glennk56:Top 10 chubby actors in the 1940sI’ve compiled a list of fat actors from the 1940’s, rated
glennk56:Top 10 chubby actors in the 1940sI’ve compiled a list of fat actors from the 1940’s, rated by the number of times and tier (lead or supporting player) their names appeared on the posters promoting their movies and number of credits.I have excluded some actors which might be considered “Hollywood” fat or they got fat after the 1940s. Some of the actors I excluded are Thomas Mitchell, Orson Welles, Akim Tamiroff, Broderick Crawford, Alan Hale Sr., Cecil Kellaway.The first list is of actors who got top billing or co-starred in many of their films. 1. Short excitable chubby comedian Lou Costello. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello became the number one comedy duo in the 1940s, replacing Laurel and Hardy from the 1930s. There were 24 Abbott and Costello feature films in the 1940s.2. Raspy-voiced homespun comedian Andy Devine was popular with audiences in the 1930s. And the studio always found roles for him. In the late 30s and early 40s he co-starred with Richard Arlen in action/adventure B-movies. He started his career, big and athletic, often playing college football players. By the late 30s, he put on a lot of weight. After Arlen departed the studio, he was teamed with Leo Carrillo in the same movie genre. By the late 40s he was teamed with Roy Rogers as Roy’s sidekick Cookie Bullfincher. 3. Charles Coburn was a respected Broadway actor when he started his film career at the age of 60 in the late 30s. He was in demand, gaining 15 starring or co-starring roles of 32 featured roles. He won an Oscar for The More the Merrier in 1943. He was also nominated for Oscars for The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) and The Green Years (1946).4. Charles Laughton was a well-respected actor and considered one of the best of his generation. Charles was often the lead actor in his films. Among his best films in the 40s were Captain Kidd, The Canterville Ghost, The Big Clock and This Land Is Mine.5. Nigel Bruce, best known as the often befuddled Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes films of the 40s. Nigel co-starred with Basil Rathbone in 14 Sherlock Holmes mysteries in the 40s after the first two in 1939. He was also featured in Hitchcock’s Rebecca (1940) and Suspicion (1941).6. Edward Arnold was a fine actor, often playing imposing figures, businessmen, politicians and corporate villains. He started his career in the teens, in the silents, but quit to do real acting in the theater. He came back to film heavier and accomplished. He had more lead roles in the 30s, but gave up dieting and gained weight in the 40s and played more character roles. 7. Jack Oakie often co-starred in light-hearted romcoms of the time. While in the 30s, he could play either the love interest or the smart aleck best friend, in the 40s he was either the smart aleck friend or anther role as he gained weight in the 40s. His most memorable role in the 40s was as Napolini in Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator. 8. Sydney Greenstreet was an accomplished stage actor when he started his film career at the age of 61 in his most memorable debut as the sinister Kasper Gutman in The Maltese Falcon (1941). Greenstreet’s on-screen rapport with Bogart and Peter Lorre led to more matchups in Casablanca, Passage to Marseilles, Across the Pacific, Conflict, The Verdict, Three Strangers, Background to Danger, The Mask of Dimitrios. Greenstreet was also featured in Christmas in Connecticut and The Woman in White. 9. Jerry ‘Curly’ Howard was the fat member of The Three Stooges comedy team and co-starred in 55 short films in the 40s with his brother Moe Howard and Larry Fine. Columbia was the only film producer still making Short Comedy Films thoughout the 40s. 10. Guy Kibbee. On the strength of six B movies, playing Scattergood Baines does Guy Kibbee make the list. Finishing with 10 starring or co-starring roles and 18 more featured roles in the 40s. He totaled 38 films altogether in the 1940s. -- source link