Hobart Cavanaugh

Biography

Worried-looking, balding, moustachioed and usually bespectacled small part character actor, prolific during the 1930s and 40s. Hobart Cavanaugh played downtrodden or henpecked little men -- the perennial victim, forever nervous or bewildered -- to absolute perfection. He was most at home as clerks, mailmen, minor officials, undertakers, shopkeepers and bank tellers. However, when called upon, he could be just as convincing as a sneaky or vaguely sinister villain's accomplice. A former engineering student at the University of California, Cavanaugh began his acting career on the stage, making his debut on Broadway in 1916. He entered films, somewhat inauspiciously, with a forgotten B-picture, which was shot in New York by the independent Gotham Company. It took another five years, until he was signed by First National/Warner Brothers, where he remained under contract until 1936, thereafter free-lancing. His mild-mannered personae remained in constant demand in Hollywood, for he tallied up an impressive 190 screen appearances -- though often uncredited -- right up until his death in 1950.