Bud Jamison
William Edward "Bud" Jamison (February 15, 1894 – September 30, 1944) was an American film actor. He appeared in 450 films between 1915 and 1944, notably appearing in many shorts with The Three Stooges as a foil.
Born in Vallejo, California, Jamison joined the ranks of stage and vaudeville performers making movies in California. Jamison's husky build and willingness to participate in messy slapstick and rowdy action guaranteed him work in silent comedies. In 1915 he was a member of Charlie Chaplin's stock company at Essanay Studios. From there he moved to the Hal Roach studio, playing hot-tempered comic foils for Harold Lloyd, Snub Pollard, and Stan Laurel. In the 1920s, he joined Universal Pictures' short-comedy contingent, and later worked in Mack Sennett comedies.
In his earliest films, Jamison looked too young to be totally convincing in heavy makeup as a veteran policeman, detective, or authority figure. As the years progressed, he grew into these roles, and by the time sound films arrived he was well established as a reliable character comedian.
Jamison had a superb tenor singing voice, and loved to sing when not filming. Sound movies gave producers a chance to exploit his singing, and for the rest of his career he would occasionally be called upon to vocalize in films. A brief series of color travelogues filmed in 1930, featured Jamison and comic Jimmie Adams as "The Rolling Stones", two singing vagabonds seeing the country. Jamison would be hired just for his singing, as in Pot o' Gold where he plays a vagrant who harmonizes in jail.
Jamison continued to play cops, robbers, bosses, servants, and various professional men who clash with comedy stars. He appeared opposite Bing Crosby, W.C. Fields, and Andy Clyde in Sennett's talkies. Like other members of the two-reel-comedy community, he found work at various studios: Hal Roach (with Thelma Todd and ZaSu Pitts, and Charley Chase), Educational Pictures (with Buster Keaton), RKO Radio Pictures (with Clark & McCullough, Leon Errol, and Edgar Kennedy), and Columbia Pictures (with Keaton, Clyde, Chase, Harry Langdon, and The Three Stooges, among many others).
Jamison is best known today for his prolific output at Columbia Pictures in their short subjects, primarily with the Three Stooges. He appeared in 38 Stooge entries over 10 years, including their debut, Woman Haters (1934). Jamison provided an excellent comic foil for the team, as did his equally prolific counterpart, Vernon Dent. He also sings "You'll Never Know Just What Tears Are" in the Three Stooges film A Ducking They Did Go (1939). Stooge leader Moe Howard (who referred to Jamison as "Buddy Jamison") fondly recalled singing barbershop harmony with Charley Chase, actor Vernon Dent, and Jamison many times on movie sets.
There are conflicting reports as to Jamison's cause of death. He died on September 30, 1944, at age 50, one day after completing work on the film Nob Hill. Some sources indicate that Jamison developed a blood infection or kidney cancer and because he was a devout Christian Scientist, refused blood transfusions that resulted in his death. However, several surviving family members have stated that Jamison had been suffering from phlebitis in his leg during the final week of filming Nob Hill and refused to seek medical help due to his "the show must go on" mentality (v. his religion). Jamison's family was told that the phlebitis caused a blood clot which traveled to his lung and caused his death.
Jamison's death certificate lists mesenteric thrombosis as the official cause of death, with carcinoma of the right kidney also noted as a condition. Jamison was also a Type 2 diabetic in his later years. He is buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.