Biography
J. Carrol Naish was an American character actor. Born Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish in New York City on 21 January 1896, he began performing in vaudeville as a child and later appeared on stage in New York and Paris. He arrived in California in 1926 and made his film debut that year, going on to appear in more than 200 films.
Naish specialised in dialect roles portraying characters of many nationalities. He received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor for Sahara (1943) and A Medal for Benny (1945), winning the Golden Globe Award for the latter. Other notable film roles include Captain Blood (1935), Beau Geste (1939), Rio Grande (1950) and House of Frankenstein (1944). He also starred in the radio series Life with Luigi (1948–1953) and appeared in television series such as Get Smart and Batman.
Naish was married to actress Gladys Heaney from 1929 until his death from emphysema on 24 January 1973 in La Jolla, California. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
