Harry Semels

Biography

One of the industry's most versatile character actors, in his almost 30-year career Harry Semels appeared in hundreds of films. Adept at playing everything from Spanish waiters to German soldiers to Italian villagers--and even a haughty District Attorney from time to time--his stocky build and droopy mustache were a familiar sight to moviegoers, especially in the '30s and '40s, his peak years. He often worked for Columbia Pictures, and in that capacity appeared as a foil for The Three Stooges on many occasions, most notably in Disorder in the Court (1936), where he was a District Attorney on the receiving end of the trio's antics during a murder trial.