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.
Known For
The Grapes of Wrath
(1940)
Caretaker
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
(1939)
Senator MacPherson
Arsenic and Old Lace
(1944)
Reverend Harper
Leave Her to Heaven
(1945)
Carlson (uncredited)
It Happened on Fifth Avenue
(1947)
Al Farrow
Conflict
(1945)
Dr. Grant
Dinner at Eight
(1933)
Ed Loomis
The Life of Emile Zola
(1937)
Georges Clemenceau
The Great Lie
(1941)
Joshua Mason
Three on a Match
(1932)
Mr. Gilmore (uncredited)
The Man Who Came to Dinner
(1941)
Ernest W. Stanley
On Borrowed Time
(1939)
Mr. Pilbeam
A Midsummer Night's Dream
(1935)
Egeus
See Here, Private Hargrove
(1944)
Uncle George
The Last Gangster
(1937)
Warden
Full Filmography
Acting
The Misleading Lady
(1916)
Stephen Weatherbee
The Man from M.A.R.S.
(1922)
Arthur Wyman
Man to Man
(1930)
Barber John Martin Bolton
The Star Witness
(1931)
Pa Leeds
Big City Blues
(1932)
Station Agent
The Famous Ferguson Case
(1932)
Martin Collins
If I Had a Million
(1932)
Prison Priest (uncredited)
A Successful Calamity
(1932)
Connors
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
(1932)
Tester of Convicts' IQs (uncredited)
No Man of Her Own
(1932)
Charlie Vane
Week-End Marriage
(1932)
Doctor
Three on a Match
(1932)
Mr. Gilmore (uncredited)
Central Airport
(1933)
Mr. Blaine
Convention City
(1933)
J.B. Honeywell
He Learned About Women
(1933)
Appleby
Dinner at Eight
(1933)
Ed Loomis
King for a Night
(1933)
Rev. John Williams
I Love That Man
(1933)
Dr. Crittenden - Dentist
Our Betters
(1933)
Thornton Clay
Dancing Lady
(1933)
Jasper Bradley Sr.
Lilly Turner
(1933)
Dr. Hawley
Heroes for Sale
(1933)
George Gibson
Wild Boys of the Road
(1933)
James Smith
The Stranger's Return
(1933)
Allen
Tomorrow at Seven
(1933)
Austin Winters
Saturday's Millions
(1933)
Ezra Fowler
The Show-Off
(1934)
Mr. 'Pa'
The Case of the Howling Dog
(1934)
District Attorney Claude Drumm
Twenty Million Sweethearts
(1934)
Sharpe
The Secret Bride
(1934)
Willis Martin
The Cat's-Paw
(1934)
Silk Hot McGee
We're Rich Again
(1934)
Wilbur Page
One Exciting Adventure
(1934)
Fussli
The Poor Rich
(1934)
Tom Hopkins
365 Nights in Hollywood
(1934)
J. Walter Delmar
Gridiron Flash
(1934)
Howard Smith
Men Without Names
(1935)
Andrew Webster
A Midsummer Night's Dream
(1935)
Egeus
One More Spring
(1935)
Henry Sheridan
Redheads on Parade
(1935)
Minor Role (uncredited)
Straight from the Heart
(1935)
Austin
Traveling Saleslady
(1935)
Rufus Twitchell
Seven Keys to Baldpate
(1935)
Thomas Hayden
It's in the Air
(1935)
W. R. Gridley
Things You Never See on the Screen
(1935)
Self
A Dream Comes True
(1935)
Egeus (archive footage) (uncredited)
In Person
(1935)
Judge Thaddeus Parks
Gold Diggers of 1935
(1935)
Louis Lamson
Broadway Gondolier
(1935)
E.V. Richards, Radio Producer
Next Time We Love
(1936)
Michael Jennings
Her Master's Voice
(1936)
Horace J. Twilling
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
(1936)
John Summers, Luxury's Owner
Parole!
