James Barton
Birthday: 1890-11-01
Place of Birth: Gloucester City, New Jersey, USA
Synopsis
James Barton (November 1, 1890 - February 19, 1962) was an American vaudevillian and a character actor in films and television.
Born into a theatrical family in Gloucester City, New Jersey, Barton began performing in minstrel shows and burlesque houses throughout the country in 1898. His years of experience working with African American performers led to his becoming one of the first jazz dancers in America. After working with repertory companies in the South and Midwest, he made his Broadway debut in the musical revue The Passing Show of 1919 in a role originally intended for Ed Wynn. He frequently was the highlight in mediocre productions, and a critic for the Daily News noted, "Whenever the book failed him, he shuffled into one or more of his eccentric dances." Additional theatre credits include Sweet and Low, Tobacco Road, The Iceman Cometh, and Paint Your Wagon.
Barton's film career began in the silent era. His screen credits include The Time of Your Life, Here Comes the Groom, and The Misfits. On television he appeared in The Ford Television Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, Studio One, The Kaiser Aluminum Hour, Playhouse 90, Kraft Television Theatre, The Rifleman, Adventures in Paradise, and Naked City.
Barton died of a heart attack in Mineola, New York.
Bing Crosby considered James Barton to be one his ten favorite performers of all time, alongside names such as Al Jolson, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland and Nat King Cole.
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Acting
The Misfits
as Fletcher's grandfather
While filing for a divorce, beautiful ex-stripper Roslyn Taber ends up meeting aging cowboy-turned-gambler Gay Langland and former World War II aviator Guido Racanelli. The two men instantly become infatuated with Roslyn and, on a whim, the three decide to move into Guido's half-finished desert home together. When grizzled ex-rodeo rider Perce Howland arrives, the unlikely foursome strike up a business capturing wild horses.
Quantez
as Minstrel
A gang of bank robbers with a posse in hot pursuit. Riding into the desert, they take refuge in Quantez, a small town they find deserted. Their horses tired and near death, they’re forced to stay the night — with the plan to cross the border into Mexico the next day.
The Scarf
as Ezra Thompson
A man believe to have murdered a woman, escapes from the insane asylum to find if he was the one to actually kill her using the scarf she was wearing.
Here Comes the Groom
as William 'Pa' Jones
Foreign correspondent Pete Garvey has 5 days to win back his former fiancée, or he'll lose the orphans he adopted.
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Yellow Sky
as Grandpa
In 1867, a gang led by James "Stretch" Dawson robs a bank and flees into the desert. Out of water, the outlaws come upon a ghost town called Yellow Sky and its only residents, a hostile young woman named Mike and her grandpa. The story is a Western adaptation of William Shakespeare's "The Tempest".
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The Shepherd of the Hills
as Old Matt Matthews
Young Matt Matthews, an Ozark Mountains moonshiner, hates the father he has never seen, who apparently deserted Matt's mother and left her to die. His obsession contributes to the hatred rampant in the mountains. However, the arrival of a stranger, Daniel Howitt, begins to positively affect the mountain people, who learn to shed their hatred under his gentle influence.
