Movie and television actor Douglas Fowley (May 30, 1911-May 21, 1998) was born in The Bronx, New York, USA. The 5'11" actor is probably best remembered by movie buffs for his role as a movie director Roscoe Dexter in Singing in the Rain (1952). The actor appeared in over 240 films and later and dozens of television programs. Fowley's films include Twenty Mule Team (1940), Mighty Joe Young (1949), Battleground (1949), Armored Car Robbery (1950), The Naked Jungle (1954), The High and the Mighty (1954) and Walking Tall (1973). Fowley began acting while attending St. Francis Xavier Military Academy. After nightclub performing and stage work, Fowley appeared in his first film alongside Spencer Tracy in The Mad Game, in 1933. Early in his acting career he was usually cast as movie heavies or gangsters in B-movies including Charlie Chan and Laurel and Hardy features. Fowley, with then-wife contract actress Shelby Payne, is the father of 1960s record producer Kim Fowley. The World War II vet grew a long beard in the 1960s to play Gabby Hayes-like roles on television which was a contrast to his well groomed looks in the 40s and 50s.

He was born in the Bronx, New York. As a young man, he moved to Los Angeles and studied at Los Angeles City College. He served in the Navy during World War II. Fowley played everything from cowboys to gangsters, appearing alongside stars like Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, Esther Williams (I), Gene Kelly (I) and Frank Sinatra. He debuted in Mad Game, The (1933), with Spencer Tracy and Claire Trevor. In his best-known performance, the 1952 musical Singin' in the Rain (1952), he played a film director trying to ease a silent-film star into her first talking picture. His best-known television role was as Doc Holliday in the popular ABC western series "Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, The" (1955) during the 1950s and early '60s. His last film was North Avenue Irregulars, The (1979) in 1979. He played Grandpa Hanks in the CBS comedy "Pistols 'n' Petticoats" (1966) in 1966-67. Other television credits included "Streets of San Francisco, The" (1972), "Perry Mason" (1957) and "Rockford Files, The" (1974). He died at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital, aged 86.