Jack Oakie (born Lewis Delaney Offield; November 12, 1903 – January 23, 1978) was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on stage, radio and television. He portrayed Napaloni in Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940), receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Born
Lewis Delaney Offield
Died
Resting place
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Occupation
Actor
Years active
1923–1971
Spouses
Venita Varden
(m. 1936; div. 1945)
(m. 1950)Jack Oakie was born in Sedalia, Missouri, at 522 W. Seventh St. His father, James Madison Offield (1880–1939), was a grain dealer, and his mother, Evelyn Offield (nee Jump) (1868–1939), was a psychology teacher.[1] When he was 5, the Offield family moved to Muskogee, Oklahoma, the source of his "Oakie" nickname.[1] His adopted first name, Jack, was the name of the first character he played on stage. Young Lewis/Jack grew up mostly in Oklahoma but also lived for periods of time with his grandmother in Kansas City, Missouri. While there he attended Woodland Elementary and made spending money as a paperboy for The Kansas City Star. He recalled years later that he made especially good money selling "extras" in November 1916 during the presidential election campaign that resulted in Woodrow Wilson being re-elected.[1]
Oakie worked as a runner on Wall Street and narrowly escaped being killed in the Wall Street bombing of September 16, 1920. While in New York, he also started appearing in amateur theatre as a mimic and a comedian, finally making his professional debut on Broadway in 1923 as a chorus boy in a production of Little Nellie KellybyGeorge M. Cohan.
Oakie worked in various musicals and comedies on Broadway from 1923 to 1927, when he moved to Hollywood to work in movies at the end of the silent film era. Oakie appeared in five silent films during 1927 and 1928. As the age of the "talkies" began, he signed with Paramount Pictures in 1927.[2] He made his first talking film, The Dummy, in 1929.
When his contract with Paramount ended in 1934, Oakie decided to freelance. He was remarkably successful, appearing in 87 films, most made in the 1930s and 1940s. In the film Too Much Harmony (1933), the part of Oakie's on-screen mother was played by his real mother, Mary Evelyn Offield. During the 1930s, he was known as "The World's Oldest Freshman", as a result of appearing in numerous films with a collegiate theme. He was also known for refusing to wear screen make-up of any kind, and the frequent use of double-take in his comedy. Oakie was quoted as saying of his studio career:
The pictures I made were called the bread and butter pictures of the studio. They cost nothing and made millions, and supported the prestige productions that cost millions and made nothing.
Oakie portrayed Benzino Napaloni, the boisterous dictator of Bacteria, in Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940), for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. This role was a broad parody of the fascist dictator of Italy, Benito Mussolini, then in power.
Not being limited by a film studio contract, Oakie branched into radio and had his own radio show between 1936 and 1938.
Late in his career he appeared in various episodes of a number of television shows, including The Real McCoys (1963, three times as Uncle Rightly), Breaking Point (Episode #22 A Child of the Center Ring,1964), Daniel Boone (1966), and Bonanza (1966).
Oakie was married twice. His first marriage to Venita Varden in 1936 ended in 1938 when Venita got an interlocutory decree of divorce. They reconciled, but finally divorced in 1944. She died in 1948 in the crash of United Airlines Flight 624atMount Carmel, Pennsylvania.
Oakie's second marriage was in 1950, to actress Victoria Horne, with whom he lived at "Oakridge" until his death in 1978.
Jack Oakie died on January 23, 1978, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 74 from an aortic aneurysm. His remains were interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, GlendaleinLos Angeles County.
Jack and Victoria Oakie lived their entire married life at "Oakridge", their 11-acre (4.5 ha) estate at 18650 Devonshire Street in Northridge, a suburb of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. They acquired the former "Marwyck" estate of actress Barbara Stanwyck in 1940. Stanwyck commissioned the original residence designed by Paul Williams. Oakie planted a citrus orchard and bred Afghan Hounds, at one time having up to 100 dogs on the property.
