Canadian character actor. He is mostly remembered for his supporting roles in a number of stage shows and films during the 1920s and 1930s, especially in comedy roles. Born Edward Arthur Sparkman in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, he attended the University of Toronto, dropping out to go prospecting for gold during the Alaskan Gold Rush at the turn of the century. He ended up in Dawson Creek, Alaska, working in a honky-tonk bar, singing for his pay. He then worked on the Canadian railroad for a while, and worked in a theater in Toronto, Canada. After some soul-searching, he decided to become an actor. In 1907, he went to New York City, and developed his stone-face character for Vaudeville comedies. His first acting role was as a night clerk in the 1915 film, "Little Miss Brown," which did not lead to any further job offers, believed mostly due to his becoming a founding member of the Actors Equity, a labor union for actors. He finally found acting work again, and by 1922, was making movies. When talking movies became popular in 1929, his nasal-toned sarcasm and sour disposition found him a comfortable nitch as a character actor, and he would go on to make over 80 films. Some of his most notable films during the 1930s include "Gold Diggers of 1933" (1933), the role of the caterpillar in "Alice in Wonderland" (1933), and Walt Disney's film "Broken Toys" (1935), in which the Jack-in-the-Box character was written completely around his film image. During this period, he took out an insurance policy with Lloyds of London for $10,000 damage protection of his professional reputation, should anyone photograph him smiling, probably for the publicity. In the 1938 Disney film, "Mother Goose Goes Hollywood" he character played the Jester, and the following year, producer Tex Avery portrayed his character as a hermit crab in "Fresh Fish" (1939). Other than one small film role in 1941, he moved over to radio shows, and was a radio favorite of American audiences for many years, frequently performing with Bing Crosby during the war years. He appeared in over 80 films throughout his career; his last film (and only film since 1941) being "Magic Town" (1947). Realizing that his character persona was no longer in vogue with the movie audiences, he retired from films in 1947. Sparks would return to do the voice of television's Heckle and Jeckle cartoons (1956), and would die the next year of an intestinal blockage in Victorville, California.