Sarah Padden

Born: 1881-10-15 in Sunderland, England, UK

Died: 1967-12-04

Known For: Acting

Biography

Sarah Padden was a character actress in theater and vaudeville from Chicago, Illinois. She performed on stage in the early 20th century. She is noted for her expressive voice and for her psychological studies of the characters she portrayed. Her finest single-act performance was in The Clod, a stage production in which she played an uneducated woman who lived on a farm during the American Civil War. Padden was a featured player on the Orpheum Circuit, Inc.. She had a role in His Grace de Grammont, a romantic comedy by Clyde Fitch which came to the Park Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts in September 1905. The production starred Skinner and was based on the life of a chevalier in the court of Charles II. Padden appeared again with Skinner in a four-act play produced by Charles Frohman, The Honor of the Family, by Emile Fabre, which was presented in New Rochelle, New York in September 1907. Another of her theatrical parts was in Hell-Bent Fer Heaven, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Hatcher Hughes. It was performed at the Wilkes Orange Grove Theater (Majestic Theater), 845 South Broadway (Los Angeles), in November 1925. She was also an active screen actress from 1926 to 1958, appearing in 178 films and TV shows. In 1938, she played Ma Thayer in MGM's Rich Man Poor Girl, directed by Reinhold Schunzel and starring Robert Young, Ruth Hussey, and Lana Turner. Bill Harrison (Robert Young) a wealthy young businessman moves in with secretary girlfriend Joan Thayer's (Ruth Hussey) eccentric family to convince her they can make their marriage work. In 1941, she played wealthy spinster Aunt Cassandra ("Cassie") Hildegarde Denham in Murder by Invitation, directed by Phil Rosen and starring Wallace Ford and Marian Marsh. In this "closed room" murder comedy, after they unsuccessfully attempt to have her declared legally insane to gain control of her fortune, her nephews and nieces are invited to a week's visit at her mansion where they are murdered one by one.

Filmography

1958

Screaming Mimi as Landlady
Girl with an Itch as Cookie

1956

The Kettles in the Ozarks as Mrs. Tinware

1955

Prince of Players as Mary Todd Lincoln (uncredited)

1954

Public Defender as Eula Mae Carter

1953

The Life Of Riley as Martha Riley
Letter to Loretta as Frau Lang

1952

Adventures of Superman as Mrs. Carmody
The Abbott and Costello Show as Old Lady on Street
Big Jim McLain as Mrs. Lexiter

1951

Dragnet
Utah Wagon Train as Sarah Wendover

1950

Again Pioneers as Ma Ashby
The Cisco Kid as Mrs. Smiley
The Missourians as Mother Kovacs
Gunslingers as Rawhide Rosie Rawlins
House by the River as Mrs. Beach - Stephen's elderly cook
A Life of Her Own as Betsy Ross Hotel Overseer (uncredited)

1949

The Lone Ranger as Grandma Williams
Homicide as Mrs. Webb
Range Justice as Ma Curtis

1948

Frontier Revenge as Widow Owens
The Return of the Whistler as Mrs. Hulskamp
Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad as Mom Palooka
The Dude Goes West as Mrs. Hallihan

1947

Trail Street as Mrs. Ferguson (uncredited)
Ramrod as Mrs. Parks
Possessed as Mrs. Norris, the Caretaker’s Wife (uncredited)
Love and Learn as Mrs. Grant (uncredited)
Joe Palooka in the Knockout as Mom Palooka

1946

Wild West as Carrie Bannister
Angel on My Shoulder as Agatha (uncredited)
So Goes My Love as Bridget
That Brennan Girl as Mrs. Graves, the Nice Landlady
Joe Palooka, Champ as Mom Palooka
My Dog Shep as Carrie Hodgkins
Idea Girl as Old Lady
Gentleman Joe Palooka as Mom Palooka

1945

Identity Unknown as Mrs. Anderson
Wildfire as Aunt Agatha
Dakota as Mrs. Plummer
Riders of the Dawn as Melinda Pringle
The Master Key as Aggie
Song of Old Wyoming as Ma Conway
Apology for Murder as Maggie
Marshal of Laredo as Mrs. Randall

