Grady Harwell Sutton was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 film and television actor from the 1920s to the 1970s.

Biography

Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...

, Sutton was raised in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 where he attended St. Petersburg High School

St. Petersburg High School

St. Petersburg High School, founded in 1898, is a secondary school located in St. Petersburg, Florida. The school's current building, a historic landmark, was built in 1926 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The school was billed as the nation's first million dollar...

. He began his career during the silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 era and made the transition to sound film

Sound film

A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...

s with the college themed serials The Boy Friends. 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

Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...

's dancing partner, in Alice Adams

Alice Adams (film)

Alice Adams, also known as Booth Tarkington's Alice Adams, is a 1935 romantic film made by RKO. It was directed by George Stevens and produced by Pandro S. Berman from a screenplay by Dorothy Yost, Mortimer Offner adapted by Jane Murfin from the novel, Alice Adams, by Booth Tarkington...

(1935) and as a foil to W.C. Fields in several films, including Og Oggilby, Fields' daughter's fiancé, in The Bank Dick

The Bank Dick

The Bank Dick is a 1940 comedy film. W. C. Fields plays a character named Egbert Sousé who trips a bank robber and ends up a security guard as a result...

(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 .

Sutton 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

My Fair Lady (film)

My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...

. 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".

On September 17, 1995, Sutton died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital

Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital

The Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital is a retirement community, with individual cottages, and a fully licensed, acute-care hospital, located at 23388 Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills, California...

 in Woodland Hill, California

Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California

Woodland Hills is a district in the city of Los Angeles, California.Woodland Hills is located in the southwestern area of the San Fernando Valley, east of Calabasas and west of Tarzana, with Warner Center in its northern section...

 at the age of 89.

