J. Farrell MacDonald

Personal Info

Know For

Acting

Gender

Male

Birthday

1875-06-05 (77 years old)

Deathday

1952-08-02

Place of Birth

Waterbury, Connecticut, USA

J. Farrell MacDonald

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a 41-year career from 1911 to 1951, and directed forty-four silent films from 1912 to 1917. MacDonald was the principal director of L. Frank Baum's Oz Film Manufacturing Company, and he can frequently be seen in the films of Frank Capra, Preston Sturges and, especially, John Ford. Early in his career, MacDonald was a singer in minstrel shows, and he toured the United States extensively for two years with stage production...

Acting

1927

1946

It's a Wonderful Life

as Man Whose Grandfather Planted Tree (uncredited)

1946

My Darling Clementine

as Mac the barman

1947

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock

as Desk Sergeant (uncredited)

1937

Topper

as Policeman

1935

Stormy

as Trinidad Dorn

1921

The Wallop

as Neuces River

1942

The Palm Beach Story

as Officer O'Donnell (uncredited)

1948

Panhandle

as Doc Cooper

1926

3 Bad Men

as Mike Costigan

1942

Captains of the Clouds

as Dr. Neville (from Churchtown)

1932

This Sporting Age

as Jerry O'Day

1947

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer

as Mac, Bailiff (uncredited)

1921

The Freeze-Out

as Bobtail McGuire

1931

The Maltese Falcon

as Det. Sgt. Tom Polhaus

1950

Woman on the Run

as Cap, the Retired Ferryboat Captain

1942

The Living Ghost

as Police Lt. 'Pete' Peterson

1932

No Man of Her Own

as "Dickie" Collins

1945

Johnny Angel

as Capt. Angel

1920

Bullet Proof

as Jim Boone

1922

Over the Border

as Peter Galbraith

1951

1918

$5,000 Reward

as Norcross

1947

Thunder in the Valley

as McPherson - Innkeeper

1943

The Ape Man

as Captain O'Brien

1923

Drifting

as Murphy

1932

1923

Quicksands

as Col. Patterson

1923

Racing Hearts

as Silas Martin

1942

Bowery at Midnight

as Capt. Mitchell

1942

Reap the Wild Wind

as Port Captain

1925

Let Women Alone

as Commodore John Gordon

1926

A Trip to Chinatown

as Benjamin Strong

1938

Barefoot Boy

as Warden

1934

1921

Riding with Death

as Sheriff Pat Garrity

1950

Hostile Country

as Mr. Lane (uncredited)

1941

1935

The Whole Town's Talking

as Prison Warden (uncredited)

1925

The Iron Horse

as Corporal Casey

1931

The Stolen Jools

as Policeman

1948

The Walls of Jericho

as Bailiff (uncredited)

1943

Harrigan's Kid

as Frank (uncredited)

1949

You're My Everything

as Doorman (uncredited)

1932

The Thirteenth Guest

as Captain Ryan

1933

The Working Man

as Henry 'Hank' Davis

1932

The Phantom Express

as D.J. 'Smokey' Nolan

1932

Under Eighteen

as Pop Evans

1936

Riffraff

as 'Brains'

1922

Manslaughter

as (uncredited)

1941

In Old Cheyenne

as Tim Casey

1939

Full Confession

as Joe, Police Sergeant (uncredited)

1933

I Loved a Woman

as Shuster

1927

Paid to Love

as Peter Roberts

1929

Masquerade

as Joe Hickey

1922

Sky High

as Jim Frazer (as J. Farrel MacDonald)

1939

Zenobia

as Judge

1940

The Last Alarm

as Jim Hadley

1949

1948

Fury at Furnace Creek

as Pops Murphy (uncredited)

