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
- Blondie's Anniversary as Samuel Breckenbridge
- Honeymoon as Congressman Crenshaw
- The Corpse Came C.O.D. as Mitchell Edwards
1946
- Easy to Wed as Homer Henshaw
1945
- Leave Her to Heaven as Carlson (uncredited)
- Guest Wife as House Detective
- Conflict as Dr. Grant
- Crime, Inc. as Wayne Clark
- Bring on the Girls as Ralph Neely
- Bedside Manner as Mr. Pope
- A Medal for Benny as Mayor of Pantera
- Watchtower Over Tomorrow as Passenger with newspaper
1944
- Arsenic and Old Lace as Reverend Harper
- Step Lively as Dr. Gibbs
- See Here, Private Hargrove as Uncle George
- And Now Tomorrow as Uncle Wallace
- The Impatient Years as Hotel Clerk
- When the Lights Go On Again as Arnold Benson
1943
- Dixie as Mr. Mason
- All by Myself as J.D. Gibbons
- The Amazing Mrs. Holliday as Edgar Holliday
1942
- The Gay Sisters as Gilbert Wheeler
- My Sister Eileen as Walter Sherwood
- Meet the Stewarts as Mr. Goodwin
- Orchestra Wives as Dr. Ward
- March On, America! as John Quincy Adams (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Larceny, Inc. as Mr. Aspinwall
- Cairo as Mr. O.H.P. Boggs
1941
- The Great Lie as Joshua Mason
- The Man Who Came to Dinner as Ernest W. Stanley
- Tobacco Road as George Payne
- Footsteps in the Dark as Wellington Carruthers
- Nothing but the Truth as Mr. Bishop
- One Foot in Heaven as Clayton Potter
- 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
- Castle on the Hudson as Dr. Ames - the Psychologist (uncredited)
- We Who Are Young as Jones
- The Bride Wore Crutches as E.J. Randall
- It All Came True as Rene Salmon
- Father Is A Prince as John W. Bower
- New Moon as Governor of New Orleans
- My Love Came Back as Dr. Kobbe
1939
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Senator MacPherson
- On Borrowed Time as Mr. Pilbeam
- Hell's Kitchen as Hiram Krispan
- The Secret of Dr. Kildare as John Archley
- The Monroe Doctrine as John Quincy Adams
- 6,000 Enemies as Warden Alan Parkhurst
1938
- Reformatory as Arnold Frayne
- Hollywood Hotel as B.L. Faulkin
- Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus as Henry Peck
- The Headleys at Home as Ernest Headley
- That Certain Age as Jeweler
- Youth Takes a Fling as Duke
- Women Are Like That as Mr. Snell
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
- Piccadilly Jim as Herbert Pett
- Next Time We Love as Michael Jennings
- My American Wife as Robert Cantillon
- Her Master's Voice as Horace J. Twilling
- The Devil Is a Sissy as Paul Krumpp
- The Garden Murder Case as District Attorney Markham
- Moonlight Murder as Paul Adams
1935
- In Person as Thaddeus Parks
- A Midsummer Night's Dream as Egeus
- It's in the Air as W. R. Gridley
- Redheads on Parade as Minor Role (uncredited)
- A Dream Comes True as Egeus (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Gold Diggers of 1935 as Louis Lamson
- Broadway Gondolier as E.V. Richards, Radio Producer
- Seven Keys to Baldpate as Thomas Hayden
- Things You Never See on the Screen as Self
- Traveling Saleslady as Rufus Twitchell
- One More Spring as Henry Sheridan
- Men Without Names as Andrew Webster, banker
- Straight from the Heart as Austin
1934
- The Cat's-Paw as Silk Hot McGee
- The Case of the Howling Dog as District Attorney Claude Drumm
- The Poor Rich as Tom Hopkins
- Gridiron Flash as Howard Smith
- We're Rich Again as Wilbur Page
- The Show-Off as Mr. 'Pa'
- Twenty Million Sweethearts as Sharpe
- One Exciting Adventure as Fussli
- 365 Nights in Hollywood as J. Walter Delmar
- The Secret Bride as Willis Martin
1933
- Central Airport as Mr. Blaine
- Convention City as J.B. Honeywell
- Dinner at Eight as Ed Loomis
- Heroes for Sale as George Gibson
- Dancing Lady as Jasper Bradley Sr.
- Wild Boys of the Road as James Smith
- Our Betters as Thornton Clay
- King for a Night as Rev. John Williams
- The Stranger's Return as Allen
- Shadows of Sing Sing as Joe Martel
- Lilly Turner as Dr. Hawley
- He Learned About Women as Appleby
- Tomorrow at Seven as Austin Winters
- I Love That Man as Dr. Crittenden - Dentist
- Saturday's Millions as Ezra Fowler
1932
- Three on a Match as Mr. Gilmore (uncredited)
- No Man of Her Own as Vane
- 20,000 Years in Sing Sing as Tester of Convicts' IQs (uncredited)
- If I Had a Million as Prison Priest (uncredited)
- The Famous Ferguson Case as Martin Collins
- Big City Blues as Station Agent
- A Successful Calamity as Connors
- 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