Actor · Acting

Jonathan Hale

Born 1891-03-20

Died 1966-02-28

📍 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonathan Hale (born Jonathan Hatley, March 21, 1891 – February 28, 1966) was a Canadian-born film and television actor.

Hale was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Before his acting career, Hale worked in the Diplomatic Corps. Hale is most well known as Dagwood Bumstead's boss, Julius Caesar Dithers, in the Blondie film series in the 1940s. He is also notable for playing Inspector Fernack in various The Saint films by RKO Pictures.

In 1950 he made two appearances in The Cisco Kid as Barry Owens. He also appeared in two different episodes of Adventures of Superman: "The Evil Three", in which he played a murderous "Southern Colonel"-type character, and "Panic in the Sky", one of the most famous episodes, in which he played the lead astronomer at the Metropolis Observatory, actually a California observatory.

Among the relatively few television programs on which Hale appeared are the religion anthology series Crossroads, The Loretta Young Show, Brave Eagle, Schlitz Playhouse, The Joey Bishop Show, and Walt Disney Presents: "A Tribute to Joel Chandler Harris".

Hale committed suicide on February 28, 1966. He was found dead that evening in his room at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. Hale had taken his own life with a .38 caliber pistol, which was found near his body. He was 74. Hale was interred at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California. Sadly, Hale's grave went unmarked for more than four decades, until a proper headstone was erected by donations from the "Dearly Departed" fan-based group in 2013; he is now honored with the inscription, "We Remembered You".

Filmography 207

The Three Outlaws

Screen Director's Playhouse

The Night Holds Terror

as Bob Henderson

Cattle Queen of Montana

as Politician (uncredited)

Duffy of San Quentin

She Couldn't Say No

as John Bentley

The Flaming Urge

as Mr. Chalmers

as Sherman Johnson

as Mr. Barker (uncredited)

Behind Southern Lines

Mr. & Mrs. North

Cavalcade of America

Adventures of Superman

as Professor Roberts

Son of Paleface

as Governor Freeman (uncredited)

Young Man with Ideas

as Stanley Rickson (uncredited)

as Frank Madison

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars

Sunny Side of the Street

as Cyrus Pelley

The Tall Target

as Passenger from Carolina (uncredited)

Rodeo King and the Senorita

Strangers on a Train

The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok

Insurance Investigator

as Russell James

as Charlie Bissel

as Edward Wurdeman - Attorney at Law

Federal Agent at Large

as James Goodwin

The Baron of Arizona

A Dangerous Profession

The Fountainhead

as Guy Francon (uncredited)

State Department: File 649

as Director-General

as Judge Allan J. Brooks

Rose of the Yukon

as Police Commissioner Jerome

as Dr. Horace M. Gray (uncredited)

as Gen. Johnston (uncredited)

as Major Spencer

King of the Gamblers

Call Northside 777

as Governor's Aide Robert Winston (uncredited)

as Kenneth Forrester

as Emory Garrison

Her Husband's Affairs

as Senator Watkins

The Ghost Goes Wild

as Max Atterbury

The Vigilantes Return

as Judge Holden

The Beginning or the End

as Dr. Vannevar Bush

as Philip Conway

Blondie Knows Best

as J.C. Dithers

Angel on My Shoulder

as Citizens for Better Government Chairman (uncredited)

as Hector Boswell

The Walls Came Tumbling Down

as Captain Griffin

as Walter Elliott

Blondie's Lucky Day

as J.C. Dithers

Riverboat Rhythm

as Col. Edward Beeler

as Colonel Wordin

Life with Blondie

as J.C. Dithers

Allotment Wives

as Brig. Gen. H.N. Gilbert

The Phantom Speaks

as Owen McAllister

as Colonel Hammerhead Smith

Watchtower Over Tomorrow

as Security Council Chair

Leave It to Blondie

as J.C. Dithers

The Strange Mr. Gregory

as Defense Attorney Blair

Hollywood Canteen

as Mr. Brodel (uncredited)

End of the Road

as Gregory McCune

Dead Man's Eyes

as Dr. Sam Welles

as Senator Henry

This Is the Life

The Black Parachute

as King Stephen

as Kerwin Maxwell

There's Something About a Soldier

as Gen. Sommerton

Sweet Rosie O'Grady

Footlight Glamour

as J.C. Dithers

Nobody's Darling

as Jason Rhodes

It's a Great Life

as J.C. Dithers

The Rear Gunner

as Commanding Officer

Hangmen Also Die!

