Biography
Balding, long-necked character actor Frank Rice made his earliest screen appearance in 1922. In talkies, Rice often appeared in comic bit roles, many of which -- notably the butler in Laurel and Hardy's
Pack up Your Troubles (1932) -- afforded him the opportunity of performing his rolling-eyeballs specialty. From 1931 onward, he successfully pursued a career as a Western comedy sidekick, appearing opposite such sagebrush stars as
John Wayne and
Buck Jones. Frank Rice died prematurely at age 44 of complications ensuing from nephritis and hepatitis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide