One of the "grand old men" of vaudeville and burlesque, James Barton was the type of performer who could split your sides with a well-timed punchline, then seconds later break your heart with a plaintive rendition of "You Made Me Love You." An attempt to make Barton a middle-aged film favorite a la Will Rogers in the 1935 feature Captain Hurricane didn't take, so he settled for secondary character roles during the balance of his film career. James Barton's most memorable screen assignments included bogus Indian hunter Kit Carson in The Time of Your Life (1947) and the flustered father of June Haver and Gloria DeHaven in The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady (1950).