- He was a World War II veteran and is buried at Los Angeles National Cemetery, Los Angeles, CA. He worked while he was suffering from terminal cancer to make sure his family could survive after his death.
- He signed with Columbia Pictures' rollicking short subjects department in the mid-'30s and returned to the unit after serving in World War II. Sadly, he had caught "jungle rot," a skin disease, at Guadalcanal, and later developed cancer. Despite his illness, he continued to appear opposite The Three Stooges (memorably in Fright Night (1947)) until his death in 1948.
- Before he became an actor he had been a professional boxer. Los Angeles police are known to have suspected him of also working for notorious L.A. gangster Mickey Cohen as a "debt collector" for Cohen's loan-sharking and gambling operations.
- He spent the bulk of his screen career menacing The Three Stooges, appearing in 35 of their two-reel comedies.
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