Allen Jenkins
Acting
- Born:
- 1900-04-08
- Died:
- 1974-07-20
- Place of birth:
- Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Allen Jenkins (April 9, 1900 – July 20, 1974) was an American character actor on stage, screen and television. He was born Alfred McGonegal on Staten Island, New York. He studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. In his first stage appearance, he danced next to James Cagney in a chorus line for an off-Broadway musical called Pitter-Patter. He made five dollars a week. He also appeared one thousand times in Broadway plays between 1924 and 1962, including The Front Page with Lee Tracy (1928). His big break came when he replaced Spencer Tracy for three weeks in the Broadway play The Last Mile. He was called to Hollywood by Darryl F. Zanuck and signed first to Paramount Pictures and shortly afterwards to Warner Bros. He originated the character of Frankie Wells in the Broadway production of Blessed Event and reprised the role in the film adaptation, both in 1932. With the advent of talking pictures, he made a career out of playing comic henchmen, stooges, policemen and other "tough guys" in numerous films of the 1930s and 1940s, especially for Warner Bros. He was labeled the "greatest scene-stealer of the 1930s" by the New York Times. He voiced the character of "Officer Dibble" on the Hanna-Barbera television cartoon Top Cat and was a regular on the 1956-1957 television situation comedy Hey, Jeannie! (1956), starring Jeannie Carson. He was also a guest star on The Red Skelton Show, I Love Lucy, Playhouse 90, The Ernie Kovacs Show, Zane Grey Theater, and The Sid Caesar Show. Eleven days before his death he made his final appearance, at the end of Billy Wilder's 1974 film adaptation of The Front Page. He went public with his alcoholism and was the first actor to speak in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate about it. He helped start the first Alcoholics Anonymous programs in California prisons for women. Jenkins, James Cagney, Pat O'Brien and Frank McHugh were the original members of the so-called "Irish Mafia". He was the seventh member of the Screen Actors Guild. Description above from the Wikipedia article Allen Jenkins, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
Complicated Women
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
The Front Page
Getting Away from It All
Adam-12
Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding!
The Spy in the Green Hat
Batman
Honey West
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Bewitched
I'd Rather Be Rich
Robin and the 7 Hoods
For Those Who Think Young
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Ben Casey
Top Cat
Pillow Talk
Wagon Train
Three Men on a Horse
Hey, Jeannie!
December Bride
Studio 57
The Duke
General Electric Theater
The Abbott and Costello Show
The WAC from Walla Walla
Mr. & Mrs. North
Four Star Playhouse
Oklahoma Annie
Chained for Life
I Love Lucy
The Red Skelton Show
Behave Yourself!
Crazy Over Horses
Boston Blackie
Let's Go Navy!
Racket Squad
Bodyhold
The Big Wheel
The Inside Story
The Senator Was Indiscreet
Blow-Ups of 1947
Wild Harvest
The Case of the Baby-Sitter
The Hat Box Mystery
Fun on a Weekend
Easy Come, Easy Go
Singin' in the Corn
The Dark Horse
Meet Me on Broadway
Lady on a Train
Wonder Man
Stage Door Canteen
My Wife's an Angel
Three Cheers for the Girls
Eyes in the Night
They All Kissed the Bride
Maisie Gets Her Man
The Falcon Takes Over
Tortilla Flat
A Date with the Falcon
Ball of Fire
Go West, Young Lady
The Gay Falcon
Dive Bomber
Time Out for Rhythm
Footsteps in the Dark
Breakdowns of 1940
Tin Pan Alley
Meet the Wildcat
Margie
Brother Orchid
Oh, Johnny, How You Can Love!
Destry Rides Again
Torchy Blane... Playing with Dynamite
Five Came Back
Naughty but Nice
Sweepstakes Winner
Going Places
Breakdowns of 1938
Heart of the North
Hard to Get
The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
Racket Busters
Gold Diggers in Paris
Fools for Scandal
A Slight Case of Murder
Swing Your Lady
Breakdowns of 1937
Sh! The Octopus
The Perfect Specimen
Dead End
Talent Scout
Ever Since Eve
Marry the Girl
Dance Charlie Dance
The Singing Marine
A Day at Santa Anita
Marked Woman
Ready, Willing and Able
Breakdowns of 1936
Sing Me a Love Song
Three Men on a Horse
Cain and Mabel
Sins of Man
The Singing Kid
Behind the Scenes of Cain and Mabel
Miss Pacific Fleet
Broadway Hostess
Things You Never See on the Screen
The Case of the Lucky Legs
I Live for Love
Page Miss Glory
The Irish in Us
The Case of the Curious Bride
A Night at the Ritz
While the Patient Slept
Sweet Music
The St. Louis Kid
Happiness Ahead
The Case of the Howling Dog
The Merry Frinks
Twenty Million Sweethearts
Whirlpool
Jimmy the Gent
I've Got Your Number
Bedside
The Big Shakedown
Havana Widows
Bureau of Missing Persons
The Mayor of Hell
Professional Sweetheart
Tomorrow at Seven
The Silk Express
King Kong
The Mind Reader
The Keyhole
42nd Street
Blondie Johnson
Employees' Entrance
Hard to Handle
Lawyer Man
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
Three on a Match
Rackety Rax
Grand Hotel
Blessed Event
The Girl Habit