Stuart Erwin

Specialised in playing the average Joe, also hayseeds and semi-buffoonish sidekicks. Best as boxer Joe Palooka of comic strip fame (Palooka,1939) and as Judy Garland's dense brother in Pigskin Parade (1936), which earned him an Academy Award nomination.

In 1938, Erwin was booked to play Dagwood opposite Una Merkel as his blonde missus, when Chic Young's Blondie comic-strip couple hit the screen. Finally, the role (in some 28 films across 12 years) went to Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton. Ironically, Erwin made one film in the much-loved series, Blondie for Victory (1942).