George Chandler

George Chandler (June 30, 1898 – June 10, 1985) was an American actor who starred in over 140 feature films, usually in smaller supporting roles, and he is perhaps best known for playing the character of Uncle Petrie Martin on the television series Lassie, and as the unfortunate young man who drank The Fatal Glass of Beer in a 1933 short comedy starring W.C. Fields. Early years He was born in Waukegan, Illinois, on June 30, 1898. During his infancy, his family moved to Hinsdale, Illinois. Early in his career, he had a vaudeville act, billed as "George Chandler, the Musical Nut," which featured comedy and his violin. He made his debut in film in 1929. Career George Chandler played incidental and background roles in dozens of movies. Today's audiences may know him from the Mack Sennett comedy The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933) starring W. C. Fields. In this film, Chandler plays Fields's son Chester, the wayward youth who dared to drink beer in a saloon, causing his downfall. George Chandler played character roles exclusively, often in comedies: bartenders, shopkeepers, cab drivers, reporters, photographers, desk clerks, messengers, farmers, passersby, spectators -- many times with only a few lines of dialogue. In Footlight Parade (1933), Chandler plays the druggist who sells Chester Kent (James Cagney) aspirin, and explains how the low price comes from the drugstore chain buying in large quantities, which starts off the premise of the movie. In Olsen and Johnson's Hellzapoppin', Chandler plays the cameraman on their film set, and reacts to the chaos with only four words of dialogue. In the Charlie Chan mystery The Shanghai Cobra (1945); Chandler runs an all-night coffee shop that becomes the scene of a murder.