US actor and screenwriter. His distinctive nasal speech and professed ill-natured attitudes such as hatred of children and dogs gained him enormous popularity in such films as
David Copperfield (1935),
My Little Chickadee (1940; co-written with Mae West),
The Bank Dick (1940), and
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941).
Originally a vaudeville performer, he appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies 191521. He later incorporated his former stage routines, such as juggling and pool playing, into his films. He was also a popular radio performer.
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