# J. Carrol Naish

Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish (January 21, 1896 – January 24, 1973) was an American actor. He appeared in over 200 films during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
He became a dialect specialist, and was called upon to play character roles of many nationalities, including Southern European (especially Italian), Eastern European, Latin American, American Indians, Middle Eastern, South Asian, East Asian, Pacific Islander—even black, which earned him the moniker "Hollywood's one-man U.N." His own heritage was Irish but he rarely played Irish characters, explaining, "When the part of an Irishman comes along, nobody ever thinks of me."
Naish received two Oscar nominations for his supporting roles in the films Sahara (1943) and A Medal for Benny (1945), the latter of which also earned him a Golden Globe. He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

## Early life

Naish was born in New York City on January 21, 1896. According to the actor's 1945 resumé, he was educated at St. Cecilia's Academy in New York City, and appeared on stage in Paris and New York before beginning his screen career.

## Career

Although he played an uncredited bit role in the silent film What Price Glory? (1926), Naish said his screen career didn't actually begin until 1930, when stage actors were being recruited for the new talking pictures. He became a prolific supporting actor, appearing in more than 200 films. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the first for his role as Giuseppe in the movie Sahara (1943), in which he delivers the propaganda speech:
   Mussolini is not so clever like Hitler, he can dress up his Italians only to look like thieves, cheats, murderers, he cannot like Hitler make them feel like that. He cannot like Hitler scrape from their conscience the knowledge right is right and wrong is wrong, or dig holes in their heads to plant his own Ten Commandments- Steal from thy neighbor, Cheat thy neighbor, Kill thy neighbor! But are my eyes blind that I must fall to my knees to worship a maniac who has made of my country a concentration camp, who has made of my people slaves? Must I kiss the hand that beats me, lick the boot that kicks me? NO!
The second was for his performance as the title character's Hispanic father in the movie A Medal for Benny (1945). For the latter film, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.
He often played villains, from gangsters in numerous Paramount pictures to mad scientists, such as Dr. Daka in Columbia's Batman serial. In this screen adaptation of the comic book, Naish was originally cast as The Joker, but was recast as a Japanese supervillain suitable to the patriotic wartime plotline.
In the 1940s Naish was a supporting character in a number of horror films. He played Boris Karloff's assistant in House of Frankenstein (1944).
On radio, Naish starred as Luigi Basco on the popular CBS program Life with Luigi (1948–1953). Luigi's popularity resulted in a CBS television series of the same name, with Naish reprising his role.
In 1955, Naish originated the role of Alfieri in the one-act, verse version of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge on Broadway, also starring Van Heflin and Eileen Heckart.
In 1957–1958, Naish played the lead role in the television series The New Adventures of Charlie Chan. Speaking in 2023, co-star James Hong said Naish had him fired from the series just because Hong had missed a single line, and accused Naish of having held "a deep prejudice".
Naish worked mostly in guest roles on television through the 1960s; his most recent motion picture credit was from 1964. In 1971, the 75-year-old actor was coaxed out of retirement by producer and horror-film enthusiast Samuel M. Sherman to star in a new big-screen thriller, Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971). Naish played a descendant of the original Dr. Frankenstein, who takes to murdering young women for experimentation in hopes of reviving his ancestor's creation. His mute assistant was played by Lon Chaney Jr.. Dracula vs. Frankenstein was the last film of both Naish and Chaney.

## Personal life

Naish was married (from 1929 until his death) to actress Gladys Heaney; they had one daughter, Elaine.
Naish retired to San Diego and died of emphysema on January 24, 1973, at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California, three days after his 77th birthday. He is interred at Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California. For his contributions to television, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6145 Hollywood Boulevard.

