Jonathan Hale

Jonathan Hale (born Jonathan Hatley; March 21, 1891 – February 28, 1966) was a Canadian-born film and television actor.
Life and career
Hale was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Before his acting career, Hale worked in the Diplomatic Corps. Hale is most well known as Dagwood Bumstead's boss, Julius Caesar Dithers, in the Blondie film series in the 1940s. He is also notable for playing Inspector Fernack in various The Saint films by RKO Pictures.
In 1950 he made two appearances in The Cisco Kid as Barry Owens. He also appeared in two different episodes of Adventures of Superman: "The Evil Three", in which he played a murderous "Southern Colonel"-type character, and "Panic in the Sky", one of the most famous episodes, in which he played the lead astronomer at the Metropolis Observatory, actually a California observatory.
Among the relatively few television programs on which Hale appeared are the religion anthology series Crossroads, The Loretta Young Show, Brave Eagle, Schlitz Playhouse, The Joey Bishop Show, Our Miss Brooks and Walt Disney Presents: "A Tribute to Joel Chandler Harris".
Death
Hale committed suicide on February 28, 1966, at the age of 74. He was found dead that evening in his room at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. Hale had taken his own life with a .38 caliber pistol, which was found near his body. He was interred at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California. His grave went unmarked for more than four decades, until a proper headstone was erected by donations from the "Dearly Departed" fan-based group in 2013; he is now honored with the inscription, "We Remembered You".
Selected filmography
Housewife (1934) as Doctor (uncredited)
The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
A Lost Lady (1934) (uncredited)
Gentlemen Are Born (1934) as Second Broker (uncredited)
Lightning Strikes Twice (1934) as Capt. Hobart Nelson
A Night at the Ritz (1935) as Director (uncredited)
One New York Night (1935) as Mr. Stokes (uncredited)
G Men (1935) as Congressman (uncredited)
Let 'Em Have It (1935) as Microscopic Expert (uncredited)
Public Hero No. 1 (1935) as Prison Board Member (uncredited)
The Raven (1935) as Bedside Dr. at Jerry's Right (uncredited)
Alice Adams (1935) as Mr. Palmer
Page Miss Glory (1935) as Husband at Train Station (uncredited)
Navy Wife (1935) as Norton (uncredited)
Three Kids and a Queen (1935) as Gangster (uncredited)
A Night at the Opera (1935) as Stage Manager in Opera Box Who Announces Gottlieb's Disappearance (uncredited)
The Calling of Dan Matthews (1935) as Club Owner (uncredited)
Too Tough to Kill (1935) as Chairman of the Board (uncredited)
If You Could Only Cook (1935) as Henry Brown - Member of Board of Directors (uncredited)
Three Live Ghosts (1936) as Detective Bolton
Charlie Chan's Secret (1936) as Warren T. Phelps
You May Be Next (1936) as Army Officer (uncredited)
The Voice of Bugle Ann (1936) as District Attorney
Sutter's Gold (1936) as Prosecuting Attorney (uncredited)
Too Many Parents (1936) as Judge
The Singing Kid (1936) as Dr. Brown (uncredited)
Panic on the Air (1936) as Johnson (uncredited)
The Case Against Mrs. Ames (1936) as Judge at First Trial
Educating Father (1936) as Fred Humphrey
Fury (1936) as Defense Attorney
Parole! (1936) as Parole Board Member (uncredited)
Spendthrift (1936) as Attorney (uncredited)
36 Hours to Kill (1936) as Conductor
Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936) as Warren Fenton
China Clipper (1936) as State Department Official (uncredited)
Down the Stretch (1936) as Secretary M.L. Lyon (uncredited)
The Devil Is a Sissy (1936) as Judge Holmes
The Magnificent Brute (1936) as Official (uncredited)
Easy to Take (1936) as Mr. Hardy (uncredited)
The Plainsman (1936) as Major (uncredited)
The Accusing Finger (1936) as Special Prosecutor
Born to Dance (1936) as Hector the Columnist (uncredited)
Flying Hostess (1936) as Kendall
Happy Go Lucky (1936) as J. Lansing Bennett
