James Dunn worked on the stage in vaudeville and as an extra in silent movies before he was signed by Fox in 1931 His first movie with Fox was 1931s Sob Sister 1931 While at Fox he appeared with Shirley Temple in her first three features Baby Take a Bow 1934 Stand Up and Cheer 1934 and Bright Eyes 1934 Dunns screen character was usually the boy next door or the nice guy In 1935 musicals at the new 20th CenturyFox were out and Dunn would move to the B list from which he would never return In The Payoff 1935 he plays the nice guy newspaper columnist whose wife ruins his career By the late 1930s he was drinking heavily and become unemployable He would appear in small roles in films during the early 1940s but those parts were few In 1945 he was able to make a comeback and win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1945 but his rejuvenated career would not continue By 1951 he would again be unemployed and bankrupt Television would later supply some work and he would be a regular on the series Its a Great Life 1954 Dunn was born 2 November 1901 New York City New York USA and he died 1 September 1967 Santa Monica California USA following abdominal surgery
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