Men Of Character Character Actors
Jonathan Hale
Blondie Film Series/ J. C. Dithers
Strangers On A Train/ Mr. Antony
Silver River/ Major Spencer
The Saint In Palm Springs/ Inspector Henry Fermack
Per Quinlan's Character Stars:
Tall, skeletal upright, stern looking Canadian actor with darkened cheekbones, finely drawn features and greying brown hair. His characters, whether on the right side or the wrong side of the law were never less than civilized.......
Born Jonathan Hatley at Ontario, Canada in 1891, he had a long career in film and television having racked up 247 credits in those mediums in a career than spanned from 1934 until 1965.
He originally was a member of the diplomatic services before becoming an actor which stood him in good steed for playing corporate executives, military officials and high ranking politicians.
His best known part was that of J. C. Dithers, Dagwood Bumsted's boss in most of the Blondie film series from 1938 until 1946.
Some of the film roles of Jonathan Hale were:
Housewife (1934) as Doctor
Gentlemen Are Born (1934) as Second Broker
Lightning Strikes Twice (1934) as Captain Hobart Nelson
A Night At The Ritz (1935) as Director
One New York Night (1935) as Mr. Stokes
G Men (1935) as Congressman
Public Hero #1 (1935) as Prison Board Member
Alice Adams (1935) as Palmer
Navy Wife (1935) as Norton
Three Kids And A Queen (1935) as Gangster
A Night At The Opera (1935) as Stage Manager
The Calling Of Dan Matthews (1935) as Club Owner
Too Tough To Kill (1935) as Chairman Of The Board
Three Live Ghosts (1936) as Detective Bolton
Charlie Chan's Secret (1936) as Warrens T. Phelps
The Voice Of Bugle Ann (1936) as District Attorney
Sutter's Gold (1936) as Prosecuting Attorney
Too Many Parents (1936) as Judge
The Singing Kid (1936) as Dr. Brown
Panic On The Air (1936) as Johnson
The Case Against Mr. Ames (1936) as Judge At First Trial
Educating Father (1936) as Fred Humphrey
Fury (1936) as Defense Attorney
Parole! (1936) as Parole Board Member
Spendthrift (1936) as Attorney
36 Hours To Kill (1936) as Conductor
Charlie Chan At The Race Track (1936) as Warren Fenton
China Clipper (1936) as State Department Official
The Devil Is A Sissy (1936) as Judge Holmes
Down The Stretch (1936) as Secretary Lyon
Magnificent Brute (1936) as Official
Easy To Take (1936) as Mr. Hardy
The Plainsman (1936) as Major
The Accusing Finger (1936) as Special Prosecutor
Flying Hostess (1936) as Kendall
Happy Go Lucky (1936) as J. Lansing Bennett
Sinner Take All (1936) as Dr. Harrison
Mysterious Crossing (1936) as Banker Garland
She's Dangerous (1937) as Charles Fitzgerald
You Only Live Once (1937) as District Attorney
Man Of The People (1937) as Carter Spetner
Outcast (1937) as Judge
A Doctor's Diary (1937) as Mr. Williams
Sea Devils (1937) as Court Martial President
John Meade's Woman (1937) as Mr. Melton
Racketeers In Exile ( 1937) as Alden Parker
The Man Who Found Himself (1937) as Dr. Tom Smythe
A Star Is Born (1937) as Judge George J. Parris
You Can't Buy Luck (1937) as Prosecutor
Wings Over Honolulu (1937) as Judge Advocate
Charlie Chan At The Olympics (1937) as Hopkins
The League Of Frightened Men (1937) as Alexander Drummond
This Is My Affair (1937) as Judge
Midnight Madonna (1937) as Stuart Kirkland
Saratoga (1937) as Frank Clayton
Danger - Love At Work (1937) as Parsons
Madame X (1937) as Hugh Fariman, Sr.
