Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Francis Healey Albertson (February 2, 1909 – February 29, 1964) was an American character actor who made his debut in a minor part in Hollywood at age thirteen. He had supporting roles in films such as It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Psycho (1960). Albertson made well over 100 appearances (1923–1964) in movies and television. In his early career he often sang and danced in such films as Just Imagine (1930) and A Connecticut Yankee (1931). He was featured ...
Known For
Complete Filmography
24 Hour Psycho
1993
as Tom Cassidy (archive footage)
24 Hour Psycho is the title of an art installation created by artist Douglas Gordon in 1993. The work consists entirely of an appropriation of Alfred ...
Johnny Cool
1963
as Bill Blakely
A deported gangster trains an Italian convict to take over his operations in the U.S.
Bye Bye Birdie
1963
as Mayor
A singer goes to a small town for a performance before he is drafted.
Don't Knock the Twist
1962
as Herbert 'Herb' Walcott
A TV executive tries to create a musical special to save his network.
Man-Trap
1961
as Paul Snavely
Helmed by Edmond O'Brien, this slick crime thriller stars Jeffrey Hunter as naïve Matt Jameson, whose Korean War pal Vince Biskay talks Matt into help...
Psycho
1960
as Tom Cassidy
When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates ...
The Last Hurrah
1958
as Jack Mangan
In a changing world where television has become the main source of information, Adam Caulfield, a young sports journalist, witnesses how his uncle, Fr...
The Enemy Below
1957
as Lt. J.G. Crain
The crew of the American destroyer escort, the USS Haynes, detects a German U-Boat—resulting in a prolonged, deadly battle of wits.
Nightfall
1956
as Dr. Edward Gurston
An innocent man turns fugitive as he reconstructs events that implicate him for a murder and robbery he did not commit.
The Man Who Knew Too Much
1956
as Taxidermist (uncredited)
A couple vacationing in Morocco with their young son accidentally stumble upon an assassination plot. When the child is kidnapped to ensure their sile...
Girl on the Run
1953
as Hank
A hootchy-kootchy whodunit set at a small seedy carnival where a reporter tries to discover who killed his boss while his girlfriend inexplicably join...
Main Street to Broadway
1953
as Self (uncredited)
In New York, a surly, down-on-his-heels playwright meets a country girl who's giving up trying to act and returning home. He goes with her for inspira...
Shed No Tears
1948
as Hutton
A man listens to his wife and fakes his own death so that she can get her hands on his insurance policy.
Killer Dill
1947
as William T. Allen
Door-to-door salesman Johnny Dill, the exact double of a notorious gangster, finds himself struck between the forces of good and evil.
The Hucksters
1947
as Max Herman
A World War II veteran wants to return to advertising on his own terms, but finds it difficult to be successful and maintain his integrity.
Ginger
1947
as Barney O'Hara
The adventures of a boy and his dog in a small town.
It's a Wonderful Life
1946
as Sam Wainwright
A holiday favourite for generations... George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinfli...
They Made Me a Killer
1946
as Patrolman Al Wilson
A fugitive receives help from a victim's sister as he tries to clear his name of robbery and murder charges.
Gay Blades
1946
as Frankie Dowell
New York hockey player Andy Buell is approached by Hollywood talent scout Nancy Davis to play the hunk lead in "The Behemoth" but he would prefer she ...
How DOooo You Do
1945
as Tom Brandon
Murder occurs when several of the most popular radio personalities of the '40s converge on a desert resort.
Smart Boy
1945
as Bill Adams
The U.S. Navy film “Smart Boy” encouraged World War II sailors to be just that — especially when it comes to enjoying shore leave.
Arson Squad
1945
as Tom Mitchell
Tom Mitchell is an insurance investigator and Fire Capt. Joe Dugan is chief of the police department's arson troubleshooters. Tom and Joe team up to s...
I Love a Soldier
1944
as Little Soldier
During World War II in San Francisco, Eve Morgan and her single girlfriends spend their days welding ships and their nights dancing with soldiers and ...
And the Angels Sing
1944
as Oliver
The singing/dancing Angel sisters, Nancy, Bobby, Josie, and Patti, aren't interested in performing together, and this plays havoc with the plans of Po...
Rosie the Riveter
1944
as Charlie Doran
In this romantic wartime comedy, four female defense plant workers share a house with four male workers. The situation is on the up and up as the men ...
Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane
1944
as Major
U.S. Army Air Force pilot Bob Chilton and North American Aircraft designer Arthur Deeds show an Air Force colonel and major the new P-51B aircraft, ex...
