Actor, Singer. He was best known for specializing in Runyonesque gangsters or the wisecracking friend. He was particularly effective at delivering droll one-liners in his unique pitch-changing voice, which he did to great effect by playing the character roles of sidekicks during the 1930s and 1940s. He will be best remembered for playing the role of 'Tod McDuff' in the classic western film, "North West Mounted Police" (1940). The film which was directed by Cecil B. DeMille, which was written for the screen by Alan Le May, Jesse Lasky Jr., and C. Gardner Sullivan, and which also starred Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll, and Paulette Goddard, begins the story in 1885, of a Texas Ranger who travels to Canada to arrest a trapper who's wanted for murder and who's stirring up the Natives in a rebellion against the Canadian government. He was born one of two children as Woodson Lynne Overman in Maryville, Missouri, to William James Overman (1846-1896), and his wife Dora Alice Johnson Merriman Overman (1854-1941), on September 19, 1887. He was educated locally and was drafted during World War I, and he was given the rank of Ensign and appointed to duty at the Wissahickon Barracks in Cape Mape, New Jersey, on October 8, 1918. Following his education and military service, he chose acting as his career, and he was a jockey, minstrel man, stock company trouper, and vaudevillian. He eventually appeared on stage at Keith's Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island, and also on Broadway in New York City, New York, in several stage productions including the plays, "Come-on Charlie" (April 08, 1919, to May 1919), as 'David "Checkers" Graham' in "Honey Girl" (May 03, 1920, to September 04, 1920), as 'Roberta Adams' in "Just Married" (April 26, 1921 - ), as 'Danny Grundy' in "The Gossipy Sex" (April 19, 1927, to May 1927), as 'Jeffrey Osborne' in "People Don't Do Such Things" (November 23, 1927, to December 1927), as 'Maurice Vane' in "Sunny Days" (February 08, 1928, to May 05, 1928), as 'Button' in "Button, Button" (October 23, 1929, to October 1929), as 'Lord Robert Brummel' in "Dancing Partner" (August 05, 1930, to November 1930), as 'Mr. Janney' in "Company's Coming" (April 20, 1931, to April 1931), as 'Hap Wilson' in "Hot-Cha! (March 08, 1932, to June 18, 1932), and as 'Peter Harper' in "The Budget" (September 20, 1932, to September 1932). He also appeared in the stage productions of the plays, "Just Married," "The Hottentot," and "Little Accident," in London, England. He also sang in musical comedies, but he left that genre after a severe cold and an operation on his throat affected his larynx. During his time on the Broadway stage he worked with the likes of Charles S. Abbe, Maurice Barrett, Millie Butterfield, Amy Leah Dennis, W.H. Dupont, Eunice Elliott, Edwardo Flammero, Dan Kelly, Frank McCormack, Russell Morrison, Russell Parker, Robert Rendel, Lilyan Tashman, Estelle Taylor, M. Tello Webb, Charlotte Walton Ayres, Donald Black, Maxine Carson, Rosalie Claire, George Clidd, Aida Conkey, Peggy Cornell, Doris deLanti, Lillian Dixon, Jacqueline Feeley, Marjorie Finley, Harry Gordon, Sophia Grebow, Ruth Hartman, Sid Hawkins, Maury Holland, Claire Hooper, Verenetta Hoots, Charlotte Joyce, Sidney Kane, Irene Kelly, Fraun Koski, Robert Lee, Bob Lively, Esther Lloyd, Jeanette MacDonald, Vida Manuel, Audrey Maple, Trude Marr, Isobel Mason, Virginia May, Fred Mayon, Reed McClelland, Frank McIntyre, Liane Memet, Virginia Otis, Jane Patrick, Alli Raddigan, Evangeline Raleigh, Carl Randall, Leonard Reid, Helen Rich, Edna Starck, William Tasek, Billy B. Van, Ada Winston, and Hassard Short, among many others. During this time he also made the transition to film. He made his actual film debut playing the role of the 'Newlywed' in the crime film drama, "The Perfect Crime" (1928), which was directed by Bert Glennon, which was written by Ewart Adamson, Randolph Bartlett, and Victor Currier, and which also starred Clive Brook, Irene Rich, and Ethel Wales, tells the story of a police inspector who "solves" a crime that, in fact, may not have occurred at all. Besides, "The Perfect Crime" (1928), and "North West Mounted Police" (1940), his many other film credits include, "Kisses" (1929), "Five Minutes From The Station" (1930), "The Poor Fish" (1933), "Around The Clock" (1934), "Midnight" (1934), "Little Miss Marker" (1934), "The Great Flirtation" (1934), "She Loves Me Not" (1934), "You Belong To Me" (1934), "Broadway Bill" (1934), "Enter Madame!" (1935), "Rumba" (1935), "Paris Is Strong" (1935), "Men Without Names" (1935), "Two For Tonight" (1935), "Collegiate" (1936), "Poppy" (1936), "Yours For The Asking" (1936), "Three Married Men" (1936), "The Jungle Princess" (1936), "Don't Tell The Wife" (1937), "Murder Goes To College" (1937), "Nobody's Baby" (1937), "Hotel Haywire" (1937), "Wild Money" (1937), "Blonde Trouble" (1937), "Partners In Crime" (1937), "Night Club Scandal" (1937), "True Confession" (1937), "The Big Broadcast Of 1938" (1938, He performed the song, "Love In Bloom," in the film), "Her Jungle Love" (1938), "Hunted Men" (1938), "Men With Wings" (1938), "Spawn Of The North" (1938), "Sons Of The Legion" (1938), "Ride A Crooked Mile" (1938), "Persons In Hiding" (1939), "Union Pacific" (1939), "Death Of A Champion" (1939), "Typhoon" (1940), "Edison, The Man" (1940), "Safari" (1940), "The Hard Boiled Canary" (1941), "Caught In The Draft" (1941), "Aloma Of The South Seas" (1941), "New York Town" (1941, He performed the song, "Love In Bloom," in the film), "Roxie Hart" (1942), "Reap The Wild Wind" (1942, He performed the song, "Sea Chantey (The Nellie B)," in the film), "The Forest Rangers" (1942), "Silver Queen" (1942), "Star Spangled Rhythm" (1942), and "Dixie" (1943). His last film role was playing 'Johnny Walsh' in the adventure war musical film, "The Desert Song" (1943), which was directed by Robert Florey, which was written for the screen by Robert Buckner, and which also starred Dennis Morgan, Irene Manning, and Bruce Cabot, tells the story of a man named Paul Hudson, who leads a group of desert bandits against some Nazis, who want to use them as cheap labor for their railroad. He passed away from a heart attack at the Santa Monica Hospital in Santa Monica, California, on February 19, 1943, at the age of 55. His funeral service was held at Pierce Brothers Mortuary in Beverly Hills, California, and he was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica, California. He was also the owner of a 260-acre Spanish-type ranch in Valley Center, California, that he had just purchased shortly before his death. He was married twice, first to Sylvia Antionette Hayzette Overman in Manhattan, New York, on October 5, 1911, but later they divorced. He then married the actress Emily Helena Drange Overman (1898-1961), on November 14, 1922, a New York showgirl between 1917 and 1922. She appeared in "Sonny," "Showboat" and "Sally," as well as several other Ziegfeld Follies. They had no children together. She survived her husband and she passed away from a sudden illness at Memorial Hospital in Torrance, California, on December 30, 1961, at the age of 63, and she is buried with him at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica, California. He was also featured using archival footage in the documentaries, "Going Hollywood: The '30s" (1984), and "The Naked Archaeologist," from 2008 to 2010.