J. Farrell MacDonald

Acting · 0.8 popularity

Age

151

Movies

275

Born: June 5, 1875 – August 2, 1952
From: Waterbury, Connecticut, USA

Biography

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.

Works

275 films

It's a Wonderful Life

19468.3

My Darling Clementine

19467.5

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

19277.8

Fallen Angel

19456.6

Meet John Doe

19417.3

Front Page Woman

19355.9

Slim

19376.5

The Millionaire

19317.6

Dark Command

19406.4

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer

19476.9

Superman and the Mole Men

19515.4

Topper

19376.8

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

19457.5

Goodbye, Weeds

1946

Reap the Wild Wind

19426.4

Rags

19157.5

Shep Comes Home

19486.5

3 Bad Men

19266.9

Greenwich Village

19446.7

When Willie Comes Marching Home

19506.9

Zenobia

19395.0

Sitting Pretty

19487.1

Show Boat

19366.7

The Stolen Jools

19315.6

Hangover Square

19457.0

Woman on the Run

19506.8

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

19446.8

Parnell

19374.6

The Palm Beach Story

19427.0

Susannah of the Mounties

19396.5

Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down the Line

19977.7

The Great Lie

19417.0

The Painted Angel

192910.0

The Whole Town's Talking

19356.9

The Bachelor Daddy

19228.0

Flying Fists

19376.0

Desperate Youth

19218.0

Heritage of the Desert

19325.7

Masked Emotions

19298.0

Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell

19517.2

Happy Days

19296.3

No Man of Her Own

19326.6

Numbered Woman

19387.0

Action

19216.3

My Dear Miss Aldrich

19376.3

You're My Everything

19494.8

Slave Ship

19375.1

Circumstantial Evidence

19455.2

The Painted Desert

19315.2

The Working Man

19336.5

The Maltese Falcon

19316.4

Men Without Women

19306.4

Kentucky Pride

19256.2

Here Comes the Groom

19515.4

I Take This Oath

19405.8

The Dalton Gang

19495.3

Swellhead

193510.0

Johnny Angel

19456.0

The Iron Horse

19256.8

Wild Bill Hickok Rides

19425.5

Whispering Smith

19486.7

Panhandle

19485.8

Submarine Patrol

19386.7

Gerald Cranston's Lady

19249.0

Belle Starr's Daughter

19485.1

This Sporting Age

19328.0

Maid of Salem

19376.2

Roped

19197.0

Coast Guard

19396.0

Bowery at Midnight

19425.1

Come on Over

19229.0

Laughing at Life

19337.3

Exclusive Story

19367.2

The Housekeeper's Daughter

19394.6

One Thrilling Night

19425.4

Other Men's Women

19315.7

Our Little Girl

19355.2

Peg o' My Heart

19335.0

Under Eighteen

19326.3

Western Luck

19247.0

East Side of Heaven

19397.4

The Walls of Jericho

19485.6

The Great Moment

19445.8

Abie's Irish Rose

192810.0

Manslaughter

19225.5

A Sporting Chance

19196.0

Thunder in the Valley

19478.3

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock

19476.4

Waterfront Lady

19355.3

Thank You

19254.8

Drifting

19237.0

Christmas Eve

19475.4

The Game That Kills

19376.3

True to Life

19438.0

Broadway Limited

19415.0

The Healer

19356.2

The Best Man Wins

19356.6

In Old Arizona

19285.4

The Ghost Breaker

192210.0

Masquerade

192910.0

Fashionable Fakers

19239.0

Bringing Up Father

19285.0

There Goes My Heart

19387.3

4 Devils

19287.6

Me and My Gal

19326.4

In Old Cheyenne

19414.6

Riders of Vengeance

19196.5

State Police

19388.0

Ankles Preferred

19278.0

The Lucky Horseshoe

19258.0

The Crime Doctor

19343.8

The Strange Love of Molly Louvain

19326.1

East Side, West Side

19277.2

Riffraff

19365.4

The Lone Ranger Rides Again

19397.3

Stagecoach War

19406.0

Sporting Blood

19315.4

The Freeze-Out

19217.0

I Loved a Woman

19334.8

Dakota Lil

19505.4

Captains of the Clouds

19426.4

Let 'em Have It

19357.6

The Squaw Man

19315.4

The Crowd Roars

19387.0

They Shall Have Music

19396.5

The Family Upstairs

19268.0

The Last Alarm

19404.5

None But the Brave

192810.0

Smoky

19465.7

The Spirit of Notre Dame

19317.3

The Living Ghost

19424.3

The Great Barrier

19377.5