## Filmography

Film :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1926 | What Price Glory | French Soldier | Uncredited |
| 1930 | Cheer Up and Smile | Bit Part | Uncredited |
| 1931 | The Royal Bed | Laker | Credited as Carrol Naish |
| 1931 | Gun Smoke | Mink Gordon | |
| 1931 | Surrender | French Prisoner of War | Uncredited |
| 1931 | Tonight or Never | Radio Announcer | Uncredited |
| 1931 | The Finger Points | Phone Voice ("The Finger is on You") | Uncredited |
| 1932 | The Hatchet Man | Sun Yat Ming | Credited as J. Carroll Naish Alternative title: The Honorable Mr. Wong |
| 1932 | The Beast of the City | Cholo | |
| 1932 | No Living Witness | Nick | |
| 1932 | The Mouthpiece | Tony Rocco | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1932 | The Famous Ferguson Case | Claude Wright | |
| 1932 | Two Seconds | Tony | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1932 | Crooner | Nick Meyer | |
| 1932 | Big City Blues | Bootlegger | Uncredited |
| 1932 | Tiger Shark | Tony | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1932 | The Kid from Spain | Pedro | |
| 1932 | Frisco Jenny | Ed Harris | Uncredited | 1932 “Week-End Marraige” Joe Uncredited | 1933 | No Other Woman | Bonelli |
| 1933 | The Past of Mary Holmes | Gary Kent | |
| 1933 | Infernal Machine | Bryan | Uncredited |
| 1933 | Central Airport | Drunk in wreck | Uncredited |
| 1933 | The World Gone Mad | Ramon Salvadore | |
| 1933 | Elmer, the Great | Jerry | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1933 | The Devil's in Love | Salazar | |
| 1933 | Arizona to Broadway | Tommy Monk | |
| 1933 | Captured! | Cpl. Guarand | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1933 | Ann Vickers | Dr. Sorelle | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1933 | The Mad Game | Chopper Allen | |
| 1933 | Havana Widows | First Taxi Driver | Uncredited |
| 1933 | The Mystery Squadron | Collins | Film serial |
| 1934 | Upper World | Lou Colima | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1934 | What's Your Racket? | Dick Graves | |
| 1934 | Murder in Trinidad | Duval | |
| 1934 | One Is Guilty | Jack Allen | |
| 1934 | British Agent | Commissioner of War Trotsky | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1934 | Maria Galante | French Sailor Painting Ship | Uncredited |
| 1934 | The President Vanishes | Anti-War Demonstrator | Uncredited |
| 1935 | The Lives of a Bengal Lancer | Grand Vizier | |
| 1935 | Black Fury | Steve Croner | |
| 1935 | Front Page Woman | Robert Cardoza | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1935 | The Crusades | Arab Slave Dealer | Uncredited |
| 1935 | Little Big Shot | Bert | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1935 | Special Agent | Joe Durell | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1935 | Confidential | 'Lefty' Tate | |
| 1935 | Captain Blood | Cahusac | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1936 | Two in the Dark | Burt Mansfield | |
| 1936 | Exclusive Story | Comos | |
| 1936 | Robin Hood of El Dorado | Three-Fingered Jack | |
| 1936 | Charlie Chan at the Circus | Tom Holt | |
| 1936 | Moonlight Murder | Bejac | |
| 1936 | Absolute Quiet | Pedro | |
| 1936 | Special Investigator | Edward J. Selton | |
