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Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish (January 21, 1896 – January 24, 1973) was an American character actor born in New York City, New York. Naish did many film roles, but they were eclipsed when he found fame in the title role of radio's Life with Luigi (1948–1953), which surpassed Bob Hope in the 1950 ratings.
Naish appeared on stage for several years before he began his film career. He began as a member of Gus Edwards's vaudeville troupe of child performers. In Paris after World War I, Naish formed his own song and dance act. He was traveling the globe from Europe to Egypt to Asia, when his China-bound ship developed engine problems, leaving him in California in 1926.
His uncredited bit role in What Price Glory (1926) launched his career in more than two hundred films. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the first for his role in the 1943 film Sahara, then for his performance in the 1945 film A Medal for Benny, for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, Motion Picture. He notably played Boris Karloff's hunchback assistant in The House of Frankenstein in 1944.
He was of Irish descent, but never used his dialect skills to play Irishmen, explaining, "When the part of an Irishman comes along, nobody ever thinks of me." Instead, he portrayed myriad other ethnic groups on screen: Latino, Native American, East Asian, Polynesian, Middle Eastern/North African, South Asian, Eastern European, and Mediterranean. Besides his film roles, he often appeared on television later in his career. He spent many of his later years in San Diego studying philosophy and theology.
Naish was married (1929–1973) to actress Gladys Heaney (1907–1987). They had one daughter.
For his contributions to television and film, J. Carrol Naish has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6145 Hollywood Boulevard.
Golden Globe Awards
Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Known For
Batman
(1943)
Tito Daka
Rio Grande
(1950)
Lt. Gen. Philip Sheridan
Joan of Arc
(1948)
John, Count of Luxembourg, Joan's Captor
Captain Blood
(1935)
Cahusac
Sitting Bull
(1954)
Sitting Bull
Beau Geste
(1939)
Rasinoff
The Southerner
(1945)
Devers
Strange Confession
(1945)
Roger Graham
Jungle Woman
(1944)
Dr. Carl Fletcher
Saskatchewan
(1954)
Batouche
Ann Vickers
(1933)
Dr. Sorelle
Humoresque
(1947)
Rudy Boray
The Fugitive
(1947)
A Police Informer
Dragon Seed
(1944)
Japanese Kitchen Overseer
That's Entertainment!
(1974)
(archive footage) (uncredited)
Anthony Adverse
(1936)
Major Doumet
Full Filmography
Acting
What Price Glory
(1926)
French Soldier (uncredited)
Cheer Up and Smile
(1930)
Gangster Robbing Pierre's (uncredited)
Scotland Yard
(1930)
Dr. Remur
Good Intentions
(1930)
Charlie Hattrick
Homicide Squad
(1931)
Hugo
The Finger Points
(1931)
"The Finger is on You" Phone Voice (voice) (uncredited)
Ladies of the Big House
(1931)
Witness Against Doremus (uncredited)
Surrender
(1931)
French Prisoner of War (uncredited)
Gun Smoke
(1931)
Mink Gordon
The Royal Bed
(1931)
Laker
Tonight or Never
(1931)
Radio Announcer
The Beast of the City
(1932)
Pietro Cholo
Two Seconds
(1932)
Tony
Tiger Shark
(1932)
Tony
The Mouthpiece
(1932)
Tony Rocco
The Kid from Spain
(1932)
Pedro
The Hatchet Man
(1932)
Sun Yat Ming
Crooner
(1932)
Nick Meyer
The Famous Ferguson Case
(1932)
Claude Wright
The Conquerors
(1932)
Agitator
Big City Blues
(1932)
Bootlegger (uncredited)
No Living Witness
(1932)
Nick
Ann Vickers
(1933)
Dr. Sorelle
The World Gone Mad
(1933)
Ramon Salvadore
The Mystery Squadron
(1933)
Collins
Captured!
