Warren B. Hymer
Warren B. Hymer
Though he appeared to be an illiterate, streetwise plug-ugly, American actor Warren Hymer was actually the son of two affluent stage performers, John B. Hymer and Elsie Hunt. Hymer was also a graduate of Yale University, and a moderately successful Broadway stage actor before coming to Hollywood in 1928. Because of his rough-hewn facial features and his ability to feign incredible stupidity, Hymer was much in demand in gangster parts, from his first talking picture, This Cockeyed World (1929), onward. So popular was Hymer during the early-talkie period that he shared co-starring status with Spencer Tracy in two films, and was billed over Humphrey Bogart in Up the River (1932). Unfortunately, Hymer's love of acting took second place to his love of liquor. Things went from bad to worse as Hymer's condition deteriorated; at one point he began filming a scene, opened his mouth to speak, and collapsed cold on the floor. Producers were willing to overlook this in view of Hymer's talent, but the actor also suffered from an uncontrollable temper. The axe fell on the day that Hymer, arguing with Columbia Pictures chieftan Harry Cohn, punctuated his tirade by urinating on Cohn's desk. After that, Hymer was virtually blackballed from Hollywood, resurfacing from time to time for an unbilled bit or a barely coherent supporting role. Warren Hymer died in 1948, not having worked in two years; he was only 42. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmography of Warren B. Hymer:
- Kid Millions with Eddie Cantor , Stanley Fields , Ann Sothern , Ethel Merman , George Murphy , Paul Harvey , Berton Churchill , Lucille Ball , Harry C. Bradley , Lynne Carver , Harrison Greene , Noble Johnson , Tor Johnson , Bobby Jordan , Edgar Kennedy , Henry Kolker , Robert F. Kortman , Art Mix , Clarence Muse , Nicholas Brothers , Edward Sr. Peil , Barbara Pepper , George Regas , Guy Usher , John Kelly , Charlie Hall
- Mr. Deeds Goes to Town with Gary Cooper , Jean Arthur , George Bancroft , Lionel Stander , Douglas Dumbrille , Raymond Walburn , H.B. Warner , Ruth Donnelly , Spencer Charters , Emma Dunn , Arthur Hoyt , Jameson Thomas , Walter Catlett , Margaret Seddon , Stanley Andrews , Irving Bacon , Billy Bevan , Harry C. Bradley , Cecil Cunningham , Ann Doran , Bess Flowers , Edward Gargan , George "Gabby" Hayes , Russell Hicks , Paul C. Hurst , Eddie Kane , Edward Keane , Edward J. LeSaint , Edwin Maxwell , George Meeker , James Millican , Gene Morgan , Jack Mower , Franklin Pangborn , Paul Porcasi , Christian Rub , Lee Shumway , Charles Sullivan , Dale vanSickel , Gustav vonSeyffertitz , Pierre Watkin , Charles Wilson , George Cooper , Charles Lane , Dennis O'Keefe
- Destry Rides Again with James Stewart , Marlene Dietrich , Charles Winninger , Mischa Auer , Brian Donlevy , Irene Hervey , Allen Jenkins , Una Merkel , Tom Fadden , Samuel S. Hinds , Billy Gilbert , Jack Carson , Richard Alexander , Virginia Brissac , Harry Cording , Joseph King , Robert McKenzie , Harry Tenbrook , Ann E. Todd , Minerva Urecal
- Meet John Doe with Gary Cooper , Barbara Stanwyck , Edward Arnold , Walter Brennan , Spring Byington , James Gleason , Gene Lockhart , Rod LaRocque , Irving Bacon , Regis Toomey , John Farrell MacDonald , Andrew Tombes , Pierre Watkin , Stanley Andrews , Mitchell Lewis , Charles Wilson , Vaughan Glaser , Sterling Holloway , Mike J. Frankovich , Bennie Bartlett , Edmund Cobb , Gary Cooper , Billy Curtis , Harry Davenport , Vernon Dent , Ann Doran , Edward Earle , Sarah Edwards , Eddie Fetherstone , Pat Flaherty , Bess Flowers , William Forrest , Jack Gardner , William Gould , John Hamilton , Kenneth Harlan , Forrester Harvey , Edward Hearn , John Ince , Selmer Jackson , Frank Jaquet , Eddie Kane , Edward Keane , Hank Mann , Alphonse Martell , Lafe McKee , Edward McWade , James Millican , Frank C. Moran , Gene Morgan , Jack Mower , Forbes Murray , Garry Owen , Paul Panzer , Edward Sr. Peil , Bob Perry , Susan Peters , Hal Price , Jack Richardson , Henry Roquemore , Cliff Saum , Walter Soderling , Wyndham Standing , Edwin Stanley , Charles Trowbridge , Guy Usher , Fredrik Vogeding , Leo White , Maris Wrixon , George H. Melford , Stanley Price
- San Francisco with Clark Gable , Jeanette MacDonald , Spencer Tracy , Jack Holt , Jessie Ralph , Ted Healy , Shirley Ross , Harold Huber , Al Shean , Kenneth Harlan , Roger Imhof , Charles Judels , Russell Simpson , Bert Roach , Gertrude Astor , Irving Bacon , Vince Barnett , Richard Carle , George Pat Collins , Nigel DeBrulier , Vernon Dent , Edward Earle , Flora Finch , Bud Geary , Sherry Hall , Edward Hearn , Edgar Kennedy , Ralph Lewis , Wilbur Mack , George Magrill , Robert McKenzie , John "Skins" Miller , Belle Mitchell , Harry C. Myers , William 'Billy' Newell , Pat O'Malley , Jason Sr. Robards , Henry Roquemore , Carl Stockdale , Harry Strang , Charles Sullivan , Ben Taggart , Rosemary Theby , David Thursby , John Kelly , Bruce Mitchell , Dennis O'Keefe , George Guhl , Tom Dugan , King Baggot
- Since You Went Away with Claudette Colbert , Jennifer Jones , Joseph Cotten , Shirley Temple , Agnes Moorehead , Monty Woolley , Lionel Barrymore , Robert Walker , Hattie R. McDaniel , Lloyd Corrigan , Gordon Oliver , Irving Bacon , Aileen Pringle , Wallis Clark , George Chandler , Ann Gillis , Grady Sutton , Andrew V. McLaglen , Addison W. Richards , George H. Lloyd , Barbara Pepper , Guy Madison , Byron K. Foulger , Harry Hayden , Edwin Maxwell , Florence Bates , Theodore vonEltz , Jack Gardner , Doodles Weaver , Dorothy Adams , James Westerfield , Ruth Roman , Jonathan Hale , Craig Stevens , Albert Basserman , Keenan Wynn , Rhonda Fleming , Dorothy Dandridge , William B. Davidson , Neil Hamilton , Alla Nazimova , John Derek , Terry Moore
Warren B. Hymer Trivia
