Ned Sparks (born Edward Arthur Sparkman,[2] November 19, 1883 – April 3, 1957) was a Canadian-born character actor of the American stage and screen.

[1] On Broadway, Sparks developed his trademark deadpan expression while portraying a hotel clerk in the play Little Miss Brown.

[4] His success caught the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio head Louis B. Mayer, who signed him to a six-picture deal.

[citation needed] Sparks is particularly known for the wry, comic characters he portrayed in iconic pre-Code Hollywood pictures, such as Blessed Event (1932), 42nd Street (1933), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Lady for a Day (1933), and Sing and Like It (1934).

Sparks was often caricatured in cartoons, including the Jack-in-the-Box character in the Disney short Broken Toys (1935), the jester in Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938),[7] a hermit crab in both Tex Avery's Fresh Fish (1939) and Bob Clampett's Goofy Groceries (1941), a chicken in Bob Clampett's Slap Happy Pappy (1940), Friz Freleng's Warner Bros. cartoon Malibu Beach Party (1940), and Tex Avery's Hollywood Steps Out (1941).