Eugene Pallette (July 8 1889 - September 3 1954) was an American actor who appeared in over 240 films.
Born in Winfield, Kansas, Pallette became a silent screen actor beginning in 1912. He quickly advanced to featured status, appearing in many westerns. He worked with D.W. Griffith on such famous films as The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916). At this time, he had a slim, athletic figure, a far cry from the portly build that would gain him fame later in his career.
After gaining a substantial amount of weight, Pallette's status as a recognizable character actor rose. In 1927, Pallette signed as a regular for Hal Roach Studios, and was a reliable comic foil in several early Laurel and Hardy films before the advent of talkies. In later years, Pallette's weight may have topped out at 300 pounds.
Sound proved to be the second major career boost for Pallette. His inimitable rasping gravel voice (described as "half an octave below anyone else in the cast") made him one of Hollywood's most sought-after character actors in the 1930s and 1940s.
The typical Pallette role was the comically-exasperated head of the family (as in My Man Godfrey and The Lady Eve), the cynical backroom sharpy (as in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), or the gruff detective. However, Pallette's best known role may be as Friar Tuck in The Adventures of Robin Hood.
BBC commentator Dana Gioia gave this extensive description of Pallette's onscreen appeal: In increasingly ill health by his late fifties, Pallette made fewer and fewer movies, and for lesser studios. His final film, Suspense, was released in 1946. He died in Los Angeles from cancer.
Gargantuan-bellied, frog-voiced character actor who was a staple in forties movies. After World War II his ultra-right-wing political views fuelled his 'bomb' paranoia and he bought a property in Oregon which he turned into a well-stocked compound in case the Russians attacked. Many of his old Hollywood friends, including Clark Gable, visited him there (some came to hunt and fish) but the property was later sold.
