Aldrich Bowker (January 1, 1875 – March 21, 1947) was an American stage and film actor.

Biography

Bowker was born in

Ashby, Massachusetts Ashby is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,193 at the 2020 census, which makes it the least populous municipality in Middlesex County. The Town of Ashby is primarily a bedroom community consisting almo ...

. He graduated from Fitchburg High School. His debut came in Boston in a stage adaptation of ''The Christian'', by

Hall Caine Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine (14 May 1853 – 31 August 1931), usually known as Hall Caine, was a British novelist, dramatist, short story writer, poet and critic of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Caine's popularity during ...

. He was a long-time stage performer in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and in summer stock at amusement park

Whalom Park Whalom Park was an amusement park located on Lake Whalom in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, that operated from 1893 to 2000. The site was redeveloped into a 240-unit condominium complex. Whalom Park was established in 1893 by the Fitchburg & Leominste ...

Lunenburg, Massachusetts Lunenburg is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,946 at the 2020 census. History Lunenburg was first settled by Europeans in 1718 and was officially incorporated in 1728. The name stems from one of t ...

. Bowker was a pioneer in "open air" theatre at Whalom Park and at his summer home in Ashburnham, where other performers were frequent guests, including Ainsworth Arnold and

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

. Between 1912 and 1938 he was active on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. Notable stage plays he performed in were ''The High Road'' (1912), ''A Night in Avignon'' (1919), '' You Can't Take It With You'' (1936) and ''200 Were Chosen'' (1936). Between 1939 and 1942 he appeared in about 25 films, including ''

Ball of Fire ''Ball of Fire'' is a 1941 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. This Samuel Goldwyn Productions film (originally distributed by RKO) concerns a group of professors laboring to ...

'' (1941). Bowker died at Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino, California, from

arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis is the thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries. This process gradually restricts the blood flow to one's organs and tissues and can lead to severe health risks brought on by atherosclerosis, which ...

and

senility Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affec ...

Partial filmography

* '' Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter'' (1939) as Matt Brandon * '' Waterfront'' (1939) as Father Dunn * '' Torchy Blane... Playing with Dynamite'' (1939) as Judge Hershey * ''

These Glamour Girls ''These Glamour Girls'' is a 1939 comedy-drama film directed by S. Sylvan Simon and starring Lew Ayres and Lana Turner, with Tom Brown, Jane Bryan, Richard Carlson, Anita Louise and Ann Rutherford in featured roles. Plot summary A drunken co ...

'' (1939) as Charlie, the Counterman (uncredited) * '' Everybody's Hobby'' (1939) as Uncle Bert Leslie * '' Angels Wash Their Faces'' (1939) as Turnkey * '' No Place to Go'' (1939) as Heffernan * '' Pride of the Blue Grass'' (1939) as Judge * ''

On Dress Parade ''The 'Dead End' Kids "On Dress Parade"'' is a 1939 Warner Bros. film that marked the first time The Dead End Kids headlined a film without any other well-known actors. Plot A hero of World War I, Colonel William Duncan, is on his deathbed. He s ...

'' (1939) as Father Ryan * '' Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President'' (1939) as Mike O'Brien * '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (1940) as Judge Bowling Green * ''

It All Came True ''It All Came True'' is a 1940 American musical comedy crime film starring Ann Sheridan as a fledgling singer and Humphrey Bogart, who was third-billed on movie posters, as a gangster who hides from the police in a boarding house. It is bas ...

'' (1940) as Father McDuffy (uncredited) * '' Those Were the Days!'' (1940) as Judge Squire Jennings * '' Susan and God'' (1940) as Patrick * '' Jennie'' (1940) as Dr. Hildebrand * '' Romance of the Rio Grande'' (1940) as Padre Martinez * ''

Meet John Doe ''Meet John Doe'' is a 1941 American comedy-drama film directed and produced by Frank Capra, written by Robert Riskin, and starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The film is about a "grassroots" political campaign created unwittingly by ...

'' (1941) as Pop Dwyer (uncredited) * '' Pot o' Gold'' (1941) as Judge Mike Murray (uncredited) * ''

The Wagons Roll at Night ''The Wagons Roll at Night'' is a 1941 circus film directed by Ray Enright and starring Humphrey Bogart as traveling carnival owner Nick Coster, Sylvia Sidney as his girlfriend, and Eddie Albert as a newcomer who falls in love with Nick's siste ...

'' (1941) as Mr. Williams * '' Love Crazy'' (1941) as Jimmy, the Doorman (uncredited) * ''

'' (1941) as Justice of the Peace * ''

I Was Framed ''I Was Framed'' is a 1942 American crime film directed by D. Ross Lederman. According to Warner Bros records the film earned $159,000 domestically and $90,000 foreign. Plot summary Cast * Tod Andrews as Ken Marshall (Scott) (as Michael Ames) ...

'' (1942) as Dr. Phillip Black * '' Mississippi Gambler'' (1942) as Judd Higgins, Mississippi Newspaper Editor * ''

The Major and the Minor ''The Major and the Minor'' is a 1942 American comedy film starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland. It was the first American film directed by Billy Wilder. The screenplay credited to Wilder and Charles Brackett is "suggested by" the 1923 play '' ...

'' (1942) as Reverend Doyle * ''

I Married a Witch ''I Married a Witch'' is a 1942 American fantasy romantic comedy film, directed by René Clair, and starring Veronica Lake as a witch whose plan for revenge goes comically awry, with Fredric March as her foil. The film also features Robert Benchl ...

'' (1942) as Justice of the Peace (final film role)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowker, Aldrich 1875 births 1947 deaths American male stage actors American male film actors Male actors from Massachusetts 20th-century American male actors