Grant Mitchell

John Grant Mitchell Jr. (June 17, 1874 – May 1, 1957) was an American actor. He appeared on Broadway from 1902 to 1939 and appeared in more than 125 films between 1930 and 1948.

Early years Mitchell was born John Grant Mitchell Jr.

Like his father, he became an attorney, graduating from the Harvard Law School. However, by his mid-to-late 20s, he tired of his legal practice and turned a long term dream into a reality by becoming an actor on Broadway. He played lead roles in plays such as It Pays to Advertise, The Whole Town's Talking, The Champion, and The Baby Cyclone.

Mitchell was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter).

Stage Mitchell's Broadway credits include Tide Rising (1936), All the King's Men (1928), One of the Family (1925), Spooks (1925), The Habitual Husband (1924), The Whole Town's Talking (1923), The School for Scandal (1923), Kempy (1921), The Hero (1920), The Champion (1920), and A Tailor-Made Man (1917).

Film In film, Mitchell initially made an appearance in 1916 and one or two other silents amidst his theater work, but Mitchell's screen career really took off with the advent of sound. His first starring role was in the film Man to Man (1930) from director Allan Dwan. Grant Michell often played the father of the heroine, businessmen, bank clerks or school principals. He usually played supporting characters, but also had a rare lead role in the B film comedy Father Is a Prince (1940).

He made many notable appearances in high-profile films such as Dinner At Eight (1933 David O. Selznick film), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935, as Egeus), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, as a Washington senator), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942, as the Stanley family's father), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944, as Cary Grant's father-in-law Reverend Harper). He was also notable as Georges Clemenceau in the Oscar-winning film biography The Life of Emile Zola (1937). In John Ford's film classic The Grapes of Wrath (1940), based on John Steinbeck's book, Mitchell played the friendly caretaker of a migrant campground.

Personal life and death Grant Mitchell retired from the film business in 1948 and died a bachelor on May 1, 1957. He was buried next to his father, mother, and stepmother at Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.

