Dink Trout

Francis "Dink" Trout (June 18, 1898 – March 26, 1950) was an American actor and radio personality.

Dink Trout
Born	Francis Trout (1898-06-18)June 18, 1898 Beardstown, Illinois, U.S.
Died	March 26, 1950(1950-03-26) (aged 51) Burbank, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film actor Radio personality Voice actor
Years active	1926-1950

Early years

Trout was born in 1898 in Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois.[1]

Radio

In 1927, Trout had his own musical program on WOR in Newark, New Jersey.[2]

Much of his career involved playing characters in American radio shows. His most famous radio roles were as Mr. Anderson in The Dennis Day Show and as Luke Spears in Lum and Abner. He was also heard in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, the Cass Daley Show, The Life of Riley, and The Nebbs.[3]

Stage

On Broadway, Trout had the role of Zappo in The Wild Rose (1926).[4]

Music

Trout played marimba and trombone for Ben Bernie and his orchestra.[5]

Film

In 1936 Trout made his first (uncredited) film appearance in Under Your Spell. Later in 1941 he appeared in Scattergood Baines as Plinky Pickett. Trout reprised this role for the next two films in the Scattergood Baines chronology. He made several other film appearances throughout his life, though he was generally uncredited. In 1947 he voiced the title character in Disney's Bootle Beetle, a character he continued to voice for the next three years. He also played Phink, the pressure cooker salesman in the unaired Three Stooges TV pilot, Jerks of All Trades.[6] His final performance was as the voice of the King of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, which was released over a year after his death.

Death

Trout died March 26, 1950, in Hollywood, after having had major surgery.[7]

Filmography

• Under Your Spell (1936) - Small Man (uncredited)
• Scattergood Baines (1941) - Pliny Pickett
• Scattergood Baines Pulls the Strings (1941) - Pliny Pickett
• Miss Polly (1941) - Postman Wilbur Boggs
• Cinderella Swings It (1943) - Pliny Pickett
• Gildersleeve's Bad Day (1943) - Otis (uncredited)
• It's a Great Life (1943) - Little Man (uncredited)
• Food and Magic (1943, Documentary short) - Meek Butcher Customer (uncredited)
• Up in Arms (1944) - Startled Man in Cable Car (uncredited)
• The Doughgirls (1944) - Young Husband (uncredited)
• Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1944) - Meek Husband (uncredited)
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) - Undetermined (uncredited)
• Sudan (1945) - Bedai the Potter (uncredited)
• The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) - Trumpet Player (uncredited)
• Notorious (1946) - Court Clerk (uncredited)
• Bootle Beetle (1947, short) - Bootle Beetle (voice)
• So Dear to My Heart (1948) - Bob Peters - Station Agent (uncredited)
• Sea Salts (1949, short) - 'Mac' Bootle Beetle (voice, uncredited)
• Jerks of All Trades (1949, TV pilot) - Mr. Phink
• The Greener Yard (1949, short) - Bootle Beetle (voice)
• Morris the Midget Moose (1950, short) - Old Bootle Beetle / Balsam (voice, uncredited)
• Alice in Wonderland (1951) - King of Hearts (voice) (final film role)

References

1. Felts, David V. (March 31, 1950). "Second Thoughts". Illinois, Carbondale. Southern Illinoisan. p. 4. Retrieved February 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "(radio listing)". New York, Canandaigua. The Daily Messenger. February 15, 1927. p. 6. Retrieved February 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Sies, Luther F. (2014). Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition, Volume 1. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-5149-4. P. 705.
4. "Dink Trout". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
5. "Studio Notes". Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. The Evening News. January 5, 1939. p. 18. Retrieved February 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Dink Trout at ThreeStooges.net. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
7. "Trout, Radio Player, Dies After Operation". North Dakota, Bismarck. The Bismarck Tribune. March 28, 1950. p. 2. Retrieved February 5, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Dink Trout on IMDb
• Dink Trout at the Internet Broadway Database