J. Farrell MacDonald
Acting
🎂 1875-06-05
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.
Cast credits(269)
Man Whose Grandfather Planted Tree (uncredited)
1946
Husband on Airplane (uncredited)
1951
'Pop' Corrigan
1938
Mr. Kroeger
1951
Michael
1934
Gardener
1946
Policeman
1937
Police Chief Bullock
1936
Jim Baker
1932
Chief Scott
1932
Police Sergeant Haggerty
1942
Mac the barman
1946
Pop Shannon
1951
John Adams
1932
Charlie Wheeler
1938
Mac, Bailiff (uncredited)
1947
Jiggs
1928
Bill Baggs
1948
Tom O'Hara
1932
'Sourpuss'
1941
John Martindale
1944
The Photographer
1927
Dave
1940
Proprietor
1937
Trinidad Dorn
1935
Capt. Ryan
1938
Insp. Tim Ryan
1940
Capt. Mitchell
1942
Gilby - Pharmacist (uncredited)
1950
Port Captain
1942
Sgt. O'Hara
1937
Officer
1938
William Barton (Detective Agency Head)
1938
Dr. Ferguson
1941
Dr. Billar
1940
Policeman
1931
Policeman (uncredited)
1947
Bailiff (uncredited)
1948
Captain Ryan
1932
Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
1947
Bank Guard (uncredited)
1945
Sheriff Jim Austin
1940
Hogan
1932
The Doorman--Mike Costello
1934
Jeff Cameron
1931
Tim Casey
1941
Jeff Chapman
1940
Doc Cooper
1948
The Priest
1944
Pop
1937
Mr. Carney The Junkman (uncredited)
1945
Dan Lewis
1931
Sheriff (uncredited)
1944
Michael Devlin
1936
Police Sergeant (uncredited)
1948
Cap, the Retired Ferryboat Captain
1950
Officer O'Donnell (uncredited)
1942
O'Shea, policeman
1944
Applejack
1935
Waco
1933
Mr. Keefer
1935
Police Sgt. J.B. Antrim (uncredited)
1932
Captain--Harbor Patrol
1935
Capt. Jackson
1935
Captain
1939
Harrigan
1936
O'Toole
1930
Mr. Martin
1932
Mr. Davis
1932
Big Bill
1931
The Coach
1931
'Brains'
1936
Captain of Ship
1937
Sheriff Cap Weatherby
1948
Mulcahey
1941
CWO 'Sails' Quincannon
1938
Jim Kerrigan
1941
Henry Hathaway
1942
Joe, Police Sergeant (uncredited)
1939
Pat O'Hannegan
1939
Police Captain
1942
Cop
1942
Ellis
1950
Father Patrick Ryan
1938
Doorman (uncredited)
1939
Buell
1919
Doorman (uncredited)
1949
D.J. 'Smokey' Nolan
1932
Patrick Shamus 'Pat' O'Connell
1933
Pop Evans
1932
Craig Dolan
1939
Flannigan
1934
Judge
1939
Pete
1924
Windy MacLaine
1936
Apartment House Manager (uncredited)
1948
Capt. Angel
1945
Kemp
1934
Det. Sgt. Tom Polhaus
1931
Pops Murphy (uncredited)
1948
Jury Foreman
1945
James 'Aloysius' Riley
1928
Dr. Neville (from Churchtown)
1942
Self (archive footage)
1997
Alvin
1950
Henry 'Hank' Davis
1933
George Holman
1932
Inspector
1935
Police Lt. 'Pete' Peterson
1942
Hobo
1935
Timson, the butler
1931
George Martin
1927
Sommers
1932
Bill Stillwell
1940
Cop (uncredited)
1948
Ben Murdock
1931
Prison Warden
1933
Irish Laborer (uncredited)
1937
Irish Laborer
1937
Sheiff Potts
1940
Doc Benson
1948
Corporal Casey
1925
Mack
1925
Donavan
1925
