Grady Sutton

Grady Sutton
Florence Bates with Sutton in My Dear Secretary (1948)
Born	Grady Harwell Sutton (1906-04-05)April 5, 1906 Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	September 17, 1995(1995-09-17) (aged 89) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1925–1979

Grady Harwell Sutton^{[citation needed]} (April 5, 1906 – September 17, 1995) was an American film and television character actor from the 1920s to the 1970s. He appeared in more than 180 films.^[1]

Sutton was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee,^[1] the son of Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Sutton.^[2] Raised in Florida, he attended St. Petersburg High School,^[1] where he was a member of the swimming team.^[2]

Sutton 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 best-known roles were as Frank Dowling, Katharine Hepburn's dancing partner, in Alice Adams (1935) and as a foil to W.C. Fields in four films, The Pharmacist (1933), 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, a homosexual actor who ordinarily portrayed an effeminate character for comedic effect. He didn't reveal he was gay much later in his career for fear of being blackballed back in the 1930's.^[3]

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".

On television, Sutton appeared in an episode of The Odd Couple, as well as some commercials.^[1]

On September 17, 1995,^[1] Sutton died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 89.^[4]

• Maltin, Leonard (2015) [First published 1969]. "Grady Sutton". The Real Stars : Profiles and Interviews of Hollywood's Unsung Featured Players (softcover) (Sixth / eBook ed.). Great Britain: CreateSpace Independent. pp. 256–277. ISBN 978-1-5116-4485-3.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grady Sutton.

• Grady Sutton at IMDb
• Literature on Grady Sutton