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Birthday:
07-23-1888
Deathday:
06-07-1938 (49 years)
Birthplace:
San Francisco, California, USA
Biography
James Donlan was an American stage and screen actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1929 and 1939.
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Their works
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Thirteen Women
Act like Mike, Detective (uncredited)
event1932 star_border 6.3
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Thirteen women who were schoolmates ask a swami to cast their horoscopes. The news they receive is not good for any of them.
The Whole Town's Talking
Act like Detective Sergeant Patrick J. Howe
event1935 star_border 6.8
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Ordinary man-in-the-street Arthur Ferguson Jones leads a very straightforward life. He's never late for work and nothing interesting ever happens to him. One day everything changes: he oversleeps and is fired as an example, he's then mistaken for evil criminal killer Mannion and is arrested. The resemblance is so striking that the police give him a special pass to avoid a similar mistake. The real Mannion sees the opportunity to steal the pass and move around freely and chaos results.
Belle of the Nineties
Act like Kirby (Tiger Kid's manager)
event1934 star_border 5.8
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Cabaret entertainer Ruby Carter shifts her operations to New Orleans and becomes exceedingly popular with the local men.
Penguin Pool Murder
Act like Security Guard Fink
event1932 star_border 5.6
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New York schoolmarm Hildegarde Withers assists a detective when a body of unscrupulous stockbroker Gerald Parker suddenly appears in the penguin tank at the aquarium.
The Mayor of Hell
Act like Sam (uncredited)
event1933 star_border 7.1
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Members of a teenage gang are sent to the State Reformatory, presided over by the callous Thompson. Soon Patsy Gargan, a former gangster appointed Deputy Commissioner, arrives and takes over the administration to run the place on radical principles. Thompson needs a quick way to discredit him.
I Loved a Woman
Act like Voting Returns Announcer (uncredited)
event1933 star_border 4.8
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The son of a ruthless meatpacking king goes through a number of changes in ideals and motivations as he reluctantly inherits the mantle and falls in love.
Exclusive Story
Act like Managing Editor (uncredited)
event1936 star_border 6.5
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A reporter and his newspaper's attorney try to gather evidence that will put a notorious gangster behind bars.
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
Act like Taxi Driver (uncredited)
event1936 star_border 6.1
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A doctor is driven into an investigation of sinister goings-on at a horse race track by his mystery writer ex-wife.
The Nuisance
Act like Photographer (uncredited)
event1933 star_border 5
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Fast-talker extraordinaire Tracy gives one of his quintessential wiseguy performances as a conniving ambulance chaser who falls in love with Evans, unaware she's a special investigator for a streetcar company he's repeatedly victimized.
College Humor
Act like Marcus Lafflin
event1933 star_border 5.6
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A college professor and the school's star football player are both rivals for the same beautiful coed.
Big Dame Hunting
Act like Getchel
event1932
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A drunken husband tries to sneak in but his wife catches him... and that means trouble!
Just a Pain in the Parlor
Act like Mr. Smith
event1932 star_border 3
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Harry Sweet stars as a hick Olympic hero who is housed in a high society mansion and causes havoc to the high brow party in progress.
Dr. Socrates
Act like Salesman in Car
event1935 star_border 6.4
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Dr. Socrates gave up his brilliant career as surgeon in a prominent hospital because his betrothed died under his knife. He is now a struggling doctor in a small town that has a gangster's hideout.
The Good Bad Girl
Act like Police Sgt. Donovan
event1931 star_border 5.5
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A woman's former association with a gangster threatens to destroy her marriage to an upstanding young man.
Sporting Blood
Act like Jim, a Trainer (uncredited)
event1931 star_border 5.5
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A horse with great potential is reluctantly sold by the breeder and by chance passes through multiple hands who do not treat him well.
Danger Lights
Act like Picnic Barker (uncredited)
event1931 star_border 5.9
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Head railroad man Dan is as ugly as he is honorable. When he spots a drifter who'd hopped a freight held up by a landslide, Dan offers the man a job; then he finds the man was a railroader, too, and takes him under his wing. Engaged to Mary, Dan doesn't notice the growing attraction between his protégé and his intended but focuses instead on running the railroad.
The Fall Guy
Act like The Bill Collector
event1930 star_border 5.5
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Johnny Quinlan is so desperate for a job that he takes a gig as a "bag man" for the mob. Meanwhile, his beleaguered wife has to deal with her bizarre, unemployed, wise-cracking brother and various neighbors while keeping house in their Brooklyn tenement.