Carnival Queen (1937) as Robert Jacoby
Big Town Girl (1937) as Hershell
Exiled To Shanghai (1937) as J. S. Willet
Mad About Music (1938) as Prosecutor - Film Within A Film
The First Hundred Years (1938) as Judge Parker
Her Jungle Love (1938) as J C Martin
Judge Hardy's Children (1938) as John Lee
Over The Wall (1938) as Governor
Island In The Sky (1938) as Prison Warden Matthews
Yellow Jack (1938) as Major General Leonard Wood
Gangs Of New York (1938) as Warden
The Saint In New York (1938) as Inspector Henry Fernack
Wives Under Suspicion (1938) as Allison
Crime King (1938) as Bank President
Men With Wings (1938) as Long
Letter Of Introduction (1938) as Lou Woodstock
Boys Town (1938) as John Hargreaves
Fugitives For A Night (1938) as Police Captain
Breaking The Ice (1938) as Kane
Tarnished Angel (1938) as Detective Sgt. Kramer
Blondie ((1938) as J. C. Dithers
Road Demon (1938) as Anderson
The Duke Of West Point (1938) as Colonel Early
There's That Woman Again (1939) as Rolfe Davis
Stand Up And Fight (1939) as Colonel Webb
Wings Of The Navy (1939) as Commandant
The Saint Strikes Back (1939) as Inspector Fernack
Blondie Meets The Boss (1939) as J. C. Dithers
The Story Of Alexander Graham Bell (1939) as President Of Western Union
In Name Only (1939) as Dr. Gateson
In Old Monterey (1939) as Stevenson
Fugitive At Large (1939) as Prison Warden
Thunder Afloat (1939) as Admiral Girard
Blondie Brings Up Baby (1939) as J C Dithers
The Amazing Mr. Williams (1939) as Mayor
Barricade (1939) as Asst. Secretary Of State
The Big Guy (1939) as Jack Lang
The Saints Double Trouble (1940) as Inspector Fernack
Johnny Apollo (1940) as Dr. Brown
The Saint Takes Over (1940) as Inspector Fernack
Private Affairs (1940) as George Gilkin
We Who Are Young (1940) as Braddock
Blondie Has Servant Trouble (1940) as J. C. Dithers
Dulcy (1940) as Homer Patterson
Melody And Moonlight (1940) as Otis Barnett
Blondie Plays Cupid (1940) as J C Dithers
The Saint In Palm Springs (1941) as Inspector Fernack
Flight From Destiny (1941) as District Attorney
Blondie Goes Latin (1941) as J C Dithers
The Great Swindle (1941) as Swann
Strange Alibi (1941) as Chief Sprague
Her First Beau (1941) as Mr. Harris
Blondie In Society (1941) as J C Dithers
Ringside Maisie (1941) as Mr. Kramer
The Pittsburgh Kid (1941) as Max Ellison
The Bugle Sounds (1942) as Brigadier General
Blondie Goes To College (1942) as J C Dithers
Joe Smith, American (1942) as Blake McKettrick
Lone Star Ranger (1942) as Judge Longstreth
Blondie's Blessed Event (1942) as J C Dithers
Miss Annie Rooney (1942) as Mr. White
Flight Lieutenant (1942) as Joseph Sanford
Calling Dr. Gillespie (1942) as Frank Marshall Todwell
Blondie For Victory (1942) as J C Dithers
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943) as Ferguson
Hangman Also Die! (1943) as Dedic
It's A Great Life (1943) as J C Dithers
Nobody's Darling (1943) as Jason Rhodes
Footlight Glamour (1943) as J C Dithers
Sweet Rosie O' Grady (1943) as Mr. Fox
Jack London (1943) as Kerwin Maxwell
There's Something About A Soldier (1943) as Gen. Sommerton
This Is The Life (1944) as Dr. Plum
The Black Parachute (1944) as King Stephen
My Buddy (1944) as Senator Henry
End Of The Road (1944) as Gregory McCune
Dead Man's Eyes (1944) as Dr. Sam Welles
Leave It To Blondie (( 1945) as J C Dithers
G I Honeymoon (1945) as Colonel Hammerhead Smith
The Phantom Speaks (1945) as Owen McAllister
