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Francis Sayles

{{Short description|American actor (1891–1944)}}

{{Use American English|date=May 2021}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Francis Sayles

| image = Francis Sayles in Midnight Phantom (1935).jpg

| caption = Sayles in Midnight Phantom (1935)

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1891|11|22|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = Buffalo, New York City, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1944|03|19|1891|11|22|mf=yes}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| occupation = Actor

| years_active = 1932–1944

}}

Francis Sayles (November 22, 1891 – March 19, 1944) was an American character actor at the beginning of the sound film era. In the short dozen years of his career he appeared in over 100 films, most of them features. While he was normally cast in small uncredited parts, he was occasionally cast in featured roles, as in the role of Dickman in the 1934 film, One in a Million, starring Dorothy Wilson and Charles Starrett.{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=6199|title=One in a Million: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate=July 23, 2015}}

Life and career

Sayles was born on November 22, 1891, in Buffalo, New York. His film debut occurred in a small role of a detective in Strangers of the Evening (1932), starring ZaSu Pitts.{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=6853|title=Strangers of the Evening: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate=July 23, 2015}} Other notable films in which Sayles appears include: the featured role of Charlie Blaine in 1932's Blonde Venus, starring Marlene Dietrich and Cary Grant;{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=5905|title=Blonde Venus: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate= July 23, 2015}} a small role in The Gay Deception (1935), starring Francis Lederer and Frances Dee;{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=7377|title=The Gay Deception: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate=July 23, 2015}} a bit part as a waiter in the 1936 romantic comedy More Than a Secretary, starring Jean Arthur, George Brent, and Lionel Stander;{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=6647|title=More Than a Secretary: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate=July 23, 2015}} the featured role of Charlie in Archie Mayo's 1937 drama Black Legion, starring Humphrey Bogart;{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=835|title=Black Legion: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate=July 23, 2015}} as Detective William Jones in the 1938 western The Purple Vigilantes, starring Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan, and Max Terhune;{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=7672|title=The Purple Vigilantes: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate= July 23, 2015}} an uncredited role in Michael Curtiz' 1939 western, Dodge City, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland;{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=4691|title=Dodge City: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate= July 23, 2015}} as a politician in Orson Welles' 1941 classic, Citizen Kane;{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=27624|title=Citizen Kane: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate=July 23, 2015}} as a taxi driver in the 1943 Howard Hawks' romantic comedy, Ball of Fire (1942), starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck;{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=27129|title=Ball of Fire: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate= July 23, 2015}} again as a cab driver in the 1943 biopic, The Pride of the Yankees, starring Gary Cooper and Teresa Wright;{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=27411|title=The Pride of the Yankees: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate= July 23, 2015}} and the 1944 biography The Adventures of Mark Twain, starring Fredric March and Alexis Smith.{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=24265|title=The Adventures of Mark Twain: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate=July 23, 2015}} Sayles had a small role of an elevator operator in the 1944 film, Casanova Brown, again starring Cooper and Wright. It was his final film, he died on March 19, 1944, while the film was still in production. It was released later that year in August.{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=2467|title=Casanova Brown: Detail View|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate= July 23, 2015}}

Filmography

(Per AFI database){{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/SearchResult.aspx?s=&Type=PN&Tbl=&CatID=DATABIN_CAST&ID=52699&searchedFor=Francis_Sayles_&SortType=ASC&SortCol=RELEASE_YEAR|title=Francis Sayles|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate=July 23, 2015}}

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References

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External links

{{Commons category}}

  • {{IMDb name|0768494}}

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Category:1891 births

Category:1944 deaths

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:Male actors from Buffalo, New York