| Jack Oakie | |
| Bgcolour: | silver |
| Birthname: | Lewis Delaney Offield |
| Born: | 12 November 1903 |
| Birthplace: | Sedalia, Missouri, U.S. |
| Deathplace: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Yearsactive: | 1923-1971 |
| Spouse: | Victoria Horne (1950 - 1978) Venita Varden (1936 - 1945) |
| Notable Role: | Benzino Napaloni in The Great Dictator (1940) |
Jack Oakie (November 12, 1903 - January 23, 1978) was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on stage, radio and television.
Oakie was born as Lewis Delaney Offield in Sedalia, Missouri. However, he grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma, which is how he obtained his "Oakie" nickname. His adopted first name, Jack, was the name of the first character he played on stage.
Oakie worked as a runner on Wall Street, New York, and narrowly escaped being killed in the Wall Street bombing of 16 September 1920. While in New York, he also started appearing in amateur theatre as a mimic and a comedian, finally making his professional debut on Broadway in 1923 as a chorus boy in a production of Little Nellie Kelly by George M. Cohan.
Oakie worked in various musicals and comedies on Broadway from 1923 to 1927, when he moved to Hollywood to work in movies at the end of the silent film era. Oakie appeared in five silent films during 1927 and 1928. As the age of the "talkies" began, he signed with Paramount Pictures, making his first talking film, The Dummy, in 1929.
When his contract with Paramount ended in 1934, Oakie decided to freelance. He was remarkably successful, appearing in 87 films, most made in the 1930s and 1940s. In the film Too Much Harmony (1933), the part of Oakie's on-screen mother was played by his real mother Mary Evelyn Offield. During the 1930s he was known as "The World's Oldest Freshman", as a result of appearing in numerous films with a collegiate theme. He was also known for refusing to wear screen make-up of any kind, and the frequent use of double-take in his comedy. Oakie was quoted[1] as saying of his studio career:
Not being limited by a film studio contract, Oakie branched into radio and had his own radio show between 1936 and 1938.
Oakie is probably most notable for his portrayal of Benzino Napaloni, the boisterous dictator of Bacteria, in Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940), for which he received an Oscar nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Award. This role was a broad parody of the fascist dictator of Italy, Benito Mussolini.
Oakie was married twice. His first marriage to Venita Varden in 1936 ended in divorce in 1945. (She died in 1948 in the crash of United Airlines Flight 624 at Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania). In 1950, he married a second time to actress Victoria Horne, with whom he lived until his passing in 1978.
Late in his career he appeared in various episodes of a number of television shows, including The Real McCoys (1957), Daniel Boone (1966), and Bonanza (1966).
Jack Oakie died on 23 January 1978 in Los Angeles, California at the age of 74 from an aortic aneurysm. His remains were interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale (top of the hill, Whispering Pines section), in Los Angeles County.
In 1981, the "Jack Oakie Lecture on Comedy in Film" was established as an annual event of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At the inaugural presentation, Oakie was described as "a master of comic timing and a beloved figure in the industry."[2]
A small display celebrating the comedy and fame of Jack Oakie is at Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 6752 Hollywood Boulevard, and his hand and footprints can be found at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
There is a also a plaque in the ground in front of the home where he was born in Sedalia, Missouri.
Oakie made his home in Northridge in the San Fernando Valley, in 1940-41, buying the 11acres estate of actress Barbara Stanwyck at 18650 Devonshire Street (just west of Reseda Boulevard). Here he planted a citrus orchard and bred Afghan Hounds, at one time having up to 100 dogs on the property. After his death, his wife Victoria remained in the home until her passing. She left the property to the University of Southern California (USC). A January 2007 article in the Los Angeles Daily News reported that Oakie's estate, one of the last remnants of the large Northridge estates famed for thoroughbred breeding, had been sold by to a developer and for subdivision into 29 homes. The article mentioned that Oakie's house, originally commissioned by Barbara Stanwyck and designed by Paul Williams, will remain, possibly as a community centre.[3]
