Sarah Padden
Biography
Sarah Padden was a character actress in theater and vaudeville from Chicago, Illinois. She performed on stage in the early 20th century. She is noted for her expressive voice and for her psychological studies of the characters she portrayed. Her finest single-act performance was in The Clod, a stage production in which she played an uneducated woman who lived on a farm during the American Civil War. Padden was a featured player on the Orpheum Circuit, Inc.. She had a role in His Grace de Grammont, a romantic comedy by Clyde Fitch which came to the Park Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts in September 1905. The production starred Skinner and was based on the life of a chevalier in the court of Charles II. Padden appeared again with Skinner in a four-act play produced by Charles Frohman, The Honor of the Family, by Emile Fabre, which was presented in New Rochelle, New York in September 1907. Another of her theatrical parts was in Hell-Bent Fer Heaven, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Hatcher Hughes. It was performed at the Wilkes Orange Grove Theater (Majestic Theater), 845 South Broadway (Los Angeles), in November 1925. She was also an active screen actress from 1926 to 1958, appearing in 178 films and TV shows. In 1938, she played Ma Thayer in MGM's Rich Man Poor Girl, directed by Reinhold Schunzel and starring Robert Young, Ruth Hussey, and Lana Turner. Bill Harrison (Robert Young) a wealthy young businessman moves in with secretary girlfriend Joan Thayer's (Ruth Hussey) eccentric family to convince her they can make their marriage work. In 1941, she played wealthy spinster Aunt Cassandra ("Cassie") Hildegarde Denham in Murder by Invitation, directed by Phil Rosen and starring Wallace Ford and Marian Marsh. In this "closed room" murder comedy, after they unsuccessfully attempt to have her declared legally insane to gain control of her fortune, her nephews and nieces are invited to a week's visit at her mansion where they are murdered one by one.
Known For
Dragnet
1951
The Lone Ranger
1949
Adventures of Superman
1952
The Abbott and Costello Show
1952
The Cisco Kid
1950
The Cisco Kid
1950
The Life Of Riley
1953
Public Defender
1954
Letter to Loretta
1953
Grand Hotel
1932
Mata Hari
1931
This Gun for Hire
1942
Filmography
Dragnet
· 1951
The Lone Ranger
as Grandma Williams · 1949
Adventures of Superman
as Mrs. Carmody · 1952
The Abbott and Costello Show
as Old Lady on Street · 1952
The Cisco Kid
as Mrs. Smiley · 1950
The Cisco Kid
as Sara · 1950
The Life Of Riley
as Martha Riley · 1953
Public Defender
as Eula Mae Carter · 1954
Letter to Loretta
as Frau Lang · 1953
Grand Hotel
as Chambermaid in Room 174 (uncredited) · 1932
Mata Hari
as Sister Teresa (uncredited) · 1931
This Gun for Hire
as Mrs. Mason (uncredited) · 1942
A Woman's Face
as Police Matron · 1941
The Pride of the Yankees
as Mrs. Roberts (uncredited) · 1942
Mad Love
as Crippled Girl's Mother (Uncredited) · 1935
House by the River
as Mrs. Beach - Stephen's elderly cook · 1950
Rasputin and the Empress
as Duna the Landlady (uncredited) · 1932
Anna Karenina
as Governess · 1935
Hangmen Also Die!
