Warren Hymer
Edgar Warren Hymer was an American theatre and film actor.
Early life
He was born in New York City. His father, John Bard Hymer was a playwright, vaudeville writer and actor, while his mother, Eleanor Kent, was an actress.
Career
He appeared in 129 films between 1929 and 1946, as well as the 1928 Broadway play The Grey Fox.
Despite his typical screen persona as an unsophisticated tough guy with a Brooklyn accent, he actually attended Yale University. With his burly frame and good-natured grin, he almost always played punch-drunk prizefighters, affable soldiers or sailors, or Runyonesque gangsters. He had only two leading roles: opposite Buster Keaton in Keaton's comeback short subject The Gold Ghost, and as one of a trio of mobsters hired to assassinate Adolf Hitler in Hitler: Dead or Alive.
In a famous Hollywood anecdote, Columbia Pictures head Harry Cohn had Hymer removed from the studio after he showed up for work drunk. Hymer responded by breaking into Cohn's office and urinating on his desk. Cohn ordered the desk to be burned, then tried to blackball Hymer in the film industry. The incident probably happened in 1939, during the filming of Hymer's last Columbia assignment, The Lady and the Mob. Cohn's warning to other studios to avoid Hymer was effective in the short term -- Hymer had only two assignments in 1940. Cohn's ace director Frank Capra, who had angrily left Cohn's employ, broke the Cohn curse by hiring Hymer for his 1941 feature Meet John Doe. From then on, Warren Hymer was working steadily again. He made up for lost time by accepting more frequent work at smaller studios like Monogram and PRC, between more prestigious assignments at larger studios.
Perhaps Warren Hymer's most unusual role was in the 1941 Monogram feature Phantom Killer. Hymer, in his usual Brooklynesque dumb-bell character, played the slow-witted assistant to police lieutenant Kenneth Harlan. Harlan could not finish the picture due to a brief illness, and the quickie production couldn't wait, so Harlan's character was fatally wounded and Hymer took over as senior officer. Grimly resolving to avenge Harlan's death, and suddenly losing all vestiges of dumbness, Hymer played the rest of the movie straight, in his own, dialect-free voice.
Death
Hymer experienced severe health issues in his last years, slowing his work schedule. Illness forced him to retire from the screen in 1946, and he remained "seriously ill for over a year." He died in 1948 in Los Angeles, California, the cause of death listed as a stomach ailment. His remains are interred at Chapel of the Pines Crematory.
Filmography
The Far Call - Soup Brophy Speakeasy - Cannon DelmontFox Movietone Follies of 1929 - MartinThe Cock-Eyed World - Marine Corporal Scout The Girl from Havana - Spike HowardFrozen Justice - BartenderThe [Lone Star Ranger (1930 film)|The Lone Star Ranger] - Bowery KidMen Without Women - KaufmanBorn Reckless - Big ShotUp the River - Dannemora DanSinners' Holiday - MitchOh, For a Man! - "Pug" MoriniMen on Call - Joe BurkeThe Seas Beneath - "Lug" KaufmanCharlie Chan Carries On - Max MinchinGoldie - Spike MooreThe Spider - Schmidt The Unholy Garden - Smiley CorbinLove is a Racket - Burney OldsThe Night Mayor - RileyHold 'Em Jail - SteeleOne Way Passage - Steve BurkeMadison Square Garden - Brassie Randall20,000 Years in Sing Sing - HypeThe Billion Dollar Scandal - Kid McGurnThe