.. the wily Charles Coburn

Lovable old codger Charles Coburn, born in 1877 in Georgia, began as a stage actor, making his debut on Broadway in 1901. His first movie role didn’t come along until 1933, after which he maintained a steady career in supporting roles on film, stage and later in television, almost right up until his death in 1961. Mr. Coburn can be enjoyed in the following, in two of which co-starring alongside the great Jean Arthur.

The More the Merrier (1943, Dir: George Stevens)
With war-time Washington packed with visitors and housing at a premium, Connie Milligan (Jean Arthur) considers it her patriotic duty to rent her apartment’s second bedroom to another woman. Unfortunately, Benjamin Dingle wheedles his way into renting the room, and the next day, rents half of that room to handsome draftee Joe Carter (Joel McCrea). For the sake of propriety, Connie finds herself shielding both of them from the attention of her fiancée, while falling in love with Joe, just as Dingle’s match-making predicts. Coburn won a best supporting actor Academy Award for his role as Dingle.

The Devil and Miss Jones (1941, Dir: Sam Wood)
When millionaire-tycoon J.P. Merrick (Coburn) finds the staff of his flagship department store are trying to form a union, he decides to go undercover. Getting a job in the shoe department under the name 'Higgins', Merrick intends to find the agitators and fire them. He is soon befriended by Mary Jones (Jean Arthur), and her boyfriend Joe (Robert Cummings), both of whom are among the ringleaders. 'Higgins' then falls for his co-worker Elizabeth Ellis (Spryng Byington) resulting in a suitor-rivalry with their snide-snobby supervisor Hooper (Edmund Gwynn). As a strike looms, the store employees walk out, marching to the mansion home of their unseen boss Merrick for a showdown.

The Lady Eve (1941, Dir: Preston Sturges)
Abroad a luxury ocean liner, grifter Jean (Barbara Stanwyck) sincerely falls hard for snobby explorer Charlie (Henry Fonda), but they're abruptly parted when Charlie’s snooping valet Mugsy (William Demarest) discovers she and her father (Charles Coburn) are wanted con-artists. Intending to seek revenge, Jean shows up in Charlie’s wealthy circle, posing as English aristocrat, Lady Eve. Charlie is happily duped, Mugsy is adamant Eve is Jean, while Charlie’s father, Horace (Eugene Pallette) is eager to have his son to marry into the nobility.

In this Our Life (1942, Dir: John Houston/Raoul Walsh)
If you want to cause family dysfunction, give your two daughters male names. Based on a Pulitzer-prize winning novel, Coburn plays Uncle William, who is creepily close to his unstable niece Stanley (Bette Davis). Stanley runs off with the husband of her sister Roy (Olivia de Havilland) resulting in mutual misery and his eventual suicide. Stanley returns home, only to cause distress to all those around her. (The movie’s making as was miserable as its themes. Three days after Pearl Harbour, director Huston was called up for active duty, and Raoul Walsh stepped in to finish the production. He and Bette Davis clashed viciously, and her fury is evident in her performance.)