Frank Cady

Although Frank Cadys most famous role would be that of generalstore 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 smalltown businessman druggist store clerk or other type of allaround Midwesterntype 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 earlierand more atypicalroles was as a seedy underworld character pulled in for questioning in a cops 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 mid50s onward Cady resided in Wilsonville Oregon and at the time of his death had two children three grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren