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WILLIAM FRAWLEY (Paramount player)
William Frawley would have become a court reporter or a railroad man if his mother had had her way. Twice Frawley was embarked on the career of his choice the stage when he left the footlights to please his mother. But when he went back the third time it was for good.
And, in the end, his mother was happy about it for she lived to see her boy become a Broadway star and finally agreed that his decision to become an actor was a v/ise one.
Frawley was born February 26, 1893, in Burlington, Iowa. His father was a prominent merchant in Burlington and it was there he attended school with his brothers. As it beckoned to many other lads in small cities, the lure of Chicago proved too strong for the 19-year-old boy who wanted to become a court reporter. Shortly before he wa3 ready to sit in on his first case, a friend told Frawley of the opportunities farther west. Result was that Frawley landed in Omaha, Neb., and got a job as a clerk for the Union pacific Railrc
After two years, the young clerk returned to Chicago to land his first job in the chorus of a musical comedy. Forced by his older brother at the^r mother's orders Frawley we:rt back to bookkeeping, .uftor another yoar in an office, he and his younger brother, embarked on a vaudeville tovr in a singing and talking act. The act broke up when the mother ordered the younger boy home but William went on to San Francisco where he teamed up with a piano player. This act kept Frawley busy for four years on the Paoil'ic coast circuits.
Thon he joined a raotion picture troupe at Santa Barbara, Calif., being directed in hiB first pictures by William Desmond Taylor, picturo appearances brought Frawley New York vaudeville recognition. In 1927 he graduated to musical comedy. Following several successful seasons, he tried hie first legitimate role and was awarded a paramount movie contract a short time later. Hia initial Paramount Holly.-/ ood assignment was "Hell and High Water" with Richard Arlen. Some of his recent pictures are: SHIP CAFE, DESIRE, F MAN, THE PRINCESS COMES ACROSS.