Born on July 8, 1889; died on September 3, 1954.

From movies.yahoo.com, "Believe it or not, barrel-bellied, frog-voiced American actor Eugene Pallette was once upon a time a slim romantic lead. Having previously worked as a streetcar conductor and a jockey, Pallette became a touring stock company performer, entering films as an extra in 1910 and working his way to lead roles in less than a month. His most famous pre-1920 performance was as the dashing leading man in the French sequences of the four-part D.W. Griffith epic Intolerance (1916). However, upon returning from World War I service Pallette found that younger, handsomer men had taken his place. He still enjoyed good supporting parts such as one of the Three Musketeers in the 1921 Douglas Fairbanks film of the same name, but his bland features consigned him to bits until he decided to make himself conspicuous by gaining weight. Eventually clocking in at 300 pounds, Pallette was suddenly much in demand as a character actor. In 1927, he signed with Hal Roach Studios, where work as a comedy foil was plentiful. Among his two-reel appearances was the role of the insurance man in the Laurel and Hardy classic Battle of the Century (1927). Talkies catapulted Pallette back to prominence. His distinctive deep croaking voice made the actor a natural for detective, promoter, con man, and "boss" roles. In films like My Man Godfrey (1936), The Ghost Goes West (1937), and The Lady Eve (1941), Pallette became a comedy fixture in the recurring stereotype of the self-made millionaire who can't get anyone to listen to him until he throws a childish fit. Eugene Pallette made his last film, Silver River, in 1948, when illness compelled him to retire." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide