John E. Searl (July 7, 1921 – April 29, 1991) was an American actor. He portrayed bratty kids in several films, and often had only small roles, such as "Robin Figg" in 1934's '' Strictly Dynamite''.

Early years

His name is sometimes written as Jackie Searle, and by 1960, he was billed as Jack Searl. As a child actor, he began performing on a local

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' ...

radio station at the age of three.

Military service

Searl served four years in the U.S. Army, primarily as a radio instructor, during World War II.

Career

His first movie role was in ''Daughters of Desire'' (1929), followed by ''

Tom Sawyer Thomas Sawyer () is the titular character of the Mark Twain novel ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), ''Tom Sawyer Abroad'' (1894), and ''Tom Sawyer, Dete ...

'' (1930) with

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Charlie Chaplin's film classic ''The Kid'' (1921) made him one of the first child stars in the ...

and

Mitzi Green Mitzi Green (born Elizabeth Keno; October 22, 1920 – May 24, 1969) was an American child actress for Paramount and RKO, in the early "talkies" era. She then acted on Broadway and in other stage works, as well as in films and on television ...

, and ''

Huckleberry Finn Huckleberry "Huck" Finn is a fictional character created by Mark Twain who first appeared in the book ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876) and is the protagonist and narrator of its sequel, ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884). He is 12 ...

'' in 1931. Notable films in which he appeared include ''Skippy'', ''High Gear'', ''Peck's Bad Boy'', ''Great Expectations'', and ''Little Lord Fauntleroy''. In the 1940s, he had some supporting character roles before disappearing for nearly a decade. In the early 1960s, Searl enjoyed a flurry of activity as a supporting villain on television. For example, he appeared in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Traveling Treasure," first aired on CBS on Nov. 4, 1961. Credited as Jack Searl, he appeared in 1962 as Slick - Henchman on the TV western '' Lawman'' in the episode titled "The Tarnished Badge" and in 1965 as Henden in the episode "Much A Glue About Nothing" of the

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

The Cara Williams Show ''The Cara Williams Show'' is an American situation comedy starring Cara Williams which centers on a married couple who try to conceal their marriage from their employer. Original episodes aired from September 23, 1964, until April 21, 1965 on CBS. ...

''.Classic TV Archive The Cara Williams Show (1964–1965)
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Partial filmography

References

Bibliography

* Holmstrom, John. ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995'', Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp. 98–99. * Dye, David. ''Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914-1985''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988, pp. 210–211. * Best, Marc. ''Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen''. South Brunswick and New York: Barnes & Co., 1971, pp. 230–234. * Willson, Dixie. ''Little Hollywood Stars''. Akron, OH, e New York: Saalfield Pub. Co., 1935.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Searl, Jackie 1921 births 1991 deaths American male film actors American male silent film actors American male television actors American male child actors Male actors from Los Angeles Military personnel from California 20th-century American male actors United States Army personnel of World War II