Frank Cady

Born: 1915-09-08

Although Frank Cady's most famous role would be that of general-store owner Sam Drucker, one of the less nutty residents of Hooterville in both Green Acres (1965) and Petticoat Junction (1963), he had a history as a film, stage and television actor long before those shows. Cady also appeared on some radio programs including Gunsmoke. In the 1950s, Cady played Doc Williams in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952), along with numerous supporting parts in movies and also appeared in television commercials for (among other products) Shasta Grape Soda. Cady has been most prolific in television and was the only actor to play a recurring character on three TV sitcoms at the same time, The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Green Acres (1965), and Petticoat Junction (1963). Usually cast as a gregarious small-town businessman, druggist, store clerk or other type of all-around Midwestern-type good guy, Cady was actually a California native, born in Susanville in 1915. The acting bug bit him when he sang in an elementary school play, and after graduating from Stanford University he headed to London, England, to train in the theater. When World War II broke out he was already in Europe, so he enlisted in the Army Air Force and spent the next several years in postings all over the continent. After his discharge he returned to the US and headed for Hollywood. An agent saw him in a local play, signed him, and he was on his way. One of his earlier--and more atypical--roles was as a seedy underworld character pulled in for questioning in a cop's murder in the noir classic He Walked by Night (1948), and he played a succession of hotel clerks, bureaucrats, henpecked husbands and the like for the next 40+ years. He did much television work from the mid-'50s onward. Cady resided in Wilsonville, Oregon and at the time of his death had two children, three grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.


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Rear Window

as Man on Fire Escape
Released: 1954-08-01

A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes...

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The Bad Seed

as Henry Daigle
Released: 1956-09-12

Air Force Colonel Kenneth Penmark and his wife, Christine, adore their daughter Rhoda, despite...

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The Asphalt Jungle

as Night Clerk (uncredited)
Released: 1950-05-12

Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo...

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The Tin Star

as Abe Pickett (uncredited)
Released: 1957-10-23

An experienced bounty hunter helps a young sheriff learn the meaning of his badge.

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Ace in the Hole

as Mr. Federber
Released: 1951-06-29

An arrogant reporter exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to revitalize his career.

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Father of the Bride

as Timid Engagement Party Guest (uncredited)
Released: 1950-05-18

Proud father Stanley Banks remembers the day his daughter, Kay, got married. Starting when she...

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The Indian Fighter

as Trader Joe
Released: 1955-12-21

A scout leading a wagon train through hostile Indian country gets involved with a Sioux chief's...

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It's a Great Feeling

as Oculist (uncredited)
Released: 1949-08-01

A waitress at the Warner Brothers commissary is anxious to break into pictures. She thinks her...

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7 Faces of Dr. Lao

as Mayor James Sargent
Released: 1964-03-18

An old Chinese man rides into the town of Abalone, Arizona and changes it forever, as the...

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Three Violent People

as Doctor
Released: 1956-12-01

A rancher, his shady bride and his one-armed brother fight amid carpetbaggers in Texas.

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The Million Dollar Duck

as Assayer
Released: 1971-06-30

Professor Dooley takes home a duck from his research laboratory as a toy for his son, but soon...

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When Worlds Collide

as Harold Ferris
Released: 1951-09-14

When a group of astronomers calculate a star is on a course to slam into Earth, a few days...

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The Great Rupert

as Mr. Taney - Tax Investigator
Released: 1950-03-01

Shortly before Christmas, a family moves into an apartment where Rupert the squirrel lives in...

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Hearts of the West

as Pa Tater
Released: 1975-10-08

Lewis Tater writes Wild West dime novels and dreams of actually becoming a cowboy. When he goes...

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Young Man with a Horn

as Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Released: 1950-03-01

Legendary trumpeter Art Hazzard teaches young Rick Martin everything he knows about playing, so...

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Let's Make It Legal

as Ferguson
Released: 1951-10-31

A woman divorces her husband of 20 years because he gambles too much.

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Pretty Baby

as Janitor (uncredited)
Released: 1950-09-16

A young woman living in Manhattan pretends to be the mother of an infant in order to get a seat...

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D.O.A.

as Eddie - Bartender (uncredited)
Released: 1949-12-23

Frank Bigelow is about to die, and he knows it. The accountant has been poisoned and has only 24...

