Leon Errol: Difference between revisions

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Line 23: Leon Errol is well remembered for his energetic performances in the ''Mexican Spitfire'' movies opposite [[Lupe Vélez]] (1939-43), in which Errol had the recurring dual role of affable Uncle Matt and foggy British nobleman Lord Epping. [[Monogram Pictures]] signed Errol to appear as fight manager Knobby Walsh in the "[[Joe Palooka]]" sports comedies (1946-50). Leon Errol's most famous non-series appearance is in the nonsensical comedy feature ''[[Never Give a Sucker an Even Break]]'' (1941), starring fellow vaudeville and Ziegfeld alumnus W. C. Fields. Errol concurrently starred in a long string of two-reel comedy shorts, which began at [[Columbia Pictures]] in 1933. He also starred in two early three-strip [[Technicolor]] shorts made at [[Warner Brothers]], ''Service With a Smile'' (released 28 July 1934) and ''Good Morning, Eve!'' (5 August 1934), just beating ''[[La Cucaracha (1934 film\|La Cucaracha]]'' (1934) as the first [[live action]] Technicolor film. Moving to [[RKO Radio Pictures]] in 1934, he continued to make six shorts per year until his death in 1951. Most of these were marital farces in which Leon would get mixed up with a pretty girl or an involved business proposition, and face the wrath of his wife (usually [[Dorothy Granger]]). Errol's last film, ''Lord Epping Returns'', reprised his famous characterization (and some of the gags) from ''Mexican Spitfire''. Footage from the Leon Errol short subjects was incorporated into RKO's compilation features ''Variety Time'', ''Make Mine Laughs'', ''Footlight Varieties,'' and ''Merry Mirthquakes''. RKO kept Leon Errol in the public eye by reissuing his older comedies through the mid-1950s. His RKO shorts soon became a staple of syndicated television.