Complete filmography

The Misleading Lady (1916) as Stephen Weatherbee Radio-Mania (1922) as Arthur Wyman Man to Man (1930) as John Martin Bolton - Barber The Star Witness (1931) as Pa Leeds The Famous Ferguson Case (1932) as Martin Collins Week-End Marriage (1932) as Doctor Big City Blues (1932) as Station Agent A Successful Calamity (1932) as Conners, Wilton's Butler Three on a Match (1932) as Mr. Gilmore If I Had a Million (1932) as Prison Priest (uncredited) No Man of Her Own (1932) as Charlie Vane 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932) as Tester of Convicts' IQ (uncredited) Our Betters (1933) as Thorton Clay He Learned About Women (1933) as Appleby Central Airport (1933) as Mr. Blaine Lilly Turner (1933) as Dr. Hawley Tomorrow at Seven (1933) as Austin Winters Heroes for Sale (1933) as George Gibson I Love That Man (1933) as Dr. Crittenden - Dentist The Stranger's Return (1933) as Allen Redfield Dinner at Eight (1933) as Ed Loomis Wild Boys of the Road (1933) as Mr. James Smith Saturday's Millions (1933) as Ezra Fowler Dancing Lady (1933) as Jasper Bradley, Sr. Shadows of Sing Sing (1933) as Joe Martel King for a Night (1933) as Rev. John Williams Convention City (1933) as J. B. Honeywell The Poor Rich (1934) as Tom Hopkins The Show-Off (1934) as Mr. "Pa" Twenty Million Sweethearts (1934) as Chester A. Sharpe We're Rich Again (1934) as Wilbur Page The Cat's-Paw (1934) as Silk Hat McGee One Exciting Adventure (1934) as Fussli The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) as Claude Drumm Gridiron Flash (1934) as Howard Smith 365 Nights in Hollywood (1934) as J. Walter Delmar The Secret Bride (1934) as Willis Martin One More Spring (1935) as Mr. Sheridan Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) as Louis Lamson Straight from the Heart (1935) as Austin Traveling Saleslady (1935) as Rufus Twitchell Men Without Names (1935) as Andrew Webster Broadway Gondolier (1935) as E. V. Richards, Radio Producer Redheads on Parade (1935) (uncredited) A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) as Egeus It's in the Air (1935) as W. R. Gridley In Person (1935) as Judge Thaddeus Parks Seven Keys to Baldpate (1935) as Thomas Hayden The Garden Murder Case (1936) as Inspector Markham Her Master's Voice (1936) as Horace J. Twilling Next Time We Love (1936) as Michael Jennings Moonlight Murder (1936) as Dr. Adams The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936) as John Sumers Parole! (1936) as Marty Crawford My American Wife (1936) as Robert Cantillon Piccadilly Jim (1936) as Herbert Pitt The Devil Is a Sissy (1936) as Paul Krumpp The Life of Emile Zola (1937) as Georges Clemenceau Music for Madame (1937) as District Attorney Ernest Robinson The Last Gangster (1937) as Warden First Lady (1937) as Ellsworth T. Banning Hollywood Hotel (1937) as B. L. Baulkin Lady Behave! (1937) as Burton Williams Women Are Like That (1938) as Mr. Snell Reformatory (1938) as Arnold Frayne Youth Takes a Fling (1938) as Duke That Certain Age (1938) as Jeweler The Headleys at Home (1938) as Ernest Headley Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus (1938) as Henry Peck Juarez (1939) as Mr. Harris (scenes deleted) 6,000 Enemies (1939) as Warden Parkhurst Hell's Kitchen (1939) as Krispin On Borrowed Time (1939) as Mr. Pilbeam The Monroe Doctrine (1939, Short) as John Quincy Adams Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) as Senator MacPherson The Secret of Dr. Kildare (1939) as John Xerxes Archley The Grapes of Wrath (1940) as Caretaker of trailer park Castle on the Hudson (1940) as Dr. Ames (uncredited) It All Came True (1940) as Mr. Rene Salmon Edison, the Man (1940) as Snade New Moon (1940) as Governor of New Orleans My Love Came Back (1940) as Dr. Knobbe We Who Are Young (1940) as Jones The Bride Wore Crutches (1941) as E.J. Randall Father Is a Prince (1940) as John Bower Tobacco Road (1941) as George Payne Footsteps in the Dark (1941) as Wellington Carruthers The Penalty (1941) as Judge The Great Lie (1941) as Joshua Mason The Feminine Touch (1941) as Dean Hutchinson One Foot in Heaven (1941) as Clayton Potter Nothing But the Truth (1941) as Mr. Bishop Skylark (1941) as Frederick Vantine The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) as Ernest W. Stanley Larceny, Inc. (1942) as Mr. Aspinwall Meet the Stewarts (1942) as Mr. Pierce Goodwin The Gay Sisters (1942) as Gilbert Wheeler Cairo (1942) as O.H.P. Boggs Orchestra Wives (1942) as Dr. Ward My Sister Eileen (1942) as Walter Sherwood The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943) as Edgar Holiday All by Myself (1943) as J.D. Gibbons Dixie (1943) as Mr. Mason See Here, Private Hargrove (1944) as Uncle George Step Lively (1944) as Dr. Gibbs Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) as Reverend Harper The Impatient Years (1944) as Hotel Clerk Laura (1944) (scenes cut) When the Lights Go On Again (1944) as Mr. Arnold Benson And Now Tomorrow (1944) as Uncle Wallace Bring on the Girls (1945) as Uncle Ralph Crime, Inc. (1945) as Wayne Clark A Medal for Benny (1945) as Mayor of Pantera Wonder Man (1945) as Mr. Wagonseller (uncredited) Bedside Manner (1945) as Mr. Pope Conflict (1945) as Dr. Grant Guest Wife (1945) as House Detective Leave Her to Heaven (1945) as Carlson (uncredited) Colonel Effingham's Raid (1946) as Maj. Anthony T. Hickock (uncredited) Cinderella Jones (1946) (scenes deleted) Easy to Wed (1946) as Homer Henshaw It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947) as Farrow Blondie's Holiday (1947) as Samuel Breckenridge Honeymoon (1947) as Congressman Crenshaw The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947) as Mitchell Edwards Blondie's Anniversary (1947) as Samuel Breckenridge Who Killed Doc Robbin (1948) as Judge (final film role)