Ned Sparks

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Ned Sparks born Edward Arthur Sparkman November 19 1883 April 3 1957 was a Canadianborn character actor of the American stage and screen Sparks was known for his deadpan expression and deep gravelly voice Born in Guelph Ontario Sparks left home at age 16 and attempted to work as a gold prospector on the Klondike Gold Rush After running out of money he won a spot as a singer on a traveling musical companys tour At age 19 he returned to Canada and briefly attended a Toronto seminary After leaving the seminary he worked for the railroad and worked in theater in Toronto In 1907 he left Toronto for New York City to try his hand in the Broadway theatre where he appeared in his first show in 1912 While working on Broadway Sparks developed his trademark deadpan expression while portraying the role of a desk clerk in the play Little Miss Brown His success on the stage soon caught the attention of MGMs Louis B Mayer who signed Sparks to a six picture deal Sparks began appearing in numerous silent films before finally making his talkie debut in the 1928 film The Big Noise In the 1930s Sparks became known for portraying dourfaced sarcastic cigarchomping characters He became so associated with the type that in 1936 The New York Times reported that Sparks had his face insured for USD100000 with Lloyds of London The market agreed to pay the sum to any photographer who could capture Sparks smiling Sparks later admitted that the story was a publicity stunt and he was only insured for 10000 Sparks was also caricatured in cartoons including the JackintheBox character in the Disney short Broken Toys 1935 and the jester in Mother Goose Goes Hollywood 1938 a hermit crab in both Tex Averys Fresh Fish 1939 and Bob Clampetts Goofy Groceries 1941 a chicken in Bob Clampetts Slap Happy Pappy 1940 Friz Frelengs Warner Bros cartoon Malibu Beach Party 1940 and Tex Averys Hollywood Steps Out 1940 Sparks also voiced the cartoon characters Heckle and Jeckle from 1947 to 1951 Sparks appeared in ten stage productions on Broadway and over 80 films He retired from films in 1947 saying that everyone should retire at 65