Irving Bacon: Movies & Box Office

Irving Ernest Bacon was an American character actor whose career spanned nearly five decades, appearing in almost five hundred films and becoming one of the most recognizable supporting players of early Hollywood. Born on September 6, 1893 in Saint Joseph, Missouri, he grew up in San Diego, California after his parents, entertainers Millar West Bacon and Myrtle Vane, divorced in 1900 and his father remarried later that year. Bacon first cut his teeth on the stage, honing a versatile comedic timing that would later make him a staple in Mack Sennett’s slap‑stick productions, where he entered the film world in 1912. By the mid‑1920s he returned to Sennett’s studio, thriving in both silent and early sound comedies and even stepping into Andy Clyde’s iconic “old man” costume for a brief stint, a testament to his adaptability and utility as a reliable character actor. Throughout the 1930s Bacon’s screen presence multiplied; in 1939 alone he was credited in more than thirty‑six feature films, often embodying the archetypal “average guy” – a friendly soda‑jerk, a weary postman, or a disgruntled motel guest – roles that brought him into the orbit of stars such as W. C. Fields, Bing Crosby, and Fred Astaire. Notably, he played Mr. Beasley, the tireless postman in the long‑running Blondie series, and later appeared on television in sitcoms like I Love Lucy, where he portrayed Ethel Mertz’s father in one episode. His personal life mirrored his on‑screen reliability: he married three times – to Freda Lee Scofield (who died in 1928), Margaret (Peggy) Beaver (divorced 1934), and finally Alice Bernice Peters in 1937 – and fathered three children. In addition to acting, he served as a carburetor and magneto machinist for the San Diego Battery and Ignition Company during World War I, as recorded on his 1917 draft registration. Bacon’s career concluded in the late 1950s, and he passed away on February 5, 1965 in Hollywood, leaving behind a legacy of countless memorable moments that continue to enrich classic American cinema.