Grant Mitchell
Born: 1874-06-17 in Columbus, Ohio, USA
Died: 1957-05-01
Known For: 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.
Filmography
1975
- Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? as Self (archive footage)
1964
- The Big Parade of Comedy as Ed Loomis in 'Dinner at Eight' (archive footage) (uncredited)
1948
- Who Killed Doc Robbin? as Judge
1947
- It Happened on Fifth Avenue as Al Farrow
- Honeymoon as Congressman Crenshaw
- The Corpse Came C.O.D. as Mitchell Edwards
- Blondie's Anniversary as Samuel Breckenbridge
- Blondie's Holiday as Samuel Breckenridge
1946
- Easy to Wed as Homer Henshaw
1945
- Crime, Inc. as Wayne Clark
- Leave Her to Heaven as Carlson (uncredited)
- Conflict as Dr. Grant
- Bedside Manner as Mr. Pope
- Guest Wife as House Detective
- Bring on the Girls as Ralph Neely
- Watchtower Over Tomorrow as Passenger with newspaper
- A Medal for Benny as Mayor of Pantera
1944
- Arsenic and Old Lace as Reverend Harper
- See Here, Private Hargrove as Uncle George
- The Impatient Years as Hotel Clerk
- And Now Tomorrow as Uncle Wallace
- Step Lively as Dr. Gibbs
- When the Lights Go On Again as Arnold Benson
1943
- All by Myself as J.D. Gibbons
- Dixie as Mr. Mason
- The Amazing Mrs. Holliday as Edgar Holliday
1942
- My Sister Eileen as Walter Sherwood
- Larceny, Inc. as Mr. Aspinwall
- Cairo as Mr. O.H.P. Boggs
- Orchestra Wives as Dr. Ward
- The Gay Sisters as Gilbert Wheeler
- Meet the Stewarts as Mr. Goodwin
- March On, America! as John Quincy Adams (archive footage) (uncredited)
1941
- Tobacco Road as George Payne
- Footsteps in the Dark as Wellington Carruthers
- The Man Who Came to Dinner as Ernest W. Stanley
- The Great Lie as Joshua Mason
- Nothing but the Truth as Mr. Bishop
- One Foot in Heaven as Clayton Potter
- Skylark as Frederick Vantine
- The Feminine Touch as Dean Hutchinson
- The Penalty as Judge
1940
- The Grapes of Wrath as Caretaker
- Edison, the Man as Snade
- It All Came True as Rene Salmon
- New Moon as Governor of New Orleans
- Castle on the Hudson as Dr. Ames - the Psychologist (uncredited)
- My Love Came Back as Dr. Kobbe
- Father Is A Prince as John W. Bower
- We Who Are Young as Jones
- The Bride Wore Crutches as E.J. Randall
1939
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Senator MacPherson
- On Borrowed Time as Mr. Pilbeam
- The Secret of Dr. Kildare as John Xerxes Archley
- Hell's Kitchen as Hiram Krispan
- The Monroe Doctrine as John Quincy Adams
- 6,000 Enemies as Warden Alan Parkhurst
1938
- Hollywood Hotel as B.L. Faulkin
- That Certain Age as Jeweler
- Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus as Henry Peck
- Youth Takes a Fling as Duke
- Women Are Like That as Mr. Snell
- The Headleys at Home as Ernest Headley
- Reformatory as Arnold Frayne
1937
- The Life of Emile Zola as Georges Clemenceau
- Music for Madame as District Attorney Ernest Robinson
- The Last Gangster as Warden
- Lady Behave! as Burton Williams
- First Lady as Ellsworth T. Banning
1936
- The Ex-Mrs. Bradford as John Summers, Luxury's Owner
- Next Time We Love as Michael Jennings
- Piccadilly Jim as Herbert Pett
- Her Master's Voice as Horace J. Twilling
- Parole! as Marty Crawford
- The Devil Is a Sissy as Paul Krumpp
- The Garden Murder Case as District Attorney Markham
- My American Wife as Robert Cantillon
- Moonlight Murder as Paul Adams
1935
- A Midsummer Night's Dream as Egeus
- Gold Diggers of 1935 as Louis Lamson
- Redheads on Parade as Minor Role (uncredited)
- It's in the Air as W. R. Gridley
- Broadway Gondolier as E.V. Richards, Radio Producer
- Straight from the Heart as Austin
- Traveling Saleslady as Rufus Twitchell
- A Dream Comes True as Egeus (archive footage) (uncredited)
- One More Spring as Henry Sheridan
- In Person as Thaddeus Parks
- Things You Never See on the Screen as Self
- Men Without Names as Andrew Webster, banker
- Seven Keys to Baldpate as Thomas Hayden
1934
- The Secret Bride as Willis Martin
- The Case of the Howling Dog as District Attorney Claude Drumm
- One Exciting Adventure as Fussli
- The Cat's-Paw as Silk Hot McGee
- We're Rich Again as Wilbur Page
- Twenty Million Sweethearts as Sharpe
- The Poor Rich as Tom Hopkins
- Gridiron Flash as Howard Smith
- The Show-Off as Mr. 'Pa'
- 365 Nights in Hollywood as J. Walter Delmar
1933
- Dinner at Eight as Ed Loomis
- Dancing Lady as Jasper Bradley Sr.
- Central Airport as Mr. Blaine
- Wild Boys of the Road as James Smith
- Saturday's Millions as Ezra Fowler
- I Love That Man as Dr. Crittenden - Dentist
- Heroes for Sale as George Gibson
- The Stranger's Return as Allen
- Tomorrow at Seven as Austin Winters
- Our Betters as Thornton Clay
- Convention City as J.B. Honeywell
- King for a Night as Rev. John Williams
- Lilly Turner as Dr. Hawley
- He Learned About Women as Appleby
- Shadows of Sing Sing as Joe Martel
1932
- Three on a Match as Mr. Gilmore (uncredited)
- 20,000 Years in Sing Sing as Tester of Convicts' IQs (uncredited)
- If I Had a Million as Prison Priest (uncredited)
- Big City Blues as Station Agent
- No Man of Her Own as Vane
- The Famous Ferguson Case as Martin Collins
- Week-End Marriage as Doctor
- A Successful Calamity as Connors
1931
- The Star Witness as Pa Leeds
1930
- Man to Man as Barber John Martin Bolton
1922
- The Man from M.A.R.S. as Arthur Wyman
1916
- The Misleading Lady as Stephen Weatherbee