O, My Darling Clementine
1943
as 'Dapper' Dan Franklin
"Dapper Dan" Franklin and his small troupe of actors become stranded in the small town of Harmony, Tennessee. The town is shackled by Blue Laws impose...
Mystery Broadcast
1943
as Michael Jerome
A radio detective sets out to solve an old murder case, with the help of her sound man and another radio detective. They manage to talk to the people ...
Here Comes Elmer
1943
as Joe Maxwell
This musical comedy stars radio star Al Pearce has a double role playing himself and Elmer Blurt, the leader of a small-town band that struggles towar...
Keep 'Em Slugging
1943
as Frank
A gang of tough street kids decide to go straight and get jobs in order to free draft-age men for the war effort. However, because of their past tangl...
Silent Witness
1943
as Bruce L. Strong - Attorney
District Attorney Holden and his special investigator Betty Higgins are trying to convict brothers Joe and Lou Manson, silk-racket hoods, after they a...
Underground Agent
1942
as Johnny Davis
In this espionage caper, a government spy must keep enemy agents from spying upon a defense plant. His work is made easier by his newest invention, a ...
City of Silent Men
1942
as Gil Davis
The plot revolves around a group of ex-convicts who try to start life anew by relocating in a small town under assumed names. The mayor of the town we...
Dead End Kids Go To War
1942
as Jerry Markham
The Dead End Kids join the war effort in this feature-length version of the Universal serial Junior G-Men of the Air. The fiendish Black Dragon Societ...
Wake Island
1942
as Johnny Rudd
In late 1941, with no hope of relief or re-supply, a small band of United States Marines tries to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island b...
Junior G-Men of the Air
1942
as Jerry Markham
A group of street kids battle a terrorist gang led by a Japanese spy.
Shepherd of the Ozarks
1942
as Lieutenant James J. 'Jimmy' Maloney, Jr.
Aluminum magnate James J. Maloney, Sr. meets with government officials to discuss the war effort and the need to end price-fixing. After the meeting, ...
Man From Headquarters
1942
as Larry Doyle
A police reporter solves a murder case in Chicago, then moves on to St. Louis-but not voluntarily, since he has been kidnapped by the minions of the W...
Louisiana Purchase
1941
as Robert Davis, Jr.
A bumbling senator investigating graft in Louisiana is the target of a scheme involving a Viennese beauty.
Flying Cadets
1941
as Bob Ames
Story of test pilots at a school that trains new flyers.
Burma Convoy
1941
as Mike Weldon
A truck convoy traveling the Burma Road is menaced by a group of smugglers.
Citadel of Crime
1941
as Jim Rogers
A gang of mobsters try to take over the various moonshine operations in the hills of West Virginia.
Father Steps Out
1941
as Jimmy Dugan
Story concerns railroad tycoon J.B. Matthews (Jed Prouty) taking over a rival line, being sent on an R&R vacation by his doctor, falling off his p...
Man-Made Monster
1941
as Mark Adams
Mad scientist turns a man into an electrically-controlled monster to do his bidding.
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
1941
as Sanders
Ventriloquist and world traveler Gordon Cobb is murdered by a gang of jewel thieves. Baffled by the contradictory clues, Inspector Queen asks his son,...
Behind the News
1940
as Jeff Flavin
As suggested by its title, Behind the News was a "stop the presses!" yarn set in a big-city newsroom. Lloyd Nolan is top-billed as a cynical reporter ...
When the Daltons Rode
1940
as Emmett Dalton
Young lawyer Tod Jackson arrives in pioneer Kansas to visit his prosperous rancher friends the Daltons, just as the latter are in danger of losing the...
Dr. Christian Meets the Women
1940
as Bill Ferris
A conman arrives in town trying to sell his miracle methods of weight loss to the ladies. It's left to the good Dr. Christian to expose this fake and ...
The Ghost Comes Home
1940
as Ernest
Comic mayhem results when a small town pet store owner, mistakenly believed killed during a sea voyage, turns up very much alive.
Framed
1940
as Hank Parker
A young newspaper reporter finds himself framed for murder.
Rhumba Rhythm at the Hollywood La Conga
1939
as Himself (uncredited)
Two starstruck visitors to Hollywood sneak into the famous nightclub and end up in a Conga contest and get more than they expected.
Bachelor Mother
1939
as Freddie Miller
Polly Parrish, a clerk at Merlin's Department Store, is mistakenly presumed to be the mother of a foundling. Outraged at Polly's unmotherly conduct, D...
