Sparklets - Part One

	Duration: 09:18 minutes Upload Time: 2007-01-21 22:43:59 User: nedsparks :::: Favorites :::: Top Videos of Day
Description: Ned Sparks (Edward Arthur Sparkman) was born in Guelph, Ontario, on November 19, 1883. After attending classes at the University of Toronto, he sang ballads in a honky-tonk in Dawson Creek, Alaska. He traveled to New York in 1907 and established himself as a comic. He made a handful of silent films, but the advent of sound pictures would make him very famous during the 1930s and '40s. Mr. Sparks' trademark nasal, monotone, deadpan voice and world-weary manner would be immortalized in scores of films. He co-starred with Hollywood's most famous leading players, and added his special sourness to several classics, such as "42nd St.," "Imitation of Life," "Gold Diggers of 1933" and "Alice in Wonderland" (as the caterpillar). He is one of those supporting actors who cannot be ignored in film history. Like Herman Bing (always the Bavarian), Eric Blore (always a butler, valet, Etc.), Clarence Muse (doorman, prisoner, stableman) or Franklyn Pangborn (maitre d', conductor, florist, dance master), Sparks' appearance always meant you would hear monotone complaining, homespun philosophy, and general pessimism! He was so well known as the sad-eyed, cigar-chomping impresario, he was mimicked in no less than four Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies cartoons. He was often given a contradictory character name such as "Sunny Jim" or "Sunshine." (In four of them, his character is named "Happy.") This does not mean that he played transient "bit" parts; He has fourth billing in the groundbreaking film "Imitation of Life," as Claudette Colbert's business manager. In real life, he was a founding member of Actors Equity Association. I hope you get a laugh out of the way I edited these "Sparklets" together. Since YouTube has a ten-minute limit on clips, I had to create parts I and II. He died in Victorville, CA on April 3, 1957.
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