Eddie Bracken Biography (1920-2002)

Full name, Edward Vincent Bracken; born February 7, 1920, in New Astoria, NY;son of Joseph L. and Catherine Bracken; married Connie Nickerson (an actress), September 25, 1939; children: five. Addresses: Agent: William Morris Agency, 151 South El Camino Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90212-2775.

Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Occupation: Actor, director, producer
Birth Details: February 7, 1920; New Astoria, New York, United States

Famous Works

CREDITS
Film Appearances
Brother Rat, Warner Bros., 1938
Jo Jo Jordan, Too Many Girls, RKO Radio Pictures, 1940
Basil "Dizzy" Stevens, Life with Henry, Paramount, 1941
Benny Morgan (some sources cite Benny Hogan), Reaching for the Sun, Paramount, 1941
Bert, Caught in the Draft, Paramount, 1941
Jack Mitchell, Sweater Girl, Paramount, 1942
Barney Waters, The Fleet's In, Paramount, 1942
Johnny Webster, Star Spangled Rhythm, Paramount, 1942
George Bodell, Young and Willing (also known as Out of the Frying Pan), United Artists, 1943
Wally Case, Happy Go Lucky, Paramount, 1943
Norval Jones, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Paramount, 1944
Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith, Hail the Conquering Hero, Paramount, 1944
Toby Smith, Rainbow Island, Paramount, 1944
Herbie Fenton, Out of This World, Paramount, 1945
Ogden Spencer Trulow III, Hold That Blonde, Paramount, 1945
Guest, Duffy's Tavern, Paramount, 1945
J. Newport Bates, Bring on the Girls, Paramount, 1945
Henry Haskell, Ladies' Man, Paramount, 1947
P. P. Porterhouse III, Fun on a Weekend, United Artists, 1947
Chuck Donovan, The Girl from Jones Beach, Warner Bros., 1949
Orville Wingait, Summer Stock (also known as If You Feel Like Singing), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1950
Lew Conway, Two Tickets to Broadway, RKO Radio Pictures, 1951
Boff Roberts, About Face, Warner Bros., 1952
Willie Fisher, We're Not Married!, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1952
Frederick Winthrop Clopp, A Slight Case of Larceny, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1953
Narrator, Wild Wild World (animated short film), Warner Bros., 1960
(Uncredited) Una domenica d'estate (also known as Always on Sunday, A Summer Sunday, and Un dimanche d'ete), 1962
Voice of Archy, Shinbone Alley (animated), Allied Artists, 1971
Roy Wally, National Lampoon's Vacation (also known as AmericanVacation, National Lampoon's Summer Vacation, and Vacation), Warner Bros., 1983
Little Shop of Horrors, 1990
Five-Spot Charlie, Oscar, Buena Vista, 1991
Mr. E. F. Duncan, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1992
Bob Carson, Rookie of the Year, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1993
Old-timer, Baby's Day Out, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1994
The Student Prince, 2000
Appeared as rich boy in the film serial Our Gang, 1920s; also appeared in the serial Kiddie Trouper, 1920s.
Television Appearances
Series
Voice, Willie Wonderful (animated), syndicated, 1952
Panelist, Make the Connection, NBC, 1955
Host, Masquerade Party, NBC, 1957
Father Burke, Winnetka Road, NBC, 1994
Episodic
Panelist, I've Got a Secret, CBS, 1952
"A Question of Rank," Gulf Playhouse, NBC, 1952
"Mr. Berger," Gulf Playhouse, NBC, 1952
"It Happened in a Pawnshop," Ford Theater (also known as The Ford Television Theater), NBC, 1953
"The Corporal and the Lady," Lux Video Theater, CBS, 1953
"Simplon Express," Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, CBS, 1953
"Suit Yourself," Goodyear Playhouse, NBC, 1955
"A Likely Story," Studio One, CBS, 1955
"Mr. Belvedere," The 20th Century-Fox Hour, CBS, 1955
Front Row Center, CBS, 1956
"Formosa Patrol," Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, CBS, 1956
"The Peabodys," Ethel Barrymore Theater, syndicated, 1956
"The Marriage Plan," Ford Theater (also known as The Ford Television Theater), ABC, 1956
"Awake with Fear," Alcoa Hour, NBC, 1957
"False Witness," Climax, NBC, 1957
"My Mother and How She Undid Me," Studio One, CBS, 1957
"The Award Winner," Studio One, CBS, 1958
"A Day of Small Miracles," The David Niven Show, NBC, 1959
"archy and mehitabel," Play of the Week, syndicated, 1960

