Arthur Q. Bryan

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Arthur Q. Bryan
Bryan in 1957
Born
Arthur Quirk Bryan[1]

(1899-05-08)May 8, 1899
New York City, U.S.
DiedNovember 30, 1959(1959-11-30) (aged 60)[2][3]
Hollywood, California, U.S.
Resting placeValhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • radio personality
Years active1926–1959

Arthur Quirk Bryan (May 8, 1899 – November 30, 1959) was an American actor and radio personality. He is best remembered for his longtime recurring role as well-spoken, wisecracking Dr. Gamble on the radio comedy

Warner Brothers cartoon character Elmer Fudd.[4]

Early life

Arthur Q. Bryan was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on May 8, 1899. He sang in a number of churches in the New York City area and had plans to be a professional singer. In 1918, he began working as an insurance clerk at the Mutual Life Insurance Company.[5][6] He sang tenor with the Seiberling Singers and the Jeddo Highlanders on NBC radio.[7]

Career

Radio

He started as a singer in 1926 on

WEAF in 1928.[6] In 1929, Bryan was an announcer at WOR radio in New Jersey.[8][6] Contemporary radio listings in a daily newspaper indicate that he was still at WOR as late as September 13, 1931.[9] In October 1931, he began working as an announcer at WCAU in Philadelphia,[7] and in 1933 he moved to Philadelphia's WIP[10] By 1934, he was heard on WHN in New York.[11] In 1938–1940, he was a regular on The Grouch Club, which aired on the CBS Pacific network[12][6] and was featured in some short-subject films made by the group.[13] Bryan started voicing Elmer in 1940 in Elmer's Candid Camera and voiced the character all the way until his death.[6]

Bryan's work in animation did not go unnoticed by radio producers. Although his first forays into that medium were accompanied by instructions that he use the Fudd voice, Bryan soon came to the attention of

Beulah. The Gildersleeve character, played by Harold Peary, became series broadcasting's first successful spin-off hit; that plus the onset of World War II (which cost Fibber McGee & Molly their Mayor La Trivia, when Gale Gordon went into the Coast Guard in early 1942, and "The Old Timer" Bill Thompson
was drafted almost a year later) nabbed nearly every other remaining male voice.

Bryan was first hired for the new Great Gildersleeve series, to play the part of Cousin Octavia's secretary/assistant, Lucius Llewellyn (using the Elmer Fudd voice), and later one of Gildersleeve's cronies, Floyd Munson, the barber. His work on the series (in Bryan's natural voice) so impressed Quinn and Leslie, that Bryan was added to the cast of their main show, Fibber McGee and Molly, in 1943.[6]

In the early 1940s, Bryan played Waymond Wadcliffe on the Al Pearce & His Gang program on CBS.[14] Bryan starred as Major Hoople (from June 22, 1942, to April 26, 1943) in The Charlotte Greenwood Show.[15] and played Lt. Levinson on radio's Richard Diamond, Private Detective (from September 6, 1950, to June 29, 1951). In the mid-1940s, he had the role of Duke on Forever Ernest.[16]

Films

Bryan first became involved with the film industry when he moved to Hollywood in 1936 to become a scenario writer for Paramount Pictures.[7][6]

Bryan's live-action work remained largely in uncredited cameo roles, usually employing the Fudd persona, or minor supporting roles in B-movies (like the apoplectic newspaper editor in the

Ozzie and Harriet feature Here Come the Nelsons. He appeared frequently in live-action short-subjects for Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures
.

Bryan continued as the Fibber show's secondary male lead, even after Thompson and (for a time) Gordon returned to the show, and he stayed as Dr. Gamble all the way through its final incarnation on the NBC Monitor series in 1959, as well as playing Floyd on "Gildersleeve" through its conclusion in 1954. Bryan's final original work as Fudd came in the Warner Bros. Edward R. Murrow spoof Person to Bunny.[6]

Television

Bryan was a panelist on the early TV quiz show

acute gastritis while rehearsing for an episode for Producers' Showcase called "The Lord Don't Play Favorites", three hours before its airtime. Staging director Bretaigne Windust replaced Bryan during production.[17]

Death

Bryan died of a sudden heart attack at age 60[6] on November 30, 1959, in Hollywood. Bryan is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.[citation needed]

Legacy

The DVD specials for some cartoons such as What's Opera, Doc?, in Looney Tunes Golden Collection, include bits of conversation between Bryan and Mel Blanc, affording a rare opportunity to hear them working together, and to hear Bryan's natural voice. Bryan's natural voice is also heard as the tired hotel guest in A Pest in the House, in which Bryan "talks to himself", Elmer Fudd is the hotel manager.[18]

Selected filmography

Notes

References

  1. ^ See the September 12, 1918, draft card of Arthur Q. Bryan, available on ancestry.com
  2. ISBN 9780786409839
    .
  3. ISBN 9780199770786
    . Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  4. ^ "Arthur Q. Bryan Credits". Tvguide.com. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  5. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i RADIO ROUND-UP: Arthur Q. Bryan
  7. ^ a b c "Behind the Microphone" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 15, 1931. p. 19. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  8. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  9. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  10. ^ "Behind the Microphone" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 1, 1933. p. 21. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  11. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  12. ^ "The Grouch Club". OTRRPedia. Old Time Radio Researchers Group. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
  13. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  14. ^ Glickman, David (May 5, 1941). "Screenland Culls New Talent From Radio" (PDF). Broadcasting. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  15. ISBN 978-0-19-507678-3
    . Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  16. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  17. ^ "TV EMERGENCY". The Ontario Intelligencer. September 18, 1956. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  18. ^ Mel Blanc The Man of a Thousand Voices

External links

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