Streets of San Francisco

19499.0

River's End

19306.4

Barefoot Boy

19385.4

70,000 Witnesses

19325.7

The Storm Daughter

19249.0

Pillow of Death

19456.7

The Hurricane Express

19325.4

Texas Masquerade

19446.5

If You Knew Susie

19487.3

Strong Boy

19296.0

Riders of the Timberline

19414.5

Fury at Furnace Creek

19486.3

Trixie from Broadway

19197.0

South Sea Rose

192910.0

The Hit Parade

19376.3

Beggar's Holiday

19349.0

The Shamrock Handicap

19265.4

Florida Special

19367.0

Maybe It's Love

19357.0

Trouble Preferred

19486.0

Hitch Hike Lady

19357.8

The Light of Western Stars

19405.0

Phantom Killer

19425.3

The Fighting Heart

19256.0

Quicksands

19237.0

Over the Border

192210.0

Gang Bullets

19385.9

The Last Express

19384.0

Star of Midnight

19355.9

The Thirteenth Guest

19325.2

Too Young to Marry

19318.0

Paid to Love

19276.5

Men Are Such Fools

19327.0

Courage of the West

19378.0

The Country Beyond

192610.0

White Banners

19386.1

Pony Express Days

19406.3

Tracks

19228.0

Riley the Cop

19285.7

Keeper of the Bees

194710.0

Romance in Manhattan

19347.8

Danger Ahead

19355.0

Scandal for Sale

19328.5

Once to Every Woman

19346.1

Knights of the Range

19407.0

The Arizonian

19358.0

Under Secret Orders

193310.0

How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 9: 'The Driver'

19317.5

Shadows of the Orient

19356.0

The Irish in Us

19357.5

The McGuerins from Brooklyn

19426.7

Probation

19326.3

Hearts of Humanity

19324.8

Prairie Law

19407.0

Come On, Rangers

19388.0

Mysterious Crossing

193610.0

Roaring Timber

19376.0

Madame Racketeer

19325.3

Trailin'

19215.7

Full Confession

19395.6

The Vanishing Frontier

19338.0

The Truth About Youth

19306.2

Joe Palooka, Champ

19468.0

Little Orphan Annie

19388.0

Conspiracy

19396.7

Web of Danger

19475.5

Man of Two Worlds

19346.5

Hostile Country

19504.3

Song o' My Heart

19304.8

Cradle Snatchers

19273.8

The Power and the Glory

19335.9

A Trip to Chinatown

192610.0

Lightnin'

19256.6

Untamed

19405.0

Hitchin' Posts

19206.3

The Easiest Way

19315.4

The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris

19288.0

The Daltons' Women

19504.5

Fighting Youth

19357.7

Extortion

19387.0

The Ape Man

19434.4

The Dream

19115.5

The First Year

19268.0

Hotel Continental

19328.0

The Wallop

19216.5

How to Break 90 #6: Fine Points

19336.5

The Age of Desire

192310.0

Week-End Marriage

19325.5

The Bonded Woman

19224.8

The Pride of the Legion

19327.0

Sky High

19225.6

Northern Frontier

19358.0

Mademoiselle Midnight

19245.7

Tiger Fangs

19437.0

Molly of the Follies

19198.0

The Dixie Merchant

19267.0

The Brat

19315.4

This Hero Stuff

19199.0

Mickey the Kid

19399.0

Stormy

19357.0

The Racing Strain

193210.0

The Crosby Case

19345.0

Law of the Timber

19417.0

The Phantom Express

19325.0

Let Women Alone

19258.0

Woman Hungry

193110.0

The Iron Master

19337.0

Private Snuffy Smith

19424.3

Touchdown!

19318.0

The Outcasts of Poker Flat

19196.0

Friendly Neighbors

19408.0

$5,000 Reward

1918

County Fair

19377.5

The Signal Tower

19245.8

The Lighthouse Keeper

1911

While Paris Sleeps

192310.0

The Girl of the Golden West

193010.0

The Scarlet Letter

19111.0

Marked Men

19196.5

My Old Kentucky Home

19387.5

The Last Frontier

19269.0

Bullet Proof

19209.0

Discarded Lovers

19324.9

Myrt and Marge

19334.1

The Young Rajah

19227.7

Murder on the Campus

19335.5

The Time-Lock Safe

1910

The Brass Bowl

192410.0

Harrigan's Kid

19437.0

A Fight For Love

19196.0

Those Who Dare

19248.0

The Gentleman from Arizona

193910.0

Steady Company

193210.0

Racing Hearts

19238.0

Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl

19269.0

A Timely Repentance

19127.0

Square Shooter

19356.2

'Tween Two Loves

1911

Riding with Death

19219.0

The Path She Chose

19207.0

Stranger in Town

19315.0

Fair Enough

19189.0

The Calling of Louis Mona

19138.0