(1933)
Cpl. Guarand
No Other Woman
(1933)
Bonelli
The Devil's in Love
(1933)
Salazar
The Mad Game
(1933)
Chopper Allen
Notorious But Nice
(1933)
Joe Charney
Havana Widows
(1933)
First Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Arizona to Broadway
(1933)
Tommy Monk
Silent Men
(1933)
Jack Wilder
Central Airport
(1933)
Drunk in Wreck (uncredited)
Infernal Machine
(1933)
Bryan
The Last Trail
(1933)
John Ross
The Past of Mary Holmes
(1933)
Gary Kent
The Avenger
(1933)
Hanley
The Whirlwind
(1933)
Injun
Elmer, the Great
(1933)
Jerry (as J. Carroll Naish)
British Agent
(1934)
Commissioner of War Trotsky
The President Vanishes
(1934)
Anti-War Demonstrator (uncredited)
Upperworld
(1934)
Lou Colima
The Hell Cat
(1934)
Joe Morgan
The Defense Rests
(1934)
Monte Ballou
Marie Galante
(1934)
French Sailor Painting Ship (uncredited)
Girl in Danger
(1934)
Russo
Murder in Trinidad
(1934)
Duval
Sleepers East
(1934)
Carl Izzard
Hell in the Heavens
(1934)
Sgt. Chevalier
Return of the Terror
(1934)
Steve Scola
One Is Guilty
(1934)
Jack Allen
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
(1935)
Grand Vizier
Captain Blood
(1935)
Cahusac
Special Agent
(1935)
Joe Durell
Black Fury
(1935)
Steve Croner
Confidential
(1935)
'Lefty' Tate
Behind the Green Lights
(1935)
Sam Dover
Little Big Shot
(1935)
Bert
Front Page Woman
(1935)
Robert Cardoza
Under the Pampas Moon
(1935)
Tito
Charlie Chan at the Circus
(1936)
Tom Holt
The Charge of the Light Brigade
(1936)
Subahdar-Major Puran Singh
Robin Hood of El Dorado
(1936)
Three Fingered Jack
Special Investigator
(1936)
Eddie Selton
Ramona
(1936)
Juan Can
Exclusive Story
(1936)
Comos
Two in the Dark
(1936)
Burt Mansfield
Absolute Quiet
(1936)
Pedro
Moonlight Murder
(1936)
André Bejac
The Leathernecks Have Landed
(1936)
Irenov
Anthony Adverse
(1936)
Major Doumet
Crack-Up
(1936)
Operative #77
Bulldog Drummond Comes Back
(1937)
Mikhail Valdin
Think Fast, Mr. Moto
(1937)
Adram
Daughter of Shanghai
(1937)
Frank Barden
It May Happen to You
(1937)
Moxie
Border Cafe
(1937)
Rocky Alton
Sea Racketeers
(1937)
Harry Durant
Hideaway
(1937)
Mike Clarke
Song of the City
(1937)
Mario
We Who Are About to Die
(1937)
Nick Trotti
The Grand Bounce
(1937)
Hoodlum (uncredited)
Night Club Scandal
(1937)
Jack Reed - Gangster
Thunder Trail
(1937)
Rafael Lopez
King of Alcatraz
(1938)
Steve Murkil
Bulldog Drummond in Africa
(1938)
Richard Lane
Her Jungle Love
(1938)
Kuasa
Tip-Off Girls
(1938)
Joseph Valkus
Hunted Men
(1938)
Henry Rice
Illegal Traffic
(1938)
Lewis Zomar
Prison Farm
(1938)
Noel Haskins
Beau Geste
(1939)
Rasinoff
Island of Lost Men
(1939)
Gregory Prin
King of Chinatown
(1939)
The Professor
Hotel Imperial
(1939)
Kuprin
Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police
(1939)
Richard Lane (Archive Footage)
Persons in Hiding
(1939)
Freddie 'Gunner' Martin
Undercover Doctor
(1939)
Dr. Bartley Morgan
We're in the Movies, Now!
(1939)
Himself
Down Argentine Way
(1940)
Casiano
Golden Gloves
(1940)
Joe Taggerty
Queen of the Mob
(1940)
George Frost
Typhoon
(1940)
Mekaike
The Corsican Brothers
(1941)
Lorenzo
Blood and Sand
(1941)
Garabato
Mr. Dynamite
(1941)
'The Professor'
Birth of the Blues
(1941)
Blackie
Know For Sure
(1941)
Tony Madroni
Accent on Love
(1941)
Manuel Lombroso
That Night in Rio
(1941)
Machado
Forced Landing
(1941)
Andros Banshek
Tales of Manhattan
(1942)
Burglar - Robber #1
Dr. Renault's Secret
(1942)
Noel
The Pied Piper
(1942)
Aristide Rougeron
Jackass Mail
(1942)
Signor Michel O'Sullivan
Dr. Broadway
(1942)
Jack Venner
A Gentleman at Heart
(1942)
Gigi
Sunday Punch
(1942)
Matt Bassler
The Man in the Trunk
(1942)
Reginald DeWinters
Calling Dr. Death
(1943)
Inspector Gregg
Gung Ho!
