Edward Santree Brophy (February 27, 1895 – May 27, 1960) was an American character actor and comedian, as well as an assistant director and second unit director during the 1920s. Small of build, balding, and raucous-voiced, he frequently portrayed dumb cops and gangsters, both serious and comic.

He is best remembered as the sidekick to The Falcon in the Tom Conway film series of the 1940s, and for voicing Timothy Q. Mouse in Walt Disney's Dumbo (1941).

Early life Edward Santree Brophy was born on February 27, 1895, in New York City and attended the University of Virginia.Katz, Ephraim (1979). The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume. Perigee Books. . P.171.

Career His screen debut was in Yes or No? (1920). In 1928, with only a few minor film roles to his credit, Brophy was working as a production manager for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer when he was on location with Buster Keaton for the feature film The Cameraman. An actor failed to show up, and rather than having to wait for the studio to send a substitute, Keaton recruited Brophy on the spot to take the actor's place. As two occupants of a bath-house, Brophy and Keaton attempt to undress and put on bathing suits while sharing a single tiny changing room. Each time Keaton attempts to hang his clothes on one hook, Brophy removes the clothes and hands them back to Keaton and gestures to the other hook. He manhandles the smaller, more slender Keaton, at one point picking him up by the feet and dumping him out of his trousers. Appearing only in this one brief scene, Brophy attracted enough attention to receive more and better roles.

Keaton used Brophy again in his military comedy Doughboys (1930), with Brophy as a loud-mouthed drill sergeant. This defined Brophy's screen persona as a Brooklyn-accented, streetwise character. His subsequent films for MGM cast him in the same vein: comic foils in four more Keaton features; the loyal fight manager in The Champ (1931); a circus proprietor in Freaks (1932); and as a hired gun in The Thin Man (1934).

By 1940 Brophy was so identified as a Runyonesque character with a Brooklynese speech pattern that he was cast as the voice of Timothy Q. Mouse in Dumbo, even though he was uncredited for this role. Brophy worked steadily through the 1950s, in both featured roles and uncredited bits, almost always in light film fare. Very rarely was he called upon to display dramatic ability, as in the police procedural Arson, Inc. (1949), in which he played a potentially dangerous firebug. He also made several appearances in the films of director John Ford, notably as "Ditto" Boland in The Last Hurrah (1958), Brophy's last film.

Critic Leslie Halliwell described him thus, "American character actor, often a gangster or a very odd kind of valet; a rotund, cigar-chewing little man in a bowler hat, oddly likeable despite his pretence of toughness."

Brophy was the model for comic-book character Doiby Dickles, the cab-driving sidekick to Green Lantern in the 1940s.

Death Brophy died on May 27, 1960, during the production of Ford's Two Rode Together. (One source says Brophy "died while watching a prizefight on television." ) He was 65.

