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| Otto Malde |
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born:
01 July 1905 Stavanger, Norway |
died:
31 May 1986 Los Angeles, California, United States of America (congestive heart failure with chronic alcoholism contributing, age 80) |
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Norwegian-born actor. In 1922 he immigrated from Norway to live with his sister in Chicago, a nurse at the Norwegian-American Hospital. He found work as a clerk and did some amateur acting. By 1928 he was in Los Angeles as a stage actor and went into movie acting by 1929. Eventually he found steady work as a stand-in for major stars for the rest of his career into 1966.
In 1940 he was arrested when found sleeping while intoxicated in Patsy Kelly's automobile. He claimed he was her chauffeur and working as a stand-in for actor Jack Oakie. Otto and Patsy were already "an item" in gossip columns. In May of 1941 he enlisted in the US Army and toured Army bases performing with mostly Army personnel in patriotic plays and vaudeville style routines. He served until his 1945 discharge. In January of 1942 he dated an actress who was roommates with a wealthy young woman who attempted suicide while the pair was out on a dinner date. They were not involved but the woman was found half-naked and over-dosed on sleeping pills on the street in front of her apartment house next to her car. In late May of 1942 he was stationed in Salt Lake City, UT. Patsy Kelly flew there to make plans for their wedding. He had applied for Officers' Candidate School and was accepted just when Patsy arrived so the plans were postponed thanks to the US Army. She said, "It doesn't matter to me if you are a private, sergeant, or lieutenant: I guess we'll just have to wait". He said, "We have a war to win". This event played in just about every newspaper in the country! The marriage never materialized. In Hollywood in 1972, Otto was involved in an auto accident which caused his car to run over a 38 year-old bicyclist. He fled for over a mile with the cyclist trapped under his vehicle before two cops who were eating in a nearby restaurant chased him down. A tow truck was required to lift the car off the dead cyclist. Otto was charged with manslaughter. Otto's 1986 death was attributed to congestive heart failure and arteriosclerosis with chronic alcoholism contributing. He was cremated and his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. He's still "floating around somewhere" as his ashes were scattered at sea in the Pacific! |
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Real name: Otto Fjogstad Height: 5'9" |
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography. |
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