| Year | Film | Role |
| 1961 | Lover Come Back | J. Paxton Miller |
| 1960 | The Rat Race | Mac, Owner of Macs Bar |
| 1959 | The Wonderful Country | Travis Hyte |
| 1956 | Around the World in Eighty Days | Captain of the Henrietta |
| 1951 | Tomahawk (UK title: Battle of Powder River) | Sol Beckworth |
| 1950 | Last of the Buccaneers | Sgt. Dominick |
| 1949 | Thieves' Highway | Slob |
| 1948 | When My Baby Smiles at Me | Bozo |
| 1948 | Northwest Stampede | Mike Kirby (Clem) |
| 1946 | She Wrote the Book | Jerry Marlowe |
| 1945 | On Stage Everybody | Michael Sullivan |
| 1945 | That's the Spirit | Steve "Slim" Gogarty |
| 1944 | Bowery to Broadway | Michael O'Rourke |
| 1944 | The Merry Monahans | Pete Monahan |
| 1944 | Sweet and Low-Down | Popsy |
| 1944 | It Happened Tomorrow | Uncle Oscar Smith aka Gigolini |
| 1943 | Wintertime | Skip Hutton |
| 1943 | Hello Frisco, Hello | Dan Daley |
| 1943 | Something to Shout About | Larry Martin |
| 1942 | Iceland (UK title: Katina) | Slip Riggs |
| 1942 | Song of the Islands | Rusty Smith |
| 1941 | Rise and Shine | Boley Bolenciecwcz (pronounced Bolenkowitz) |
| 1941 | Navy Blues | Cake O'Hara |
| 1941 | The Great American Broadcast | Chuck Hadley |
| 1940 | Little Men | Willie the Fox |
| 1940 | Tin Pan Alley | Harry Calhoun |
| 1940 | The Great Dictator | Benzino Napaloni |
| 1940 | Young People | Joe Ballantine |
| 1938 | Thanks for Everything | Brady |
| 1938 | Annabel Takes a Tour (aka Annabel Takes a Trip Takes a Trip) | Lanny Morgan |
| 1938 | The Affairs of Annabel | Lanny Morgan |
| 1938 | Radio City Revels | Harry Miller |
| 1937 | Hitting a New High | Corny Davis |
| 1937 | Fight for Your Lady | Ham Hamilton |
| 1937 | The Toast of New York | Luke |
| 1937 | Super-Sleuth | Willard "Bill" Martin |
| 1937 | Champagne Waltz | Happy Gallagher |
| 1936 | That Girl from Paris | Whammo Lonsdale |
| 1936 | The Texas Rangers | Wahoo Jones |
| 1936 | Florida Special | Bangs Carter |
| 1936 | Colleen | Joe Cork |
| 1936 | Collegiate (UK title: Charm School) | Jerry Craig |
| 1935 | King of Burlesque | Spud Miller |
| 1935 | The Big Broadcast of 1936 | Spud Miller |
| 1935 | The Call of the Wild | Shorty Hoolihan |
| 1934 | College Rhythm | Francis J. Finnegan |
| 1934 | Shoot the Works (UK title: Thank Your Stars) | Nicky Nelson |
| 1934 | Murder at the Vanities | Jack Ellery |
| 1934 | Looking for Trouble | Casey |
| 1933 | Alice in Wonderland | Tweedledum |
| 1933 | Sitting Pretty | Chick Parker |
| 1933 | Too Much Harmony | Benny Day |
| 1933 | College Humor | Barney Shirrel |
| 1933 | The Eagle and the Hawk | Mike Richards |
| 1933 | Sailor Be Good | Kelsey Jones |
| 1933 | From Hell to Heaven | Charlie Bayne |
| 1932 | If I Had a Million | Pvt. Mulligan |
| 1932 | Uptown New York | Eddie Doyle |
| 1932 | Madison Sq. Garden | Eddie Burke |
| 1932 | Once in a Lifetime | George Lewis |
| 1932 | Million Dollar Legs | Migg Tweeny |
| 1932 | Sky Bride | Alec Dugan |
| 1932 | Dancers in the Dark | Duke Taylor |
| 1931 | Touchdown (UK title: Playing the Game) | Babe Barton |
| 1931 | Dude Ranch | Jennifer |
| 1931 | June Moon | Frederick Martin Stevens |
| 1931 | The Gang Buster | "Cyclone" Case |
| 1930 | Sea Legs | Searchlight Doyle |
| 1930 | Let's Go Native | Voltaire McGinnis |
| 1930 | The Sap From Syracuse (aka The Sap from Abroad from Abroad) | Littleton Looney |
| 1930 | Paramount on Parade | Himself (as one of the MC's of the film) |
| 1930 | The Social Lion | Marco Perkins |
| 1930 | Hit the Deck | Bilge |
| 1929 | Sweetie | Tap-Tap Thoompson |
| 1929 | Fast Company | Elmer Kane |
| 1929 | Hard to Get | Marty Martin |
| 1929 | Street Girl (USA title: Barber John's Boy) | Joe Spring |
| 1929 | The Man I Love | Lew Layton |
| 1929 | Close Harmony | Ben Barney |
| 1929 | The Wild Party | Al |
| 1929 | The Dummy | Dopey Hart |
| 1929 | Sin Town | "Chicken" O'Toole |
| 1928 | Someone to Love | Michael Casey |
| 1928 | The Fleet's In | Searchlight Doyle |
| 1928 | Road House | Sam |
| 1923 | His Children's Children | ? |
