William Janney

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American actor

title: "William Janney" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1908-births", "1992-deaths", "american-male-film-actors", "male-actors-from-new-york-city", "20th-century-american-male-actors"] description: "American actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Janney" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
imageFile:William Janney.jpg
imagesize250px
captionJanney as shown in the November 26, 1938, issue of Radio Guide
nameWilliam Janney
birth_date
birth_placeNew York City, New York, U.S.
death_date
death_placeIdaho, U.S.
occupationFilm and stage actor
yearsactive1922–1937
spouseMadlyn Hobbs (1940–1968; her death)
Venice Daniels (1970–1989; her death)
::

| image = File:William Janney.jpg | imagesize = 250px | caption = Janney as shown in the November 26, 1938, issue of Radio Guide | name = William Janney | birth_date = | birth_place = New York City, New York, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Idaho, U.S. | occupation = Film and stage actor | yearsactive = 1922–1937 | spouse = Madlyn Hobbs (1940–1968; her death) Venice Daniels (1970–1989; her death)

William Janney (born Russell Dixon Janney, February 15, 1908 – December 22, 1992) was an American actor who appeared in 39 films between 1929 and 1937.

Biography

He was the son of author and theatrical producer Russell Janney, and he attended the School for Professional Children.

Janney debuted on Broadway in Merton of the Movies (1922). His other Broadway credits include Great Music (1924) Four O'Clock (1933), Take My Tip (1932), Tommy (1927), and Bridge of Distances (1925).

His biggest regret was not taking the role in Tol'able David (1930) after Columbia boss Harry Cohn offered it to him. His mother urged him to let Richard Cromwell have it. "She told me there was this old woman friend of hers whose son had always wanted to play the part. She said I didn't want to play it anyway. To this day, I don't understand her... This really spoiled the whole thing for me, because I might have been offered a contract with Columbia. As it turned out, I never did get a contract, and Harry Cohn never offered me anything else."

Janney may be best remember for playing Hoppy's brother in Hopalong Cassidy Returns (1936). It is the only film that Hoppy's brother appeared in. A few films later, in North of the Rio Grande, it is mentioned that Hoppy's brother had been killed off.

Complete filmography

References

References

  1. (28 December 1940). [https://www.nytimes.com/1940/12/28/archives/william-janney-marries.html William Janney Marries], ''[[The New York Times]]''
  2. (2 March 1930). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Yr8aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=B0sEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2645,4407238&dq= Actors' Children Emulate Parents], ''[[Pittsburgh Press]]''
  3. (March 16, 1930). "Hollywood's Film Shop". The Pittsburgh Press.
  4. "William Janney". The Broadway League.
  5. Ankerich, Michael G. ''The Sound of Silence: Conversations with 16 Film and Stage Personalities''. McFarland and Company Inc., Publishers: Jefferson, NC, 1998. p. 129.

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1908-births1992-deathsamerican-male-film-actorsmale-actors-from-new-york-city20th-century-american-male-actors