James Flavin
from Portland, Maine, USA
from Portland, Maine, USA
American character actor whose career lasted nearly half a century. James Wilson Flavin Jr. was the son of a hotel waiter of Canadian-English extraction and a mother, Katherine, whose father was an Irish immigrant. (Thus Flavin, well-known in Hollywood as an "Irish" type, was only one-quarter Irish.) Flavin was born and raised in Portland, Maine (a fact that may have enrichened his later working relationship with director John Ford, also a Portland native). He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, but (contrary to some sources) did not graduate. Instead he dropped out and returned to Portland where he drove a taxi. Then as now, summer stock companies flocked to Maine each year, and in 1929 he was asked to fill in for an actor. He did well with the part and the company manager offered him $150 per week to go with the troupe back to New York. Flavin accepted and by the spring of 1930 was living in a rooming house at 108 W. 87th Street in Manhattan. Flavin didn't manage to crack Broadway at this time (his Broadway debut would not occur for another thirty-nine years, in the 1971 revival of "The Front Page," in which Flavin played Murphy and briefly took over the lead role of Walter Burns from star Robert Ryan). He worked his way across the country in stock productions and tours, arriving in Los Angeles around 1932. He quickly made the transition to movies, landing the lead in his very first film, a Universal serial, The Airmail Mystery (1932). He also landed his leading lady, marrying the serial's female star Lucile Browne that same year. However, the serial marked virtually the last time that Flavin would play the lead in a film. Thereafter, he was restricted almost exclusively to supporting characters, many of them without so much as a name. He specialized in uniformed cops and hard-bitten detectives, but played chauffeurs, cabbies, and even a 16th-century palace guard with aplomb. Flavin appeared in nearly four hundred films between 1932 and 1971, and in almost a hundred television episodes before his final appearance, as President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident (1976). Flavin died of a heart ailment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on April 23, 1976. His widow Lucile died seventeen days later. They were survived by their son, William James Flavin, subsequently a professor at the United States Army War College. James and Lucile Brown Flavin were buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Second Mate Briggs (archive footage)
Capt. Toomey
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Lieutenant
Clarence Duntz
Lt. Flynn
Ft. Robinson Sergeant of the Guard (uncredited)
Security Guard (uncredited)
Patrolman (uncredited)
Mooney
Police Capt. Michael J. Shanahan (uncredited)
Jake Morgan
Mr. Bradbury
Secret Service Chief
Tim Riley
Wool Buyer
Timmy
Police Chief Martin
Military Policeman
Attorney Michael X. Flanders
Col. Marshall
Doctor
Col. Tarant
Judd Harrison
Texas Rangers Capt. Sturdivant
Harry (uncredited)
Longinus
Coach Buck Holman
First Policeman in Bank
Al Bragg
Col. Allison
Kelly
As We Forgive
(Unknown)
Petty Officer (uncredited)
Lieutenant-Colonel at End
Mike - Bartender (uncredited)
Cop (segment "The Cop and the Anthem") (uncredited)
Conductor
SP Commander
Capt. Worth
Prosecuting Attorney
Henry Gibbs
Commander Rogers
O'Leary, Manhattan Police Chief (uncredited)
Russ - Homicide Captain (uncredited)
Secret Service Chief
Gen. Brevort (uncredited)
Railroad Workman
Guard
Lt. Phillips
Police Lt. Brewster
Andrews
Policeman in Park (Uncredited)
Det. Lt. Boylan
(Unknown)
Insp. Wellman
Stan Caldwell
Schultz
Brophy
Police Sergeant Briggs
Guard Capt. Peter Butler
Guard (uncredited)
Lieutenant Mitchell
Traffic Cop (uncredited)
Police Inspector Thorndyke
Sgt. Oliphant
Kerrigan
Sergeant Major
Lt. Sam Wilson
District Attorney
Det. Lt. 'Mac' Hennessey (uncredited)
First Policeman (uncredited)
Police Sergeant Patella
Captain Danforth
Pat Johnson
Policeman Reardon (uncredited)
Policeman
Hoatley / First Carnival Owner (uncredited)
Villager (uncredited)
Chief Bosun Mate Gurney