Victoria Oakie continued to live there after her husband's death and bequeathed the estate to the University of Southern California, which sold it to developers. After two failed attempts to develop the property, Oakridge was acquired by the City of Los Angeles in December, 2009.[3] Oakridge is considered to be one of the last remnants of the large Northridge equestrian estates, famed for former thoroughbred breeding. The city plans to use the property as a park and community event center. The Paul Williams house and the grounds are Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #484.[4][5][6]
In 1981, the "Jack Oakie Lecture on Comedy in Film" was established as an annual event of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. At the inaugural presentation, Oakie was described as "a master of comic timing and a beloved figure in the industry."[7]
The Jack Oakie Endowed Chair in Comedy at the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California was established in 2003.[8]
Jack Oakie's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 6752 Hollywood Boulevard, and his hand and footprints can be found at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
A small display celebrating the comedy and fame of Jack Oakie is at Motion Picture & Television Country House and HospitalinWoodland Hills, California. There is also a display case of his personal effects, jewelry, etc. at the Valley Relics Museum in Van Nuys, California. There is a plaque in the ground in front of the home where he was born in Sedalia, Missouri.
Jack Oakie is mentioned in the Coen Brothers film Barton Fink as the favorite actor of Charlie, a character played by John Goodman.
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1923
Minor Role
Uncredited
Lost film
Bit Part
Uncredited
Lost film
1924
Bit Part
Uncredited
Lost film
1928
B.B.Brown
Sam
Searchlight Doyle
Lost film
Michael Casey
Lost film
1929
"Chicken" O'Toole
Dopey Hart
The Reporter
Al
Ben Barney
Lew Layton
Joe Spring
USA title: Barber John's Boy
Marty Martin
Elmer Kane
Tap-Tap Thompson
1930
Bilge
Lost film
Marco Perkins
Littleton Looney
aka The Sap from Abroad
Voltaire McGinnis
Himself, as one of the MC's
Searchlight Doyle
1931
"Cyclone" Case
Frederick Martin Stevens
Jennifer
Babe Barton
UK title: Playing the Game
1932
Duke Taylor
Alec Dugan
Himself
Uncredited
Migg Tweeny
George Lewis
Eddie Burke
Pvt. Mulligan
Eddie Doyle
1933
Charlie Bayne
Kelsey Jones
Mike Richards
Barney Shirrel
Benny Day
Chick Parker
Tweedledum
1934
Casey
Jack Ellery
Nicky Nelson
UK title: Thank Your Stars
Francis J. Finnegan
1935
Shorty Hoolihan
Spud Miller
1936
Joe Cooney
Jerry Craig
UK title: Charm School
Joe Cork
Bangs Carter
Henry B. "Wahoo" Jones
Whammo Lonsdale
1937
Happy Gallagher
Willard "Bill" Martin
Luke
Ham Hamilton
Corny Davis
1938
Harry Miller
Lanny Morgan
Lanny Morgan
aka Annabel Takes a Trip
Bates
1940
Joe Ballantine
Benzino Napaloni
Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Harry Calhoun
Willie the Fox
1941
Chuck Hadley
Cake O'Hara
Boley Bolenciecwcz
1942
Rusty Smith
Slip Riggs
UK title: Katina
1943
Larry Martin
Dan Daley
Skip Hutton
1944
Uncle Oscar Smith, aka Gigolini
Pete Monahan
Popsy
Michael O'Rourke
1945
Steve "Slim" Gogarty
Michael Sullivan
1946
Jerry Marlowe
1948
Mike Kirby (Clem)
Bozo Evans
1949
Slob
1950
Sgt. Dominick
1951
Sol Beckworth
UK title: Battle of Powder River
1956
Captain of the 'SS Henrietta'
1959
Travis Hyte
1960
Mac, Owner of Macs Bar
1961
J. Paxton Miller
1966
Otis Cobb
S3/E3 "Goliath"