Selected filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1925	The Freshman The Freshman (1925 film) The Freshman is a 1925 comedy film that tells the story of a college freshman trying to become popular by joining the school football team. It stars Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Brooks Benedict and James Anderson. It remains one of Lloyd's most successful and enduring films.The movie was written...	Student who goes to dean	Uncredited Alternative title: College Days
1926	Brown of Harvard	One of the Dickeys	Uncredited
1930	Hit the Deck Hit the Deck (1930 film) Hit the Deck is a 1930 musical film directed by Luther Reed, starred Jack Oakie, and featured Technicolor sequences. It was based on the musical Hit the Deck. It was one of the most expensive productions of RKO Radio Pictures up to that time, and one of the most expensive productions of 1930. This...
1932	Hot Saturday Hot Saturday Hot Saturday is Cary Grant's first movie as leading man. The movie was directed by William A. Seiter and based on a novel written by Harvey Fergusson...	Archie
1933	Only Yesterday Only Yesterday (1933 film) Only Yesterday is a 1933 drama film about a young woman who becomes pregnant by her boyfriend before he rushes off to fight in World War I. It stars Margaret Sullavan and John Boles. The film was based on the novel Briefe einer unbekannten by Stefan Zweig, though he was not credited...	Charlie Smith, Party Guest	Uncredited
1935	Man on the Flying Trapeze Man on the Flying Trapeze Man on the Flying Trapeze is a 1935 comedy film starring W. C. Fields as a henpecked husband. As with his other roles of this nature, Fields is put-upon throughout the film, but triumphs in the end.-Plot:...	Claude Neselrode	Alternative title: The Memory Expert
1936	My Man Godfrey My Man Godfrey My Man Godfrey is a 1936 American screwball comedy film directed by Gregory La Cava. The screenplay was written by Morrie Ryskind, with uncredited contributions by La Cava, based on "1101 Park Avenue", a short story by Eric Hatch. The story concerns a socialite who hires a derelict to be her...	Charlie Van Rumple	Uncredited
1937	Stage Door Stage Door Stage Door is a RKO film, adapted from the play by the same name, that tells the story of several would-be actresses who live together in a boarding house at 158 West 58th Street in New York City. The film stars Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Constance Collier,...	Butch
1938	Having Wonderful Time Having Wonderful Time Having Wonderful Time is a 1938 romantic comedy film released by RKO Radio Pictures.-Plot summary :A bored New York office girl , goes to a camp in the Catskill Mountains called Camp Kare Free, for rest and to get away from the noise, busy, city life and finds a handsome waiter , and they fall in...	Gus	Alternative title: Having a Wonderful Time
1939	The Angels Wash Their Faces The Angels Wash Their Faces The Angels Wash Their Faces is a 1939 Warner Bros. film starring Ronald Reagan and The Dead End Kids.-Plot:Gabe Ryan is released from reform school and it taken to a new house by his sister Joy to start a new life where no one knows of his past...	Gildersleeve (Mayor's secretary)	Alternative title: Angels Wash Their Faces
1940	The Bank Dick The Bank Dick The Bank Dick is a 1940 comedy film. W. C. Fields plays a character named Egbert Sousé who trips a bank robber and ends up a security guard as a result...	Og Oggleby, Bank Teller
1940	Torrid Zone Torrid Zone Torrid Zone is a 1940 adventure film starring James Cagney, Ann Sheridan and Pat O'Brien.-Plot summary:Steve Case has to deal with trouble at his tropical fruit company's Central American banana plantation...	Sam, Steve's Secretary
1941	She Knew All the Answers She Knew All the Answers She Knew All the Answers is a 1941 comedy film made by Columbia Pictures, directed by Richard Wallace, and starring by Joan Bennett and Franchot Tone...	Ogleby
1942	The Affairs of Martha The Affairs of Martha The Affairs of Martha is a 1942 romantic comedy film directed by Jules Dassin. A young maid, Marsha Hunt, falls in love with Jeff Sommerfield and the two marry on impulse before he leaves for an anthropological trip. Before he leaves, he asks her to get the marriage annulled, but she does not do so...	Justin I. Peacock, Jr
1943	A Lady Takes a Chance A Lady Takes a Chance A Lady Takes a Chance is a 1943 romantic comedy film starring Jean Arthur and John Wayne.-Cast:* Jean Arthur - Molly J. Truesdale* John Wayne - Duke Hudkins* Charles Winninger - Waco* Phil Silvers - Smiley Lambert...	Malcolm Scott	Alternative title: The Cowboy and the Girl
What a Woman What a Woman! (film) What a Woman! also known as The Beautiful Cheat is a 1943 black and white romantic comedy movie starring Rosalind Russell and Brian Aherne. The movie revolves around a literary agent Carol Ainsley's trying to transform her star client, Michael Cobb, into the actor playing his most famous character...	Mr. Clark	Alternative title: The Beautiful Cheat
1944	The Great Moment The Great Moment (1944 film) The Great Moment is a 1944 biographical film written and directed by Preston Sturges. Based on the book The Triumph Over Pain by René Fülöp-Miller, it tells the story of Dr. William Thomas Green Morton, a 19th century Boston dentist who discovered the use of ether as an anesthetic...	Homer Quimby
1945	Anchors Aweigh Anchors Aweigh (film) Anchors Aweigh is a 1945 American musical comedy film directed by George Sidney in which two sailors go on a four-day shore leave in Hollywood, accompanied by music and song, meet an aspiring young singer and try to help her get an audition at MGM...	Bertram Kraler - Susan's beau
1946	Dragonwyck	Astor House clerk	Uncredited
1948	Romance on the High Seas Romance on the High Seas Romance on the High Seas is a 1948 Technicolor musical romantic comedy film starring Jack Carson, Janis Paige, Don DeFore, and Doris Day in her film debut....	Ship Radio operator	Uncredited Alternative title: It's Magic
