Movies List
TV Show List
Shadow Over Elveron

as Luke Travers

1968
That Brennan Girl

as Denny Reagan

1946
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

as Johnny Nolan

1945
The Caribbean Mystery

as Mr. Smith

1945
Leave It to the Irish

as Terry Moran

1944
Government Girl

as Sergeant Joe Blake

1943
The Ghost and the Guest

as Webster Frye

1943
The Living Ghost

as Nick Trayne

1942
Hold That Woman!

as Jimmy Parker

1940
Pride of the Navy

as Speed Brennan

1939
Mercy Plane

as 'Speed' Leslie

1939
We Have Our Moments

as John Wade

1937
Hearts in Bondage

as Lt. Kenneth Reynolds

1936
Mysterious Crossing

as Addison Francis Murphy

1936
The Payoff

as Joe McCoy

1935
Bright Eyes

as Loop Merritt

1934
Baby Take a Bow

as Eddie Ellison

1934
Stand Up and Cheer!

as Jimmy Dugan

1934
Have a Heart

as James 'Jimmie' Flaherty

1934
Change of Heart

as Mark McGowan

1934
The Girl in 419

as Dr. Daniel French

1933
Arizona to Broadway

as Smiley Wells

1933
Bad Girl

as Eddie Collins

1931
James Dunn James Dunn

Birthday

1901-11-02

Place of Birth

New York City, New York, USA

Biography

James Dunn worked on the stage, in vaudeville and as an extra in silent movies before he was signed by Fox in 1931. His first movie with Fox was 1931's Sob Sister (1931). While at Fox, he appeared with Shirley Temple in her first three features: Baby Take a Bow (1934), Stand Up and Cheer! (1934) and Bright Eyes (1934). Dunn's screen character was usually the boy next door or the nice guy. In 1935 musicals at the new 20th Century-Fox were out and Dunn would move to the "B" list, from which he would never return. In The Payoff (1935) he plays the nice guy newspaper columnist whose wife ruins his career. By the late 1930s he was drinking heavily and become unemployable. He would appear in small roles in films during the early 1940s, but those parts were few. In 1945 he was able to make a comeback and win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), but his rejuvenated career would not continue. By 1951 he would again be unemployed and bankrupt. Television would later supply some work and he would be a regular on the series It's a Great Life (1954). Dunn was born 2 November 1901, New York City, New York, USA, and he died 1 September 1967, Santa Monica, California, USA  (following abdominal surgery)
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