Filmography

+YearFilmRoleRef.1920Yes or No?Tom Martin1921The Sign on the DoorNewspaper Photographer (uncredited)1927Spring FeverGolf Game Spectator (uncredited)West PointTeam Manager (uncredited)1928The CameramanMan in Bath-House (uncredited)1930Free and EasyBenny - The Stage Manager (uncredited)Estrelladosassistant director (uncredited)Our Blushing BridesJoe MunseyDoughboysSergeant BrophyThose Three French GirlsYankRemote ControlAlPaidBurglar (uncredited)1931Parlor, Bedroom and BathDetectiveA Free SoulSlouch (uncredited)Sporting BloodNewsreel Cameraman (uncredited)A Dangerous AffairNelsonThe ChampTimThe Big ShotMinor Role (scenes deleted)The Passionate PlumberMan Outside Beauty Parlor (uncredited)1932Freaksas Rollo BrotherThe Beast of the CityPolice Dispatcher (uncredited)Skyscraper SoulsMan in Elevator (uncredited)Speak EasilyRenoProsperityIce Cream Salesman (uncredited)FleshDolan - a Referee1933What! No Beer?Spike MoranBeer and Pretzels (Short)Theater Manager (uncredited)Broadway to HollywoodJoe Mannion (uncredited)Hello Pop! (Short)Brophy (uncredited)1934The Poor RichFlanniganThe Thin ManMorelliParis InterludeHamHide-OutDetective BrittHave a HeartMac (uncredited)Death on the DiamondGroganEvelyn PrenticeEddie DelaneyI'll Fix ItTillie TilsonSequoiaForest Ranger Pete (uncredited)Forsaking All Others(scenes deleted)1935Devil Dogs of the AirMinor Role (scenes deleted)Shadow of DoubtFred WilcoxThe Whole Town's Talking'Slugs' MartinNaughty MariettaZekePeople Will TalkPete RanseMad LoveRolloShe Gets Her ManFlashChina SeasWilbur TimmonsI Live My LifePete (uncredited)1,000 Dollars a MinuteBenny DolanRemember Last Night?MaxieShow Them No Mercy!Buzz1936Strike Me PinkKillerHere Comes TroubleCrowleyWoman TrapGeorge MeadeThe Case Against Mrs. AmesSidKelly the SecondIke ArnoldSpendthriftBill McGuireWedding PresentSquintyAll American ChumpPudgy MurphyMr. CinderellaDetective McNuttHideaway GirlBugs MurphyCareer WomanDoc CurleyGreat GuyPete Reilly1937Oh, DoctorMeg SmithJim Hanvey, DetectiveRomoThe Soldier and the LadyPackerThe Hit ParadeMulrooneyThe Great Gambini'Butch'Varsity ShowMike BarclayTrapped by G-MenLeftyThe Girl Said NoPickThe Last Gangster'Fats' GarveyBlossoms on BroadwayMr. Prussic1938A Slight Case of MurderLeftyRomance on the RunWhitey WhitehouseHold That KissAlGold Diggers in ParisMike CooganPassport HusbandSpikeCome On, Leathernecks!Max 'Curly' MaxwellVacation from LoveBarney Keenan, Band LeaderGambling ShipCuthbert Innocent1939You Can't Cheat an Honest ManCorbettPardon Our NerveNosey NelsonSociety LawyerMaxFor Love or MoneySleeperThe Kid from KokomoEddie BlackGolden BoyRoxy LewisMr. Smith Goes to WashingtonNewspaper employee (uncredited)Kid NightingaleMike JordonThe Amazing Mr. WilliamsBuck MosebyThe Big GuyDippy1940Calling Philo VanceRyanAlias the DeaconStuffyGolden GlovesPotsy BrillThe Great ProfileSylvesterDance, Girl, DanceDwarfie HumblewingerSandy Gets Her ManFireman JuniorThe Invisible WomanBill1941Sleepers WestGeorge TrautweinThieves Fall OutRorkThe Bride Came C.O.D.HinkleA Dangerous GameBugsNine Lives Are Not EnoughOfficer SlatteryBuy Me That TownZiggyDumboTimothy Q. Mouse (voice, uncredited)The Gay FalconOfficer BatesSteel Against the SkyPete Evans1942All Through the NightJoe DenningBroadwayPorkyLarceny, Inc.Weepy DavisMadame SpyMike Reese1943Lady BodyguardHarry GarganAir ForceMarine Sgt. J.J. CallahanDestroyerCaseyA Scream in the DarkEddie Tough1944Cover GirlJoe - Cafe Owner (uncredited)It Happened TomorrowJake ShombergA Night of AdventureSteveThe Thin Man Goes HomeBrogan1945See My Lawyer Otis FillmoreI'll Remember AprilShadowWonder ManTorsoPenthouse RhythmBaileyThe Falcon in San FranciscoGoldy Locke1946Girl on the SpotFingers FoleySwing Parade of 1946MooseSweetheart of Sigma ChiArtieThe Falcon's AdventureGoldie LockeRenegade GirlBob Crandall1947It Happened on 5th AvenueCecil Felton1949Arson, Inc.Pete Purdy1951Danger ZoneProf. Frederick Simpson SchickerRoaring City'Professor' Frederick Simpson SchickerPier 23Prof. Shicker1956Bundle of JoyDance Contest Judge1958The Last Hurrah'Ditto' Boland1960The Slowest Gun in the West (TV Movie)The Bartender1961Two Rode TogetherMinor Role (uncredited, final role)

References

External links

1920 passport photo for Edward Brophy