---
name: "El Brendel"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/el-brendel"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "24 March 1890"
died: "9 April 1964"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-19T21:23:40.575193+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# El Brendel

Actor. Born 24 March 1890 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Died 9 April 1964.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 24 March 1890, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- **Died:** 9 April 1964
- **Also known as:** Elmer Goodfellow "El" Brendel, Elmer Goodfellow Brendel
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Brendel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5350839, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0107151/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/102502

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*Wings*](https://film.one/film/wings-1927.md) (78)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

El Brendel (born Elmer Goodfellow Brendel) was an American actor and vaudeville comedian. He began in vaudeville in 1913 performing a German dialect act before adopting a Swedish immigrant persona, known as 'the Synthetic Swede', owing to anti-German sentiment after the sinking of the Lusitania. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania and was married to his vaudeville partner Flo Bert.

Brendel entered films in 1926 and appeared in eight productions for Famous Players over the next two years. He played Herman Schwimpf in the First World War aviation drama *Wings* (1927), which won the first Academy Award for Outstanding Production. After returning to the stage, he signed with Fox Film Corporation in 1929, where sound films boosted his popularity through malaprop-ridden dialogue in comedies such as *The Big Trail* (1930) and the musical *Just Imagine* (1930), in which he starred as Single-O. He later worked in Columbia shorts and made occasional television appearances, including on *Perry Mason*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Wings* (1927), Fi1m 78, as Herman Schwimpf — [page](https://film.one/film/wings-1927.md)

## Complete filmography (76)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Perry Mason* (1957), series, as Court Manager
- *The She-Creature* (1956), as Olaf, the butler
- *Paris Model* (1953), as Papa Jensen
- *My Little Margie* (1952), series, Actor
- *Racket Squad* (1951), series, Actor
- *The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend* (1949), as Mr. Jorgensen
- *Pistol Packin' Nitwits* (1945), as Professor Brendel
- *Snooper Service* (1945), Actor
- *I'm from Arkansas* (1944), as Oly
- *Machine Gun Mama* (1944), as Ollie Swenson
- *Pick a Peck of Plumbers* (1944), as Axel Swenson
- *Defective Detectives* (1944), as El
- *A Rookie's Cookie* (1943), as Ole - Rookie Policeman
- *Boobs in the Night* (1943), Actor
- *I Spied for You* (1943), as Ole Olesen
- *His Wedding Scare* (1943), as Oley
- *Ham and Yeggs* (1942), as El Brendel
- *Phoney Cronies* (1942), as Oley
- *Olaf Laughs Last* (1942), as Olaf Hansen
- *Sweet Spirits of the Nighter* (1941), as Oley Brendel
- *The Blitz Kiss* (1941), as Oley Olsen
- *Love at First Fright* (1941), as Zeb
- *Ready, Willing but Unable* (1941), as Olley Olsen
- *Yumpin' Yiminy!* (1941), as Oley Brendel
- *Gallant Sons* (1940), as Olaf Larsen
- *Captain Caution* (1940), as Slushy
- *If I Had My Way* (1940), as Axel Swensen
- *Call a Messenger* (1939), as 'Baldy'
- *The House of Fear* (1939), as Jeff
- *Code of the Streets* (1939), as Mickhail 'Micky' Bjorgulfsen
- *Risky Business* (1939), as Axel
- *Valley of the Giants* (1938), as 'Fats'
- *Little Miss Broadway* (1938), as Ole
- *Happy Landing* (1938), as Yonnie
- *Blonde Trouble* (1937), as Window Washer
- *The Super Snooper* (1937), Actor
- *The Holy Terror* (1937), as 'Bugs' Svenson
- *God's Country and the Woman* (1937), as Ole Olson
- *Career Woman* (1936), as Chris Erleson
- *Ay Tank Ay Go* (1936), as Ollie
- *Okay, José* (1935), as Knute Knudsen
- *What, No Men?* (1935), as Gus Olsen - Gas Company Representative
- *Radio Scout* (1934), as Sven Svenson
- *The Meanest Gal in Town* (1934), as Chris Peterson
- *My Lips Betray* (1933), as Oswald Stigmat, Chauffeur
- *Mother's Helper* (1933), Actor
- *The Last Trail* (1933), as Newt Olsen
- *Hot Pepper* (1933), as Olsen
- *Olsen’s Big Moment* (1933), as Knute Olsen
- *Handle with Care* (1932), as Carl Lundstrom
- *Disorderly Conduct* (1932), as Olsen
- *Delicious* (1931), as Chris Jansen
- *West of Broadway* (1931), as Axel
- *The Spider* (1931), as Ole
- *Women of All Nations* (1931), as Olsen
- *Six Cylinder Love* (1931), as Janitor
- *The Stolen Jools* (1931), as Swedish Waiter
- *Mr. Lemon Of Orange* (1931), as Mr. Lemon / Silent McGee
- *Just Imagine* (1930), as Single O
- *The Big Trail* (1930), as Gus
- *New Movietone Follies of 1930* (1930), as Alex Svenson
- *The Golden Calf* (1930), as Knute Olson
- *Sunny Side Up* (1929), as Eric Swenson
- *Hot for Paris* (1929), as Axel Olson
- *The Cock-Eyed World* (1929), as 'Yump' Olsen
- *Frozen Justice* (1929), as Swede
- *Happy Days* (1929), as Minstrel Show Performer
- *Wings* (1927), as Herman Schwimpf — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/wings-1927.md)
- *Ten Modern Commandments* (1927), as 'Speeding' Shapiro
- *Rolled Stockings* (1927), as Rudolph
- *Arizona Bound* (1927), as 'Oley Smoke' Oleson
- *Too Many Crooks* (1927), as Botts
- *Help Yourself* (1927), Actor
- *Man of the Forest* (1926), as Horace Pipp
- *You Never Know Women* (1926), as Toberchik
- *The Campus Flirt* (1926), as Knute Knudson

## Gallery

- ![Film comedian El Brendel. Subjects (LCTGM): actors (1929)](https://film.one/media/person/1224065/gallery-296260fdac68.jpg) Film comedian El Brendel. Subjects (LCTGM): actors (1929) — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Film_comedian_El_Brendel_1929_%28SAYRE_11568%29.jpg/1280px-Film_comedian_El_Brendel_1929_%28SAYRE_11568%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Still from the American musical comedy film Sunny Side Up (1929). Subjects (LCTGM): motion pictures, actresses, actors](https://film.one/media/person/1224065/gallery-f16376f1d3c9.jpg) Still from the American musical comedy film Sunny Side Up (1929). Subjects (LCTGM): motion pictures, actresses, actors — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ed/Sunnyside_Up_%28SAYRE_14692%29.jpg/1280px-Sunnyside_Up_%28SAYRE_14692%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![El Brendel (left) and Betty Jewel in Arizona Bound (1927)](https://film.one/media/person/1224065/gallery-549a4ba53541.jpg) El Brendel (left) and Betty Jewel in Arizona Bound (1927) — Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/El_Brendel_and_Betty_Jewel_in_Arizona_Bound.jpg/1280px-El_Brendel_and_Betty_Jewel_in_Arizona_Bound.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![El Brendel](https://film.one/media/person/1224065/gallery-18ad86e2d0a2.jpg) El Brendel — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/el-brendel