Born in New York City. A descendant of a long line of Irish peers, and a great-great-grandson of a Lord Chancellor of Ireland, he grew up in the tough Yorkville-Harlem area of turn-of-the-century New York and at 16 dropped out of school to enlist in the Navy. During WW I he saw action in Europe with the aviation section of the Army Signal Corps. After his discharge, he roamed about Europe, performing various odd jobs and acquiring a working knowledge of several languages. He returned to the US aboard a tramp steamer that dropped him off on the West Coast. He appeared in Hollywood as an extra and stuntman in a few films, then headed for Broadway in 1926 as an understudy with the road company of The Shanghai Gesture. He later had parts in a couple of Broadway productions and returned to Hollywood in 1930 as a featured player. He soon became established as a reliable and versatile character actor who specialized in the portrayal of foreigners, particularly Italians and other Latins. A master of dialect, he also portrayed Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, Arab, and Indian characters but because of his swarthy complexion never played an Irishman. He appeared in some 200 films, playing amiable types and villains with equal conviction, and was nominated twice for an Academy Award, for SAHARA (1943) and A MEDAL FOR BENNY (1945). He also starred in the radio comedy series "Life With Luigi." A TV version of the series was seen briefly in 1952-53. Naish also starred in the TV series "The New Adventures of Charlie Chan" (1957) and played Chief Hawkeye in the series "Guestward Ho!" (1960-61).  Nominated for Supporting Actor 1943: SAHARA  Nominated for Supporting Actor 1945: A MEDAL FOR BENNY 2 nominations