Actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the straightforward Eustace Bailey, the cousin of protagonist George Bailey and co-worker at the Building and Loan Company, in the holiday classic "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946). After beginning his career in local stock companies as a teenager, he was discovered by director James Cruze while attending a casting call for bit players. Impressed by his short stature, high-pitched voice, and humbleness, he took notice of his potential and arranged for him to begin a career in the film industry beginning with him appearing in a supporting role per his supervision in "The Old Homestead" (1922). From there, he would go on to flourish as a notable character actor in over 265 features; often typecast as husbands, fathers, uncles, cousins, boyfriends, white-collared workers, doctors, chauffeurs, waiters, bellhops, doormen, curmudgeons, eccentrics, neighbors, landlords, sailors, soldiers, authority figures, retail clerks, businessmen, detectives, reporters, photographers, managers, druggists, henchmen, vendors, athletes, elevator operators, bartenders, mailmen, educators, aristocrats, pawnbrokers, soda jerks, bookkeepers, politicians, lawyers, telegraphers, wealthy bachelors, judges, and patriarchs. He appeared in such feature films as "Action Galore" (1925), "The Mad Genius" (1931), "Letty Lynton" (1932), "Cental Airport" (1933), "Sadie McKee" (1934), "An Ear for Music" (1935), "Wedding Present" (1936), "Espionage" (1937), "In Old Chicago" (1938), "Ambush" (1939), "Primrose Path" (1940), "Mr. District Attorney" (1941), "My Favorite Spy" (1942), "Chatterbox" (1943), "Since You Went Away" (1944), "Scared Stiff" (1945), "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946), "The Spirit of West Point" (1947), "Embraceable You" (1948), "Grand Canyon" (1949), "Paid in Full" (1950), "Gasoline Alley" (1951), "She's Working Her Way Through College" (1952), "Main Street to Broadway" (1953), "The Twinkle in God's Eye" (1955), and "Fighting Trouble" (1956). On television, he appeared in numerous guest spots on such syndicated sitcoms as "Life with Buster Keaton," "Mr. & Mrs. North," "The Abbott and Costello Show," "Rebound," "The Cisco Kid," "The Adventures of Kit Carson," "Willy," "Public Defender," "So This is Hollywood," "Annie Oakley," "I Married Joan," "Studio 57," "The Eddie Cantor Comedy Theatre," "Adventures of Superman," "Our Miss Brooks," and "Ethel Barrymore Theatre." During his career, he was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, was a regular parishioner of the Catholic church, had been a member of the Hollywood Republican Committee, presided as a chairman for his local charters of the American Red Cross and the Boys & Girls Clubs, had been a theatrical instructor for the Pasadena Playhouse, was an assistant director for several major studios, had been a commercial model for the Forbes Agency, was the celebrity spokesman for Tropicana Orange Juice, and he was married to actress Virginia Evans from 1928 to 1944 and beautician Isabel Brown from 1945 to 1958 (his first union ended upon her death, his second upon his own death, and both marriages produced no children). Upon his 1956 retirement, he spent the final years of his life involved in charitable and religious ventures, until his death.