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.
278 movies · 44 shows
The Lost Spider Pit Sequence
2005·6.7
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
1976·7.0
Law and Order
1976·8.0
In Cold Blood
1967·7.5
Good Times
1967·5.2
The Further Adventures of Gallegher
1965·0.0
Cheyenne Autumn
1964·6.7
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963·7.0
Critic's Choice
1963·5.6
The Last Hurrah
1958·7.2
Johnny Rocco
1958·5.6
Wild Is the Wind
1957·6.8
Night Passage
1957·6.5
The Restless Breed
1957·5.5
Footsteps in the Night
1957·5.6
Hold That Hypnotist
1957·5.8
The Wings of Eagles
1957·6.3
Francis in the Haunted House
1956·5.8
Never Say Goodbye
1956·6.4
Apache Ambush
1955·6.3
The Naked Street
1955·6.2
Mister Roberts
1955·7.0
Return of the Dead
1954·5.0
Massacre Canyon
1954·6.7
Dragonfly Squadron
1954·6.5
The Eddie Cantor Story
1953·7.5
Fighter Attack
1953·4.5
Hot News
1953·6.5
Abbott and Costello Go to Mars
1953·5.4
Trouble Along the Way
1953·6.1
I Beheld His Glory
1953·0.0
Confidentially Connie
1953·5.8
Star of Texas
1953·7.0
Million Dollar Mermaid
1952·6.5
O. Henry's Full House
1952·6.9
Carrie
1952·6.4
Here Come the Marines
1952·7.3
Sailor Beware
1952·6.3
As We Forgive
1952·0.0
Come Fill the Cup
1951·7.0
Rhubarb
1951·5.8
Fighting Coast Guard
1951·6.7
Follow the Sun
1951·6.3
According to Mrs. Hoyle
1951·5.7
Oh! Susanna
1951·7.0
Operation Pacific
1951·6.1
South Sea Sinner
1950·7.5
Destination Murder
1950·5.2
Armored Car Robbery
1950·6.5
The Savage Horde
1950·6.2
Rock Island Trail
1950·6.3
When Willie Comes Marching Home
1950·6.9
Dakota Lil
1950·5.4
Prison Warden
1949·4.0
The Devil's Henchmen
1949·7.5
Blondie Hits the Jackpot
1949·7.0
Mighty Joe Young
1949·6.4
Mississippi Rhythm
1949·7.0
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
1949·6.6
Flamingo Road
1949·7.0
Homicide
1949·5.7
Shockproof
1949·6.3
Bungalow 13
1948·3.0
The Plunderers
1948·6.1
One Touch of Venus
1948·6.7
The Velvet Touch
1948·6.3
Secret Service Investigator
1948·7.5
The Noose Hangs High
1948·6.9
Sleep, My Love
1948·6.3
My Girl Tisa
1948·9.0
Unconquered
1947·6.5
Nightmare Alley
1947·7.2
Joe Palooka in the Knockout
1947·8.0
Song of the Thin Man
1947·6.7
Desert Fury
1947·5.9
Robin Hood Of Texas
1947·7.0
Dishonored Lady
1947·5.8
It Happened on Fifth Avenue
1947·7.1
My Favorite Brunette
1947·6.6
Nora Prentiss
1947·6.2
Nobody Lives Forever
1946·6.4
Cloak and Dagger
1946·6.5
Angel on My Shoulder
1946·6.5
Step by Step
1946·6.2
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
1946·7.1
The Missing Lady
1946·4.8
Easy to Wed
1946·6.4
Rendezvous with Annie
1946·7.0
Boys' Ranch
1946·7.0
A Stolen Life
1946·6.4
Sentimental Journey
1946·6.4
Young Widow
1946·4.8
Tars and Spars
1946·5.8
The Spider
1945·5.6
Hold That Blonde!
1945·6.3
Johnny Angel
1945·6.0
Mildred Pierce
1945·7.6
The Shanghai Cobra
1945·6.0
Anchors Aweigh
1945·6.8
Over 21
1945·6.7
Murder, He Says
1945·6.8
Circumstantial Evidence
1945·5.2
God Is My Co-Pilot
1945·7.1
Hollywood Canteen
1944·7.3
Laura
1944·7.6
Strange Affair
1944·6.2
Abroad with Two Yanks
1944·6.7
Mr. Winkle Goes to War
1944·7.1
Once Upon a Time
1944·5.8
Christmas Holiday
1944·6.5
Uncertain Glory
1944·6.7
There's Something About a Soldier
1943·5.4
Riding High
1943·5.6
Swing Shift Maisie
1943·6.8
Corvette K-225
1943·6.2
Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943·6.2
Murder on the Waterfront
1943·7.0
So Proudly We Hail
1943·5.9
I Dood It
1943·5.0
Heaven Can Wait
1943·6.9
Action in the North Atlantic
1943·7.1
Mission to Moscow
1943·5.7
Air Force
1943·6.5
Something to Shout About
1943·6.5
It Ain't Hay
1943·6.5
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty
1942·6.8
Gentleman Jim
1942·7.2
Night in New Orleans
1942·4.2
Ten Gentlemen from West Point
1942·6.4
Thru Different Eyes
1942·8.0
Tough as They Come
1942·9.0
Broadway
1942·6.4
Fingers at the Window
1942·5.7