Remote Control
Act like Blodgett
event1930 star_border 4.7
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A radio announcer gets caught up with a fake clairvoyant and his gang of thieves.
We're Only Human
Act like Casey
event1935 star_border 6.5
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A cop, who plays by his own rules, brings down a notorious gangster.
Dark Hazard
Act like Man Advising Jim at Dog Track
event1934 star_border 5.4
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Jim is a compulsive gambler. He meets Marge at a boarding house and they get married. His gambling causes problems. When he runs into old flame Valerie Marge leaves him. After a few years he returns, but she is now in love with old flame Pres. Jim buys racing dog Dark Hazard and makes a fortune which he loses on roulette.
Wise Girls
Act like Ben Wade
event1929 star_border 4.7
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Early MGM talkie about a retired businessman, his headstrong daughter, and the comical complications that result when she marries in haste.
Five Star Final
event1931 star_border 6.6
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Searching for headlines at any cost, an unscrupulous newspaper owner forces his editor to print a serial based on a past murder, tormenting a woman involved.
Men of Chance
Act like Clark
event1931 star_border 5.8
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A gambler falls for a fake countess.
The Painted Desert
Act like Steve - Ore Wagon #2 Shotgun Rider
event1931 star_border 5.1
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Western pardners Jeff and Cash find a baby boy in an otherwise deserted emigrants' camp, and clash over which is to be "father." They are still bitterly feuding years later when they own adjacent ranches. Bill, the foundling whom Cash has raised to young manhood, wants to end the feud and extends an olive branch toward Jeff, who now has a lovely daughter. But during a mining venture, the bitterness escalates. Is Bill to be set against his own adoptive father?
Copy
Act like Adams
event1929
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On a slow news day, the wisecracking staff of a newspaper write articles about the serious safety issues of a local excursion steamboat line.
Under Pressure
Act like Corky
event1935 star_border 5
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Two members of a crew of "sandhogs", men who work on an underwater tunnel project, battle each other over the same woman and a rival team of sandhogs to see who will finish their half of the tunnel first, with the winning team getting more money and guaranteed future work.
The Plot Thickens
Act like Jim
event1936 star_border 6.2
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A priceless Cellini silver cup is stolen from a local museum with both Hildegarde and Oscar on the case.
It Happened in Hollywood
Act like Shorty
event1937 star_border 6.1
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A silent Western star has trouble adjusting to the coming of sound.
The Bishop Murder Case
Act like Ernest Heath
event1929 star_border 5.2
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The murders start with the body of Robin. He is found with a arrow through the heart, but Vance deduces that the body was placed and not found where he was killed. The note found dealing with the murder was part of a nursery rhyme and signed by 'Bishop'. The only witness may have been Mrs. Drukker and Adolph, but they are not talking. As the murders progress, each one is accompanied by a nursery rhyme. It is up to Philo Vance to unravel the clues and unmask the identity of the murderer 'Bishop'.
The Sins of the Children
Act like Bide Taylor
event1930 star_border 4.4
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A barber turns down a promising business venture in order to take his sick son to a drier climate out west.
A Very Honorable Guy
Act like Mr. O'Toole
event1934 star_border 2
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Well respected local good guy, "Feet" Samuels finds himself heavily in debt due to an uncharacteristic gambling binge. Feet decides the only way to settle the bill is by selling his body to an ambitious doctor who agrees to allow him one last month to live life to the fullest, then kill himself.
Hi, Nellie!
Act like Evans (uncredited)
event1934 star_border 6.5
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Managing Editor Brad Bradshaw refuses to run a story linking the disappearance of Frank Canfield with embezzlement of the bank. He considers Frank a straight shooter and he goes easy on the story. Every other paper goes with the story that Frank took the money and Brad is demoted, by the publisher, to the Heartthrob column - writing advice to the lovelorn. After feeling sorry for himself for two months, he takes the column seriously and makes it the talk of the town. But Brad still wants his old job back so he will have to find Canfield and the missing money.
What! No Beer?
Act like Al (uncredited)
event1933 star_border 5.4
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When Prohibition ends, a barber tries to get in the liquor business only to come up against mobsters.
Back Street
Act like Profhero
event1932 star_border 6.1
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A woman's love for and devotion to a married man results in her being relegated to the "back streets" of his life.
