🎬 Movies Mates PEOPLE
James Dunn
Acting
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…
Read full 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)
Biography expanded
BODY OF WORK
James Dunn's Filmography
Select any movie to open its full Movies Mates details page.
Hollywood’s Children
as Self (archive footage)
No Poster
The Biggest Little Star of the 30's
as Self(archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
as Self (archive footage)
Shadow Over Elveron
as Luke Travers
The Oscar
as TV executive
Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man
as Telegrapher
Journey to the Day
as Melville Cooper
The Bramble Bush
as Stew Schaffer
Mr. Broadway
as Jerry Cohan
The Ninth Day
as Jackson
No Poster
The Last Stop
as Yigal
No Poster
A Wonderful Life
as Henry Wood
The Golden Gloves Story
as Joe Riley
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
as Mike
Killer McCoy
as Brian McCoy
That Brennan Girl
as Denny Reagan
The Caribbean Mystery
as Mr. Smith
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
as Johnny Nolan
Leave It to the Irish
as Terry Moran
Take It or Leave It
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Government Girl
as Sergeant Joe Blake
The Ghost and the Guest
as Webster Frye
The Living Ghost
as Nick Trayne
Hold That Woman!
as Jimmy Parker
Son of the Navy
as Chief Gunners Mate Mike Malone
No Poster
Mercy Plane
as 'Speed' Leslie
No Poster
Pride of the Navy
as Speed Brennan
Shadows Over Shanghai
as Johnny McGinty
Living on Love
as Gary Martin
No Poster
Venus Makes Trouble
as Buzz Martin
We Have Our Moments
as John Wade
Mysterious Crossing
as Addison Francis Murphy
Come Closer, Folks
as Jim Keene
Two-Fisted Gentleman
as Mickey
Hearts in Bondage
as Lt. Kenneth Reynolds
No Poster
Don’t Get Personal
as Bob McDonald
Bad Boy
as Eddie Nolan
Welcome Home
as Richard Foster
The Daring Young Man
as Don McLane
George White's 1935 Scandals
as Eddie
The Payoff
as Joe McCoy
Bright Eyes
as Loop Merritt
365 Nights in Hollywood
as James 'Jimmy' Dale
Have a Heart
as James 'Jimmie' Flaherty
Baby Take a Bow
as Eddie Ellison
Change of Heart
as Mark McGowan
Stand Up and Cheer!
as Jimmy Dugan
Hold That Girl
as Barney Sullivan
No Poster
Take a Chance
as Duke Stanley
Jimmy and Sally
as Jimmy O'Connor
Arizona to Broadway
as Smiley Wells
The Girl in 419
as Dr. Daniel French
Hold Me Tight
as Chuck Evans
Hello, Sister!
as Jimmy
Sailor's Luck
as Jimmy Fenimore Harrigan
Handle with Care
as Bill Gordon
Society Girl
as Johnny Malone
Dance Team
as Jimmy Mulligan
Over the Hill
as Johnny Shelby as an Adult
Sob Sister
as Garry Webster
Bad Girl
as Eddie Collins
The Song Plugger
as Man in Record Shop
No Poster
In the Nick of Time
Deliverance
as Life Saver