Actor. Born in San Francisco, California to Leon D. Adams and Laurence G. Girard. Ernie was featured in musical comedies on Broadway such as Jerome Kern’s “Toot Toot” in 1918, then devoted himself to the cinema from 1919 until his death. His first role as Shorty in “A Regular Girl”. Finding favor with numerous casting agents who liked his squirrelly look, diminutive Ernie would be seen in 435 movies between 1919 and 1948. An actor and a writer known for Why pay rent? in 1923, Invisible Ghost in 1941, and The pride of the Yankees in 1942. Ernie was one of the busiest character actors during the 1930s and 1940s. He often played the parts of shady characters nicknamed ‘weasel’, ‘fink’ or ‘lefty’. Ernie was married to Berdonna Gilbert, they spent the early years of their entertainment careers as the vaudeville team of Adams and Gilbert. He and Berdonna would stay married until his death. Together they had a daughter. He died at the age of 62. (bio by: Shock)