"Another Time, Another War," The Roaring Twenties, ABC, 1961
"Like My Own Brother," Going My Way, ABC, 1962
"Mr. Jones and Monday," Lamp unto My Feet, CBS, 1963
"Incident of the Clown," Rawhide, CBS, 1963
"Who Killed April?," Burke's Law, ABC, 1964
"Incident of the Pied Piper," Rawhide, CBS, 1964
Sidney Quatraine, "Who Killed the Card?," Burke's Law, ABC, 1965
The New Dick Van Dyke Show, CBS, 1973
Horace Manley, "The Adventure of the Hard Hearted Huckster," Ellery Queen, NBC, 1976
Grandpa Tolliver, "A Case of the Stubborns," Tales from the Darkside, syndicated, 1984
Barney Ogden, "Armed Response," Murder, She Wrote, CBS, 1985
Ghost/husband, "Boo!!," Amazing Stories, NBC, 1986
"A Friendly Game of Showdown," Bracken's World, NBC, 1986
Buzz, "Twice in a Lifetime," The Golden Girls, NBC, 1990
Father Patrick, Wiseguy, CBS, 1990
"The Maker," Monsters, 1990
Vernon Hood, "Expert Witness," The Cosby Mysteries, NBC, 1994
"Mickey Rooney: Hollywood's Little Giant," Biography, Arts and Entertainment, 1995
Pepper Canarsie, "Like a Brother," Remember WENN, American Movie Classics, 1997
Stuckeyville Stan, "The World of Possibility," Ed, NBC, 2000
Also appeared in Blacke's Magic, Cheers, and Empty Nest, all NBC; and Missing Persons, ABC.
Movies
Voice of Mole, The Wind in the Willows, ABC, 1987
Grandpa, "Arthur Miller's The American Clock" (also known as "The American Clock"), TNT Screenworks, TNT, 1993
Dr. Charles Alexander, Assault at West Point (also known as Assault at West Point: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker and ConductUnbecoming: The Court-Martial of Johnson Whittaker), Showtime, 1994
Specials
The Strawberry Blonde, NBC, 1959
Mr. Simpson, The Haunted Trailer, 1977
Cap'n Andy Hawkes, "Show Boat," Great Performances, PBS, 1989
"Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer" (documentary), American Masters, PBS, 1990
Stars and Stripes: Hollywood and World War II, American Movie Classics, 1991
Himself, The Rodgers & Hart Story: Thou Swell, Thou Witty, PBS, 1999
Himself, AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies, CBS, 2000
Bob Ryan, The Ryan Interview, 2000
Also appeared in It Runs in the Family.
Stage Appearances
Lottery, 1930
(Broadway debut) Western Union boy, The Man on Stilts, Plymouth Theatre, 1931
Hank Parkes, The Lady Refuses, Bijou Theatre, New York City, 1933
A boy, The Drunkard, American Music Hall, New York City, 1934
Alfred, Life's Too Short, Broadhurst Theatre, New York City, 1935
Cadet Brown, So Proudly We Hail, 46th Street Theatre, New York City, 1935
A plumber, Iron Men, Longacre Theatre, New York City, 1936
Billy Randolph, Brother Rat, Biltmore Theatre, New York City, 1937
Hal, What a Life, Biltmore Theatre, 1938
Jo Jo Jordan, Too Many Girls, Imperial Theatre, New York City, 1939
Richard Sherman, The Seven Year Itch, Fulton Theatre, New York City, 1955
archy, Shinbone Alley, Broadway Theatre, New York City, 1957
Erwin Trowbridge, Three Men on a Horse, Drury Lane Theatre, London, England, 1957
Charles Wykeham, Where's Charley?, Music Theatre, Columbus, OH, 1958
Kreton, Visit to a Small Planet, Grist Mill Playhouse, Andover, NJ, 1958
Pistol, Beg, Borrow or Steal, Martin Beck Theatre, New York City,1960
Howard Bevins, Hot September, Shubert Theatre, Boston, MA, 1965
Felix Unger, The Odd Couple, Plymouth Theatre, 1966
Harry Lamert, Never Too Late, Country Dinner Playhouse, Dallas, TX, 1973
Hot Line to Heaven (also known as Hotline to Heaven), Country Dinner Playhouse, 1975
Horace Vandergelder, Hello, Dolly!, Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York City, 1978, then Theatre Royal, London, 1979, later Shaftesbury Theatre, London, 1980
Cap'n Andy Hawkes, Show Boat, Paper Mill Playhouse, Millburn, NJ,1985, 1988-1989, and in Cairo, Egypt, 1988
Title role, Marvel, and Emerald City guard, The Wizard of Oz, Paper Mill Playhouse, 1992
Bill, It Runs in the Family, Paper Mill Playhouse, 1993-1994
These Golden Years, Theatre at Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY,1996
Jimmy Smith, No, No, Nanette, Paper Mill Playhouse, 1997
Follies, 1998
Carousel, Paper Mill Playhouse, 2001
Appeared as toymaker, Babes in Toyland, Houston Grand Opera, Houston, TX; also appeared in Power of a Dream.
Major Tours
Henry Aldrich, What a Life, U.S. cities, 1939
Richard Sherman, The Seven Year Itch, U.S. cities, 1953-1954, 1956, and 1959
Charlie Reader, The Tender Trap, U.S. cities, 1953-1954 and 1956
George MacCauley, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, U.S. cities, 1953-1954 and 1956
Sakini, The Teahouse of the August Moon, U.S. cities, 1956
Augie Poole, The Tunnel of Love, U.S. cities, 1958
Jack Jordan, Say Darling, U.S. cities, 1959
Fergie Howard, The Golden Fleecing, U.S. cities, 1960
Og the Leprechaun, Finian's Rainbow, U.S. cities, 1960
Ensign Pulver, Mr. Roberts, U.S. cities, 1960
Richard Pawling, George, and Chuck, You Know I Can't Hear You When theWater's Running, U.S. cities, 1967-1968
The Girl in the Freudian Slip, U.S. cities, 1972
Born Yesterday, U.S. cities, 1974
The Sunshine Boys, U.S. cities, 1975
Horace Vandergelder, Hello, Dolly!, U.S. cities, 1977-1978
Sugar Babies, Australian cities, 1986-1987
The Wizard of Oz, Australian cities, 1992
Stage Work
Coproducer, Beg, Borrow or Steal, Martin Beck Theatre, New York City, 1960
Director, How to Make a Man, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 1961
Director, These Golden Years, Theatre at Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, 1996
Director, Follies, 1998
Major Tours
Director, What a Life, U.S. cities, 1939
WRITINGS
Radio Shows
The Bob Hope Show, 1934-1936
Other
Author of syndicated column "Crackin' with Bracken," Sunrise Press, 1963.

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