Here Comes the Band
Act like Joe (uncredited)
event1935 star_border 5
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In this musical, a songwriter goes to court to claim the rights to his song that was stolen by an unscrupulous music publisher. He brings his girlfriend with him. Also going to court are the Jubilee singers, hillbillies, and some cowboys and Indians who demonstrate that the composer wrote his song by rearranging four folk tunes. He wins his song back and $50,000 in damages. Songs include: "Heading Home," "Roll Along Prairie Moon," "Tender Is the Night," "You're My Thrill," "I'm Bound for Heaven," and "The Army Band."
Mothers Cry
Act like City Editor
event1930
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Having raised four children alone, widow Mary Williams still manages to love her eldest son, vicious and sadistic Danny Williams, who has led a life of crime and now returns to inflict his insane behavior on the family household.
Boulder Dam
Act like Nightclub Manager (uncredited)
event1936 star_border 4
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Fate brings a job at Boulder Dam and romance with a saloon singer into the life of a young man on the run.
Professor Beware
Act like Man Reported at Museum
event1938 star_border 6.1
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Egyptologist, Dean Lambert, accused of car-theft, skips bail and begins a cross-country trek to join a group in New York headed for Egypt. With the police close on his trail he gets in and out of scrapes along the way.
Babes in Arms
Act like Fred (uncredited)
event1939 star_border 6.4
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Mickey Moran, son of two vaudeville veterans, decides to put up his own vaudeville show with his girlfriend Patsy Barton. But child actress Rosalie wants to make a comeback and replace Patsy both professionally and as Mickey's girl.
Traveling Saleslady
Act like Andy McNeill
event1935 star_border 5.9
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A toothpaste magnate's mischievous daughter, tired of her father's traditional ways of conducting business, joins forces with her father's rival and a crazy inventor. Together they create "Cocktail Toothpaste". The new concoction tastes like whiskey in the morning, a martini at suppertime, and champagne at night.
Daybreak
Act like Drunk Inviting Laura to Dance
event1931 star_border 4
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An Austrian soldier must choose between a wealthy fiancee and a new girl who takes his fancy.
Now I'll Tell
Act like Honey Smith
event1934 star_border 4.8
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A two-bit gambler somehow claws his way to the top. His love for riches is only matched by his love for his wife, but he is sometimes confused by which he loves most.
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
Act like First Reporter (uncredited)
event1932 star_border 6.5
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Brash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.
Design for Living
Act like Fat Man with Ring (uncredited)
event1933 star_border 7.2
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An independent woman can't choose between the two men she loves.
The Daring Young Man
Act like Captain of the Prison Guard
event1935
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The Daring Young Man is hotshot-reporter Don McLane, played by James Dunn. Always on the prowl for a good story, McLane is persistently outscooped by his rival, sob sister Martha Allen (Mae Clarke). After several reels of double-crossing one another, hero and heroine give in to the inevitable and fall in love. But as Martha waits at the altar in her wedding gown, McLane is off on another crusade, this time getting himself arrested to expose corruption within the prison system.
This Is My Affair
Act like Reporter
event1937 star_border 7.3
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President McKinley asks Lt. Richard L. Perry to go underground to identify some obviously very well briefed Mid-Western bank robbers based in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Huddle
Act like Heckler at Game (uncredited)
event1932 star_border 6.6
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Tony, the son of Italian immigrants, works in a smoky steel mill in Gary, Indiana. He wins a company scholarship which will enable him to attend Yale college. Over the four years of his college career he learns about football, love, and class prejudice.
Paris Interlude
Act like Jones - Times Reporter
event1934 star_border 3.5
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Expatriates and foreign correspondents mix in a Paris bistro...
Life Begins at Forty
Act like Farmer
event1935
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A small-town newspaper publisher finds himself in opposition to the local banker on the return to town of a lad jailed possibly wrongly for a theft from the bank.
The Case of the Curious Bride
Act like Detective Fritz
event1935 star_border 6
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After giving the District Attorney another stinging defeat, Perry plans to take a vacation in China. That is, he was, until Rhoda, his old flame, meets him at a restaurant. It seems that her husband Moxley, who had been allegedly dead for four years, is alive and demanding money as she has married into wealth. The case escalates when the police find the body of Moxley and charge her with the murder.
Pilgrimage
event1933 star_border 6.7
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A mother from Arkansas is very possessive of her grown son. To prevent him from getting married she has him drafted into WW I.
Music for Madame
Act like Suspect with Cold (Uncredited)
event1937 star_border 5
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An Italian immigrant singer, Nino, hoping to succeed in Hollywood, falls in with a gang of crooks who use his talent to distract everyone at a party while they steal the jewels.
