Grady Sutton
Grady Sutton | |
---|---|
![]() Florence Bates and Grady Sutton in My Dear Secretary (1949) | |
Born |
Grady Harwell Sutton April 5, 1906 Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S. |
Died |
September 17, 1995 89) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1925-1979 |
Spouse(s) | never married |
Grady Harwell Sutton (April 5, 1906 – September 17, 1995) was an American film and television actor from the 1920s to the 1970s.
Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sutton was raised in Florida where he attended St. Petersburg High School. He began his career during the silent film era and made the transition to sound films with the college themed shorts The Boy Friends.[1] He moved on to countless character roles, where he frequently played dimwitted country boys. His most well-known roles were as Frank Dowling, Katharine Hepburn's dancing partner, in Alice Adams (1935) and as a foil to W.C. Fields in three films, Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935), You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939), and The Bank Dick (1940).
Film historian William J. Mann characterizes Sutton as a typical "Hollywood Sissy," that is as a gay actor who ordinarily portrayed an effeminate character for comedic effect.[2]
He continued to work throughout the 1950s and 1960s, finally retiring from acting in 1979. The strength of his association with Fields was such that it was mentioned in the commentary for My Fair Lady. Sutton has a non-speaking role in some of the formal-dress scenes, and subtly performs some comic shtick. The commentator refers to him as "an old W. C. Fields actor".
Sutton died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 89.[3]
Selected filmography
Film | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
1925 | The Freshman | Student who goes to dean | Uncredited Alternative title: College Days |
1926 | Brown of Harvard | One of the Dickeys | Uncredited |
1930 | Hit the Deck | ||
1932 | Hot Saturday | Archie | |
1932 | Pack Up Your Troubles | Eddie | |
1932 | Movie Crazy | Man afraid of mice | Uncredited |
1933 | College Humor | Timid freshman | Uncredited |
1933 | Only Yesterday | Charlie Smith, Party Guest | Uncredited |
1934 | Bachelor Bait | Don Beldon | |
1935 | Gridiron Flash | Pudge Harrison | |
1935 | Man on the Flying Trapeze | Claude Neselrode | Alternative title: The Memory Expert |
1936 | Palm Springs | Bud | |
1936 | My Man Godfrey | Charlie Van Rumple | Uncredited |
1937 | Waikiki Wedding | Everett Todhunter | |
1937 | Stage Door | Butch | |
1938 | Having Wonderful Time | Gus | Alternative title: Having a Wonderful Time |
1938 | Three Loves Has Nancy | George | |
1938 | Vivacious Lady | Culpepper | |
1939 | The Angels Wash Their Faces | Gildersleeve (Mayor's secretary) | Alternative title: Angels Wash Their Faces |
1939 | You Can't Cheat an Honest Man | uncredited | |
1940 | The Bank Dick | Og Oggleby, Bank Teller | |
1940 | Torrid Zone | Sam, Steve's Secretary | |
1941 | She Knew All the Answers | Ogleby | |
1942 | The Affairs of Martha | Justin I. Peacock, Jr | |
1943 | A Lady Takes a Chance | Malcolm Scott | Alternative title: The Cowboy and the Girl |
1943 | What a Woman | Mr. Clark | Alternative title: The Beautiful Cheat |
1944 | The Great Moment | Homer Quimby | |
1945 | Captain Eddie | Lester Thomas | |
1945 | Anchors Aweigh | Bertram Kraler - Susan's beau | |
1946 | Dragonwyck | Astor House clerk | Uncredited |
1946 | Nobody Lives Forever | Horace | Uncredited |
1948 | Romance on the High Seas | Ship Radio operator | Uncredited Alternative title: It's Magic |
1948 | Last of the Wild Horses | Curly, the cook | |
1954 | A Star Is Born | Artie Carver | Uncredited |
1954 | White Christmas | Uncredited | |
1962 | The Chapman Report | Simon | Uncredited |
1963 | Come Blow Your Horn | Clothing Store Manager | Uncredited |
1964 | My Fair Lady | Ascot Extra/Guest at Ball | Uncredited |
1965 | Tickle Me | Mr. Dabney | |
1966 | Paradise, Hawaiian Style | Mr. Cubberson | |
1968 | I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! | Funeral Director | Alternative title: Kiss My Butterfly |
1970 | Myra Breckinridge | Kid Barlow | |
1971 | Support Your Local Gunfighter | Storekeeper | |
1979 | Rock 'n' Roll High School | School Board President | |
Television | |||
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1954 | I Married Joan | Newsroom Walk Through | 1 episode |
1960 | The Ann Sothern Show | Swann | 2 episodes |
Shirley Temple's Storybook | Simon | 1 episode | |
1960-1961 | Lawman | Ben Toomey | 8 episodes |
1964 | Mickey | Mr. Freebish | 1 episode |
1965 | Burke's Law | Hubie | 1 episode |
Petticoat Junction | Chef | 1 episode | |
1967 | Batman | Irving Cash | 1 episode |
1972 | Hawaii Five-O | Minister | 1 episode |
1974 | The Odd Couple | Pops Belkin | 1 episode |
References
- ↑ Gifford, Denis (1995-09-26). "Obituary: Grady Sutton". The Independent (London). Retrieved 2009-01-29.
- ↑ William J. Mann, "Behind the screen : how gays and lesbians shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969," New York: Penguin Books, 2002.
- ↑ "Grady Sutton, 89, a Comic Foil to Fields, Hepburn and Lombard". The New York Times. 1992-10-28. Retrieved 2009-01-29.