Sinner Take All (1936) as Dr. Harrison (uncredited)
Mysterious Crossing (1936) as Garland - Banker (uncredited)
You Only Live Once (1937) as District Attorney (uncredited)
She's Dangerous (1937) as Charles Fitzgerald
Man of the People (1937) as Carter Spetner
Outcast (1937) as Judge (uncredited)
A Doctor's Diary (1937) as Mr. Williams (uncredited)
Sea Devils (1937) as Court-Martial President (uncredited)
John Meade's Woman (1937) as Mr. Melton
Racketeers in Exile (1937) as Alden Parker
The Man Who Found Himself (1937) as Dr. Tom Smythe (uncredited)
A Star Is Born (1937) as Judge George J. Parris (uncredited)
You Can't Buy Luck (1937) as Prosecutor (uncredited)
Wings Over Honolulu (1937) as Judge Advocate (uncredited)
Charlie Chan at the Olympics (1937) as Hopkins
The League of Frightened Men (1937) as Alexander Drummond
This Is My Affair (1937) as Judge
Midnight Madonna (1937) as Stuart Kirkland
Saratoga (1937) as Frank Clayton
Danger – Love at Work (1937) as Parsons
Madame X (1937) as Hugh Fariman Sr
Carnival Queen (1937) as Robert Jacoby
Big Town Girl (1937) as Hershell
Exiled to Shanghai (1937) as J.B. Willet
Arsène Lupin Returns (1938) as F.B.I. Special Agent
Mad About Music (1938) as Prosecutor, Film Within a Film (uncredited)
The First Hundred Years (1938) as Judge Parker
Her Jungle Love (1938) as J.C. Martin
Judge Hardy's Children (1938) as John Lee
Over the Wall (1938) as Governor
Island in the Sky (1938) as Prison Warden Matthews (uncredited)
Yellow Jack (1938) as Major General Leonard Wood
Gangs of New York (1938) as Warden
The Saint in New York (1938) as Inspector Henry Fernack
Wives Under Suspicion (1938) as Allison
Crime Ring (1938) as Bank President (uncredited)
Men with Wings (1938) as Long (uncredited)
Letter of Introduction (1938) as Lou Woodstock
Boys Town (1938) as John Hargraves
Fugitives for a Night (1938) as Police Captain
Breaking the Ice (1938) as Kane
Tarnished Angel (1938) as Detective Sgt. Edward Cramer
Blondie (1938) as J.C. Dithers
Road Demon (1938) as Anderson
The Duke of West Point (1938) as Colonel Early
There's That Woman Again (1938) as Rolfe Davis
Stand Up and Fight (1939) as Colonel Webb
Wings of the Navy (1939) as Commandant
Tail Spin (1939) as Racing Official Starter (uncredited)
Blondie Meets the Boss (1939) as Dithers
The Saint Strikes Back (1939) as Inspector Henry Fernack
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939) as President of Western Union
In Name Only (1939) as Dr. Ned Gateson
In Old Monterey (1939) as Stevenson
Fugitive at Large (1939) as Prison Warden (uncredited)
Thunder Afloat (1939) as Admiral Girard
Blondie Brings Up Baby (1939) as J.C. Dithers
The Amazing Mr. Williams (1939) as Mayor
Barricade (1939) as Assistant Secretary of State
The Big Guy (1939) as Jack Lang
The Saint's Double Trouble (1940) as Inspector Henry Fernack
Johnny Apollo (1940) as Dr. Brown
The Saint Takes Over (1940) as Inspector Henry Fernack
Private Affairs (1940) as George Gilkin
We Who Are Young (1940) as Braddock
Blondie Has Servant Trouble (1940) as J.C. Dithers
Dulcy (1940) as Homer Patterson
Melody and Moonlight (1940) as Otis Barnett
Blondie Plays Cupid (1940) as J.C. Dithers
The Saint in Palm Springs (1941) as Inspector Henry Fernack
Flight from Destiny (1941) as District Attorney
Blondie Goes Latin (1941) as Mr. J.C. Dithers
The Great Swindle (1941) as Swann
Strange Alibi (1941) as Police Chief Sprague
Her First Beau (1941) as Mr. Harris
Blondie in Society (1941) as J.C. Dithers
Ringside Maisie (1941) as Dr. Kramer
The Pittsburgh Kid (1941) as Max Ellison
The Bugle Sounds (1942) as Brigadier-General
Blondie Goes to College (1942) as J.C. Dithers
Joe Smith, American (1942) as Blake McKettrick
The Lone Star Ranger (1942) as Judge [John] Longstreth
Blondie's Blessed Event (1942) as J.C. Dithers
Miss Annie Rooney (1942) as Mr. White
Flight Lieutenant (1942) as Joseph Sanford
Calling Dr. Gillespie (1942) as Frank Marshall Todwell
Blondie for Victory (1942) as J.C. Dithers
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943) as Ferguson
