Otto Fries
Otto Hugo Fries was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1920 and 1938.
Biography
Fries was born in St. Louis, Missouri and died in 1938 in Los Angeles, California at age 50. He was the father of National Football League player Sherwood Fries.
Fries became a dapper-looking supporting comic with a varied background in medicine shows and vaudeville. He easily transitioned to film in the early 1910s. By 1915, he was with the Keystone Cops and entered a lifelong friendship with Stan Laurel, which led to appearances in that star comedian's early films for Bronco Billy Anderson. Not surprisingly, Fries later landed at Hal Roach Studios, where he supported not only Laurel & Hardy and Charley Chase but also such lesser stars as Max Davidson and James Finlayson.
Sound proved no hindrance and Fries would appear in many of Roach's German-language talkies, as well as characters in many of the Our Gang shorts. Often cast as inebriates, detectives, and bartenders, Fries played scores of bit parts and walk-ons in grade-A films. One of his more notable appearances was as a shiphand in the Marx Brothers' Monkey Business.
Partial filmography
The Weak-End Party - The OverseerThe Handy Man - The overseerWet Paint - Policeman Hotel Imperial - Anton KlinakThe Broncho Twister - SheriffThe Second Hundred Years - Lecoque The Missing Link - Call of the Cuckoo - Party Guest Surrender - TarrasLeave 'Em Laughing - Burly Dentist From Soup to Nuts - Chef Riley the Cop - Munich Cabman The Younger Generation - Tradesman Railroadin' - Joe's Father The First Seven Years - Speck's Father Little Daddy - Orphan asylum agentBargain Day - Policeman not in uniformPardon Us - Dentist Monkey Business - Ship's 2nd Officer On the Loose - Belligerent Bully Readin' and Writin' - The BlacksmithFree Eats - DetectiveChoo-Choo! - Inebriated novelties salesmanThe Night of June 13 - Baliff The Kid from Borneo - The Kids' DadCorruption - Policeman Footlight Parade - Bartender in 'Shanghai Lil' Saturday's Millions - Old Grad Hips, Hips, Hooray! - Mountaineer The Cat and the Fiddle - Piano Mover Riptide - Doorman Stamboul Quest - Train Conductor She Was a Lady - Bartender The Merry Widow - Policeman Broadway Bill - Waiter Music in the Air - Butcher The Best Man Wins - Policeman The Mystery Man - Nate, PawnbrokerGeorge White's 1935 Scandals - Soloist The Arizonian - Wells Fargo Agent Here Comes the Band - The Riveter / Cymbalist Anna Karenina - Officer at Banquet A Night at the Opera - Otto - Elevator Operator Mary Burns, Fugitive - Clerk at Employment Agency Ah, Wilderness! - German Truck Driver Next Time We Love - Conductor Timothy's Quest - Timid Tenor The Trail of the Lonesome Pine - CorseyThe Story of Louis Pasteur - Servant Small Town Girl - Townsman The King Steps Out - Minor Role Sons o' Guns - German SpyHuman Cargo - German Cook Pepper - Delicatessen Proprietor Star for a Night - Chauffeur Love on the Run - Mechanic Born to Dance - Quartet Member Charlie Chan at the Opera - Innkeeper Banjo on My Knee - Deputy When You're in Love - Otto- Musician Espionage - Driver The Hit Parade - Majordomo Pick a Star - Contest Judge Parnell - Singing Irish Member Slave Ship - Singer Love in a Bungalow - PolicemanThe Prisoner of Zenda - Luggage Officer Bulldog Drummond Comes Back - Sanghil Wun - Pub Proprietor Life Begins with Love - Policeman A Girl with Ideas - Policeman Under Suspicion High Flyers - Fat Man on Kiddie Ride Expensive Husbands - Franz, Buggy DriverPrescription for Romance - Police Sergeant Every Day's a Holiday - Quartet memberArsène Lupin Returns - Truck Driver Romance in the Dark - Policeman Test Pilot - Bartender Go Chase Yourself - Rube Wardell - Ventriloquist The Devil's Party - Detective Alexander's Ragtime Band - Trio MemberThe Lone Wolf in Paris - Peter - Rifleman Boy Meets Girl - Olaf - Masseur The Mad Miss Manton - Homicide Detective