James Parrott

James Parrott (August 2, 1897 – May 10, 1939) was an American actor and film director; and the younger brother of film comedian Charley Chase.
Biography
Early years
James Gibbons Parrott was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Charles and Blanche Thompson Parrott. In 1903, his father died from a heart attack, leaving the family in bad financial shape, which forced them to move in with a relative. Charley Jr. quit school, so he could go to work, in order to support his mother and brother. Eventually the call of the stage beckoned him, and Charley Jr. left home at age 16 to travel the vaudeville circuit as a singer and comedic performer.
James was forced to leave school at a young age,in order to earn money to support the family. His first job was as a bellboy at the age of 10.Two years later, he was a driver of a horse-drawn carriage. He later became a prop man, whilst his brother Charley was director at Fox Films.
Later, Charley's connections in the film industry helped his younger brother to become established in movies, and he would appear during the 1920s in a series of relatively successful comedies for producer Hal Roach. He was billed first as "Paul Parrott", then "Jimmie Parrott", Approximately 75 comedies were produced from 1921 to 1923, with titles continuing to be released through Pathé until 1926. Frequent co-stars included Marie Mosquini, Jobyna Ralston, Eddie Baker, and Sunshine Sammy.
Parrott is probably best known as a comedy director. As "James Parrott", he specialized in the two-reel misadventures of Laurel and Hardy, including the Oscar-winning classic The Music Box, and Helpmates.
Spouses
Clara Miller m. 1921-?
Ruby Ellen McCoy m. 1937-1939
Later years
During the 1930s Parrott had acquired serious drinking and drug problems (his diet medications were actually addictive amphetamines) and although still able to direct quality shorts, he had developed a reputation as unreliable. By the mid-1930s his work was spotty: Stan Laurel used him sporadically to contribute gags to the Laurel and Hardy features, and he would direct an Our Gang short in 1934, plus several acceptable entries in Thelma Todd–Patsy Kelly series.
Death
By 1937, Parrott was accepting any jobs that came his way. He could no longer be counted on to direct or write, and relied on his brother to support him financially. There was a brief marriage to Ruby Ellen McCoy in 1937, but as his various addictions worsened, so did his state of mind.
Parrott died at the age of 41 of heart failure. His brother Charley was devastated and died 13 months later. He is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park, the same cemetery where his brother, Charley Chase rests.
His brother had refused to help him financially until he cleaned up his act. Parrott's death at 41 was attributed to a heart attack, but former Hal Roach associates maintained he committed suicide. Guilt-ridden over his brother's tragic end, Chase drank himself to death a year later.
Filmography
Actor
1918 : Hit Him Again
1918 : A Gasoline Wedding
1918 : Look Pleasant, Please
1918 : Here Come the Girls
1918 : Let's Go
1918 : On the Jump
1918 : Follow the Crowd
1918 : Pipe the Whiskers
1918 : It's a Wild Life
1918 : Hey There!
1918 : Kicked Out
1918 : Two-Gun Gussie
1918 : Fireman Save My Child
1918 : Sic 'Em, Towser
1918 : Somewhere in Turkey
1918 : An Ozark Romance
1918 : Kicking the Germ Out of Germany
1918 : That's Him
1918 : Bride and Gloom
1918 : Two Scrambled
1918 : No Place Like Jail
1918 : Why Pick on Me?
1918 : Just Rambling Along
1918 : Hear 'Em Rave
1918 : She Loves Me Not
1919 : An Auto Nut
1919 : Do You Love Your Wife?
1919 : Wanted - $5,000
1919 : Going! Going! Gone!
1919 : Hustling for Health
1919 : Hoots Mon!
1919 : I'm on My Way
1919 : The Dutiful Dub
1919 : A Sammy in Siberia
1919 : Young Mr. Jazz
1919 : Crack Your Heels
1919 : Ring Up the Curtain
1919 : Si, Senor
1919 : Pistols for Breakfast
1919 : Swat the Crook
1919 : Off the Trolley
1919 : At the Old Stage Door
1919 : A Jazzed Honeymoon
1919 : Count Your Change
1919 : Chop Suey & Co.
1919 : Heap Big Chief
1919 : Don't Shove
1920 : His First Flat Tire
1921 : Big Town Ideas
1922 : Try, Try Again
1922 : Paste and Paper
1922 : Loose Change
1922 : Rich Man, Poor Man
1922 : Stand Pat
1922 : Friday the Thirteenth
1922 : The Late Lamented
1922 : A Bed of Roses
1922 : The Sleuth
1922 : Busy Bees
1922 : The Bride-to-Be
1922 : Take Next Car
1922 : Touch All the Bases
1922 : The Truth Juggler
1922 : Rough on Romeo
1922 : Wet Weather
1922 : The Landlubber
1922 : Bone Dry
1922 : Soak the Shiek
1922 : Face the Camera
1922 : The Uppercut
1922 : Shiver and Shake
1922 : The Golf Bug
1922 : Shine 'Em Up!
