Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Joseph Cawthorn (March 29, 1868, New York City, New York – January 21, 1949, Beverly Hills, California) was an American stage and film comic actor. Cawthorn started out in show business as a child, debuting at Robinson's Music Hall in his hometown of New York in 1872. He appeared in minstrel shows and vaudeville as a "Dutch" comic, employing a thick German dialect. He later worked in British music halls and American touring companies. Cawthorn made his Br...
Known For
Complete Filmography

The Postman Didn't Ring
1942
as Silas Harwood
Stolen way back in 1880, a sack of United States mail is discovered in an old attic in 1942. The letters are finally delivered, profoundly affecting t...

So Ends Our Night
1941
as Leopold Potzloch
An anti-Nazi refugee on the run and a young Jewish couple race across Europe trying to escape Hitler's ever powerful influence.

Scatterbrain
1940
as Nicholas Raptis
A Hollywood studio goofs and signs the wrong girl--a hillbilly from the Ozarks--to a movie contract. Comedy.

Lillian Russell
1940
as Leopold Damrosch
Alice Faye plays the title role in this 1940 film biography of the early-20th-century stage star.

Crime Over London
1936
as Mr. Sherwood / Reilly
With the police on their tail, a gang of New York criminals decided to relocate to London where they plan a major robbery on a department store.

Hot Money
1936
as Max Dourfuss
Salesman develops a fake stock plan in new invention before it is finished.

One Rainy Afternoon
1936
as Monique's Father
Suave French actor Philippe Martin provokes a scandal when, in a darkened theater, he mistakes young Monique for his mistress, Yvonne, and tries to ki...

Brides Are Like That
1936
as Fred Schultz
Fred, the wealthy owner of apple groves, has sent his nephew to college, but the only job that his nephew has after graduating is the job of not worki...

The Great Ziegfeld
1936
as Dr. Ziegfeld
At the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, sideshow barker Florenz Ziegfeld turns the tables on his more-successful neighbor Billings, and also steals his girl...

Freshman Love
1936
as Wilson, Sr.
A star rower is forced to join a good school under a pseudonym because his wealthy dad doesn't like schools that have high academic standards.
Beautiful Dreamer
1935
The life of Stephen Foster, composer who was the influence for the early Minstrel shows.

Harmony Lane
1935
as Professor Henry Kleber
The life and loves of composer Stephen Foster, from his early success through his decline, degradation, and death from alcoholism.

Page Miss Glory
1935
as Mr. Freischutz
A country girl goes to the city and gets a job in a posh hotel, and winds up becoming an instant celebrity thanks to an ambitious photographer.

Bright Lights
1935
as Oscar Schlemmer
Husband-and-wife vaudeville stars separate when success goes to his head.

Smart Girl
1935
as Karl Krausemeyer
Socialite Pat Reynolds (Ida Lupino) is forced to become the "smart girl" of the title when her wealthy father commits suicide, leaving nothing but a p...

Naughty Marietta
1935
as Herr 'Schumie' Schuman
In order to avoid a prearranged marriage, a rebellious French princess sheds her identity and escapes to colonial New Orleans, where she finds an unli...

Gold Diggers of 1935
1935
as August Schultz
Romance strikes when a vacationing millionairess and her daughter and son spend their vacation at a posh New England resort.

Sweet Music
1935
as Sidney Selzer
A midwest band leader and his lead singer share a love-hate relationship as they try for success in New York.

Maybe It's Love
1935
as Adolph Sr.
Director William C. McGann's 1935 film stars Gloria Stuart and Ross Alexander as a young couple in love who face economic woes once they're wed.

Sweet Adeline
1934
as Oscar Schmidt
In 1898, composer Sid Barnett manages to get his sweetheart, Adeline the beer-garden singer, to sing the lead in his new Broadway operetta; this infur...

Music in the Air
1934
as Hans Uppman
A songwriter's young daughter (June Lang) begins to dream of stardom when she's offered the lead role in a new operetta.

Young and Beautiful
1934
as Herman Cline
Bob Preston, publicity man for Superba Pictures, uses his publicity skills in an attempt to make this fiancée June Dale the most famous movie star in ...

The Human Side
1934
as Fritz Speigal
The story of a theatrical producer, his divorced wife and their four children.

Housewife
1934
as Krueger (as Joe Cawthorne)
Nan Reynolds encourages her copywriter husband Bill to open his own agency. Nearly out of business, he finally gets a client. Former girlfriend Patric...

Twenty Million Sweethearts
1934
as Herbert Brokman
Unscrupulous agent Rush Blake makes singing waiter Buddy Clayton a big radio star while Peggy Cornell, who has lost her own radio show, helps Buddy.

