Frank McHugh

Francis Curry McHugh (May 23, 1898 – September 11, 1981) was an American stage, radio, film and television actor.

Early years Born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, of Irish descent, McHugh came from a theatrical family. As a young child he performed on stage. His brother Matt and sister Kitty performed in an act with him by the time he was 10 years old, but the family quit the stage around 1930. Another brother, Ed, became a stage manager and agent in New York.

Career Leaving the family stage company at age 17, McHugh went to Pittsburgh as leading man and stage manager at the Empire Theater there. He spent nine years in stock companies and road troupes before appearing on Broadway. In that same year, he made his first film, If Men Played Cards as Women Do, a short produced by Paramount.

From 1954 to 1956, he starred in the radio program Hotel For Pets.

From 1964 to 1965, he played Willie Walters, a live-in handyman in the 27-episode ABC sitcom The Bing Crosby Show, which reunited him once again onscreen with Bing Crosby. The show also co-starred Beverly Garland. McHugh's last feature film role was as a comical "sea captain" in the 1967 Elvis Presley caper film Easy Come, Easy Go. McHugh's last television appearance was as handyman Charlie Wingate in "The Fix-It Man", an episode of CBS's Lancer Western series. He also co-starred in Hotel for Pets (1954–1956).

McHugh belonged to a group of friends, known in Hollywood as the "Irish Mafia", that included his close friends James Cagney, Pat O’Brien and Spencer Tracy, as well as fellow actors Allen Jenkins, Ralph Bellamy, Frank Morgan, and Lynne Overman.

World War II During World War II, McHugh joined the Hollywood Victory Caravan, a group that included 21 stars traveling around the country on a special train, performing in several cities over the course of three weeks in 1942 to raise money for the Army and Navy Relief Society. He followed that with a USO tour of England, appearing in the American Variety Show with Al Jolson, Merle Oberon, Patricia Morison and Allen Jenkins.

McHugh returned to Europe with a USO show created by him, “McHugh’s Revue,” which toured France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in November and December of 1944. McHugh, four beautiful girls (actresses Mary Brian, June Clyde, Charlotte Greer and Nina Nova) and piano-player Eddie Eisman toured the front line, entertaining and meeting the troops. The McHugh Papers at the New York Public Library include many accounts of the tour. For his work with the USO, McHugh received a citation “for exceptionally meritorious service while working as a member of an entertainment unit” from the U.S. Army, signed by Major General Raymond S. McLain. In a 1945 letter to McHugh and his troupe, McLain wrote:

Personal life and death

McHugh was married to Dorothy McHugh (née Spencer) from 1933 until his death.

Filmography

Year Film Role Director Notes 1929 If Men Played Cards as Women Do 3rd Card PlayerShort film 1930 The Dawn Patrol Flaherty Howard Hawks 1930 Top Speed Tad Jordan Mervyn LeRoy 1930 Bright Lights A. Hamilton Fish, a reporter Michael Curtiz 1930 College Lovers Speed Haskins John G. Adolfi 1930 Going Wild 'Ricky' Freeman William A. Seiter 1931 Kiss Me Again Francois William A. Seiter 1931 Traveling Husbands Pinkie Charles Kerr (assistant) 1931 The Great Junction Hotel Peeping TomWilliam Beaudine 1931 Bad Company Doc Tay Garnett 1931 Corsair 'Chub' Hopping Roland West 1932 Union Depot The Drunk Alfred E. Green 1932 The Crowd Roars Spud Connors Howard Hawks 1932 One Way Passage Skippy Tay Garnett 1933 Parachute Jumper Toodles Cooper Alfred E. Green 1933 Grand Slam Philip 'Speed' McCann Alfred E. Green 1933 Footlight Parade Francis Busby Berkeley(musical numbers) 1934 Fashions of 1934 Snap William Dieterle 1934 Smarty George Lancaster Robert Florey 1934 Return of the Terror Joe Hastings Howard Bretherton 1934 Here Comes the Navy Droopy Mullins Lloyd Bacon 1934 Happiness Ahead Tom Mervyn LeRoy 1934 6 Day Bike Rider Clinton Hemmings Lloyd Bacon 1935 Gold Diggers of 1935 Humbolt Prentiss Busby Berkeley 1935 Page Miss Glory Ed Olson Mervyn LeRoy 1936 Snowed Under Orlando Rowe Ray Enright 1936 Three Men on a Horse Erwin Trowbridge Mervyn LeRoy (uncredited) 1938 Swing Your Lady Popeye Ray Enright 1938 Boy Meets Girl Rossetti Lloyd Bacon 1939 Dodge City Joe Clemens Michael Curtiz 1961 The Spiral Staircase Constable Williams 1963 Inside Danny Baker Mr. JohansenTV Pilot 1964 A Tiger Walks Bill Watkins Norman Tokar 1967 Easy Come, Easy Go Captain Jack John Rich

Short subjects as himself:

An Intimate Dinner in Celebration of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee (1930) Hollywood Newsreel (1934) (uncredited) A Dream Comes True (1935) Screen Snapshots Series 15, No. 3 (1935) Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 1 (1936) A Day at Santa Anita (1937) Sunday Night at the Trocadero (1937) Breakdowns of 1938 (1938)