Voting Station

Stanley Clements

Please vote to return to collections.

Comedian

The Resume

    (July 16, 1926-October 16, 1981)
    Born in Long Island, New York
    Birth name was Stanislaw Klimowicz
    Best known as Stash/Duke from the East Side Kids comedy film series
    Appeared in 5 East Side Kids movies (1941-52) and 7 Bowery Boys movies (1956-58)
    Also acted in 'Tall, Dark, and Handsome,' 'I Wake Up Screaming,' 'Going My Way,' 'Salty O'Rourke,' 'Sniper's Ridge,' and 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'
    Made memorable guest appearances in 'Rawhide,' Daniel Boone, 'Mister Ed,' Leave it to Beaver, The Untouchables, Lassie, Get Smart, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and Gunsmoke
    Married to Oscar-winning actress Gloria Grahame (1946-48)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was twice divorced.
    He made a commercial for Pringles chips.
    He was typecast as mouthy young street hoodlums.
    He left the lucrative East Side Kids comedy franchise to pursue more serious roles, but he largely turned up empty handed.
    He eventually returned, in the mid-1950s, as a replacement for group leader Leo Gorcey , as part of the East Side Kids-reboot, the Bowery Boys.
    By the time he signed on, the Bowery Boys franchise had worn out its welcome with the public, and lasted only two more years.
    He harbored a possessive jealousy of Gloria Grahame, whose career was on the rise as his was flailing, leading him to frequently stalk his wife on the sets of her movies.
    He allegedly drank to the point of threatening to shoot Grahame, and even threatening to kill his mother-in-law with a knife, on one occasion.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was good friends with classmate, Roddy McDowall.
    He worked with a very young Ava Gardner in the East Side Kids short, 'Ghosts on the Loose.'
    He got his start on the New York subway, singing and dancing for the riders to get coins in his cap.
    He eventually kicked both his drinking and gambling habits in his late 20s and went on to a steady career as a character actor.
    He was described by friends and acquaintances as generous, good-hearted, and unassuming.
    He met Gloria Grahame while serving in the US Army during WWII. She didn't find out he was an actor until the war ended.
    He and Grahame remained close after their divorce, and he was crushed by the news of her death to the point that it weakened his will to live (they died only eleven days apart).
    He had to put up with the self-destructive pain-in-the-ass Alfalfa Switzer on the set of 'Going My Way.'
    He led the boys choir which sang the original rendition of the Oscar-winning song'Swinging on a Star' with Bing Crosby in 'Going My Way.'
    He and his second wife were the first couple do adopt a child from a country 'behind the Iron Curtain' ( Poland), under proxy adoption laws.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 77 Votes: 46.75% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 488 Votes: 55.12% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 39 Votes: 71.79% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 74 Votes: 58.11% Annoying