(1943)
Lieutenant C.J. Cristoforos
Batman
(1943)
Tito Daka
Harrigan's Kid
(1943)
Jed Jerrett
Behind the Rising Sun
(1943)
Reo Seki
Good Morning, Judge
(1943)
Andre Bouchard
Sahara
(1943)
Giuseppe
The Whistler
(1944)
The Killer
Voice in the Wind
(1944)
Luigi
Waterfront
(1944)
Dr. Karl Decker
Dragon Seed
(1944)
Japanese Kitchen Overseer
Enter Arsène Lupin
(1944)
Ganimard
The Monster Maker
(1944)
Dr. Igor Markoff
Jungle Woman
(1944)
Dr. Carl Fletcher
House of Frankenstein
(1944)
Daniel
Two-Man Submarine
(1944)
Dr. Augustus Hadley
Strange Confession
(1945)
Roger Graham
The Southerner
(1945)
Devers
A Medal for Benny
(1945)
Charley Martin
Getting Gertie's Garter
(1945)
Charles, the Butler
Star in the Night
(1945)
Nick Catapoli
Bad Bascomb
(1946)
Bart Yancy
It's Your America
(1946)
French Soldier (uncredited)
Humoresque
(1947)
Rudy Boray
The Beast with Five Fingers
(1947)
Police Commissario Ovidio Castanio
The Fugitive
(1947)
A Police Informer
Carnival in Costa Rica
(1947)
Papa Rico Molina
Joan of Arc
(1948)
John, Count of Luxembourg, Joan's Captor
The Kissing Bandit
(1948)
Chico
Canadian Pacific
(1949)
Dynamite Dawson
That Midnight Kiss
(1949)
Papa Donnetti
Rio Grande
(1950)
Lt. Gen. Philip Sheridan
Annie Get Your Gun
(1950)
Chief Sitting Bull
Black Hand
(1950)
Louis Lorelli
The Toast of New Orleans
(1950)
Nicky Duvalle
Please Believe Me
(1950)
'Lucky' Reilly
Across the Wide Missouri
(1951)
Looking Glass
Bannerline
(1951)
Frankie Scarbine
The Mark of the Renegade
(1951)
Luis
Clash by Night
(1952)
Uncle Vince
Denver and Rio Grande
(1952)
Gil Harkness
Ride the Man Down
(1952)
Sheriff Joe Kneen
Woman of the North Country
(1952)
John Mulholland
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef
(1953)
Socrates Houlis
Fighter Attack
(1953)
Bruno
General Electric Theater: Wedding Day
(1953)
Sitting Bull
(1954)
Sitting Bull
Saskatchewan
(1954)
Batouche
New York Confidential
(1955)
Ben Dagajanian
Violent Saturday
(1955)
Chapman, Bank Robber
Hit the Deck
(1955)
Mr. Peroni
Desert Sands
(1955)
Sgt. Diepel
Rage at Dawn
(1955)
Simeon 'Sim' Reno
The Last Command
(1955)
General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana
Man On A Bus
(1955)
Mr Stein
Rebel in Town
(1956)
Bedloe Mason
Yaqui Drums
(1956)
Yacqi Jack
This Could Be the Night
(1957)
Leon
The Young Don't Cry
(1957)
Plug
Disneyland '59
(1959)
Self
Force of Impulse
(1961)
Antonio Marino
The Hanged Man
(1964)
Uncle Picaud
Curse of the Fly
(1965)
Logan Dolan
Doom of Dracula
(1966)
The Hunchback
Cutter's Trail
(1970)
Froteras
Dracula vs. Frankenstein
(1971)
Dr. Duryea alias Frankenstein
That's Entertainment!
(1974)
(archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
(1983)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Batmania: From Comics to Screen
(1989)
Dr. Daka
Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
(1991)
Daniel (archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
(1994)
(archive footage)
The Many Faces of Dracula
(2000)
Daniel (archive footage)