ellery Queen," audiences said of me." |
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Above left: Irene Hervey with Gargan in the Universal's mystery Bombay
Clipper (1942)
Above right: William Gargan with Margaret Lindsay in A Desperate Chance
for Ellery Queen (1942) |
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In the first week of June of 1943 he made a personal
appearance at the M-G-M owned Capital Theatre on Broadway. The lights were
blacked out and then a white spotlight swooped down on him. When the band played
"Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer" Bill opened by saying, "The
last time I was on Broadway was with Leslie Howard in The Animal Kingdom", just
to remind them he began right there, and was really one of the boys. He went on
but didn't get much response for the first few minutes.
He wondered what was wrong with the opening lines. Then
he stepped outside and there was the headline. "Leslie Howard killed. Plan shot
down over Bay of Biscay."
He did the remaining five shows with a stone in his chest. |
At
Christmas time 1943, Gargan went on a USO tour together with fellow
film performers Claudette Colbert and Keenan Wynn. He spent several months
visiting bases in China. Gargan mainly participated in sketches. He was also
appreciated for his informal talks with the GI's and Gargan found the experience
(which lasted past the first quarter of 1944) to be one of the most rewarding of
his entire career. During that time, he wore the uniform of an Army major,
because, as he was informed, the enemy never shot majors.
Since Californians felt they had more reason for concern about a Japanese
invasion than other Americans did, many changed their place of residence during
the war years. The Gargans gave up their ranch and rented a house in the San
Fernando Valley.
If William Gargan brought an air of authenticity to his roles
as a private detective it's because of his youth (father)
Gargan learned a lot about the gambling world and met a lot of interesting
characters from across the spectrum of society. The
main reason why Gargan was so convincing as a detective was that he was probably
the only actor of his time who had actually been a private detective.
Before heading into TV he had several roles on radio. |
He took over from Edmond MacDonald
as "Inspector Burke" the star of Murder Will Out (1945 -
1946). The radio show followed the Ellery Queen
formula to a point- each show contained a fully dramatized mystery, followed by
guesses from the audience as to the killer's identity. Unlike Queen
this contained no trick clues, stories unfolded in chronological order, with the
clues considered in the order found. Four contestants (two of each sex) were
drawn from the audience. Awards of $5 (in war stamps) were given for each
correct answer; winners who guessed the killer and the correct clue won
a $50 war bond and a Gold Detective certificate framed for display. |
He portrayed
detective Ross Dolan, a veteran detective who returned to his sleuthing job
after being a sailor in WW II. Or as Dolan puts it, "a hitch in Uncle Sugar's
Navy" on ABC Radio's I Deal in
Crime (1946-1947).
As the TV-age became into being it largely took
over the existing radio formats of storytelling, quiet an industry at the time.
Hence the fact that many stars from radio made the crossover. Indeed he was
guest in panels on several radio shows, it wasn't long before he took up the
detective parts.
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Above left: Follow That Woman (1945) was basically
another "Thin Man" derivation, in a wartime setting. The story isn't always up
to standard, but William Gargan and Nancy Kelly work quite well together.
Above right: "Two women's
lives depend on what this man says!" scene from
Night Editor (1946)
starring William Gargan, Janis Carter, Jeff Donnell |

Above left: In Waterfront At Midnight
(1949) Gargan (left) portraits a policeman who tries to capture a criminal but
ends up charged with murdering his own brother.
Above right: Dynamite
(1949) contractor William Gargan has his eyes on pretty Virginia Welles, Johnny
Brown (Richard Crane) comes along to defy Gargan both at work and in love. In
the end disaster comes to the rescue ... |