Frank Cady

This article is about the actor. For the Wisconsin legislator, see Frank A. Cady.

Frank Cady
Cady in The Great Rupert (1950)
Born	Frank Randolph Cady (1915-09-08)September 8, 1915 Susanville, California, U.S.
Died	June 8, 2012(2012-06-08) (aged 96) Wilsonville, Oregon, U.S.
Resting place	Los Osos Valley Memorial Park, Los Osos, California
Other names	Frankie Cady Frank R. Cady
Alma mater	Stanford University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1947–1990
Known for	Sam Drucker
Television	The Beverly Hillbillies Green Acres Petticoat Junction
Spouse	Shirley Cady ​ ​ (m. 1940; died 2008)​
Children	2

Frank Randolph Cady (September 8, 1915 – June 8, 2012) was an American actor best known for his role as storekeeper Sam Drucker in three American television series during the 1960s – Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, and The Beverly Hillbillies – and his earlier role as Doc Williams on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

Early life

Cady was born in Susanville, California, the youngest of three children of Leon and Clara Cady. In high school, he worked at a local newspaper, The Lassen County Advocate. Cady's family later moved to Wilsonville, Oregon.

He studied journalism and drama at Stanford University, where he was involved with the campus humor magazine, the Stanford Chaparral. Following college graduation, Cady served an apprenticeship at the Westminster Theater in London, appearing in four plays. In England, he made an early television appearance on the BBC in late 1938.

He returned to Stanford in 1939 for graduate studies and a position as a teaching assistant. While at Stanford, Cady met and later married his wife, Shirley Katherine Jones, in 1940. Born in Oakland, California, Shirley Cady, a Stanford graduate, had several vocations – professional singer, teacher, and legal secretary.

Dissatisfied with academia, Frank began a series of jobs two years later, as an announcer and news broadcaster at various California radio stations. His career was put on hold in 1943 when he joined the United States Army Air Forces, serving in England, France, and Germany during World War II.

Television and movie career

After being discharged from military service in 1946, Cady appeared in a series of plays in the Los Angeles area that led to movie roles, beginning in 1947. In 1949, he had an uncredited speaking role in the film noir drama D.O.A.. In 1950, he had another uncredited role in Father of the Bride. He had a small part in The Asphalt Jungle (also 1950) playing a witness who refused to identify a robbery suspect. He appeared in George Pal's film When Worlds Collide (1951), and worked with Pal again in 1964 in 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.

Cady acted in Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole (or The Big Carnival, also 1951) and portrayed the male half of the fire escape sleeping couple in Rear Window in 1954. He played the husband of Eileen Heckart characters in two films: The Bad Seed (1956) and Zandy's Bride (1974). He appeared on the Make Room For Daddy episode that was the pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. He was cast on some radio programs, including Gunsmoke episode #140 ("Outlaw Robin Hood") on January 8, 1955.

In the 1950s, Cady played Doc Williams in Ozzie and Harriet (1953–1964). In 1961, he made a guest appearance on Perry Mason as twin brothers Joe and Hiram Widlock in "The Case of the Pathetic Patient".

In 1964, he played Webb Norton, an angry and abusive father (to Dylan Cannon’s character Ivy Norton) on Gunsmoke, in the episode “Aunt Thede” (S10E13).

He acted in television and was the only actor to play a recurring character on three television sitcoms at the same time, which he did from 1968 to 1969, appearing on The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Petticoat Junction simultaneously. As Sam Drucker, he appeared in 142 of 170 Green Acres episodes during its six-year run from 1965 to 1971. Also as Drucker, he was one of only three co-stars of Petticoat Junction who stayed with the series for its entire seven-year run (1963–1970), along with Edgar Buchanan and Linda Henning, appearing in 152 of the show's 222 episodes. He played Drucker in 10 episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies from 1968 to 1970, and he continued his Drucker role in the final season of Green Acres after Petticoat Junction ended in 1970.

His final acting role was in the television movie Return to Green Acres (1990). In a 1995 interview with the Portland Oregonian Cady spoke of his television career: "You get typecast. I'm remembered for those shows and not for some pretty good acting jobs I did other times. I suppose I ought to be grateful for that, because otherwise I wouldn't be remembered at all. I've got to be one of the luckiest guys in the world."

In 2005, Cady attended Eddie Albert's funeral, along with Green Acres co-stars Sid Melton and Mary Grace Canfield.

