J. Carrol Naish

American actor (1896-1973)

Born

21 January 1896, New York City

Died

24 January 1973

Citizenship

United States

Occupation

stage actor, film actor, television actor, actor

Films here

3

Joseph Patrick Carrol Naish (January 21, 1896 – January 24, 1973) was an American actor. He appeared in over 200 films during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

He became a dialect specialist, and was called upon to play character roles of many nationalities, including Southern European (especially Italian), Eastern European, Latin American, American Indians, Middle Eastern, South Asian, East Asian, Pacific Islander—even black, which earned him the moniker "Hollywood's one-man U.N." His own heritage was Irish, but he rarely played Irish characters, explaining, "When the part of an Irishman comes along, nobody ever thinks of me."

Naish received two Oscar nominations for his supporting roles in the films Sahara (1943) and A Medal for Benny (1945), the latter of which also earned him a Golden Globe. He was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

Filmography (martial arts films)

Frequent collaborators

• Mickey Rooney
• Jack Mower
• Hank Mann
• Robert Paige
• William Frawley
• Edward Brophy
• Robert Ryan
• Jean Rogers

External links

• Wikipedia
• IMDb
• Wikidata

Facts from Wikidata Q642876 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.