I'll Tell the World
1939
as Jimmy Hawkins
This 40-minute short, produced for MacFadden Publications, is basically a plug for the selling power of ads placed in the pages of "Liberty Magazine,"...
The Shining Hour
1938
as Benny Collins
A nightclub dancer shakes the foundations of a wealthy farming family after she marries into it.
Spring Madness
1938
as Hat
Harvard senior Sam Thatcher and his best friend and roommate, known as "The Lippencott", plan to go to Russia after graduation, a decision Sam has kep...
Fugitives for a Night
1938
as Matt Ryan
A faded star is suspected of killing a studio executive.
Room Service
1938
as Leo Davis
Broke Gordon Miller tries to land a backer for his new play while he has to deal with with the hotel manager trying to evict him and his cast.
Mother Carey's Chickens
1938
as Tom Hamilton Jr.
A financially-strapped mother and her children relocate from the city to a small rural town.
The Magician's Daughter
1938
as Bob Wilson
A magician's daughter falls in love with a reporter for a magazine. When the magazine publishes a story that exposes her father's methods, she dumps t...
Hold That Kiss
1938
as Steve Evans
Two young people meet at a wedding and begin dating, each thinking the other is extremely wealthy. Comedy.
Navy Blue and Gold
1937
as Weeks
Three Navy Cadets become friends, support each other and struggle to survive the rigorous training.
The Plainsman
1936
as A Young Trooper
Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and Buffalo Bill go up against Indians and a gunrunner.
No Place like Rome
1936
as Flavius - Roman Bachelor
This ancient history musical comedy predates A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum by a few decades. Frank Albertson plays a happy Roman bach...
Fury
1936
as Charlie Wilson
Joe, who owns a gas station along with his brothers and is about to marry Katherine, travels to the small town where she lives to visit her, but is wr...
The Farmer in the Dell
1936
as Davy Davenport
An Iowa farmer's wife makes him move to Hollywood so their daughter can become a star.
Ah, Wilderness!
1935
as Arthur Miller
At the turn of the century, a young man graduates high school and realizes the joys and sorrows of growing up, with some loving help and guidance from...
Kind Lady
1935
as Peter Santard
Mary, a woman with good intentions, takes pity on Henry, an artist with no home. What begins as a simple offer to come inside from the cold for tea gr...
East of Java
1935
as Larry Page
Survivors of a shipwreck find refuge on a tropical island--but so do the ship's cargo of lions and tigers.
Personal Maid's Secret
1935
as Kent Fletcher
A longtime maid for New York socialites watches from afar as the daughter she once gave up is raised by others. Director Arthur Greville Collins' 1935...
Waterfront Lady
1935
as Ronny Hillyer aka Bill
When a young man is befriended by a gambling ship operator and made a partner in the business, he becomes involved in a police manhunt after he covers...
Alice Adams
1935
as Walter Adams
In the lower-middle-class Adams family, father and son are happy to work in a drugstore, but mother and daughter Alice try every possible social-climb...
Doubting Thomas
1935
as Jimmy Brown
A husband makes fun of his wife's theatrical aspirations when she agrees to appear in a local production. When she begins to neglect him, he decides t...
Enter Madame
1935
as John Fitzgerald
Man marries opera singer, winds up taking back seat to her career.
Tripping Through the Tropics
1934
as Jack
Frank Albertson's father wants his son to marry Lois January, but they really are only friends. Frank watches Lois doing a hooch dance at a secret tro...
Hollywood Mystery
1934
as Daniel Patrick Ryan
A PR man for a low-budget movie studio comes up with what he believes is the perfect gimmick--to make a gangster picture with a real mobster in the le...
The Life of Vergie Winters
1934
as Ranny Truesdale
A small town politician, kept from marrying the love of his life, eventually marries another woman and his career ascends, but he secretly continues t...
The Last Gentleman
1934
as Allan Blaine, Augusta's adopted son
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...
Love Detectives
1934
as Bob
Two young men compete for the affections of a beautiful blonde.
King for a Night
1933
as Dick Morris
A cocky prizefighter on his way to the bigtime in New York comes crashing down when his sister is involved in a murder and he takes the blame.
Rainbow Over Broadway
1933
as Don Hayes
Ex-vaudeville performer Trixie makes a come-back, and threatens to thwart the ambitions of her song-writing step-children, Bob and Judy.
Ever in My Heart
1933
as Sam Archer
World War I brings tribulations to an American woman married to a German.
