Famous Like Me > Actor > P > Harold Peary
Profile of Harold Peary
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| Name: |
Harold Peary |
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| Date of Birth: |
25th July 1908 |
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| Place of Birth: |
San Leandro, California, USA |
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| Profession: |
Actor |
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From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Harold "Hal" Peary (born Harrold Jese Pereira de Faria, July 25, 1908 - March 30, 1985) was an American actor, comedian and singer in radio, film, television, and animation, best known as the original portrayer of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, aka The Great Gildersleeve.
Peary was born in San Leandro, California to Portuguese parents, and began working in local radio as early as 1923, according to his own memory, and had his own show as a singer, The Spanisher Sernader, in San Francisco, but moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1937. His radio work while in Chicago included Fibber McGee and Molly, where he originated the Gildersleeve character, the horror show Lights Out, and many others.
He was one of the most popular mass-media entertainers in the United States when he quit his famous title role in "The Great Gildersleeve" in 1950, in part because the producers of that show turned down his requests to sing more often. Peary was a good singer in the pre-World War II crooner style, but "Gildersleeve" writers thought his sining voice didn't go with his comic speaking voice. Peary hoped to continue his success in his post Gildersleeve sitcom The Harold Peary Show (aka Honest Harold) but the show failed to go over with the public.
He played Gildersleeve in many movies, and also appeared in films such as the Walt Disney movie A Tiger Walks (1964) and the Elvis Presley entry Clambake (1965). He also worked in television situation comedies, playing Herb Woodley on the TV version of Blondie, Mayor LaTrivia in the TV version of Fibber McGee and Molly, and guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Petticoat Junction, and The Brady Bunch. In the 1970s, he kept busy as a voice actor for Rankin-Bass and Hanna-Barbera.
Harold Peary died of a heart attack at the age of 76.
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