Dudley Dickerson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dudley Dickerson
Dickerson in Dangerous Money (1946)
Born	Dudley Henry Dickerson Jr. (1906-11-27)November 27, 1906 Chickasha, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	September 23, 1968(1968-09-23) (aged 61) Lynwood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1932–1959

Dudley Henry Dickerson Jr. (born November 27, 1906 – died September 23, 1968) was an American actor who appeared in many movies. He was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma. He acted in almost 160 films between 1932 and 1952. People often remember him for his funny parts in several movies with The Three Stooges.

Dudley Dickerson's Acting Career

During the time Dudley Dickerson was acting, many movies had certain kinds of roles for actors. Dudley often played characters like cooks, porters, or watchmen. Even though these roles were sometimes limited, he brought a lot of energy and humor to them! He was really good at making people laugh with his "scared reactions" – like when a character gets really surprised or frightened in a funny way.

One of his early movie roles was in the Our Gang comedy Spooky Hooky (1936). He played a caretaker who seemed a bit confused by everything happening around him. Dudley also appeared in short musical films called Soundies. He even stood in for singer Big Joe Turner in some of these, pretending to sing his songs.

Funny Roles with The Three Stooges

Many people today remember Dudley Dickerson from his roles in The Three Stooges films. He often played characters who were startled cooks, curious hospital workers, scared porters, or nervous watchmen. You can see him in Stooges films like They Stooge to Conga, A Gem of a Jam, and Hold That Lion!

In Hold That Lion!, he played a friendly train conductor. He had a very funny scene where a lion attacked him. He famously bugged out his eyes and shouted, "He'p, he'p, ah'm losin' mah mahnd!" This scene was so funny that even the film crew and Dudley himself had trouble not laughing. You can hear their laughter in the final movie!

Perhaps Dudley's most famous role was as a confused chef in the Stooges' movie A Plumbing We Will Go. In this film, he famously said, "This house has sho' gone crazy!" He was very good at showing how surprised his character was. He could even make the audience laugh just by giving a suspicious look to a kitchen appliance that was acting strangely. Parts of this movie were used again in later Stooges comedies: Vagabond Loafers (1949) and Scheming Schemers (1956). In these later films, new scenes were added where Dudley, wearing a raincoat, told guests that "dinner's postponed on account of rain." This was a funny way to say dinner was canceled, like a baseball game might be.

Other TV and Movie Appearances

Dudley Dickerson also had important roles in several comedies with Hugh Herbert. In these movies, Dudley played Herbert's valet (a personal assistant). He was always in scary situations and reacted with very funny fear.

In the early 1950s, Dudley appeared in several episodes of the TV show The Amos 'n' Andy Show. He usually played a member of a club or a barber named Joe.

Dudley also worked with another Columbia Pictures comedian, Andy Clyde. When Columbia Pictures stopped making movies with Andy Clyde, the producer, Jules White, asked Dudley to come back for a remake of an older short film. To everyone's surprise, Dudley had lost a lot of weight. He didn't look the same as he did in the original film from 1948. But Jules White thought Dudley was such a great actor that he filmed the new scenes anyway. This movie was released in 1956 as Pardon My Nightshirt.

Dudley Dickerson stopped acting in 1959. He passed away in 1968 at the age of 61. He is buried at Lincoln Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California.

Selected Filmography