Died at 142
male
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ned Sparks (born Edward Arthur Sparkman, November 19, 1883 – April 3, 1957) was a Canadian-born character actor of the American stage and screen. Sparks was known for his deadpan expression and deep, gravelly voice. Born in Guelph, Ontario, Sparks left home at age 16 and attempted to work as a gold prospector on the Klondike Gold Rush. After running out of money, he won a spot as a singer on a traveling musical company's tour. At age 19, he returned to Canada and briefly attended a Toronto seminary. After leaving the seminary, he worked for the railroad and worked in theater in Toronto. In 1907, he left Toronto for New York City to try his hand in the Broadway theatre, where he appeared in his first show in 1912. While working on Broadway, Sparks developed his trademark deadpan expression while portraying the role of a desk clerk in the play Little Miss Brown. His success on the stage soon caught the attention of MGM's Louis B. Mayer who signed Sparks to a six picture deal. Sparks began appearing in numerous silent films before finally making his "talkie" debut in the 1928 film The Big Noise. In the 1930s, Sparks became known for portraying dour-faced, sarcastic, cigar-chomping characters. He became so associated with the type that, in 1936, The New York Times reported that Sparks had his face insured for USD$100,000 with Lloyd's of London. The market agreed to pay the sum to any photographer who could capture Sparks smiling (Sparks later admitted that the story was a publicity stunt and he was only insured for $10,000). Sparks was also caricatured in cartoons including the Jack-in-the-Box character in the Disney short Broken Toys (1935), and the jester in Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938), a hermit crab in both Tex Avery's Fresh Fish (1939) and Bob Clampett's Goofy Groceries (1941), a chicken in Bob Clampett's Slap Happy Pappy (1940), Friz Freleng's Warner Bros. cartoon Malibu Beach Party (1940), and Tex Avery's Hollywood Steps Out (1940). Sparks also voiced the cartoon characters Heckle and Jeckle from 1947 to 1951. Sparks appeared in ten stage productions on Broadway and over 80 films. He retired from films in 1947, saying that everyone should retire at 65
After a lonely but heavily drunken night, Christina Lombard is saved by Lily St. Hyde, her former high school English teacher. On their way home they are stopped at a railroad crossing just as the lights & bells go berserk but no train passes them by. Suddenly, Christina notices a star growing rapidly brighter until it wizzes over the car causing everything to tremble & shake in the red glow of the meteor. They whip around to see it descend miles behind them out the back window. The next morning they head out, Christina through a hangover, to search for the fallen star. They find their way in the tiny hamlet of Abbeys Hollow only to discover the entire place void of life, no people, no shops opened except for the Downingtown Diner & Abbeys Hollow Sherrifs Office which are empty & quite the mess inside as if struggles went down everywhere. So begins the frightening mystery that leads our characters directly into battle with a shapeless flesh devouring being with the ability to trick victims into an ambush of gory proportions hellbent on taking our planet ...until it falls in love which causes problems for its little plan of world dominance.