Divorce (1945) as Judge Conlon
Allotment Wives (1945) as Brigadier General Gilbert
Man Alive (1945) as Osborne
Dakota (1945) as Colonel Wordin
The Strange Mr. Gregory (1945) as Defense Attorney Blair
Life With Blondie (1945) as J C Dithers
Riverboat Rhythm (1946) as Colonel Edward Beeler
Blondie's Lucky Day (1946) as J C Dithers
The Cat Creeps (1946) as Walter Elliott
The Walls Came Tumbling Down (1946) as Captain Griffin
Easy To Wed (1946) as Hector Boswell
Blondie Knows Best (1946) as J C Dithers
Rolling Home (1946) as Henry Kane
Wife Wanted (1946) as Philip Conway
The Beginning Of The End (1947) as Dr. Bush
The Ghost Goes Wild (1947) as Max Atterbury
The Vigilantes Return (1947) as Judge Holden
Black Gold (1947) as Senator Watkins
Her Husband's Affairs (1947) as Gov. Fox
High Wall (1947) as Emory Garrison
Rocky (1948) as Kenneth Forrester
Cal North Side 777 (1948) as Governor's Aide Robert Winston
King Of The Gamblers (1948) as Sam Hyland
Silver River (1948) as Major Spencer
Michael O'Halloran (1948) as Judge Schaffner
Tap Roots (1948) as General Johnston
Johnny Belinda (1948) as Dr. Horace Gray
Disaster (1948) as Police Commissioner Jerome
Rose Of The Yukon (1949) as General Butler
The Judge (1949) as Judge Allan J. Brooks
Stampede (1949) as Varick
The Fountainhead (1949) as Guy Francon
A Dangerous Profession ( 1949) as Roger Lennert, Attorney
The Baron Of Arizona (1950) as Governor
Federal Agent At Large (1950) as James Goodwin
Triple Trouble (1950) as Judge
Three Husbands (1950) as Attorney Edward Wurdeman
Short Grass (1950) as Charlie Bissel
Insurance Investigator (1951) as Russell James
Stranger On A Train (1951) as Mr. Antony
Rodeo King And The Senorita (1951) as Dr. Sands
Lets Go Navy! (1951) as Captain
Sunny Side Of The Street (1951) as Cyrus Pelley
Scandal Sheet (1952) as Frank Madison
Carbine Williams (1952) as Judge Lane
Young Man With Ideas (1952) as Stanley Rickson
Son Of Paleface (1952) as Governor Freeman
The Steel Trap (1952) as Tom Bowers
Kansas Pacific (1953) as Sherman Johnson
The Flaming Urge (1953) as Mr. Chalmers
Duffy Of San Quentin (1954) as Boyd
She Couldn't Say No (1954) as John Bentley
The Night Holds Terror (1955) as Bob Henderson
Jaguar (1956) as Dr. Powell
The Three Outlaws (1956) as Pinkerton
Mr. Hale was active on television appearing in such programs as The Adventures Of Superman, Studio 57, General Electric Theater, Mr. & Mrs. North, The Ford Television Theater, Lassie, City Detective, Soldiers Of Fortune, Schlitz Playhouse Of Stars, Science Fiction Theater, Vacation Playhouse, Burke's Law, Kraft Suspense Theater, The Joey Bishop Show, Fireside Theater, Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color, The Range Rider, The Whistler and Adventures Of The Falcon among others.
Hale was married until the death of his first spouse. The couple had two children.
Jonathan Hale passed away in 1966. He had become despondent and committed suicide in his room at The Motion Picture Hospital.
I enjoyed Mr. Hale in the Blondie films series as J. C Dither as well in other films such as Charlie Chan At The Olympics, Charlie Chan's Secret, Charlie Chan At The Racetrack, Johnny Belinda, Carbine Williams, Yellow Jack, Strange Alibi and Dead Man's Eyes. He also made several appearances in the TV series The Adventures Of Superman that I enjoyed.
Louie The Movie Buff
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