Biography

Prolific character actor Ralph Dunn was born in Titusville, PA, in 1902. He attended college for a while, but dropped out to join a traveling vaudeville troupe, and performed in minstrel shows and melodramas until 1935, when he headed to Hollywood, but not for the usual reasons vaudevillians made that trip--his parents lived there and his father was in poor health, so he went to help his mother take care of him. In order to make some money he signed up with Central Casting, where his stocky tough-guy look secured him a succession of jobs as cops, thugs, bouncers, bartenders, fight managers, and the like.

His Hollywood career lasted more than 30 years, during which time he kept his hand in stage work. He appeared in the 1951 Broadway production of "The Moon Is Blue" and played the pajama factory owner in the Broadway classic "The Pajama Game", a role he repeated when it was made into a film in 1957. He had more than 300 credits to his name, including television work. His last film role was as a priest in Black Like Me (1964), and his final appearance was in an episode of the series N.Y.P.D. (1967).

He died in Flushing, NY, in 1968.
- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com

[about the first time he ever saw himself on screen, in Bullets or Ballots (1936)] I'll never forget it . . . They cut out all my sequences except for one scene. And the only thing anyone could see was my hand reaching into the furnace and grabbing some money before it burned.

[on his performance on Broadway in "The Moon Is Blue"] I was on stage for only one minute and 57 seconds . . . and the only reason I got that role was because I could throw a punch without hurting anyone. That's the only thing I really learned in Hollywood.

[on working in television] Television is an ulcer alley . . . You never feel you've done a great job. There's a short rehearsal period and no audience reaction.