Actor. Irish-born, deadpan comic character player of American films. He is best remembered for the classic "To Be or Not to Be" (1942), as Bronski, a ham actor in occupied Poland whose clench-jawed impersonation of Hitler outwits the Gestapo. Dugan went on to a secondary career playing Der Fuhrer for the rest of the World War II years. Born Thomas J. Duggan in Dublin, he came to Hollywood in 1927 via vaudeville. The following year he was chosen for a key role in the first "100% All-Talking Picture", "Lights of New York", and was one of the few members of the cast to actually find steady work in talkies. During the 1930s he was under contract to Hal Roach as an actor and gag writer, using his full name for the latter. Dugan appeared in over 240 films, usually in small, unbilled parts, but almost always leaving an amusing impression. Among his credits are "The Kid Sister" (1927), "Ah, Wilderness!" (1935), "San Francisco" (1936), "Love Affair" (1939), "The Major and the Minor" (1942), "Bataan" (1943), "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946), "On the Town" (1949), and "Off Limits" (1953). He was making the transition to TV when he died in a car crash.
Actor. Irish-born, deadpan comic character player of American films. He is best remembered for the classic "To Be or Not to Be" (1942), as Bronski, a ham actor in occupied Poland whose clench-jawed impersonation of Hitler outwits the Gestapo. Dugan went on to a secondary career playing Der Fuhrer for the rest of the World War II years. Born Thomas J. Duggan in Dublin, he came to Hollywood in 1927 via vaudeville. The following year he was chosen for a key role in the first "100% All-Talking Picture", "Lights of New York", and was one of the few members of the cast to actually find steady work in talkies. During the 1930s he was under contract to Hal Roach as an actor and gag writer, using his full name for the latter. Dugan appeared in over 240 films, usually in small, unbilled parts, but almost always leaving an amusing impression. Among his credits are "The Kid Sister" (1927), "Ah, Wilderness!" (1935), "San Francisco" (1936), "Love Affair" (1939), "The Major and the Minor" (1942), "Bataan" (1943), "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946), "On the Town" (1949), and "Off Limits" (1953). He was making the transition to TV when he died in a car crash.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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