His Broadway credits include Enchanted Isle (1927), The Cocoanuts (1925), Topsy and Eva (1924), and Robin Hood (1912).

He is probably best known to modern audiences as Detective Hennessy in the first Marx Brothers film The Cocoanuts (1929), a role he created in the 1925 stage play.

He also appeared in Pinky, The File on Thelma Jordon, Colorado Territory, Broken Arrow, People Will Talk, Carrie, The Violent Men, Blackboard Jungle, The Last Hurrah and The Horse Soldiers.

In his final television role he appeared on Perry Mason as Henry W. Dameron in the 1959 episode, "The Case of Paul Drake's Dilemma".

He was the announcer on a syndicated programme for Rexall in 1939 before becoming the commercial spokesman for DuPont on Cavalcade of America on the NBC Blue Network in 1940.