The Last Gentleman
1934
as Dr. Wilson
In New England circa 1933, a niece is reported missing and presumed dead and Cabot Barr (George Arliss) summons his relatives to the family estate for...

Lazy River
1934
as Mr. Julius Ambrose
Ex-convicts try to stop a Chinese smuggling ring.

Broken Dreams
1933
as Pop
Medical intern Robert Morley is distraught after his wife dies in childbirth. He's resentful of his new son and wants nothing to do with him. He leave...

Best of Enemies
1933
as Gus Schneider
Buddy Rogers and Marian Nixon playing the grown children of feuding German-Americans Frank Morgan and Joseph Cawthorn. Romance blossoms between Rogers...

Made on Broadway
1933
as Maxie Schultz
A satire about the power of publicity. Robert Montgomery plays Jeff Bidwell, a dashing Broadway press agent who has his own private club where he cul...

Blondie Johnson
1933
as Jewelry Store Manager (as Joe Cawthorn)
A Depression-downtrodden waif uses her brains instead of her body to rise from tyro con artist to crime boss.

Grand Slam
1933
as Alex Alexandrovitch
A Russian waiter in New York City becomes a national celebrity after he develops a "system" for winning at contract bridge.

Whistling in the Dark
1933
as Barfuss
A mystery writer and his sweetheart are held hostage by a fugitive gangster, who hopes to enlist their help in devising the perfect murder.

Men Are Such Fools
1932
as Werner (as Joseph Cawthorne)
An immigrant and his wife arrive in America hoping to make it big in the world of music. Shortly thereafter, though, the husband finds out his wife is...

They Call It Sin
1932
as Mr. Hollister
A young, innocent small-town church organist is thrown out of her home, told she was adopted, and that her mother was an evil woman. She follows a cru...

Love Me Tonight
1932
as Dr. Armand de Fontinac
A Parisian tailor goes to a château to collect a bill, only to fall for an aloof young princess living there.

White Zombie
1932
as Dr. Bruner
In Haiti, a wealthy landowner convinces a sorcerer to lure the American woman he has fallen for away from her fiance, only to have the madman decide t...

Peach-o-Reno
1931
as Joe Bruno
After a quarrel at their 25th wedding anniversary, Joe and Aggie Bruno decide to divorce each other, and both leave for Reno. So do their daughters Pr...

The Runaround
1931
as Lou
Filmed in an early Technicolor process, The Runaround tells the story of Broadway dancer Evelyn who refuses to play the gold-digging games indulged in...

A Tailor-Made Man
1931
as Huber
John Paul Bart is just a pants-presser in a tailor's shop, but he has big ambitions. One night, he borrows the clothes of a wealthy client and bluffs ...

Kiki
1931
as Alfred Rapp
A young Frenchwoman is determined to get into and stay in show business, no matter what. Then she's determined to win a recently divorced man's heart....

The Princess and the Plumber
1930
as Merkl
A derogated prince hopes to restore his wealth and power by marrying off his daughter to royalty. Unfortunately, she has fallen in love with a young m...

Dixiana
1930
as Cornelius Van Horn, Carl's Father
A circus performer falls in love with the son of a plantation owner in antebellum New Orleans. When the young man's stepmother objects to the wedding,...

Dance Hall
1929
as Bremmer
A dance trophy winning young couple is temporarily split up when a playboy aviator leads the girl to believe he's in love with her.

Jazz Heaven
1929
as Herman Kemple
A young songwriter struggles to make good in New York.

The Taming of the Shrew
1929
as Gremio
Adapted from Shakespeare's play: Baptista Minola, a wealthy resident of Padua, is the father of Katherine and Bianca. The younger daughter, Bianca, is...

Street Girl
1929
as Keppel - Cafe Owner
A homeless and destitute violinist joins a combo to bring it success, but has problems with her love life.

Speakeasy
1929
as Yokel
Newspaper staffer Alice Woods persuades the editor to allow her to chase a story, that of prizefight contender Martin, who is about to fight for the c...

Hold 'Em Yale
1928
as Professor George Bradbury
A young man from Argentina goes to Yale where he plays football and falls in love with a professor's beautiful daughter.

Silk Legs
1927
as Ezra Fulton
Male and female sales agents, Phil and Ruth, for rival hosiery concerns try to land an order. For a while Phil succeeds and puts on an exhibition but ...

Very Confidential
1927
as Donald Allen
A young lady impersonates a famous sportswoman while trying to win over a man.

Two Girls Wanted
1927
as Philip Hancock
Marianna Miller, who together with her sister Sarah pounds the pavements, looking for a job. After a period of starvation and deprivation Marianna is ...