Hangmen Also Die! (1943) as Dedic
It's a Great Life (1943) as J.C. Dithers
Nobody's Darling (1943) as Jason Rhodes
Footlight Glamour (1943) as J.C. Dithers
Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943) as Mr. Fox
Jack London (1943) as Kerwin Maxwell
There's Something About a Soldier (1943) as General Sommerton
This Is the Life (1944) as Dr. Plum
The Black Parachute (1944) as King Stephen
Since You Went Away (1944) as Second Train Conductor (uncredited)
My Buddy (1944) as Senator Henry
End of the Road (1944) as Gregory McCune
Dead Man's Eyes (1944) as Dr. Welles
And Now Tomorrow (1944) as Dr. Sloane (uncredited)
Hollywood Canteen (1944) as Mr. Brodel (uncredited)
Leave It to Blondie (1945) as J.C. Dithers
G. I. Honeymoon (1945) as Colonel Hammerhead Smith
The Phantom Speaks (1945) as Owen McAllister
Divorce (1945) as Judge Conlon
Allotment Wives (1945) as Brig. General H. N. Gilbert
Man Alive (1945) as Osborne
Dakota (1945) as Col. Wordin
The Strange Mr. Gregory (1945) as Defense Attorney Blair
Life with Blondie (1945) as J.C. Dithers
Gay Blades (1946) as Whittlesey
Riverboat Rhythm (1946) as Colonel Edward Beeler
Blondie's Lucky Day (1946) as J.C. Dithers
The Cat Creeps (1946) as Walter Elliot
The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1946) as Captain Griffin
Easy to Wed (1946) as Hector Boswell
Angel on My Shoulder (1946) as Citizens for Better Government Chairman (uncredited)
Blondie Knows Best (1946) as J.C. Dithers
Rolling Home (1946) as Henry Kane
Wife Wanted (1946) as Philip Conway
The Strange Mr. Gregory (1946) as Blair
The Beginning or the End (1947) as Dr. Vannevar Bush
The Ghost Goes Wild (1947) as Max Atterbury
The Vigilantes Return (1947) as Judge Holden
Black Gold (1947) as Senator Watkins
Her Husband's Affairs (1947) as Gov. Fox
High Wall (1947) as Emory Garrison
Rocky (1948) as Kenneth Forrester
Call Northside 777 (1948) as Robert Winston - Governor's Aide (uncredited)
King of the Gamblers (1948) as Sam Hyland
Silver River (1948) as Major Spencer
Tap Roots (1948) as General Johnston (uncredited)
Michael O'Halloran (1948) as Judge Schaffner
Johnny Belinda (1948) as Dr. Horace M. Gray (uncredited)
Disaster (1948) as Police Commissioner Jerome
Rose of the Yukon (1949) as Gen. Butler
Tell It to the Judge (1949) as Judge Allan J. Brooks
State Department: File 649 (1949) as Director-General
Stampede (1949) as Varick
The Fountainhead (1949) as Guy Francon (uncredited)
A Dangerous Profession (1949) as Roger Lennert, Lucy's Attorney (uncredited)
The Baron of Arizona (1950) as Governor
Federal Agent at Large (1950) as James Goodwin
Triple Trouble (1950) as Judge
Three Husbands (1950) as Edward Wurdeman, Attorney at Law
Short Grass (1950) as Charlie Bissel
Insurance Investigator (1951) as Russell James
Strangers on a Train (1951) as Mr. Antony
Rodeo King and the Senorita (1951) as Dr. Sands
Let's Go Navy! (1951) as Captain
The Tall Target (1951) as Passenger from Carolina (uncredited)
Sunny Side of the Street (1951) as Cyrus Pelley
She Couldn't Say No (1952) as John Bentley (uncredited)
Scandal Sheet (1952) as Frank Madison
Carbine Williams (1952) as Judge Henry P. Lane (uncredited)
Young Man with Ideas (1952) as Stanley Rickson (uncredited)
Son of Paleface (1952) as Gov. Freeman (uncredited)
The Steel Trap (1952) as Tom Bowers
Taxi (1953) as Mr. Barker (uncredited)
Kansas Pacific (1953) as Sherman Johnson
The Flaming Urge (1953) as Mr. Chalmers
Duffy of San Quentin (1954) as Boyd
She Couldn't Say No (1954) as John Bentley (uncredited)
Men of the Fighting Lady (1954) as Home Movie Commentator (uncredited)
Cattle Queen of Montana (1954) (uncredited)
The Night Holds Terror (1955) as Bob Henderson
Jaguar (1956) as Dr. Powell
The Three Outlaws (1956) as Pinkerton
References
External links
1891 births
1966 deaths
Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery
Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
Suicides by firearm in California
20th-century Canadian male actors
Male actors from Hamilton, Ontario
1966 suicides