1954	A Star Is Born A Star Is Born (1954 film) A Star Is Born is a 1954 American musical film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay written by Moss Hart was an adaptation of the original 1937 film, which was based on the original screenplay by Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker, and Alan Campbell...	Artie Carver	Uncredited
1954	White Christmas		Uncredited
1962	The Chapman Report The Chapman Report The Chapman Report is a 1962 film made by DFZ Productions and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was directed by George Cukor and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and Richard D. Zanuck, from a screenplay by Wyatt Cooper and Don Mankiewicz, adapted by Gene Allen and Grant Stuart from Irving...	Simon	Uncredited
1963	Come Blow Your Horn Come Blow Your Horn (film) Come Blow Your Horn is a 1963 comedy film directed by Bud Yorkin and based on the play of the same name.-Cast:* Frank Sinatra - Alan Baker* Lee J. Cobb - Harry R. Baker* Molly Picon - Mrs. Sophie Baker* Barbara Rush - Connie...	Clothing Store Manager	Uncredited
1964	My Fair Lady My Fair Lady (film) My Fair Lady is a 1964 musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name, based on the 1938 film adaptation of the original stage play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The ballroom scene and the ending were taken from the previous film adaptation , rather than from...	Ascot Extra/Guest at Ball	Uncredited
1965	Tickle Me Tickle Me Tickle Me is a 1965 Western musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley as a champion rodeo bull-rider and bronco-buster. Elvis Presley won a 1966 Golden Laurel Award as the best male actor in a musical film for his role in this comedy. It is also the only Elvis film released by Allied Artists...	Mr. Dabney
1966	Paradise, Hawaiian Style Paradise, Hawaiian Style Paradise, Hawaiian Style is a 1966 musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley. It was the third and final motion picture that Presley filmed in Hawaii. The film reached #40 on the Variety weekly box office chart, earning $2.5 million in theaters....	Mr. Cubberson
1968	I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!	Funeral Director	Alternative title: Kiss My Butterfly
1970	Myra Breckinridge Myra Breckinridge (film) Myra Breckinridge is a 1970 American campy comedy film, based on Gore Vidal's 1968 novel of the same name, the film was directed by Michael Sarne, with Raquel Welch in the title role. It also starred John Huston as Buck Loner, Mae West as Leticia Van Allen, Farrah Fawcett, Rex Reed, Roger Herren,...	Kid Barlow
1971	Support Your Local Gunfighter	Storekeeper
1979	Rock 'n' Roll High School Rock 'n' Roll High School Rock 'n' Roll High School is a 1979 musical comedy film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Allan Arkush, and featuring the Ramones.The film starred P. J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, and Clint Howard...	School Board President
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954	I Married Joan I Married Joan I Married Joan is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from 1952 to 1955. It starred veteran vaudeville, film, and radio comedienne Joan Davis as the manic wife of a mild-mannered community judge, Bradley Stevens .-Synopsis:...	Newsroom Walk Through	1 episode
1960	The Ann Sothern Show The Ann Sothern Show The Ann Sothern Show is an American sitcom starring Ann Sothern that aired on CBS for 93 episodes. The series began on October 6, 1958, and ended on September 25, 1961. The Ann Sothern Show was Sothern's second sitcom for CBS...	Swann	2 episodes
	Shirley Temple's Storybook Shirley Temple's Storybook Shirley Temple's Storybook is an American children's anthology series hosted and narrated by Shirley Temple. The series features adaptations of fairy tales and other family-oriented stories performed by well-known actors, although one episode, an adaptation of The House of the Seven Gables, was...	Simon	1 episode
1960-1961	Lawman Lawman (tv series) Lawman is an American Western television series originally telecast from 1958 to 1962 starring John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop and featuring Peter Brown as Deputy Marshal Johnny McKay on the ABC Television Network. The series was set in Laramie, Wyoming during the mid to late 1870s. Warner Bros....	Ben Toomey	8 episodes
1964	Mickey Mickey (TV series) Mickey is an American situation comedy that aired on ABC from September 1964 to January 1965. Created and produced by Bob Fisher and Arthur Marx, the series stars Mickey Rooney.-Synopsis:...	Mr. Freebish	1 episode
1965	Burke's Law Burke's Law Burke's Law is a detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud...	Hubie	1 episode
	Petticoat Junction Petticoat Junction Petticoat Junction is an American situation comedy produced by Filmways which originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1970. The series is one of three interrelated shows about rural characters created by Paul Henning; the others are The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres.The setting for the series...	Chef	1 episode
1967	Batman Batman (TV series) Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...	Irving Cash	1 episode
1972	Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...	Minister	1 episode
1974	The Odd Couple The Odd Couple (TV series) The Odd Couple is a television situation comedy broadcast from September 24, 1970 to July 4, 1975 on ABC. It starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. It was based upon the play of the same name, which was written by Neil Simon.Felix and Oscar are two divorced men....	Pops Belkon	1 episode

External links

• Great Character Actors - A profile of Grady Sutton on dougmacaulay.com