Grant Mitchell

You would think stage and film veteran Grant Mitchell was born to play stern authoritarians; his father after all was General John Grant Mitchell. But Mitchell would actually be better known for his portrayals of harangued husbands, bemused dads and bilious executives in 30s and 40s films. Born June 17, 1874, in Columbus, Ohio, and a Yale post graduate at Harvard Law, Mitchell gave up his law practice to become an actor and made his stage debut at age 27. He appeared in many leads on Broadway in such plays as "It Pays to Advertise," "The Champion," "The Whole Town's Talking," and "The Baby Cyclone," the last of which was specially written for him by George M. Cohan. Mitchell's screen career officially got off the ground with the advent of sound, though he did show up in a couple of silents. The beefy, balding actor appeared primarily in "B" films, and actually had a rare lead in the totally forgotten Father Is a Prince (1940). From time to time, however, he enjoyed being a part of "A" quality classic films such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942), Laura (1944), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). Unmarried, he died at age 82 on May 1, 1957, in Los Angeles, California, USA  (cerebral thrombosis)