1931

The Easiest Way

as Ben Murdock

1938

Come On, Rangers

as Colonel Forbes

1935

Swellhead

as Umpire

1932

1932

Hotel Continental

as Detective Martin

1942

Phantom Killer

as Police Captain

1932

Scandal for Sale

as Treadway

1932

1933

Peg o' My Heart

as Patrick Shamus 'Pat' O'Connell

1924

1932

Hearts of Humanity

as Tom O'Hara

1936

Exclusive Story

as Michael Devlin

1933

Murder on the Campus

as Police Capt. Ed Kyne

1935

The Healer

as Applejack

1927

1935

Danger Ahead

as Harry Cromwell

1935

Shadows of the Orient

as Inspector Sullivan

1925

Lightnin'

as Lemuel Townsend

1928

4 Devils

as The Clown

1931

The Squaw Man

as Big Bill

1935

Waterfront Lady

as Capt. O'Brien

1930

The Truth About Youth

as Colonel Graham

1928

Riley the Cop

as James 'Aloysius' Riley

1927

Cradle Snatchers

as George Martin

1931

The Millionaire

as Dan Lewis

1932

1932

Probation

as George Holman

1940

I Take This Oath

as Insp. Tim Ryan

1935

The Best Man Wins

as Captain--Harbor Patrol

1934

1937

The Hit Parade

as Sgt. O'Hara

1937

Flying Fists

as Bill 'One-Punch' Fagin

1924

1931

Sporting Blood

as MacGuire

1947

Keeper of the Bees

as Postmaster

1938

Submarine Patrol

as CWO 'Sails' Quincannon

1931

1930

River's End

as O'Toole

1933

Laughing at Life

as Prison Warden

1938

White Banners

as Dr. Thompson

1946

Smoky

as Jim, the Cook

1944

The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek

as Sheriff (uncredited)

1942

Private Snuffy Smith

as Gen. Rosewater

1927

1935

Hitch Hike Lady

as Judge Hale

1934

Beggar's Holiday

as Pop Malloy

1938

Gang Bullets

as Chief Reardon

1935

Let 'em Have It

as Mr. Keefer

1938

The Crowd Roars

as Father Patrick Ryan

1926

1930

1931

The Painted Desert

as Jeff Cameron

1939

Conspiracy

as Captain of the Falcon

1933

1932

Men Are Such Fools

as Prison Warden Randolph

1925

Kentucky Pride

as Donavan

1936

Mysterious Crossing

as Police Chief Bullock

1942

One Thrilling Night

as Police Sergeant Haggerty

1924

Mademoiselle Midnight

as Duc de Moing (Prologue)

1932

The Racing Strain

as Mr. Martin

1935

1937

Slave Ship

as Proprietor

1926

The First Year

as Mr. Barstow

1922

Come on Over

as Michael Morahan

1939

Susannah of the Mounties

as Pat O'Hannegan

1928

None But the Brave

as John Craig

1948

Whispering Smith

as Bill Baggs

1939

1948

1938

1937

1932

Week-End Marriage

as Mr. Davis

1937

County Fair

as Calvin Williams

1944

Greenwich Village

as O'Shea, policeman

1935

Maybe It's Love

as The Cop

1922

The Young Rajah

as Amhad Beg - Prime Minister

1935

Northern Frontier

as Inspector

1939

East Side of Heaven

as Doorman (uncredited)

1939

They Shall Have Music

as Police Chief (uncredited)

1948

Sitting Pretty

as Cop (uncredited)

1939

Coast Guard

as Capt. Hansen (uncredited)

1935

Square Shooter

as Sheriff

1933

Under Secret Orders

as John Burke

1924

Western Luck

as 'Chuck' Campbell

1997

1945

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

as Mr. Carney The Junkman (uncredited)

1935

Star of Midnight

as Inspector Doremus

1933

The Iron Master

as J.C. Stillman

1940

Stagecoach War

as Jeff Chapman

1947

Christmas Eve

as Policeman (uncredited)

1950

When Willie Comes Marching Home

as Gilby - Pharmacist (uncredited)

1940

Untamed

as Dr. Billar

1938

My Old Kentucky Home

as Mayor Jim Hopkins

1928

1937

Maid of Salem

as Captain of Ship

1941

The Great Lie

as Dr. Ferguson

1937

The Game That Kills

as Joe Holland

1935

Front Page Woman

as Hallohan

1950

1932

Me and My Gal

as Pop Riley

1938

The Last Express

as William Barton (Detective Agency Head)

