Frank Cady

Known for ActingBorn 1915-09-08Died 2012-06-08Susanville, California, USA

Frank Cady (September 8, 1915 – June 8, 2012) was an American actor. His most famous role was 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, and 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.Read more

Movies & web series

The Great Adventure

Glynis

Pal, Fugitive Dog

Special Agent

Rear Window

The Checkered Coat

Marry Me Again

The Untouchables

Ace in the Hole

Perry Mason

Weekend Special

The Andy Griffith Show

The Asphalt Jungle

Green Acres

Hawaii Five-O

Rawhide

The Bad Seed

The Tin Star

7 Faces of Dr. Lao

Flamingo Road

The Beverly Hillbillies

Maverick

Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone

Trial

Father of the Bride

Trackdown

Hazel

The Colgate Comedy Hour

Experiment Alcatraz

D.O.A.

General Electric Theater

Pretty Baby

The Missouri Traveler

The Alaskans

Gunsmoke

He Walked by Night

Klondike

Half a Hero

Wagon Train

Dennis the Menace

The Virginian

Guestward, Ho!

The Deputy

Zandy's Bride

Front Row Center

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

The Indian Fighter

Young Man with a Horn