The Amazing Mrs. Holliday

Blondie for Victory

as J.C. Dithers

Calling Dr. Gillespie

as Frank M. Todwell

Flight Lieutenant

as Joseph Sanford

Miss Annie Rooney

as Mr. Martin White

Blondie's Blessed Event

as J.C. Dithers

Lone Star Ranger

as Judge Longstreth

Joe Smith, American

as Blake McKettrick

The Bugle Sounds

as Brigadier-General

Blondie Goes to College

as J.C. Dithers

The Pittsburgh Kid

Ringside Maisie

Blondie in Society

as J.C. Dithers

as Police Chief Sprague

The Great Swindle

Blondie Goes Latin

as J.C. Dithers

Flight from Destiny

as Dist. Atty. Johnson

The Saint In Palm Springs

as Inspector Henry Fernack

Blondie Plays Cupid

as J.C. Dithers

Melody and Moonlight

as Otis Barnett

as Homer Patterson

Blondie Has Servant Trouble

as J.C. Dithers

We Who Are Young

Private Affairs

as George Gilkin

The Saint Takes Over

as Inspector Henry Fernack

The Saint's Double Trouble

as Inspector Henry Fernack

as Assistant Secretary of State

The Amazing Mr. Williams

Blondie Brings Up Baby

as J.C. Dithers

as Admiral Girard

One Against the World

as Dr. Ephraim McDowell

In Old Monterey

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell

as President of Western Union

Blondie Meets the Boss

as J.C. Dithars

The Saint Strikes Back

as Inspector Henry Fernack

as Racing Official Starter (Uncredited)

Wings of the Navy

Stand Up and Fight

as Colonel Webb

The Duke of West Point

as Steven's Father

There's That Woman Again

Tarnished Angel

as Detective Sgt. Cramer

Fugitives for a Night

as Police Captain

Breaking the Ice

as John Hargraves

Letter of Introduction

as Lou Woodstock (uncredited)

as Bank President

Wives Under Suspicion

The Saint in New York

as Inspector Henry Fernack

Gangs of New York

as Major General Leonard Wood

Her Jungle Love

as Governor James McDonald

Judge Hardy's Children

The First Hundred Years

as Judge Parker

Arsène Lupin Returns

as F.B.I. Special Agent

Exiled to Shanghai

as Hugh Fariman Sr.

Danger – Love at Work

as Parsons, an attorney

as Frank Clayton

This Is My Affair

The League of Frightened Men

as Alexander Drummond

Charlie Chan at the Olympics

Wings Over Honolulu

as Judge Advocate

You Can't Buy Luck

as Prosecutor (uncredited)

as Judge George J. Parris (uncredited)

The Man Who Found Himself

as Dr. Tom Smythe

Racketeers in Exile

as Alden Parker

John Meade's Woman

as Court-Martial President (uncredited)

Man Of The People

as Carter Spetner

She's Dangerous

as Charles Fitzgerald

You Only Live Once

as District Attorney (uncredited)

Sinner Take All

as Dr. Harrison (uncredited)

as J. Lansing Bennett

The Accusing Finger

as Special Prosecutor

The Devil Is a Sissy

as Judge Holmes

as State Department Official (uncredited)

Charlie Chan at the Race Track

as Warren Fenton

36 Hours to Kill

as Mac - Train Conductor

as Defense Attorney

Educating Father

as Fred Humphrey

The Case Against Mrs. Ames

as First trial judge

The Singing Kid

as Dr. Brown (uncredited)

Panic on the Air

as Prosecuting Attorney

The Voice of Bugle Ann

as District Attorney

You May Be Next!

as Army Officer (uncredited)

Charlie Chan's Secret

as Warren T. Phelps

Three Live Ghosts

as Detective Bolton

If You Could Only Cook

as Henry Brown - Member of Board of Directors (uncredited)

Hit-and-Run Driver

as Captain James (uncredited)

Too Tough to Kill

as Chairman of the Board

The Calling of Dan Matthews

as Club Owner (uncredited)

A Night at the Opera

as The Stage Manager (uncredited)

3 Kids and a Queen

Page Miss Glory

as Husband at Train Station (uncredited)

as Bedside Dr. at Jerry's Right (uncredited)

Public Hero Number 1

as Prison Board Member (uncredited)

Let 'em Have It

as Microscopic Expert

as Congressman (uncredited)

A Night at the Ritz

as Director (uncredited)

One New York Night

Lightning Strikes Twice

as Capt. Nelson

Gentlemen Are Born

as Second Broker

as (uncredited)

The Case of the Howling Dog

as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)