James Dunn
Acting
Born 1901-11-02
Died 1967-09-03
New York City, New York, USA
88 credits
Academy Awards 1
star on Hollywood Walk of Fame 1
Awards
Won 1 Academy Award
Academy Awards 1 won
- 1946 Best Supporting Actor Won A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
star on Hollywood Walk of Fame 1 won
- — star on Hollywood Walk of Fame Won
Award data from Wikidata (CC0). Coverage may be incomplete.
Read biography
James Dunn worked on the stage, in vaudeville and as an extra in silent movies before he was signed by Fox in 1931. His first movie with Fox was 1931's Sob Sister (1931). While at Fox, he appeared with Shirley Temple in her first three features: Baby Take a Bow (1934), Stand Up and Cheer! (1934) and Bright Eyes (1934). Dunn's screen character was usually the boy next door or the nice guy. In 1935 musicals at the new 20th Century-Fox were out and Dunn would move to the "B" list, from which he would never return. In The Payoff (1935) he plays the nice guy newspaper columnist whose wife ruins his career. By the late 1930s he was drinking heavily and become unemployable. He would appear in small roles in films during the early 1940s, but those parts were few. In 1945 he was able to make a comeback and win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), but his rejuvenated career would not continue. By 1951 he would again be unemployed and bankrupt. Television would later supply some work and he would be a regular on the series It's a Great Life (1954).
Dunn was born 2 November 1901, New York City, New York, USA, and he died 1 September 1967, Santa Monica, California, USA (following abdominal surgery)
Not enough member ratings yet.
Sign in to rate.
Filmography
— top 60 of 88
Acting
51 credits
The Fugitive
Bonanza
The Virginian
Rawhide
Climax!
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Naked City
Studio One
The Great Adventure
Vacation Playhouse
Screen Director's Playhouse
Lux Video Theatre
The Investigators
The Wonderful World of Disney
The Oscar
It's a Great Life
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Hello, Sister!
Stand Up and Cheer!
Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man
Bright Eyes
Society Girl
Sob Sister
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Mercy Plane
Government Girl
Bad Girl
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
That Brennan Girl
Baby Take a Bow
Deliverance
Handle with Care
Bad Boy
The Girl in 419
We Have Our Moments
Take It or Leave It
The Daring Young Man
Hollywood’s Children
Son of the Navy
The Living Ghost
The Bramble Bush
George White's 1935 Scandals
Killer McCoy
A Wonderful Life
Hold That Girl
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
Living on Love
Change of Heart
The Payoff
Hold That Woman!
Shadow Over Elveron
Other credits
9 credits
Matinee Theater
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Robert Montgomery Presents
Ben Casey
Route 66
Branded
Going My Way
General Electric Theater
The Ninth Day
Track what you watch
DuckTrack members see which of these they have already watched,
right here on this page.
Create a free account
Comments
0 commentsNo comments yet. Sign in to be the first.