Doctor Bull
Act like Harry Weems
event1933 star_border 6.5
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In this engaging adaptation of James Gould Cozzen's novel The Last Adam, film icon Will Rogers portrays Dr. George Bull, a compassionate, highly regarded small-town physician who often prescribes a healthy dose of common sense! But when Bull begins dating a widow (Vera Allen), the local gossips misconstrue the story. To make matters worse, Bull's plainspoken manner earns him an enemy in the wealthy owner of a nearby construction camp. But once it's learned that the camp has caused illness by polluting the local water supply, the good doctor steps in to try to restore the town's health - and his reputation!
Beau Bandit
Act like Buck
event1930 star_border 3.3
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Mexican-bandit Montero and his deaf-mute sidekick Coloso are being pursued through the sand-dunes of southern Arizona by lawman Bob-Cat Manners and his posse. Montero has intentions of robbing the bank owned by skinflint Lucius Perkins, but is sidetracked by the attractions of singing-teacher Helen Wardell. He learns that Perkins has marital designs on Helen and holds the mortgage on her ranch. But Helen is in love with Bill Howard. Perkins offers Montero money to kill his rival.
The Final Edition
Act like Freddie
event1932 star_border 5
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A reporter gets the best story of her life when she goes under cover to take down the head of a crime syndicate.
The Death Kiss
Act like Max Hill
event1932 star_border 5.3
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When a movie actor is shot and killed during production, the true feelings about the actor begin to surface. As the studio heads worry about negative publicity, one of the writers tags along as the killing is investigated and clues begin to surface.
A Free Soul
Act like Reporter (uncredited)
event1931 star_border 6.1
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An alcoholic lawyer who successfully defended a notorious gambler on a murder charge objects when his free-spirited daughter becomes romantically involved with him.
Borrowing Trouble
Act like Casey
event1937 star_border 6
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The Jones family drugstore is robbed and it looks like the culprit is a boy the family has taken a liking to.
Hot Tip
Act like Bill - Racetrack Bettor
event1935 star_border 5
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An amateur handicapper must help his future son-in-law recoup the money he lost while playing the ponies.
Crash Donovan
Act like Smokey
event1936
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A California Highway Patrolman gets involved with a smuggling ring.
The Working Man
Act like Hartland Company Salesman (uncredited)
event1933 star_border 6.6
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A successful shoe manufacturer named John Reeves goes on vacation and meets the grown children of his recently deceased and much-respected competitor; they're on the verge of losing the family legacy through their careless behavior. Reeves takes it upon himself to save his rival's company by teaching the heirs a lesson in business.
Mystery of the Wax Museum
Act like Morgue Attendant (Uncredited)
event1933 star_border 6.5
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The disappearance of people and corpses leads a reporter to a wax museum and a sinister sculptor.
Big News
Act like Deke
event1929 star_border 4.6
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A reporter's marriage is jeopardized by his drinking and he finds himself accused of a murder he didn't commit.
The Avenger
Act like Durant
event1933 star_border 6
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A disgraced former District Attorney plots his revenge on the members of a criminal gang who had him framed and sent to prison.
Night Work
Act like Mr. McEvoy
event1930 star_border 6.2
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Willie, as an assistant window-dresser, is the lowest man on the totem pole at a department store. To add insult-to-injury Willie is also the store's designated 'Fired Man."; when a disgruntled customer demands that somebody-must-be-fired, Willie is summoned and summarily fired, only to be rehired when the now-satisfied customer has departed. Willie inadvertently adopts a four-year-old orphan at a cost of ten-dollars a week, and things go from bad to worse since Willie doesn't make ten-dollars a week. But, with the help of Mary, a beautiful young nurse, Willie manages to turn some corners and improve his lot in life, albeit with some skids along the way.
Dance, Fools, Dance
Act like Clinton (uncredited)
event1931 star_border 6.4
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When misfortune hits hard on the Jordan family of Chicago's upper class, Bonnie Jordan, a dazzling and witty girl, finds a job as an aspiring reporter; however, his naive younger brother Rodney takes a twisted path and gets involved with the wrong people.
Murder on a Bridle Path
Act like Detective Kane
event1936 star_border 5
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When the body of Violet Feverel is discovered on the Central Park bridle path, Inspector Oscar Piper is about to declare her death accidental from a thrown horse, until his friend and amateur detective Hildegarde Withers locates the horse and discovers blood on the horse.
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