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He Walked by Night

as Pete Hammond
Released: 1949-02-06

This film-noir piece, told in semi-documentary style, follows police on the hunt for a...

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Convicted

as Eddie (uncredited)
Released: 1950-08-01

A prison warden fights to prove one of his inmates was wrongly convicted.

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Flamingo Road

as uncredited
Released: 1949-04-30

A stranded carnival dancer takes on a corrupt political boss when she marries into small-town...

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The Missouri Traveler

as Willie Poole
Released: 1958-01-21

Byron Turner, a 15-year-old runaway from the Eatondale Orphan Asylum, receives a ride into the...

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Lightning Strikes Twice

as Gas Station Man
Released: 1951-04-12

Sent to a dude ranch in the west to recover her health, a New York actress falls in love with a...

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The Atomic City

as F.B.I. Agent George Weinberg
Released: 1952-05-01

Spies hold the son of a nuclear physicist (Gene Barry) hostage in exchange for the Los Alamos...

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Trial

as Canford (uncredited)
Released: 1955-10-07

A Mexican boy accused of rape and murder becomes a pawn for Communists and red-baiters. A...

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Three Husbands

as Elevator Operator (uncredited)
Released: 1950-11-10

When a recently deceased playboy gets to heaven and is granted one wish--granted to all...

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Perfect Strangers

as Geologist
Released: 1950-03-11

Romance at a murder trial with a pair of sequestered jurors who are the only ones who think that...

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Experiment Alcatraz

as Max Henry
Released: 1950-11-21

A doctor testing drugs on convicts gets mixed up in a murder investigation.

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Sarge Goes to College

as Prof. Edwards
Released: 1947-05-13

A Marine Sergeant, wounded in overseas service, requires an operation, and the Navy psychiatrist...

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Dial 1119

as Fred Backett
Released: 1950-11-03

A deranged killer escapes from a mental institution, intent on locating the psychiatrist whose...

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Hunt the Man Down

as Showbox Puppeteer (uncredited)
Released: 1950-12-26

A lawyer uncovers secrets behind a 12-year-old murder case.

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The Man Who Understood Women

as John Milstead
Released: 1959-10-02

A film director turns his actress wife into a star, leading to marital problems.

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Take One False Step

as Reporter (uncredited)
Released: 1949-08-14

Catherine Sykes disappears after a midnight drive with Professor Andrew Gentling . When she's...

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Abandoned

as Nolan - City Editor (uncredited)
Released: 1949-10-26

A Los Angeles newspaperman seeks a woman's sister and finds a black-market baby ring.

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Zandy's Bride

as Pa Allan
Released: 1974-05-19

Zandy Allan purchases a mail-order bride, Hannah Lund. He treats her as a possession, without...

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The Girl Most Likely

as Pop
Released: 1958-02-05

Dodie dreams of marrying a millionaire so that she can live 'the life'. Buzz, her boyfriend,...

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The Crooked Way

as uncredited
Released: 1949-04-22

A war veteran suffering from amnesia, returns to Los Angeles from a San Francisco veterans...

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Dear Brat

as Parole Officer Creavy
Released: 1951-05-30

Mirian Wilkins, the teenage daughter of Senator Wilkins, starts a Society for the Rehabilitation...

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The Sellout

as Bennie Amboy
Released: 1952-05-30

A small-town newspaper editor risks everything to expose a corrupt sheriff.

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Return to Green Acres

as Sam Drucker
Released: 1990-05-18

Tv movie that reunites most the show's cast members. The Douglases move back to New York. But...

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Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone

as Harry (uncredited)
Released: 1950-12-08

Harriet O'Malley tries to solve a murder aboard a train en route to New York.

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The History of Hooterville

as Self
Released: 2005-10-19

Documentary and interviews with the cast of Petticoat Junction and stories of the show's production.

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Marry Me Again

as Dr. Day
Released: 1953-09-22

Bill, a jet pilot hero from the Korean War, returns home with intentions of marrying his...

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The Next Voice You Hear...

as Bald Plant Worker in Locker Room (uncredited)
Released: 1950-06-29

The Next Voice You Hear... (1950) is a drama film in which a voice claiming to be that of God...