1944

Summer Storm as Beggar Woman (uncredited)
Ghost Guns as Aunt Sally
San Diego I Love You as Mrs. Gulliver (uncredited)
Girl Rush as Mrs. Emma Mason
Casanova Brown as Mrs. Smith
Range Law as Boots Annie
Trail to Gunsight as Grandma Wagner
The Navy Way as Mrs. Margaret Gimble (uncredited)

1943

Hangmen Also Die! as Mrs. Georgia Dvorak
Assignment in Brittany as Albertine
Family Troubles as Mrs. Jones
So This Is Washington as Aunt Charity Speers

1942

The Pride of the Yankees as Mrs. Roberts (uncredited)
Lady in a Jam as Miner’s Wife (uncredited)
This Gun for Hire as Mrs. Mason (uncredited)
Heart of the Rio Grande as 'Skipper' Forbes
Private Snuffy Smith as Lowizie Smith
Riders of the West as Ma Turner
Wild Bill Hickok Rides as Mrs. Kimball
The Mad Monster as Grandmother
The Power of God as Esther Worne
Law and Order as Mary Todd

1941

A Woman's Face as Police Matron
Murder by Invitation as Cassandra Hildegard Denham
The Man Who Lost Himself as Maid
In Old Colorado as Ma Harriet Woods
The Corsican Brothers as Nurse
Reg'lar Fellers as Hetty Carter
City of Missing Girls as Mrs. Randolph

1940

Chad Hanna as Mrs. Todd
Lone Star Raiders as Lydia 'Granny' Phelps
Forgotten Girls as Miss Donaldson
Son of the Navy as Mrs. Baker - Landlady

1939

I Stole a Million as Lady in Post Office (uncredited)
Let Freedom Ring as 'Ma' Logan
Off the Record as Mrs. Fallon (uncredited)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as Woman Wanting Needle Threaded (uncredited)
The Zero Hour as Sister Theodosia
Should a Girl Marry? as Mrs. Wilson

1938

Romance of the Limberlost as Sarah
Rich Man, Poor Girl as Ma
Woman Against Woman as Dora
Little Tough Guys in Society as Victim
Women in Prison as Martha Wilson
Little Orphan Annie as Mrs. Nora Moriarty

1937

Youth on Parole as Mrs. Blair
Exiled to Shanghai as Aunt Jane

1935

Anna Karenina as Governess
Stranded as Workman's Wife (uncredited)
Mad Love as Crippled Girl's Mother (Uncredited)
The Hoosier Schoolmaster as Sarah
A Dog of Flanders as Frau Keller

1934

Tomorrow's Children
The Defense Rests as Mrs. Evans
He Was Her Man as Mrs. Gardella
Man of Two Worlds as Olago
As the Earth Turns as Mrs. Janowski
David Harum as Widow

1933

Ann Vickers as Lil
Pilgrimage
Doctor Bull as Mary the Canning Cook
Face in the Sky as Ma Brown
The Power and the Glory as Henry's Wife
The Sin of Nora Moran as Mrs. Watts
The Important Witness as Deaf Woman

1932

Kongo as Nun (uncredited)
Young America as Mrs. Mary Taylor
Cross-Examination as Mary Stevens
Red-Headed Woman as Mary, Legendre Maid (uncredited)
Rasputin and the Empress as Duna the Landlady (uncredited)
Grand Hotel as Chambermaid in Room 174 (uncredited)
Wild Girl as Lize
Tess of the Storm Country as Old Martha
Blondie of the Follies as Ma McClune
Women Won't Tell as Aggie Specks
The Midnight Lady as Nita St. George
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm as Mrs Cobb

1931

Mata Hari as Sister Teresa (uncredited)
Sob Sister as Ma Stevens
Bad Girl as Mrs. Gardner
The Yellow Ticket as Mother Kalish
The Great Meadow as Mistress Molly Hall

1930

Hide-Out as Mrs. Dorgan
Today as Emma Warner
Billy the Kid as Homesteader Mrs. Foster (uncredited)
Trifles as Mrs. Wright

1929

The Sophomore as Mrs. Collins
Wonder of Women as Anna

1928

Companionate Marriage as Mrs. Williams

1927

The Bugle Call as Luke's Wife
The Woman Who Did Not Care as Mrs. Carroll

1926

Obey the Law as The Mother