Hanley Stafford (born Alfred John Austin, September 22, 1899 – September 9, 1968), was an

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

principally on

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

. He is remembered best for playing Lancelot Higgins on ''

The Baby Snooks Show ''The Baby Snooks Show'' was an American radio program starring comedian and ''Ziegfeld Follies'' alumna Fanny Brice as a mischievous young girl who was 40 years younger than the actress who played her when she first went on the air. The series b ...

''. Stafford also assumed the role of Mr. Dithers, the boss of

Dagwood Bumstead Dagwood Bumstead is a main fictional character, character in cartoonist Chic Young's long-running comic strip ''Blondie (comic strip), Blondie''. He debuted in the first strip on September 8, 1930. He was originally heir to the Bumstead Locomotive ...

on the '' Blondie'' radio program. He is commemorated by a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...

Early life

Stafford emigrated from England to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1911. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he enlisted in the 43rd Battalion (Cameron Highlanders of Canada), CEF in 1915, was wounded in the Third Battle of Yprès in 1917 and returned to England in 1918. Until 1924 he toured Canada in drama productions and landed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

that year. He played in stock for eight years and then in tent shows. He was appearing on KFWB radio in Los Angeles by April 1932 then went to Phoenix to manage a stock company, the Delmas-Lawless Players, before returning to Los Angeles to resume stage and radio work the following August.

Career

After starring in the New York-originating radio detective series ''Thatcher Colt'' from September 1936 to March 1937, Stafford again returned to Los Angeles. He began the father role on ''

'' on December 23, 1937 and played it until the final broadcast on May 22, 1951, two days before the death of star

Fanny Brice Fania Borach (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951), known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedienne, illustrated song model, singer, and theater and film actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. S ...

. Between 1950 and 1963, Stafford appeared on various

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

, beginning with ''The Popsicle Parade of Stars'' and ''

Hollywood Premiere Theatre ''Hollywood Premiere Theatre'' was the original title of an American television program that was broadcast more often as ''Hollywood Theatre Time'' on the ABC Television Network from September 20, 1950 to October 5, 1951. Content varied from wee ...

'' (1950–51), and concluding with his role as Kenneth Westcott in the episode "Lucy Is a Chaperone" of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's ''

The Lucy Show ''The Lucy Show'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962 to 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to ''I Love Lucy''. A significant change in cast and premise for the fourth season (1965–1966) divides the program into two distinct ...

''. In between, he was cast on episodes of the American Broadcasting Company, ABC/Warner Brothers series ''Cheyenne (1955 TV series), Cheyenne'', ''Maverick (TV series), Maverick'', ''Sugarfoot'', and ''77 Sunset Strip'', in the latter as Admiral Thomas Kyle in the 1962 episode "Dress Rehearsal". Stafford guest starred on the CBS sitcoms ''The Brothers (1956 TV series), The Brothers'', ''The Betty Hutton Show'', and ''Angel (1960 TV series), Angel'', in which he portrayed Mr. Corwin in the 1961 episode "The Second Marriage". He was cast in 1957 as Colonel Farnsworth in "The Regina Wainwright Story" of CBS's ''the Millionaire (TV series), The Millionaire''. The 1940 U.S. Census records report him as living at 6200 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, California, Hollywood, California, with his mother Emily Austin, 60, and his sister Anne Standing, 36, his age was given as 40. He reported his 1939 income to census takers as a minimum $5,000, the equivalent of $86,952.88 in 2016 dollars.

Personal life

Stafford was married to radio actress and singer Veola Vonn on April 12, 1940 after his second wife Bernice failed to get a divorce decree granted the previous April set aside. He died of a heart attack at his home in Los Angeles on September 9, 1968. He had one son by his marriage to his first wife, Doris.https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9R4G-8QD?mode=g&i=5&cc=1810731

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford, Hanley 1899 births 1968 deaths English male radio actors People from Hanley, Staffordshire English male television actors English male film actors Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) British expatriate male actors in the United States Actors from Staffordshire 20th-century English male actors