Saved Queries & Lists

Manage Searches

No saved searches yet.

Add one above for quick-restoring filters!

Backdrop from a project of Frank Orth
Poster for Frank Orth

Frank Orth

1880 - 1962 (age 82) • Acting

Frank Orth was an American actor born in Philadelphia. He is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Inspector Faraday in the 1951-1953 television series “Boston Blackie”. By 1897, Orth was performing in vaudeville with his wife, Ann Codee, in an act called “Codee and Orth.” In 1909, he expanded into song writing, with songs such as “The Phone Bell Rang” and “Meet Me on the Boardwalk, Dearie.” His first contact with motion pictures was in 1928, when he was part of the first foreign-language shorts in sound produced by Warner Bros. He and his wife also appeared together in a series of two-reel comedies in the early 1930s. Orth's first major screen credit was in “Prairie Thunder,” a Dick Foran western, in 1937. From then on, he was often cast as bartenders, pharmacists, and grocery clerks, and always distinctly Irish. He had a recurring role in the Dr. Kildare series of films and also in the Nancy Drew series as the befuddled Officer Tweedy. Among his better roles were the newspaper man Cary Grant telephones early in “His Girl Friday,” one of the quartet singing “Gary Owen” in “They Died with Their Boots On” (thereby giving Errol Flynn as Gen. Custer the idea of associating the tune with the 7th Cavalry), and as the little man carrying the sign reading “The End Is Near” throughout Colonel Effingham's Raid. However, Orth is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Inspector Faraday in the 1951-1953 television series “Boston Blackie.” A short, plump, round-faced man, often smoking a cigar, Orth as Faraday wore his own dark-rimmed spectacles, though rarely in feature films. In 1959, Orth retired from show business after throat surgery. His wife died in 1961 after around fifty years of marriage. Orth died on March 17, 1962. He is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills next to his wife.

Known For

The Mummy's Curse

55%

Songs

1944

The Great Rupert

57%

Mr. Frank Dingle

1950

Nancy Drew… Detective

65%

Captain Tweedy

1938

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

62%

Uncle John

1952

Double Dynamite

65%

Mr. Kofer

1951

Rings on Her Fingers

68%

Kellogg

1942

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase

68%

Captain Tweedy

1939

The Magnificent Dope

73%

Messenger

1942

Here Come the Girls

46%

Mr. Hungerford

1953

Houdini

66%

Mr. Hunter

1953

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

62%

Uncle John

1952

Something to Live For

69%

Waiter (uncredited)

1952

Double Dynamite

65%

Mr. Kofer

1951

Boston Blackie

40%

Inspector Faraday

1951

The Petty Girl

43%

Moody (process server)

1950

Father of the Bride

70%

Joe

1950

Cheaper by the Dozen

64%

Higgins (uncredited)

1950

The Great Rupert

57%

Mr. Frank Dingle

1950

Bride for Sale

70%

Police Sergeant (uncredited)

1949

Red Light

59%

Wallace 'Wally' Stoner

1949

Blondie's Secret

65%

Mr. Philpotts

1948

The Girl from Manhattan

63%

Oscar Newsome

1948

So This Is New York

67%

AJ Gluskoter

1948

The Big Clock

73%

Burt

1948

It Had to Be You

78%

Conductor Brown

1947

The Gas House Kids in Hollywood

80%

Police Captain

1947

Heartaches

53%

Mike Connelly, Vic's Agent

1947

The Guilt of Janet Ames

58%

Danny

1947

Born to Speed

80%

Breezy Bradley

1947

Lady in the Lake

61%

Floyd Greer (Uncredited)

1946

Wake Up and Dream

74%

Milkman

1946

It's Great to Be Young

90%

Franklin Johnson

1946

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

71%

Hotel Clerk

1946

The Bride Wore Boots

61%

Judge (uncredited)

1946

Murder in the Music Hall

53%

Henderson

1946

The Hoodlum Saint

55%

Chronicle Editor (uncredited)

1946

Filters

Department

Genres