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