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Soup and Me

as Mr. Sutter
Released: 1978-02-04

On the day of the Halloween party, Soup and Rob are finding plenty of ways to get into trouble:...

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The Checkered Coat

as Skinner
Released: 1948-07-16

A psychiatrist tries to help a patient who loses consciousness after he kills someone. When the...

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Half a Hero

as Mr. Watts
Released: 1953-05-11

A man moves his family from the big city to the suburbs.

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Hawaii Five-O

as Judge Bergstrom
First aired: 1968-09-20

Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and...

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The Andy Griffith Show

as Luke
First aired: 1960-10-03

The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and...

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The Andy Griffith Show

as Farley Upchurch
First aired: 1960-10-03

The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and...

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Perry Mason

as Joe Widlock / Hiram Widlock
First aired: 1957-09-21

The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most...

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The Beverly Hillbillies

as Sam Drucker
First aired: 1962-09-26

Jed Clampett's swamp is loaded with oil. When a wildcatter discovers the huge pool, Jed sells...

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The Colgate Comedy Hour

as Self
First aired: 1950-09-10

The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC...

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Petticoat Junction

as Sam Drucker
First aired: 1963-09-24

The Bradley family are proud owners of the Shady Rest Hotel. Kate and her three young daughters...

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Dennis the Menace

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-10-04

This 1959-1963 television situation comedy series follows the lives of the Mitchell family,...

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The Great Adventure

as Drover
First aired: 1963-09-27

The Great Adventure is a historical anthology series that appeared on CBS for the 1963-1964...

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Pete and Gladys

as uncredited
First aired: 1960-09-19

Pete and Gladys is an American situation comedy television series starring Harry Morgan and Cara...

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The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

as Doc Williams
First aired: 1952-10-03

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952...

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The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

as Dr. Williams
First aired: 1952-10-03

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952...

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The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

as Doctor Williams
First aired: 1952-10-03

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952...

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The Virginian

as Mr. Hardy
First aired: 1962-09-19

The Shiloh Ranch in Wyoming Territory of the 1890s is owned in sequence by Judge Henry Garth,...

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Cheyenne

as uncredited
First aired: 1955-09-20

Cheyenne is an American western television series of 108 black-and-white episodes broadcast on...

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Maverick

as Hamelin
First aired: 1957-09-22

Maverick is an American Western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins....

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Green Acres

as Sam Drucker
First aired: 1965-09-15

Green Acres is an American sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from...

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Hawaiian Eye

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-10-07

Private Eyes Tom Lopaka and Tracy Steele are based out of Hawaiian Village Resort where they...

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Hazel

as uncredited
First aired: 1961-09-28

Hazel is an American sitcom about a fictional live-in maid named Hazel Burke and her employers,...

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AfterMASH

as Gus Bell
First aired: 1983-09-26

AfterMASH is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from September 26, 1983, to December...

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Rawhide

as Storekeeper
First aired: 1959-01-09

The tale of trail boss Gil Favor and his trusty foreman Rowdy Yates as they drives cattle across...

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Sugarfoot

as Jay Hollis
First aired: 1957-09-17

Sugarfoot is an American western television series that aired on ABC from 1957 to 1961. The...

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December Bride

as uncredited
First aired: 1954-10-04

December Bride is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network from 1954 to 1959,...

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The Deputy

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-09-12

The Deputy is an American western series that aired on NBC from September 1959, to July 1961....

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Gunsmoke

as Webb
First aired: 1955-09-10

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman...

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These Are the Days

as uncredited
First aired: 1974-09-07

These Are the Days is an animated television series from Hanna-Barbera, originally broadcast on...

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The Alaskans

as uncredited
First aired: 1959-10-04

The Alaskans is a 1959-1960 ABC/Warner Brothers western television series set during the late...

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General Electric Theater

as George Hanson
First aired: 1953-02-01

General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was...

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Guestward, Ho!

as uncredited
First aired: 1960-09-29

Guestward, Ho! is an American situation comedy which aired on the ABC network in the 1960-1961...

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Klondike

as uncredited
First aired: 1960-10-10

Klondike is a 17-episode half-hour American Western television series starring Ralph Taeger and...

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