Saboteur
1942·6.9
Kid Glove Killer
1942·6.4
Reap the Wild Wind
1942·6.4
Treat 'Em Rough
1942·8.0
A Yank on the Burma Road
1942·5.7
Bedtime Story
1941·5.8
Kathleen
1941·6.0
The Night of January 16th
1941·5.8
Ride 'Em Cowboy
1941·6.0
New York Town
1941·8.5
I Wake Up Screaming
1941·6.9
Texas
1941·6.7
Hold Back the Dawn
1941·6.7
We Go Fast
1941·6.7
Belle Starr
1941·5.9
Manpower
1941·6.5
Affectionately Yours
1941·4.5
Ziegfeld Girl
1941·6.7
Ride on Vaquero
1941·5.2
Pot o' Gold
1941·5.7
Western Union
1941·6.0
The Strawberry Blonde
1941·7.0
Buck Privates
1941·6.7
The Wild Man of Borneo
1941·6.7
Four Mothers
1941·6.8
Tin Pan Alley
1940·5.4
Youth Will Be Served
1940·4.0
The Long Voyage Home
1940·6.6
The Devil's Pipeline
1940·7.0
North West Mounted Police
1940·6.4
Knute Rockne All American
1940·6.2
The Great Profile
1940·6.8
Rhythm on the River
1940·6.9
When the Daltons Rode
1940·6.2
The Golden Fleecing
1940·5.9
South of Pago Pago
1940·5.5
Manhattan Heartbeat
1940·8.0
The Way of All Flesh
1940·4.6
Private Affairs
1940·7.0
Lucky Cisco Kid
1940·6.0
Queen of the Mob
1940·6.2
The Ghost Breakers
1940·6.5
Brother Orchid
1940·6.6
Florian
1940·4.5
Girl in 313
1940·5.6
La Conga Nights
1940·7.7
Hot Steel
1940·7.5
Johnny Apollo
1940·6.8
It All Came True
1940·5.8
And One Was Beautiful
1940·6.7
The Grapes of Wrath
1940·7.8
Women Without Names
1940·4.7
Double Alibi
1940·5.3
Castle on the Hudson
1940·7.0
Broadway Melody of 1940
1940·6.8
The Fighting 69th
1940·5.8
Remember the Night
1940·7.3
The Cisco Kid and the Lady
1939·5.4
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
1939·5.0
The Roaring Twenties
1939·7.5
Fast and Furious
1939·5.2
Irish Luck
1939·6.4
Each Dawn I Die
1939·6.8
They Shall Have Music
1939·6.5
When Tomorrow Comes
1939·5.4
They All Come Out
1939·5.9
Mr. Wong in Chinatown
1939·5.4
Mickey the Kid
1939·9.0
Tell No Tales
1939·5.4
The Gracie Allen Murder Case
1939·6.3
Union Pacific
1939·6.7
Rose of Washington Square
1939·6.7
Big Town Czar
1939·7.0
Code of the Streets
1939·7.7
Sergeant Madden
1939·7.5
Everybody's Baby
1939·8.0
The Ice Follies of 1939
1939·5.7
Jesse James
1939·6.5
The Duke of West Point
1938·4.5
While New York Sleeps
1938·7.0
Convicts at Large
1938·7.0
Blondie
1938·7.0
Lightning Carson Rides Again
1938·5.3
Too Hot to Handle
1938·6.0
Three Loves Has Nancy
1938·4.2
You Can't Take It with You
1938·7.5
I Am the Law
1938·7.1
Gateway
1938·7.4
Wives Under Suspicion
1938·5.3
Alexander's Ragtime Band
1938·6.8
Test Pilot
1938·6.1
Miracle Money
1938·6.0
Start Cheering
1938·6.9
Night Spot
1938·4.6
Born to Be Wild
1938·7.5
Mannequin
1938·6.0
Everybody's Doing It
1938·6.0
Big Town Girl
1937·7.0
Live, Love and Learn
1937·5.6
Hot Water
1937·6.5
Dangerously Yours
1937·5.8
My Dear Miss Aldrich
1937·6.3
Girls Can Play
1937·5.2
Angel's Holiday
1937·6.0
I Promise to Pay
1937·6.0
Midnight Taxi
1937·6.2
You Only Live Once
1937·7.1
Dangerous Number
1937·4.9
The Luckiest Girl in the World
1936·7.3
They Met in a Taxi
1936·6.8
My Man Godfrey
1936·7.6
Charlie Chan at the Race Track
1936·7.1
How to Behave
1936·7.8
One Way Ticket
1935·6.0
Rendezvous
1935·4.9
Shipmates Forever
1935·6.6
Special Agent
1935·6.2
Man on the Flying Trapeze
1935·6.2
Woman Wanted
1935·6.8
The Daring Young Man
1935·10.0
The Murder Man
1935·7.1
Chinatown Squad
1935·7.5
Public Hero Number 1
1935·6.3
'G' Men
1935·6.6
Straight from the Heart
1935·9.0
Captain Hurricane
1935·6.0
Secrets of Chinatown
1935·5.3
The Brand of Hate
1934·5.8
The Affairs of Cellini
1934·5.2
Baby Take a Bow
1934·5.7
Wild Gold
1934·6.5
The Big Race
1934·9.0
Beloved
1934·9.0
Only Yesterday
1933·7.1
Ship of Wanted Men
1933·3.8
Riot Squad
1933·5.0
Hello, Sister!
1933·6.0
King Kong
1933·7.6
Air Mail
1932·5.5
The All-American
1932·6.5
The Most Dangerous Game
1932·6.9
Okay, America!
1932·5.8
McKenna of the Mounted
1932·10.0
Back Street
1932·6.4
The Airmail Mystery
1932·10.0