1922 : Washed Ashore
1922 : Harvest Hands
1922 : The Flivver
1922 : Blaze Away
1922 : I'll Take Vanilla
1922 : Fair Week
1922 : The White Blacksmith
1922 : Fire the Fireman
1923 : Post No Bills
1923 : Watch Your Wife
1923 : Mr. Hyppo
1923 : Don't Say Die
1923 : Jailed and Bailed
1923 : A Loose Tightwad
1923 : Tight Shoes
1923 : Do Your Stuff
1923 : Shoot Straight
1923 : For Safe Keeping
1923 : Bowled Over
1923 : Get Your Man
1923 : The Smile Wins
1923 : Good Riddance
1923 : Speed the Swede
1923 : Sunny Spain
1923 : For Art's Sake
1923 : Fresh Eggs
1923 : Uncovered Wagon
1923 : For Guests Only
1923 : Live Wires
1923 : Take the Air
1923 : Finger Prints
1923 : Winner Take All
1923 : Dear Ol' Pal
1923 : Join the Circus
1924 : Get Busy
1925 : Whispering Lions
1925 : The Caretaker's Daughter
1925 : Are Parents Pickles?
1925 : Whistling Lions
1926 : Between Meals
1926 : Don't Butt In
1926 : Soft Pedal
1926 : Pay the Cashier
1926 : The Only Son
1926 : Hired and Fired
1926 : The Old War-Horse
1931 : Pardon Us
1934 : Washee Ironee
Director
1921 : The Pickaninny
1922 : Mixed Nuts
1924 : Just a Minute
1924 : Hard Knocks
1924 : Love's Detour
1924 : The Fraidy Cat
1924 : Don't Forget
1925 : Should Sailors Marry?
1926 : The Cow's Kimona
1926 : On the Front Page
1926 : There Ain't No Santa Claus
1927 : Many Scrappy Returns
1927 : Are Brunettes Safe?
1927 : A One Mama Man
1927 : Forgotten Sweeties
1927 : Bigger and Better Blondes
1927 : Fluttering Hearts
1927 : What Women Did for Me
1927 : The Sting of Stings
1927 : The Lighter That Failed
1927 : Now I'll Tell One
1927 : Us
1927 : Assistant Wives
1927 : Never the Dames Shall Meet
1928 : All for Nothing
1928 : Galloping Ghosts
1928 : Their Purple Moment
1928 : Should Married Men Go Home?
1928 : Two Tars
1928 : Habeas Corpus
1928 : Chasing Husbands
1929 : Ruby Lips
1929 : Lesson No. 1
1929 : Happy Birthday
1929 : Furnace Trouble
1929 : Stewed, Fried and Boiled
1929 : Perfect Day
1929 : They Go Boom!
1929 : The Hoose-Gow
1930 : La Vida nocturna
1930 : Une nuit extravagante
1930 : Tiembla y Titubea
1930 : Der Spuk um Mitternacht
1930 : Radiomanía
1930 : Noche de duendes
1930 : Feu mon oncle
1930 : Night Owls
1930 : Blotto
1930 : Brats
1930 : Below Zero
1930 : Hog Wild
1930 : The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case
1930 : Another Fine Mess
1931 : La Señorita de Chicago
1931 : Los Presidiarios
1931 : Be Big!
1931 : The Pip from Pittsburgh
1931 : Monerías
1931 : Rough Seas
1931 : One of the Smiths
1931 : Pardon Us
1931 : The Panic Is On
1931 : Skip the Maloo!
1931 : What a Bozo!
1932 : Helpmates
1932 : The Music Box
1932 : The Chimp
1932 : County Hospital
1932 : Young Ironsides
1932 : Girl Grief
1932 : Now We'll Tell One
1932 : Mr. Bride
1933 : Twice Two
1933 : Twin Screws
1934 : Mixed Nuts
1934 : A Duke for a Day
1934 : Benny from Panama
1934 : Washee Ironee
1934 : Opened by Mistake
1935 : Treasure Blues
1935 : Sing, Sister, Sing
1935 : The Tin Man
1935 : The Misses Stooge
1935 : Do Your Stuff
Writer
1925 : Chasing the Chaser
1925 : Unfriendly Enemies
1925 : Laughing Ladies
1926 : Your Husband's Past
1926 : Wandering Papas
1926 : Say It with Babies
1926 : Never Too Old
1926 : Along Came Auntie
1926 : Should Husbands Pay?
1926 : Wise Guys Prefer Brunettes
1926 : Get 'Em Young
1926 : On the Front Page
1928 : Galloping Ghosts
1928 : Should Married Men Go Home?
1937 : Way Out West
1938 : Swiss Miss
1938 : Block-Heads
References
This is a piece of evidence showing James Parrott and his wife Clara Miller. In 1922 they were living together in Los Angeles, where James Parrott had a successful career as an actor. Clara Miller was registered here as a housewife. It is the only file we can locate with James and Clara after their wedding in 1921.We have not managed to locate any other files after this.
External links
James "Paul" Parrott: The Other Parrott Brother
Hal Roach Studios actors
Parrot, James
Vaudeville performers
1897 births
1939 deaths
Silent film comedians
Male actors from Baltimore
Film directors from Maryland
20th-century American male actors
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
American male film actors
American male comedy actors
20th-century American comedians
Comedians from California