** boys' clothing in movies : Blondie movies cast Larry Lee Simms








Blondie Movies Cast: Larry Lee Simms (1934- )


Figure 1.-- Larry Lee Simms (1934- ) played Baby Dumpling (Alexander). Larry played his parts well with a kind of mature, dead-pan approach. He was outfitted in some very stylish outfits that the average American boy would not have worn. Also notice the center part--of course done to mark his father's famous look.

Larry Lee Simms (1934- ) played Baby Dumpling (Alexander). I don't recogmoze him from any other films. He did, however, have small roles in a number of other films. It is role of Baby Dumpling/Alexander for which he is best known. Larry played his parts well with a kind of mature, dead-pan approach. I have been able to find almost no biographical information on Larry. We know that he was born in Los Angeles, which of course helps with a show business career. He began his show business career as a child model when he was 2 years old. It was a 1937 Saturday Evening Post ad that led a Hollywood talent scout to Larry. His first film role was as the toddler son of Jimmy Stewart and Rose Stradner in MGM's "The Last Gangster". It was this appearance that got Larry the role of Baby Dumpling in the Blondie series. Larry was always dressed smartly for his part as Baby Dumpling. Some of the outfits were in fact more stylish than middle-class boys would have actually worn. As he got older, Baby Dumpling was changed to Alexander. Larry played the same role through to the end of the series (1950). He reportedly earned $750 week. Certainly not a super star status, but quite a bit of money in the 1940s. As a boy he seems to have bee more interested in technical matters associated with movie making than the craft of acting. The public watched Larry grow up in the series and becoming a teenager. Larry was in the final film of the series--"Beware of Blondie" (1950). While his primary work was in the Blondie series, Larry did appear in other films, including "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) and "Madame Bovary" (1949). As far as I know, he enjoyed his acting experience, but was not overwealmed by it like some child stats. He seems to have made no effort to continue acting after the Blondie series ended. In fact he joined the Navy (1950). After the Navy he enrolled at California Polytech to study aeronautical engineering. After college he worked as an engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. We know little about his marriage. One report indicates that and is wife after retirement are iving in Thailand (2006).







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Created: 12:57 AM 1/31/2008
Last updated: 12:57 AM 1/31/2008