Mysterious Rider - Jitney SmithA Lady's Profession - Nutty BoltonMidnight Mary - AngeloI Love That Man - MouseyHer First Mate - PercyMy Woman - Al, Butler In the Money - Gunboat BimmsKing for a Night - GoofyRoast Beef and Movies - Man at Gunpoint in Fictitious Film Scene The Crosby Case - Sam CollinsThe Gold Ghost - Bugs KellyGeorge White's Scandals - Pete Pandos - Greek WrestlerWoman Unafraid - JohnOne Is Guilty - "Knock-Out" WaltersLittle Miss Marker - Canvas BackThe Cat's-Paw - 'Spike' SlatteryShe [Loves Me Not (1934 film)|She Loves Me Not] - Mugg SchnitzelYoung and Beautiful - The ChampionBelle of the Nineties - St. Louis FighterKid Millions - Louie the LugThe Gilded Lily - Taxi DriverThe Case of the Curious Bride - Oscar PenderHold 'Em Yale - Sam, The GonophSilk Hat Kid - MistyThe Daring Young Man - Pete HoganDante's Inferno - Bozo - a Stoker She Gets Her Man - SpikeNavy Wife - ButchOur Little Girl Confidential - "Midget" ReganHong Kong Nights - WallyShow Them No Mercy! - GimpThe Widow from Monte Carlo - Dopey MullinsHitch Hike Lady - Cluck ReganThe Leavenworth Case - Detective O'MalleyTango - Joe Sloan, Betty's BoyfriendKing of the Islands - A Shipwrecked SailorLaughing Irish Eyes - Tiger O'KeefeEverybody's Old Man - Mike MurphyMr. Deeds Goes to Town - Bodyguard A [Message to Garcia (1936 film)|A Message to Garcia] - Departing Sailor Desert Justice - HymieNobody's Fool - Sour PussSan Francisco - HazeltineRhythm on the Range - Big Brain36 Hours to Kill - HazyLove Letters of a Star - ChuckYou Only Live Once - BuggsyShe's Dangerous - Herman ValentzJoin the Marines - HermanNavy Blues - Gerald "Biff" JonesWe Have Our Moments - SmackseyMarried Before Breakfast - HarryMeet the Boyfriend - Wilbur "Bugs" CorriganWake Up and Live - First GunmanSea Racketeers - Mate 'Spud' JonesBad Guy - 'Shorty'Ali Baba Goes to Town - TrampTelephone Operator - ShortyLady Behave! - ButchBluebeard's Eighth Wife - Kid MulliganArson Gang Busters - Tom JonesJoy of Living - MikeYou and Me - GimpyGateway - Guard-WaiterSubmarine Patrol - Seaman Rocky HaggertyThanks for Everything - Marine SergeantThe Lady and the Mob - Frankie O'FallonMr. Moto in Danger Island - Twister McGurkBoy Friend - GreenbergCoast Guard - Lancelot O'HaraCalling All Marines - SnookerDestry Rides Again - Bugs WatsonCharlie McCarthy, Detective - DutchI [Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby (film)|I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby] - Big Foot LouieLove, Honor, and Oh Baby! - BullMeet John Doe - AngelfaceReaching for the Sun - Percy ShelleyBuy Me That Town - Crusher HowardBirth of the Blues - LimpySkylark - Big Man in Subway CarTorpedo Boat - MarineJail House Blues - Big Foot LouieMr. Wise Guy - DratlerGirls' Town - JoeSo's Your Aunt Emma - JoeDr. Broadway - Maxie the GoatShe's in the Army - Cpl. Buck ShaneOne Thrilling Night - Pat CallahanHenry and Dizzy - Tramp at PicnicLure of the Islands - Albert, a gendarmeBaby Face Morgan - Wise WilliePolice Bullets - Gabby WalshPhantom Killer - Police Sgt. Pete CorriganHitler – Dead or Alive - Hans '"Dutch" HavermannSpy Train - Herman KrantzDanger! Women at Work - PeteGangway for Tomorrow - PeteGovernment Girl - Military Police Sergeant Since You Went Away - Convalescent Wishing for Tutti Frutti Three Is a Family - CoolieThe Affairs of Susan - Waiter Joe Palooka, Champ - Ira EylerGentleman Joe Palooka - Louie - Sparring Partner