| 1936 | Anthony Adverse | Maj. Doumet | Credited as J. Carroll Naish |
| 1936 | Ramona | Juan Can | |
| 1936 | The Charge of the Light Brigade | Subahdar-Major Puran Singh | |
| 1936 | Exclusive Story | Comos | |
| 1936 | Crack-Up | Operative #77 | |
| 1937 | Border Cafe | Rocky Alton | |
| 1937 | Think Fast, Mr. Moto | Adram | |
| 1937 | Hideaway | Mike Clarke | |
| 1937 | Sea Racketeers | Harry Durant | |
| 1937 | Bulldog Drummond Comes Back | Mikhail Valdin | |
| 1937 | Thunder Trail | Rafael Lopez | |
| 1937 | Daughter of Shanghai | Frank Barden | |
| 1938 | Her Jungle Love | Kuasa | |
| 1938 | Bulldog Drummond in Africa | Richard Lane | |
| 1938 | King of Alcatraz | Steve Murkil | |
| 1939 | Persons in Hiding | Freddie 'Gunner' Martin | |
| 1939 | Hotel Imperial | Kuprin | |
| 1939 | Beau Geste | Rasinoff | |
| 1939 | Island of Lost Men | Gregory Prin | |
| 1940 | Typhoon | Mekaike | |
| 1940 | Queen of the Mob | George Frost | |
| 1940 | Golden Gloves | Joe Taggerty | |
| 1940 | Down Argentine Way | Casiano | |
| 1941 | Mr. Dynamite | Professor | |
| 1941 | That Night in Rio | Machado | |
| 1941 | Blood and Sand | Garabato | |
| 1941 | Accent on Love | Manuel Lombroso | |
| 1941 | Forced Landing | Andros Banshek | |
| 1941 | Birth of the Blues | Blackie | |
| 1941 | The Corsican Brothers | Lorenzo | |
| 1942 | A Gentleman at Heart | Gigi | |
| 1942 | Sunday Punch | Matt Bassler | |
| 1942 | Dr. Broadway | Jack Venner | |
| 1942 | Jackass Mail | Signor Michel O'Sullivan | |
| 1942 | The Pied Piper | Aristide Rougeron | |
| 1942 | Tales of Manhattan | Costello | |
| 1942 | Dr. Renault's Secret | Noel | |
| 1943 | Batman | Dr. Tito Daka/Prince Daka | Film serial |
| 1943 | Behind the Rising Sun | Reo Seki | |
| 1943 | Sahara | Giuseppe | Nominated: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 1943 | Calling Dr. Death | Inspector Gregg | |
| 1943 | Gung Ho! | Lt. C.J. Cristoforos | |
| 1944 | Voice in the Wind | Luigi | |
| 1944 | The Whistler | The Killer | |
| 1944 | The Monster Maker | Dr. Igor Markoff | |
| 1944 | Jungle Woman | Dr. Carl Fletcher | |
| 1944 | Waterfront | Dr. Karl Decker | |
| 1944 | Dragon Seed | Japanese Kitchen Overseer | |
| 1944 | Enter Arsène Lupin | Ganimard | |
| 1944 | House of Frankenstein | Daniel | |
| 1945 | A Medal for Benny | Charley Martin | Won: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Nominated: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 1945 | The Southerner | Devers | |
| 1945 | Strange Confession | Roger Graham | Alternative title: The Missing Head |
| 1945 | Star in the Night | Nick Catapoli | Short film |
| 1945 | Getting Gertie's Garter | Charles, the butler | |
| 1946 | Bad Bascomb | Bart Yancy | |
| 1946 | The Beast with Five Fingers | Police Commissario Ovidio Castanio | |
| 1946 | Humoresque | Rudy Boray | |
| 1947 | Carnival in Costa Rica | Papa Rico Molina | |
| 1947 | The Fugitive | A Police Informer | |
| 1948 | Joan of Arc | John, Count of Luxembourg (Joan's captor) | |
| 1948 | The Kissing Bandit | Chico | |
| 1949 | Canadian Pacific | Dynamite Dawson | |
| 1949 | That Midnight Kiss | Papa Donnetti | |
| 1950 | Black Hand | Louis Lorelli | |
| 1950 | Please Believe Me | "Lucky" Reilly | |
| 1950 | Annie Get Your Gun | Chief Sitting Bull | |
