Andrew Tombes, born June 29, 1885, in Ohio, was an athletic and talented individual who began his career in minstrels and musical revues, showcasing his comedic skills as a vaudevillian performer.
He made notable appearances in various stage productions, including "Flo-Flo" (1908),"The College Girls" (1909),"Miss 1917" (1917),and "Poor Little Ritz Girl" (1920),which ultimately led to his big break as a star headliner in the Ziegfeld Follies in the 1920s.
Tombes' impressive range allowed him to play a wide variety of roles, from Shakespearean characters to screwball farce, and he became a friend of Will Rogers', who invited him to settle in Hollywood as a prime featured performer in Rogers' film vehicle "Doubting Thomas" (1935) at the age of 50.
At Fox, Tombes played a range of quintessential characters, including bald, bemused, and bug-eyed executives, professors, police captains, movie moguls, and school administrators. Although his roles became smaller over time, he continued to freelance in numerous "B" movies, often uncredited, mostly musicals and comedies.
Notably, Tombes played a funeral director's assistant in the Hope/Crosby vehicle "Road to Morocco" (1942) and a mortician in "The Mad Ghoul" (1943). True to form, his final movie role was in a comedy, the forgettable "The Go-Getter" (1956).
Andrew Tombes passed away at the age of 90 in New York City, two decades after his last film appearance.
