Actor. One of the most distinctive character players of Hollywood’s “Golden Age”. With his barrel build and unforgettable frog voice, he was equally effective in comic or villainous roles. Pallette is probably best remembered as the exasperated patriarch of the screwball comedy “My Man Godfey” (1936) and as Friar Tuck in “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938). It is interesting to note that this plus-size performer started out as a professional jockey, and entered films in 1913 as a stunt rider. He was slender and handsome enough to gain romantic leads and had a heroic role in the French story of D.W. Griffith’s “Intolerance” (1916). But he rapidly put on weight during his stateside World War I service and after 1920 was cast exclusively in supporting parts. Talkies added a whole new dimension to his career, with his froggy voice a perfect compliment to his bulldog face and 300-pound girth. In all he appeared in some 250 films, including “The Birth of a Nation” (1915), “The Three Musketeers” (as Aramis, 1921), “Mantrap” (1926), “The Virginian” (1929), “Shanghai Express” (1932), “Topper” (1937), “Mr Smith Goes to Washington” (1939), “The Mark of Zorro” (1940), “The Lady Eve” (1941), “Heaven Can Wait” (1943), and “Suspense” (1946). Offscreen Pallette was known as a moody eccentric. In the mid-1920s he abruptly abandoned acting to drill for oil in Texas; he made a small fortune, lost it in a bad investment, then returned to Hollywood. After World War II he retired to his 3000-acre ranch in Oregon, where he stockpiled supplies in anticipation of a Soviet invasion or nuclear attack. He died in Los Angeles while undergoing treatment for throat cancer. His remains were cremated at Valhalla Memorial Park in north Hollywood and the ashes buried in the Pallette family plot in Grenola, Kansas.