Sonora Slim
1930
Louis Nordell
1912
Joe Holland
1937
Hallohan
1935
Captain of the Falcon
1939
Train Conductor
1929
Grady
1933
State Coach
1932
Nevada Jim
1940
Scout
1931
Secondary Role (uncredited)
1911
Mr. Lane (uncredited)
1950
'Doc' Howe
1937
Man (uncredited)
1943
Long-Count Bowman
1946
Pop Lockhart
1949
Buzzard
1931
Jim Hadley
1940
Capt. Hansen (uncredited)
1939
Street Vendor (uncredited)
1945
Inspector Doremus
1935
Marshal Andy Jordan
1935
Rafferty
1930
Frank (uncredited)
1943
Capt. O'Brien
1935
Andrew MacKinley
1937
Detective Martin
1932
Shuster
1933
'Chuck' Campbell
1924
Colonel Forbes
1938
1945
Major Rogers
1937
Judge Hale
1935
McGuire
1927
MacGuire
1931
Calvin Williams
1937
Patrick Murphy
1928
The Cop
1935
Lemuel Townsend
1925
Gen. Rosewater
1942
Prison Warden Randolph
1932
1931
1911
"Dickie" Collins
1932
Jean Paul Fippany
1926
Costello
1930
Stage Passenger (uncredited)
1928
The Lighthouse Keeper
1911
Scotty MacKronish - Bus Driver
1947
Amhad Beg - Prime Minister
1922
Peter Roberts
1927
Chief Reardon
1938
Jim, the Cook
1946
Police Capt. Ed Kyne
1933
Murphy
1935
John Burke
1933
Jerry
1925
Police Chief (uncredited)
1939
Captain O'Brien
1943
Pop Riley
1932
Pop Stewart
1931
Dan Reagan
1923
Prison Warden (uncredited)
1935
Commodore John Gordon
1925
Mike Costigan
1926
McPherson - Innkeeper
1947
Will Whitten
1929
Patrick Kelly
1928
Chief of Police Morgan
1918
Mayor Jim Hopkins
1938
Buck Saunders
1937
Inspector Sullivan
1935
Joe Hickey
1929
Sloan
1926
Colonel Graham
1930
John Craig
1928
Silas Martin
1923
Postmaster
1947
Warden
1938
Angus McGregor
1929
1924
Mulligan
1933
Murphy
1923
Michael Morahan
1922
Office Worker
1910
Adam Naab
1932
Father
1920
Paul Ferguson (as Joseph Farrell MacDonald)
1915
Bill 'One-Punch' Fagin
1937
Sgt. Cassidy
1926
Treadway
1932
(uncredited)
1922
Rev. Stump
1931
Hackett
1929
The Clown
1928
Farmer Howard
1911
1919
Sheriff J.J. Willoughby
1939
Peg-Leg
1931
Sheriff
1935
Jim Frazer (as J. Farrel MacDonald)
1922
Sam Marcum
1922
Cappy
1940
Benjamin Strong
1926
Judge Price
1949
Wild Bill Coburn
1939
Andy
1925
Harry Cromwell
1935
1923
Joe Pelton
1922
Con O'Shea
1926
Sheriff Pat Garrity
1921
Jerry O'Day
1932
Coach Pearson
1938
Himself
1933
Tom Placer McGraw
1919
Mormon Peters
1921
Pug Malone
1927
Mr. Barstow
1926
Hickey
1924
Geoffrey MacCardle
1943
Jim Boone
1920
Luther Ripley aka Kennedy
1919
The Priest
1919
Pop Malloy
1934
Softnose Smith
1919
Umpire
1935
Dr. Thompson
1938
Butler
1919
Bobtail McGuire
1921
Norcross
1918
Pa Hudler
1929
J.C. Stillman
1933
1913
Joe Heller
1926
Duc de Moing (Prologue)
1924
Coach Parker
1935
Peter Galbraith
1922
Adams
1941
Captain Gaskell
1922
Joseph Piotto
1921
Joe Alabam (as J. Farrell McDonald)
1920
Neuces River
1921
1921
Col. Patterson
1923
