Biografia

When he died in 1966, his gross estate totaled $92,446, and his assets were on track to grow after he died. He had a residual deal for I Love Lucy (1951) and Meus 3 Filhos (1960) which was unique to performers of the day: he was to be paid in perpetuity. His estate and heirs still earn income for rerun revenues.

Possessed of a fine singing voice in his earlier days, it was supposedly William Frawley, not Al Jolson, who introduced Jolson's popular hit song "My Mammy" to vaudeville audiences.

By almost all accounts, Frawley's off-screen personality was not all that much different from his on-screen one. A notorious misanthrope, with a failed marriage behind him and a fondness for the bottle, he lived in the same bachelor apartment for most of his years in Hollywood.

Unable to secure his first choice, Gale Gordon, for the role of "Fred Mertz," Desi Arnaz agreed to consider Frawley, who heavily lobbied for the part. Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball had invested everything they had for the pilot and were concerned about Frawley's alcoholism, which was no secret around Hollywood. Arnaz made it clear to him that if he showed up drunk for work more than once, he would be not only fired from the program but blacklisted throughout the entertainment industry. Frawley, despite his lengthy film resume, was virtually unemployable by 1951, thanks to a combination of his fondness for the bottle and his disagreeable personality. He readily agreed to Arnaz's condition. He never showed up drunk on the set at all, and, in fact, Arnaz became one of his very few close friends. When Frawley died, Arnaz took out a full-page ad in the trade papers consisting of Frawley's picture edged in black and three words: "Buenas noches, amigo!".

In 1912, he was the first person to sing the classic 'My Melancholy Baby.' He was appearing at the Mozart Cafe in Denver, Colorado. He happened to visit a pub on Curtis Street, where he knew the proprietor. Knowing Bill was looking for a new song for his act, the proprietor directed him to the pub's back room, where George Norton and Ernie Burnett were in the process of composing 'My Melancholy Baby.' He introduced the song that very night at the Mozart Cafe. In the audience that night was writer Damon Runyon, well known for his drinking. After Frawley introduced the song, Runyan, drunk and maudlin, called out 'Get Frawley to sing 'Melancholy Baby'!' repeatedly throughout the rest of the evening. Bill sang many encores. The comedy staple of a drunk requesting 'My Melancholy Baby' actually has a basis in fact.