Death

Shirley Cady died on August 22, 2008, at the age of 91. The Cadys, who were married 68 years, had two children – daughter Catherine Turk and son Steven Cady. They had three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Frank Cady died at his home on June 8, 2012, at age 96. No specific cause was given. Upon his death he was cremated and his ashes are buried at Los Osos Valley Memorial Park, Los Osos, California in the same plot as his wife.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1948	He Walked by Night	Pete Hammond	Uncredited
1949	Flamingo Road	Tom Hill	Uncredited
	D.O.A.	Eddie - Bartender	Uncredited
1950	Perfect Strangers	Geologist	Uncredited
	The Asphalt Jungle	Night Clerk	Uncredited
	The Great Rupert	Mr. Taney - Tax Collector
	Father of the Bride	Engagement Party Guest	Uncredited
	Emergency Wedding	Mr. Hoff	Uncredited
	Experiment Alcatraz	Max Henry
	Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone	Harry	Uncredited
	A Christmas Wish	Tax Investigator
Hunt the Man Down	Showbox Puppeteer	Uncredited
1951	Lightning Strikes Twice	Gas Station Man	Uncredited
	Dear Brat	Creavy
	Ace in the Hole	Al Ferderber
	Let's Make It Legal	Ferguson
	When Worlds Collide	Harold Ferris
1952	The Atomic City	F.B.I. Agent George Weinberg
	The Sellout	Bennie Amboy
1953	Half a Hero	Mr. Watts
	Marry Me Again	Dr. Day
1954	Rear Window	Man on Fire Escape
1955	Trial	Canford	Uncredited
	The Indian Fighter	Trader Joe
1956	The Bad Seed	Henry Daigle
	Three Violent People	Dr. Graham	Uncredited
1957	The Tin Star	Abe Pickett	Uncredited
1958	The Missouri Traveler	Willie Poole
	The Girl Most Likely	Pop
1959	The Man Who Understood Women	John Milstead
1964	7 Faces of Dr. Lao	Mayor James Sargent
1967	The Gnome-Mobile	Charlie Pettibone	Uncredited
1970	The Million Dollar Duck	Assayer
1974	Zandy's Bride	Pa Allan
1975	Hearts of the West	Pa Tater
1990	Return to Green Acres	Sam Drucker	TV movie; final film role

Television credits

Year	Series	Role	Episode(s)
1954–1965	The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet	Doc Williams	71 episodes
1956	December Bride		"Lily in a Gas Station"
	Private Secretary	Barney	"Passing the Buck"
1957	Broken Arrow	Thaddeus Parker	"Devil's Eye"
1958	Maverick	Hamelin	"Rope of Cards"
	Trackdown	Bob Tail	"The Wedding"
1959	The Gale Storm Show	Director	"It's Murder My Dear"
	Sugarfoot	Lawyer Jay Hollis	"The Mysterious Stranger"
1960	The Alaskans	Bradshaw	"The Last Bullet"
	Make Room for Daddy	Will Hoople - Town Drunk	"Danny Meets Andy Griffith"
	Klondike	Lester	"Swoger's Mule"
1961	Guestward, Ho!	Harry Crawford	"Bill, the Fireman"
	Hawaiian Eye	Harvey Gamson	"The Stanhope Brand"
	Pete and Gladys	Teller	"The Live-In Couple"
	Perry Mason	Joe/Hiram Widlock	"The Case of the Pathetic Patient"
	Rawhide	Storekeeper	S3:E14, "Incident of the Big Blowout"
1962	Dennis the Menace	Dr. Ferguson	"The Club Initiation"
	"The Joey Bishop Show"	Defense Attorney	"Very Warm For Christmas"
	Cheyenne	Wayne	"The Quick and the Deadly"
1963	The Virginian	Mr. Hardy	"The Exiles"
	Glynis	George	"The Pros and Cons"
	Grindl	Mr. Burroughs	"The Great Bank Robbery"
1963–1970	Petticoat Junction	Mr. Drucker, The General Store Shopkeeper	168 episodes
1964	Hazel	Mr. Pincus	"The Flagpole"
	Gunsmoke	Webb Norton	"Aunt Thede"
1965–1966	The Andy Griffith Show	Luke	2 episodes
1965–1971	Green Acres	Mr. Drucker, The General Store Shopkeeper	142 episodes
1968–1970	The Beverly Hillbillies	Sam Drucker	10 episodes
1974	Hawaii Five-O	Judge Edgar Bergstrom	"Mother's Deadly Helper"
1974–1975	These Are the Days	Homer (voice)	16 episodes
1977	Eight Is Enough		"Hit and Run"
1977	ABC Weekend Special	Mr. Minney	"The Winged Colt"
1978	ABC Weekend Special	Mr. Sutter	"Soup and Me"
1978	ABC Weekend Special	Mr. Sutter	"Soup for President"

External links

• Frank Cady at Find a Grave
• Frank Cady at IMDb