Subway Conductor (Uncredited)
Detective Sgt. McFarland (uncredited)
Investigator (uncredited)
Policeman (uncredited)
Turnkey (uncredited)
Joe
Police Insp. Cardona
Police Detective #1
Woods
Dan Bellamy
Col. Walsh
Shake Thomas
Major at Kweilin Airbase (uncredited)
Guard
Police Officer (uncredited)
Captain (uncredited)
Radio Cop
H.R. Jarvis
Detective (uncredited)
Flavin, Mate of the Quincy (uncredited)
Laundry Truck Driver (uncredited)
Officer Johnny Tracy
Captain of Mobile Guard
Policeman (uncredited)
Man in Subway (uncredited)
(Unknown)
Sgt. Wiggins
Bank Security Guard (uncredited)
Det. McEveety (uncredited)
Marine Sergeant (uncredited)
Cop (uncredited)
Policeman
Maj. A.M. Bagley
American Senator (uncredited)
Merchant Marine School Lieutenant-Commander (uncredited)
Policeman (uncredited)
Federal Agent (uncredited)
Captain O'Brien (Uncredited)
Cmdr. Kalin
Policeman (uncredited)
1st Lt. Bill Gardner
Radio Policeman (Uncredited)
Train Conductor
(Unknown)
Police Dispatcher
Treat 'Em Rough
Joe Trosper
Girl's Father (uncredited)
Keenan - Detective Grilling Eddie (uncredited)
Motorcycle Cop (voice) (uncredited)
Police Lieutenant Schaeffer
Doorman (uncredited)
Process Server
Thomas
Capt. Luddy
Egan (uncredited)
George Corbett (uncredited)
Policeman
Demolition Man (uncredited)
Policeman (uncredited)
Recruiting Sergeant (uncredited)
Ticket Inspector on Boat (uncredited)
Deputy Sheriff
Sheriff Bud Connolly (uncredited)
Officer Johnson
Buck (uncredited)
Tomassetti
Orderly About to Give Bath (uncredited)
Sergeant
Police Lt. Bardette
Immigration Guard (uncredited)
Abilene Fight Announcer
Detective (uncredited)
Recruiting Sergeant (uncredited)
Railroad Detective #2 (uncredited)
Policeman Kelly
Moving Man
Hotel Guest in Room 625 (uncredited)
Court Attendant (uncredited)
Supply Sergeant (uncredited)
Clancy (uncredited)
Death Row Guard (uncredited)
Patrolman Johnson
Guard
Guard (uncredited)
McRafferty
Roaring 90's Club Doorman (uncredited)
Prison Guard In Library (uncredited)
Storm Swenson
Det. Carvin
Grogin
Policeman
Parking Attendant at Fat Dutchy's (uncredited)
Hotel Porter (uncredited)
Third FBI Director
Ranch Foreman
Doorman (uncredited)
Policeman
Truck Driver
Cafe Customer
Cop (uncredited)
Annabella's Brother
Detective
Detective
Army Assistant Coach (uncredited)
Mountie
Dowling
Dock Policeman
Buck Miller
Army Sergeant (uncredited)
Cavalry Captain (uncredited)
Doorman (uncredited)
Police Interrogator
Police Announcer (uncredited)
Doorman
George Mitchell
Paddy (uncredited)
Guard (uncredited)
Turnkey
Officer Simmons (uncredited)
Sanders
Police Sgt. Jerry
Officer (uncredited)
Coard Guard Man on Road (uncredited)
Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Policeman (uncredited)
Fluger
Policeman Guarding Entrance (uncredited)
Policeman (uncredited)
Policeman
Sergeant
Detective Hayes
Burly Man (Uncredited)
Striker (uncredited)
Kidnapper
Gas Station Attendant
Cop (uncredited)
Pilot (uncredited)
Army Captain (uncredited)
Jenks - Chauffeur (uncredited)
Guard
George - Witness (uncredited)
Jailer (uncredited)
Jack's Friend (uncredited)
Young Reporter (uncredited)
Justice Department Agent
Policeman in Accident Car (uncredited)
Detective Sgt. Berkovich
2nd Cop
Plebe Hockey Coach
Cab Driver
State Trooper (uncredited)
Detective McCormick
Bill Seaver
Detective
Det. Bill O'Malley
Dr. Spitzy Calahan (uncredited)
Driver
Policeman (uncredited)
Marine Who Likes Painting (uncredited)
State Trooper
Man in Manhole (uncredited)
Detective
Detective (uncredited)
Policeman
Policeman
Brandhma
Freighter Officer
Policeman
Agent with Jean (uncredited)
Detective
Flavin - Federal Agent (uncredited)
Policeman at Merry-Go-Round (uncredited)
Informant on Telephone
Mac - Policeman (uncredited)
Chauffeur (uncredited)
Agent Arresting Julie (uncredited)
Lieutenant (uncredited)
2st Military Policeman (uncredited)
Ed
Wilcox
Bill Figg
Detective (uncredited)
Flannigan
Palace Guard (uncredited)
Holt Larkins
Mate Briggs
Fireman
Det. Mack McCue
Frank Busch
Billy (Uncredited)
Bob Lee
Reporter (uncredited)
Corporal Randall McKenna
Undetermined Role (uncredited)
First Mate on Yacht (uncredited)
Don Lindsay
Man with Radio Report (uncredited)