(1936)
Marty Crawford
The Garden Murder Case
(1936)
District Attorney Markham
The Devil is a Sissy
(1936)
Paul Krumpp
Moonlight Murder
(1936)
Paul Adams
Piccadilly Jim
(1936)
Herbert Pett
My American Wife
(1936)
Robert Cantillon
First Lady
(1937)
Ellsworth T. Banning
The Last Gangster
(1937)
Warden
Music for Madame
(1937)
District Attorney Ernest Robinson
The Life of Emile Zola
(1937)
Georges Clemenceau
Lady Behave!
(1937)
Burton Williams
Youth Takes a Fling
(1938)
Duke
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus
(1938)
Henry Peck
That Certain Age
(1938)
Jeweler
Women Are Like That
(1938)
Mr. Snell
Hollywood Hotel
(1938)
B.L. Faulkin
Reformatory
(1938)
Arnold Frayne
The Headleys at Home
(1938)
Ernest Headley
Hell's Kitchen
(1939)
Hiram Krispan
The Monroe Doctrine
(1939)
John Quincy Adams
On Borrowed Time
(1939)
Mr. Pilbeam
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
(1939)
John Xerxes Archley
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
(1939)
Senator MacPherson
6,000 Enemies
(1939)
Warden Alan Parkhurst
My Love Came Back
(1940)
Dr. Kobbe
Father Is A Prince
(1940)
John W. Bower
Edison, the Man
(1940)
Snade
We Who Are Young
(1940)
Jones
It All Came True
(1940)
Rene Salmon
New Moon
(1940)
Governor of New Orleans
Castle on the Hudson
(1940)
Dr. Ames - the Psychologist (uncredited)
The Grapes of Wrath
(1940)
Caretaker
The Penalty
(1941)
Judge
The Feminine Touch
(1941)
Dean Hutchinson
Skylark
(1941)
Frederick Vantine
One Foot in Heaven
(1941)
Clayton Potter
Nothing But the Truth
(1941)
Mr. Bishop
Tobacco Road
(1941)
George Payne
Footsteps in the Dark
(1941)
Wellington Carruthers
The Man Who Came to Dinner
(1941)
Ernest W. Stanley
The Great Lie
(1941)
Joshua Mason
Orchestra Wives
(1942)
Dr. Ward
Meet the Stewarts
(1942)
Mr. Goodwin
Cairo
(1942)
Mr. O.H.P. Boggs
My Sister Eileen
(1942)
Walter Sherwood
Larceny, Inc.
(1942)
Mr. Aspinwall
March On, America!
(1942)
John Quincy Adams (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Gay Sisters
(1942)
Gilbert Wheeler
Dixie
(1943)
Mr. Mason
All by Myself
(1943)
J.D. Gibbons
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
(1943)
Edgar Holliday
When the Lights Go On Again
(1944)
Arnold Benson
The Impatient Years
(1944)
Hotel Clerk
And Now Tomorrow
(1944)
Uncle Wallace
See Here, Private Hargrove
(1944)
Uncle George
Arsenic and Old Lace
(1944)
Reverend Harper
Step Lively
(1944)
Dr. Gibbs
Leave Her to Heaven
(1945)
Carlson (uncredited)
Bring on the Girls
(1945)
Ralph Neely
Guest Wife
(1945)
House Detective
A Medal for Benny
(1945)
Mayor of Pantera
Her Favorite Patient
(1945)
Mr. Pope
Crime, Inc.
(1945)
Wayne Clark
Conflict
(1945)
Dr. Grant
Watchtower Over Tomorrow
(1945)
Passenger with newspaper
Easy to Wed
(1946)
Homer Henshaw
Honeymoon
(1947)
Congressman Crenshaw
The Corpse Came C.O.D.
(1947)
Mitchell Edwards
It Happened on Fifth Avenue
(1947)
Al Farrow
Blondie's Holiday
(1947)
Samuel Breckenridge
Blondie's Anniversary
(1947)
Samuel Breckenbridge
Who Killed Doc Robbin?
(1948)
Judge
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
(1961)
'Dinner at Eight' (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Big Parade of Comedy
(1964)
Ed Loomis in 'Dinner at Eight' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
(1975)
Self (archive footage)