Johnny Arthur

Early years

Born John Lennox Arthur Williams in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, Arthur was a veteran of twenty-five years on stage before he made his screen debut in 1923's The Unknown Purple. Arthur's screen personality was nebulous enough to allow him to play the romantic lead in the Lon Chaney vehicle The Monster (1925).

Talkie era

With the coming of sound, Arthur developed his first comedic image, a limp-wristed, ultra-effeminate "Nancy Boy" in films such as The Desert Song (1929), She Couldn't Say No (1930), Penrod and Sam (1931) and The Ghost Walks (1934). When the Production Code took effect on July 1, 1934, the overtly homosexual and "pansy" characters played by Arthur were toned down in Hollywood movies. He spent the rest of the 1930s playing fussy, long-suffering wimps, albeit certifiably "masculine" characters. This new character served him well in low-budget films like The Natzy Nuisance, Ellis Island and Danger on the Air, as well as big budget pictures like Crime and Punishment and Road to Singapore.

Arthur is perhaps most remembered for his appearances as Darla Hood's father in Hal Roach's Our Gang shorts. Most of his later roles were unbilled bits, with the notable exception of the 1942 serial, The Masked Marvel.

Death

Arthur died on December 31, 1951 at the Motion Picture Country Home. He was buried at the charitable expense of the Motion Picture Fund in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, but left in an unmarked grave for 60 years until the Friends of Dearly Departed Tours and Findadeath.com raised the funds for a gravestone and placed one in November 2012.