| 1950 | The Toast of New Orleans | Nicky Duvalle | |
| 1950 | Rio Grande | Lt. Gen. Philip Sheridan | |
| 1951 | The Mark of the Renegade | Luis | |
| 1951 | Across the Wide Missouri | Looking Glass | |
| 1951 | Bannerline | Frankie Scarbine | |
| 1952 | Denver and Rio Grande | Gil Harkness | |
| 1952 | Clash by Night | Uncle Vince | |
| 1952 | Ride the Man Down | Sheriff Joe Kneen | |
| 1952 | The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima | Narrator | Uncredited |
| 1953 | Fighter Attack | Bruno | |
| 1953 | Beneath the 12-Mile Reef | Socrates "Soc" Houlis | |
| 1954 | Saskatchewan | Batouche | |
| 1954 | Sitting Bull | Sitting Bull | |
| 1955 | New York Confidential | Ben Dagajanian | |
| 1955 | Hit the Deck | Mr. Peroni | |
| 1955 | Rage at Dawn | Simeon "Sim" Reno | |
| 1955 | Violent Saturday | Chapman, Bank Robber | |
| 1955 | The Last Command | General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana | |
| 1955 | Desert Sands | Sgt. Diepel | |
| 1956 | Rebel in Town | Bedloe Mason | |
| 1956 | Yaqui Drums | Yacqi Jack | |
| 1957 | This Could Be the Night | Leon | |
| 1957 | The Young Don't Cry | Plug | |
| 1961 | Force of Impulse | Antonio Marino | |
| 1971 | Dracula vs. Frankenstein | Dr. Frankenstein, aka Dr. Duryea | |
Television :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1952–1953 | Life with Luigi | Luigi Basco | Unknown episodes |
| 1956 | Climax! | Mr. Combie | Episode: "An Episode of Sparrows" |
| 1956 | The Alcoa Hour | Murillo | Episode: "Key Largo" |
| 1956 | Crossroads | Rabbi Arnold Fischel | 2 episodes, including "The White Carnation" |
| 1957–1958 | The New Adventures of Charlie Chan | Charlie Chan | 39 episodes |
| 1957 | The Texan | Walt Pierce | Episode: "The First Notch" |
| 1958 | Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | Papa | Episode: "My Father, the Fool" |
| 1958 | Wanted: Dead or Alive | Miguel Ramierez | Episode: "Ricochet" |
| 1958 | Cimarron City | Rare Crowder | Episode: "The Blood Line" |
| 1959 | The Restless Gun | Maj. Quint Langley | Episode: "Blood of Courage" |
| 1959 | Whirlybirds | Taylor | Episode: "Two of a Kind" |
| 1959–1960 | Wagon Train | Various roles | ' The Old Man Charvanaugh Story '; 'The Benjamin Burns Story ' |
| 1960 | The Untouchables | Joe Bucco | Episode: "The Noise of Death" |
| 1960–1961 | Guestward, Ho! | Hawkeye | 38 episodes |
| 1963 | Route 66 | Mike Donato | Episode: "And Make Thunder His Tribute" |
| 1964 | The Hanged Man | Uncle Picaud | Television film |
| 1964 | Burke's Law | Mr. Toto | Episode: "Who Killed Supersleuth?" |
| 1965 | I Dream of Jeannie | Bilejik | Episode: "Djinn and Water" |
| 1966 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Uncle Giuliano | Episode: "The Super-Colossal Affair" |
| 1967 | Green Acres | Chief Yellow Horse | Episode: "It's So Peaceful in the Country" |
| 1969 | Bonanza | Anselmo | Episode: "A Severe Case of Matrimony" |
| 1968 | Get Smart | Sam Vittorio | Episode: "The Secret of Sam Vittorio" |

## Radio broadcasts

| Year | Program | Episode/source |
| 1945 | Suspense | "Footfalls" |
| 1946 | The Fifth Horseman | Aftermath |
| 1947 | Family Theater | Let Us Remember |
| 1952 | Suspense | Treasure Hunt |
| 1953 | Family Theater | Two Tickets for Stockholm |