Liam Dunn

Birthday: 1916-11-12
Deathday: 1976-04-11
Birthplace: New Jersey, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Liam Dunn (November 12, 1916 – April 11, 1976) was an American character actor.

Life and career

The New Jersey native's early career was spent on television in series such as Bonanza, Room 222, Alias Smith and Jones, Mannix, Emergency! [S5Ep18] as "Amos", and Gunsmoke.

Dunn's breakout role was as the judge (and Barbra Streisand's character's father) in the 1972 film What's Up, Doc?, for which he was noticed by Mel Brooks, who was in the process of forming a stock company of actors.[citation needed] Dunn went on to appear in Brooks films, including Blazing Saddles (1974) as Rev. Johnson, Young Frankenstein (1974) as Mr. Hilltop, and as the Newsvendor in Silent Movie (1976). He also appeared in several Walt Disney productions, such as The World's Greatest Athlete (1973), Charley and the Angel (1973), Herbie Rides Again (1974) and Gus (1976).

He frequently portrayed characters who were verbally and/or physically abused in a slapstick way. Additional television credits include Twigs, All in the Family, Barney Miller, McMillan & Wife, Rhoda, Sanford and Son, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, S4Ep6. Additional film credits included roles in Catch-22 (1970), The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972), A Reflection of Fear (1972), Emperor of the North Pole (1973), Papillon (1973), Killer Bees (1974), Bank Shot (1974), At Long Last Love (1975), The Night That Panicked America (1975), Peeper (1976) and High Velocity (1976).

Dunn collapsed on the set of Disney's The Shaggy D.A. (1976) during the filming of the roller rink sequence, and as soon as he was hospitalized, died on April 11, 1976, from emphysema in Granada Hills, California. John Fiedler was brought in to complete the role as dog catcher. Though only 59 at the time of his death, Dunn always looked much older than he was, and he was cast accordingly. CLR

Credits

	Year	Title	Character
	1977-07-01	The Quinns	Sean Quinn, Sr.
	1976-12-17	The Shaggy D.A.	Dogcatcher
	1976-09-01	High Velocity	Bennett
	1976-07-07	Gus	Dr. Morgan
	1976-06-17	Silent Movie	Newsvendor
	1976-05-15	Panache	M. Durant / Pere Joseph
	1975-12-03	Peeper	Billy Pate
	1975-10-31	The Night That Panicked America	Charlie
	1975-03-06	Twigs	Pa
	1975-03-01	At Long Last Love	Harry
	1974-12-15	Young Frankenstein	Mr. Hilltop
	1974-12-13	The Rare Blue Apes of Cannibal Isle	Oompah/Hermit (voice)
	1974-11-19	Virginia Hill	Auctioneer
	1974-07-31	The Bank Shot	House Painter
	1974-07-31	The Bank Shot	Painter
	1974-05-22	The Healers	Mr. Addison
	1974-03-27	A Tree Grows in Brooklyn	Mr. Barker
	1974-03-26	A Cry in the Wilderness	Mr. Hainie
	1974-02-26	Killer Bees	Zeb Tucker
	1974-02-12	Herbie Rides Again	Doctor
	1974-02-07	Blazing Saddles	Rev. Johnson
	1973-12-16	Papillon	Old Trustee
	1973-10-02	Isn't It Shocking?	Myron Flagg
	1973-05-23	Emperor of the North	Smile
	1973-03-23	Genesis II	Janos
	1973-03-23	Charley and the Angel	Dr. Sprague
	1973-02-14	The World's Greatest Athlete	Dr. Winslow
	1972-11-15	A Reflection of Fear	Coroner
	1972-11-08	The Crooked Hearts	Writer
	1972-05-12	The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid	Drummer
	1972-03-09	What's Up, Doc?	Judge Maxwell
	1972-02-12	The Hound of the Baskervilles	Messenger
	1970-06-24	Catch-22	Father
	1947-06-01	That's My Man	Reporter (uncredited)