Divorced from actress Venita Varden in 1945, she was among the many who perished in a June 17, 1948 plane crash on the Aristes mountain near Wilburton, Pennsylvania, that killed 43 passengers in all. Also included were night club owner Earl Carroll, famous for his Vanities Showgirls, and his leading lady, showgirl Beryl Wallace.
Dubbed "The World's Oldest Freshman" because he was rather long in the tooth (30 something) for the collegiates he was asked to play, including roles in College Humor (1933), College Rhythm (1934), and Collegiate (1936). In the movie Rise and Shine (1941), the 38-year-old was asked to play an 18-year-old senior.
In 1981, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences established the Jack Oakie Lecture on Comedy in Film, as an annual event.
Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA., in the Whispering Pines section at the top of the hill.
Oakie fought with cameramen for years about screen makeup -- he never wore any and refused to wear makeup under any circumstances.
Once teamed with fellow vaudevillian Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher in the hopes of being another Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, but it didn't pan out. They did perform in six films together.
Son of actress Evelyn Oakie.
Son-in-law of James W. Horne.
Stepbrother-in-law of June Horne and James Horne Jr..
Stepson-in-law of Cleo Ridgely.
Working as a Wall Street clerk, he narrowly escaped death in 1920 after the Treasury Building was bombed by terrorists.