1938

Numbered Woman

as Capt. Ryan

1939

The Gentleman from Arizona

as Wild Bill Coburn

1938

Little Orphan Annie

as 'Pop' Corrigan

1929

South Sea Rose

as Hackett

1941

1943

Tiger Fangs

as Geoffrey MacCardle

1940

Light of Western Stars

as Bill Stillwell

1934

1940

1935

The Irish in Us

as Capt. Jackson

1921

Trailin'

as Joseph Piotto

1944

Texas Masquerade

as John Martindale

1945

Fallen Angel

as Bank Guard (uncredited)

1951

Here Comes the Groom

as Husband on Airplane (uncredited)

1937

Slim

as Pop

1911

The Dream

as Secondary Role (uncredited)

1948

If You Knew Susie

as Police Sergeant (uncredited)

1935

The Arizonian

as Marshal Andy Jordan

1931

The Brat

as Timson, the butler

1940

Pony Express Days

as Nevada Jim

1929

Happy Days

as Train Conductor

1940

Friendly Neighbors

as Sheiff Potts

1946

Goodbye, Weeds

as Gardener

1941

Meet John Doe

as 'Sourpuss'

1919

Roped

as Butler

1926

The Dixie Merchant

as Jean Paul Fippany

1931

Too Young to Marry

as Rev. Stump

1947

Web of Danger

as Scotty MacKronish - Bus Driver

1929

Masked Emotions

as Will Whitten

1932

Madame Racketeer

as John Adams

1942

Wild Bill Hickok Rides

as Henry Hathaway

1929

Strong Boy

as Angus McGregor

1925

Thank You

as Andy

1925

1919

A Fight For Love

as The Priest

1949

The Dalton Gang

as Judge Price

1919

A Sporting Chance

as Luther Ripley aka Kennedy

1930

Song o' My Heart

as Rafferty

1932

1911

The Lighthouse Keeper

as The Lighthouse Keeper

1915

Rags

as Paul Ferguson (as Joseph Farrell MacDonald)

1911

'Tween Two Loves

as Farmer Howard

1912

A Timely Repentance

as Louis Nordell

1936

Florida Special

as Harrigan

1937

Roaring Timber

as Andrew MacKinley

1930

1922

The Ghost Breaker

as Sam Marcum

1934

The Crosby Case

as The Doorman--Mike Costello

1950

Dakota Lil

as Ellis

1937

Parnell

as Irish Laborer (uncredited)

1919

Marked Men

as Tom Placer McGraw

1929

The Painted Angel

as Pa Hudler

1932

The Strange Love of Molly Louvain

as Police Sgt. J.B. Antrim (uncredited)

1931

Woman Hungry

as Buzzard

1935

Fighting Youth

as Coach Parker

1932

70,000 Witnesses

as State Coach

1937

Courage of the West

as Buck Saunders

1921

Action

as Mormon Peters

1945

1943

True to Life

as Man (uncredited)

1946

Joe Palooka, Champ

as Long-Count Bowman

1938

State Police

as Charlie Wheeler

1928

Abie's Irish Rose

as Patrick Murphy

1926

The Family Upstairs

as Joe Heller

1931

1945

Hangover Square

as Street Vendor (uncredited)

1936

Show Boat

as Windy MacLaine

1931

1941

Broadway Limited

as Mulcahey

1922

The Bonded Woman

as Captain Gaskell

1920

Hitchin' Posts

as Joe Alabam (as J. Farrell McDonald)

1940

Prairie Law

as Sheriff Jim Austin

1928

In Old Arizona

as Stage Passenger (uncredited)

1938

Extortion

as Coach Pearson

1931

Touchdown!

as Pop Stewart

1939

Mickey the Kid

as Sheriff J.J. Willoughby

1937

The Great Barrier

as Major Rogers

1948

Shep Comes Home

as Sheriff Cap Weatherby

1944

The Great Moment

as The Priest

1920

1948

Trouble Preferred

as Apartment House Manager (uncredited)

1926

The Country Beyond

as Sgt. Cassidy

1923

The Age of Desire

as Dan Reagan

1937

Parnell

as Irish Laborer

1910

The Time-Lock Safe

as Office Worker

1922

The Bachelor Daddy

as Joe Pelton

1919

This Hero Stuff

as Softnose Smith

Production

1917

Over the Fence

as Director

1913

Rory o' the Bogs

as Director

1914

1914

Samson

as Director

1914

The Backslider

as Director

© All Rights Reserved 2025