J. Farrell MacDonald

Also Known As: Joseph Farrell MacDonald, John Farrell MacDonald, Farrell Macdonald, J. Farrell McDonald, J.F. McDonald

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.

Department: Acting

Place of Birth: Waterbury, Connecticut, USA

Birthday: June 05, 1875

Deathday: August 02, 1952

Adult: No

Gender: Male

Popularity:

1.00%

Known For:

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
It's a Wonderful Life
My Darling Clementine
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
Topper
Stormy
The Wallop
The Vanishing Frontier
The Palm Beach Story
Panhandle
3 Bad Men
Captains of the Clouds
This Sporting Age
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
The Freeze-Out
The Maltese Falcon
Woman on the Run
The Living Ghost
No Man of Her Own
Johnny Angel
Bullet Proof
Over the Border
Superman and the Mole-Men
$5,000 Reward
Thunder in the Valley
The Ape Man
Drifting
Steady Company
Quicksands
Racing Hearts
Bowery at Midnight
Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell
Reap the Wild Wind
Let Women Alone
A Trip to Chinatown
Barefoot Boy
The Crime Doctor
Riding with Death
Hostile Country
Riders of the Timberline
The Whole Town's Talking
The Iron Horse
The Stolen Jools
Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl
Harrigan's Kid
The Walls of Jericho
Desperate Youth
You're My Everything
The Thirteenth Guest
The Working Man
The Power and the Glory
The Phantom Express
Under Eighteen
Riffraff
Manslaughter
In Old Cheyenne
Full Confession
I Loved a Woman
Paid to Love
Masquerade
Sky High
Zenobia
The Last Alarm
Streets of San Francisco
Fury at Furnace Creek
The Easiest Way
Swellhead
Come On, Rangers
Heritage of the Desert
Hotel Continental
Phantom Killer
Scandal for Sale
Discarded Lovers
Peg o' My Heart
The Brass Bowl
Hearts of Humanity
Exclusive Story
Murder on the Campus
The Healer
East Side, West Side
Danger Ahead
Shadows of the Orient
Lightnin'
4 Devils
The Squaw Man
Waterfront Lady
The Truth About Youth
Romance in Manhattan
Riley the Cop
Cradle Snatchers
The Millionaire
The Pride of the Legion
Probation
I Take This Oath
The Best Man Wins
Man of Two Worlds
The Hit Parade
Flying Fists
The Signal Tower
Sporting Blood
Keeper of the Bees
Submarine Patrol
Other Men's Women
River's End
Laughing at Life
White Banners
Smoky
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
Private Snuffy Smith
Ankles Preferred
Hitch Hike Lady
Beggar's Holiday
Gang Bullets
Let 'em Have It
The Crowd Roars
The Shamrock Handicap
Men Without Women
The Painted Desert
Conspiracy
Myrt and Marge
Men Are Such Fools
Kentucky Pride
Mysterious Crossing
One Thrilling Night
Mademoiselle Midnight
The Racing Strain
Our Little Girl
Slave Ship
The First Year
Come on Over
Susannah of the Mounties
None But the Brave
Whispering Smith
The Lone Ranger Rides Again
Belle Starr's Daughter
There Goes My Heart
My Dear Miss Aldrich
Week-End Marriage
County Fair
Greenwich Village
Maybe It's Love
The Young Rajah
Northern Frontier
East Side of Heaven
They Shall Have Music
Sitting Pretty
Coast Guard
Square Shooter
The Housekeeper's Daughter
Under Secret Orders
Western Luck
Barbara Stanwyck: Straight Down The Line
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Star of Midnight
The Iron Master
Stagecoach War
Christmas Eve
Those Who Dare
When Willie Comes Marching Home
Untamed
Bringing Up Father
My Old Kentucky Home
Maid of Salem
The Great Lie
The Scarlet Letter
The Calling of Louis Mona
Front Page Woman
The Daltons' Women
The Game That Kills
Me and My Gal
The Last Express
Numbered Woman
The Gentleman from Arizona
Little Orphan Annie
South Sea Rose
Law of the Timber
Tiger Fangs
Light of Western Stars
Once to Every Woman
Dark Command
The Irish in Us
Trailin'
Texas Masquerade
Fallen Angel
Here Comes the Groom
Slim
The Dream
If You Knew Susie
The Arizonian
The Brat
Knights of the Range
While Paris Sleeps
Pony Express Days
Happy Days
Friendly Neighbors
Goodbye, Weeds
Meet John Doe
Roped
The Dixie Merchant
Too Young to Marry
Web of Danger
Masked Emotions
Madame Racketeer
Wild Bill Hickok Rides
The Fighting Heart
Strong Boy
Thank You
A Fight For Love
Riders of Vengeance
The Dalton Gang
A Sporting Chance
Song o' My Heart
The Hurricane Express
The Lighthouse Keeper
Rags
'Tween Two Loves
A Timely Repentance
Florida Special
Roaring Timber
The Lucky Horseshoe
The Girl of the Golden West
The Ghost Breaker
The Crosby Case
Dakota Lil
How I Play Golf, by Bobby Jones No. 9: 'The Driver'
How to Break 90 #6: Fine Points
Parnell
Marked Men
The Painted Angel
The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Woman Hungry
Fighting Youth
70,000 Witnesses
The McGuerins from Brooklyn
Courage of the West
Action
Circumstantial Evidence
True to Life
Joe Palooka, Champ
State Police
The Cohens and the Kellys in Paris
Abie's Irish Rose
The Family Upstairs
Stranger in Town
Hangover Square
Show Boat
The Spirit of Notre Dame
Broadway Limited
The Bonded Woman
Hitchin' Posts
Prairie Law
In Old Arizona
Extortion
Touchdown!
Mickey the Kid
The Great Barrier
Shep Comes Home
Pillow of Death
The Great Moment
The Path She Chose
Trouble Preferred
The Country Beyond
The Age of Desire
Parnell
The Time-Lock Safe
The Bachelor Daddy