Midshipman Jack
1933
as Russell H. Burns
Director Christy Cabanne's 1933 film dramatizes one year in the lives of four midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Ann Carver's Profession
1933
as Jim
Newlyweds experience marital problems when the wife's highly successful job as an attorney overshadows her husband's stagnant career.
The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble
1933
as Bob Graham
Kelly's daughter falls for a revenue agent, and his divorced wife is after alimony.
The Plumber and the Lady
1933
as James Fawcett
A Mack Sennett talking comedy, released through Paramount Pictures, starring Frank Albertson, Marjorie Beebe, Joyce Compton, Herman Bing, Gertrude Ast...
The Billion Dollar Scandal
1933
as "Babe" Partos
An ex-convict working for a wealthy oil baron uncovers trouble while his brother becomes involved with the boss's daughter.
Boys Will Be Boys
1932
as Frank Albertson
Frank Albertson's parents are worried about his seeing a showgirl instead of an "upstanding" young lady of class. But then Frank's father learns that ...
The Lost Special
1932
as Tom Hood
A lady reporter and two college students search for the "Gold Special," a train that disappeared without a trace.
Air Mail
1932
as Tommy Bogan
A group of air mail pilots risk their lives to deliver important mail through bad weather conditions.
Huddle
1932
as Larry
Tony, the son of Italian immigrants, works in a smoky steel mill in Gary, Indiana. He wins a company scholarship which will enable him to attend Yale ...
Racing Youth
1932
as Teddy Blue
A young man is mistaken for his boss.
Way Back Home
1931
as David Clark
A rural Maine farmer fights for custody of the boy who he's raised as his own.
The Brat
1931
as Stephen Forester
A society novelist brings a brash young chorus girl home in order to study her for inspiration for his new novel. His family is distraught, but soon h...
Traveling Husbands
1931
as Barry Greene
A salesman gets in trouble with a party girl and a debutante in Detroit.
Big Business Girl
1931
as Johnny Saunders
A young woman goes to New York and finds success in advertising thanks to her legs while her boyfriend spends the summer in Europe with his band.
A Connecticut Yankee
1931
as Emile le Poulet / Clarence
Making a delivery to a mysterious mansion in a rainstorm, radio salesman Hank Martin is knocked out when a suit of armor topples on him. Upon awakenin...
Just Imagine
1930
as RT-42
New York, 1980: airplanes have replaced cars, numbers have replaced names, pills have replaced food, government-arranged marriages have replaced love,...
Wild Company
1930
as Larry Grayson
The son of a wealthy politician falls in with a notorious gangster planning to rob a night club.
So This Is London
1930
as Junior Draper
Hiram Draper is an all-American self-made man with a profound distaste for everything British. Yet he must travel to London with his family. When Juni...
Born Reckless
1930
as Frank Sheldon
In order to use the publicity to get re-elected, a judge sentences a notorious gangster to fight in the war.
Spring Is Here
1930
as Stacy Adams
Musical about two sisters in love with the same man.
Son of the Gods
1930
as Kicker
The popular Caucasian-looking son (Richard Barthelmess) of a wealthy Chinese businessman lives away from his widowed father and passes as white, but e...
The Big Party
1930
as Jack Hunter
Kitty Collins and Flo Jenkins, a couple of jazz-age cuties with bobbed-hair and rolled-stockings, go in search of good-times and whoopee-making. The p...
Men Without Women
1930
as Ensign Price
Made during the early days of sound cinema, this tense submarine adventure is an intriguing example of a hybrid silent-talkie. A disgraced English sub...
Happy Days
1929
as Frankie Albertson
In Fox's contribution to the all-star revue cycle of early talkies, showboat singer Margie, hearing that the show is in arrears, goes to New York to g...
Salute
1929
as Midshipman Albert Edward Price
A comedy-romance about rival brothers attending a military academy.
Words and Music
1929
as Skeet Mulroy
Phil and Pete compete for Mary's love and also in a contest for best song written by a college student.
Blue Skies
1929
as Richard Lewis (episode 2)
Better known for her work in talkie "weepers," Helen Twelvetrees made a few preliminary appearances in such late silent films as Fox's Blue Skies. The...
Prep and Pep
1928
as Bunk Hill
A boy finds it difficult to live up to his father's reputation at his school.
The Covered Wagon
1923
as Bit (uncredited)
Two wagon caravans converge at what is now Kansas City, and combine for the westward push to Oregon. On their quest the pilgrims will experience deser...