Biography
This page uses content from the Franklin Pangborn biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 - July 20, 1958) was an American character actor. Pangborn was famous for small, but memorable roles, with a comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W.C. Fields films International House, The Bank Dick, and Never Give a Sucker an Even Break. For his contributions to motion pictures, Pangborn has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 Vine Street.
Pangborn typically played a fussy type of character and was often considered a gay stereotype, although such a topic was too sensitive in his day to be discussed overtly in the dialogue. A rare exception occurred in International House, which was filmed in the days before the Hays Office fully controlled filmmaking, and was notable for several risqué references (by 1933 standards). In this scene, Fields has just arrived by autogyro at the titular hotel in the fictitious Chinese city called "Wu Hu", but he does not know for sure where he is. Pangborn plays the desk manager:
- Fields: Where am I?!
- Pangborn: Wu Hu!
- Fields (giving him a sharp look and removing a flower from his lapel): Don't let the posy fool you!
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