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
- The Corpse Came C.O.D. as Mitchell Edwards
- Blondie's Anniversary as Samuel Breckenbridge
- Honeymoon as Congressman Crenshaw
- Blondie's Holiday as Samuel Breckenridge
1946
- Easy to Wed as Homer Henshaw
1945
- Leave Her to Heaven as Carlson (uncredited)
- Guest Wife as House Detective
- A Medal for Benny as Mayor of Pantera
- Conflict as Dr. Grant
- Bring on the Girls as Ralph Neely
- Watchtower Over Tomorrow as Passenger with newspaper
- Crime, Inc. as Wayne Clark
- Bedside Manner as Mr. Pope
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
- When the Lights Go On Again as Arnold Benson
- The Impatient Years as Hotel Clerk
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
- Larceny, Inc. as Mr. Aspinwall
- The Gay Sisters as Gilbert Wheeler
- My Sister Eileen as Walter Sherwood
- Orchestra Wives as Dr. Ward
- Cairo as OHP Boggs
- March On, America! as John Quincy Adams (archive footage) (uncredited)
1941
- The Man Who Came to Dinner as Ernest W. Stanley
- Nothing but the Truth as Mr. Bishop
- Tobacco Road as George Payne
- One Foot in Heaven as Clayton Potter
- Footsteps in the Dark as Wellington Carruthers
- The Great Lie as Joshua Mason
- 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)
- Father Is A Prince as John W. Bower
- We Who Are Young as Jones
- The Bride Wore Crutches as E.J. Randall
- My Love Came Back as Dr. Kobbe
- It All Came True as Rene Salmon
- New Moon as Governor of New Orleans
1939
- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington as Senator MacPherson
- On Borrowed Time as Mr. Pilbeam
- The Secret of Dr. Kildare as John Archley
- Hell's Kitchen as Hiram Krispan
- 6,000 Enemies as Warden Alan Parkhurst
- The Monroe Doctrine as John Quincy Adams
1938
- Reformatory as Arnold Frayne
- Youth Takes a Fling as Duke
- Hollywood Hotel as B.L. Faulkin
- Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus as Henry Peck
- Women Are Like That as Mr. Snell
- The Headleys at Home as Ernest Headley
- That Certain Age as Jeweler
1937
- The Life of Emile Zola as Georges Clemenceau
- The Last Gangster as Warden
- 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
- Her Master's Voice as Horace J. Twilling
- Next Time We Love as Michael Jennings
- The Garden Murder Case as District Attorney Markham
- Piccadilly Jim as Herbert Pett
- My American Wife as Robert Cantillon
- Moonlight Murder as Paul Adams
1935
- A Midsummer Night's Dream as Egeus
- A Dream Comes True as Egeus (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Gold Diggers of 1935 as Louis Lamson
- In Person as Thaddeus Parks
- It's in the Air as W. R. Gridley
- Straight from the Heart as Austin
- Seven Keys to Baldpate as Thomas Hayden
- Broadway Gondolier as E.V. Richards, Radio Producer
- One More Spring as Henry Sheridan
- Things You Never See on the Screen as Self
- Traveling Saleslady as Rufus Twitchell
- Men Without Names as Andrew Webster, banker
- Redheads on Parade as Minor Role (uncredited)
1934
- The Case of the Howling Dog as District Attorney Claude Drumm
- The Cat's-Paw as Silk Hot McGee
- We're Rich Again as Wilbur Page
- The Show-Off as Mr. 'Pa'
- Twenty Million Sweethearts as Sharpe
- The Poor Rich as Tom Hopkins
- 365 Nights in Hollywood as J. Walter Delmar
- The Secret Bride as Willis Martin
- Gridiron Flash as Howard Smith
- One Exciting Adventure as Fussli
1933
- Dinner at Eight as Ed Loomis
- Dancing Lady as Jasper Bradley Sr.
- Wild Boys of the Road as James Smith
- Convention City as J.B. Honeywell
- King for a Night as Rev. John Williams
- Central Airport as Mr. Blaine
- Heroes for Sale as George Gibson
- The Stranger's Return as Allen
- He Learned About Women as Appleby
- I Love That Man as Dr. Crittenden - Dentist
- Shadows of Sing Sing as Joe Martel
- Lilly Turner as Dr. Hawley
- Saturday's Millions as Ezra Fowler
- Tomorrow at Seven as Austin Winters
- Our Betters as Thornton Clay
1932
- If I Had a Million as Prison Priest (uncredited)
- Three on a Match as Mr. Gilmore (uncredited)
- 20,000 Years in Sing Sing as Tester of Convicts' IQs (uncredited)
- The Famous Ferguson Case as Martin Collins
- No Man of Her Own as Vane
- Big City Blues as Station Agent
- 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