Canadian Edward Arthur Sparkman (1883-1957) made his film debut in silent pictures, a medium only partly suited to an actor whose unique presence relied on two attributes: yes, a deadpan face, but also, and most importantly, a monotone, nasal voice that seemed to deride everything around it.
Sparks developed his unique style in one of the many Broadway productions in which he appeared after 1912. (His early life had been a gallimaufry of unlikely incidents, including gold prospecting and studying for the ministry.)
After over thirty silent films, initially made in New York studios, Sparks made his talkie debut in The Big Noise(1928), an Allan Dwan production for First National. He went on to steal scenes in about fifty more pictures, including 42nd Street (1933), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Lady for a Day (1933), Imitation of Life (1934) and Magic Town (1947), his final appearance, made as a favour to James Stewart. It was his proud boast that he never smiled in any of them.
Sparks was only in one MGM musical, Going Hollywood, where he began a lifelong friendship with Bing Crosby.
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