Grant Mitchell
Acting
Biography
Grant Mitchell (born John Grant Mitchell Jr.) was an American stage and screen actor. He is best remembered for his portrayals of fathers, husbands, bank clerks, businessmen, school principals and similar type characters, usually supporting, in films of the 1930s and 1940s. Mitchell, a Yale post graduate at Harvard Law, gave up his law practice to become an actor, making his stage debut at age 27. He appeared in lead roles on Broadway in such plays as "It Pays to Advertise", "The Champion", "The Whole Town's Talking", and "The Baby Cyclone", the last which was specially written for him by George M. Cohan. His screen career took off with the advent of sound (years earlier he had appeared in at least two silent films). He appeared primarily in B films, though from time to time enjoyed being a part of A-quality productions such as Dinner at Eight (1933), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). Grant Mitchell retired from show business in 1948. He died, age 82, in Los Angeles in 1957.
Born: June 17, 1874
Place of Birth: Columbus, Ohio, USA
Known For
The Grapes of Wrath
Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
After the death of a United States Senator, idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. Soon, the naive and earnest new senator has to battle political corruption.
Arsenic and Old Lace
Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!
On Borrowed Time
Young Pud is orphaned and left in the care of his aged grandparents. The boy and his grandfather are inseparable. Gramps is concerned for Pud's future and wary of a scheming relative who seeks custody of the child. One day Mr. Brink, an agent of Death, arrives to take Gramps "to the land where the woodbine twineth." Through a bit of trickery, Gramps confines Mr. Brink, and thus Death, to the branches of a large apple tree, giving Gramps extra time to resolve issues about Pud's future.
Leave Her to Heaven
A socialite marries a prominent novelist, which spurs a violent, obsessive, and dangerous jealousy in her.
Nothing But the Truth
A stockbroker bets his new partners $10,000 that he can tell the truth, and only the truth, for twenty-four hours.
It Happened on Fifth Avenue
A New Yorker hobo moves into a mansion and along the way he gathers friends to live in the house with him. Before he knows it, he is living with the actual home owners.
Larceny, Inc.
Three ex-cons buy a luggage shop to tunnel into the bank vault next door. But despite all they can do, the shop prospers...
Heroes for Sale
World War I veteran Tom Holmes is marked by the unbearable suffering caused by his battle wounds. Over the years, he comes to experience both the pain of misfortune and a love for other human beings.
The Man Who Came to Dinner
An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in indefinitely with a Midwestern family.
Filmography
as Self (archive footage)
as Ed Loomis in 'Dinner at Eight' (archive footage) (uncredited)
as Judge
as Samuel Breckenbridge
as Mitchell Edwards
as Congressman Crenshaw
as Al Farrow
as Samuel Breckenridge
as Homer Henshaw
as Carlson (uncredited)
as House Detective
as Mr. Pope
as Dr. Grant
as Mayor of Pantera
as Wayne Clark
as Ralph Neely
as Passenger with newspaper
as Uncle Wallace
as Arnold Benson
as Hotel Clerk
as Reverend Harper
as Dr. Gibbs
as Uncle George
as Mr. Mason
as J.D. Gibbons
as Edgar Holliday
as Walter Sherwood
as Dr. Ward
as Mr. O.H.P. Boggs
as Gilbert Wheeler
as John Quincy Adams (archive footage) (uncredited)
as Mr. Goodwin
as Mr. Aspinwall
as Ernest W. Stanley
as Frederick Vantine
as Clayton Potter
as Mr. Bishop
as Dean Hutchinson
as Joshua Mason
as Judge
as Wellington Carruthers
as George Payne
as John W. Bower
as Jones
as Dr. Kobbe
as Governor of New Orleans
as Snade
as Rene Salmon
as Caretaker
as Dr. Ames - the Psychologist (uncredited)
as John Xerxes Archley
as Senator MacPherson
as John Quincy Adams
as Hiram Krispan
as Mr. Pilbeam
as Warden Alan Parkhurst
as Henry Peck
as Ernest Headley
as Jeweler
as Duke
as Arnold Frayne
as Mr. Snell
as B.L. Faulkin
as Burton Williams
as Ellsworth T. Banning
as Warden
as District Attorney Ernest Robinson
as Georges Clemenceau
as Paul Krumpp
as Herbert Pett
as Robert Cantillon
as Marty Crawford
as John Summers, Luxury's Owner
as Paul Adams
as District Attorney Markham
as Michael Jennings
as Horace J. Twilling
as Egeus (archive footage) (uncredited)
as Thomas Hayden
as Thaddeus Parks
as W. R. Gridley
as Egeus
as Minor Role (uncredited)
as E.V. Richards, Radio Producer
as Andrew Webster, banker
as Rufus Twitchell
as Austin
as Louis Lamson
as Henry Sheridan
as Willis Martin
as J. Walter Delmar
as Howard Smith
as District Attorney Claude Drumm
as Fussli
as Silk Hot McGee
as Wilbur Page
as Sharpe
as Mr. 'Pa'
as Tom Hopkins
as Ed Loomis
as J.B. Honeywell
as Rev. John Williams
as Joe Martel
as Jasper Bradley Sr.
as James Smith
as Ezra Fowler
as Allen
as Dr. Crittenden - Dentist
as George Gibson
as Austin Winters
as Dr. Hawley
as Mr. Blaine
as Thornton Clay
as Appleby
as Vane
as Tester of Convicts' IQs (uncredited)
as Prison Priest (uncredited)
as Mr. Gilmore (uncredited)
as Station Agent
as Connors
as Doctor
as Martin Collins
as Pa Leeds
as Barber John Martin Bolton
as Arthur Wyman
as Stephen Weatherbee