Arthur Silverlake
Arthur Lake
Radio Category Star
- Ceremony was on February 8, 1960
Arthur Lake
'Dagwood'
Actor played husband in 'Blondie' films
The Los Angles Times
Arthur Lake, 81, who portrayed Dagwood Bumstead in more than two dozen Blondie films from 1939-50, is dead after a heart attack at his home in Indian Wells, Calif.
Lake, who had been living in quiet retirement, reportedly suffered the fatal seizure Friday while at home with his wife, Patricia. Paramedics said his son, Arthur Lake Jr., was trying to revive him.
Lake, who was born Arthur Silverlake, became famous throughout the world as the bumbling, dumb husband of Blondie, as played by Penny Singleton in the string of Columbia Pictures films based on the Chic Young comic strip characters.
THE STUDIO was struggling financially when it cast Lake and Singleton in the first Blondie film it made for $85,000. The picture grossed $9 million and led to the string of sequels that included Blondie Meets the Boss and Blondie Brings Up Baby.
Don Miller, a filmologist, called the signing of Lake as Dagwood "the greatest piece of casting in the history of movies." Lake, said Miller, "made Dagwood a bit more dumb than he was in the funnies and etched the characterization more broadly. He was Dagwood Bumstead."
Millions of Americans could not see a photograph of Lake without hearing his high-pitched call for help: "Blonnnndie!"
More than 30 years after the series ended, "Dagwood" was still getting fan mail from around the world. Lake enjoyed being identified with the character and continued to appear at benefits where he invariably would be given a mountainous Dagwood sandwich.
LAKE AND Singleton also played the parts for the first seven years that Blondie ran on the radio.
In the 1950s and the 1960s, there were attempts to bring Blondie to television - the first time in a series starring Lake and Pamela Britton, and the second time with two other actors in the roles. Neither effort was successful.
Lake was born April 17, 1905, in Corbin, Ky. At the age of 3, Arthur and his sister, Florence, joined his parents in a family vaudeville act that played throughout the South and Southwest.
His mother brought the children to Hollywood when Lake was 12 years old. As a child actor, he made his debut in Jack and the Beanstalk in 1917. He performed in westerns and by 1925 got a good part in Skinner's Dress Suit.
HE WAS signed to a contract by Universal Pictures, which featured him in its Sweet Sixteen comedies. In 1928, National Pictures borrowed him to play the comic strip character Harold Teen.
Later, he signed with RKO, where he made Dance Hall in 1929 and Cheer Up and Smile in 1930.
Other pictures included Indiscreet (1931) with Gloria Swanson; Silver Streak (1934); Orchids to You (1935); and Topper (1937).