as Mrs. Georgia Dvorak · 1943
Angel on My Shoulder
as Agatha (uncredited) · 1946
Casanova Brown
as Mrs. Smith · 1944
Bad Girl
as Mrs. Gardner · 1931
Big Jim McLain
as Mrs. Lexiter · 1952
A Life of Her Own
as Betsy Ross Hotel Overseer (uncredited) · 1950
Wild Girl
as Lize · 1932
Red-Headed Woman
as Mary, Legendre Maid (uncredited) · 1932
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
as Woman Wanting Needle Threaded (uncredited) · 1939
Ramrod
as Mrs. Parks · 1947
The Corsican Brothers
as Nurse · 1942
Summer Storm
as Beggar Woman (uncredited) · 1944
Cross-Examination
as Mary Stevens · 1932
A Dog of Flanders
as Frau Keller · 1935
Son of the Navy
as Mrs. Baker - Landlady · 1940
He Was Her Man
as Mrs. Gardella · 1934
Let Freedom Ring
as 'Ma' Logan · 1939
Lady in a Jam
as Miner’s Wife (uncredited) · 1942
Blondie of the Follies
as Ma McClune · 1932
The Sin of Nora Moran
as Mrs. Watts · 1933
So Goes My Love
as Bridget · 1946
Trail Street
as Mrs. Ferguson (uncredited) · 1947
The Mad Monster
as Grandmother · 1942
Sob Sister
as Ma Stevens · 1931
Possessed
as Mrs. Norris, the Caretaker’s Wife (uncredited) · 1947
Dakota
as Mrs. Plummer · 1945
Little Tough Guys in Society
as Victim · 1938
I Stole a Million
as Lady in Post Office (uncredited) · 1939
The Dude Goes West
as Mrs. Hallihan · 1948
As the Earth Turns
as Mrs. Janowski · 1934
The Return of the Whistler
as Mrs. Hulskamp · 1948
Forgotten Girls
as Miss Donaldson · 1940
Heart of the Rio Grande
as 'Skipper' Forbes · 1942
Prince of Players
as Mary Todd Lincoln (uncredited) · 1955
Girl with an Itch
as Cookie · 1958
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
as Mrs Cobb · 1932
The Kettles in the Ozarks
as Mrs. Tinware · 1956
Pilgrimage
· 1933
Man of Two Worlds
as Olago · 1934
Face in the Sky
as Ma Brown · 1933
Wild Bill Hickok Rides
as Mrs. Kimball · 1942
The Power and the Glory
as Henry's Wife · 1933
Song of Old Wyoming
as Ma Conway · 1945
Woman Against Woman
as Dora · 1938
My Dog Shep
as Carrie Hodgkins · 1946
The Yellow Ticket
as Mother Kalish · 1931
Ann Vickers
as Lil · 1933
That Brennan Girl
as Mrs. Graves, the Nice Landlady · 1946
Rich Man, Poor Girl
as Ma · 1938
David Harum
as Widow · 1934
Young America
as Mrs. Mary Taylor · 1932
This Is the Life
as Sarah (uncredited) · 1944
Billy the Kid
as Homesteader Mrs. Foster (uncredited) · 1930
Riders of the Dawn
as Melinda Pringle · 1945
Screaming Mimi
as Landlady · 1958
The Defense Rests
as Mrs. Evans · 1934
Romance of the Limberlost
as Sarah · 1938
Chad Hanna
as Mrs. Todd · 1940
Joe Palooka in the Knockout
as Mom Palooka · 1947
So This Is Washington
as Aunt Charity Speers · 1943
The Zero Hour
as Sister Theodosia · 1939
Tess of the Storm Country
as Old Martha · 1932
Joe Palooka in Fighting Mad
as Mom Palooka · 1948
Stranded
as Workman's Wife (uncredited) · 1935
The Man Who Lost Himself
as Maid · 1941
Women Won't Tell
as Aggie Specks · 1932
Little Orphan Annie
as Mrs. Nora Moriarty · 1938
Range Law
as Boots Annie · 1944
Gentleman Joe Palooka
as Mom Palooka · 1946
Assignment in Brittany
as Albertine · 1943
Kongo
as Nun (uncredited) · 1932
Trail to Gunsight
as Grandma Wagner · 1944
The Power of God
as Esther Worne · 1942
Tomorrow's Children
· 1934
Riders of the West
as Ma Turner · 1942
The Woman Who Did Not Care
as Mrs. Carroll · 1927
Apology for Murder
as Maggie · 1945
Girl Rush
as Mrs. Emma Mason · 1944
Ghost Guns
as Aunt Sally · 1944
Law and Order
as Mary Todd · 1942
Love and Learn
as Mrs. Grant (uncredited) · 1947
Joe Palooka, Champ
as Mom Palooka · 1946
San Diego I Love You
as Mrs. Gulliver (uncredited) · 1944
Reg'lar Fellers
as Hetty Carter · 1941
Should a Girl Marry?
as Mrs. Wilson · 1939
The Navy Way
as Mrs. Margaret Gimble (uncredited) · 1944
The Navy Way
as Mrs. Margaret Gimble · 1944
The Bugle Call
as Luke's Wife · 1927
Homicide
as Mrs. Webb · 1949
When Strangers Meet
as Lucy Tarman · 1934
Women in Prison
as Martha Wilson · 1938
City of Missing Girls
as Mrs. Randolph · 1941
Wonder of Women
as Anna · 1929
The Great Meadow
as Mistress Molly Hall · 1931
The Hoosier Schoolmaster
as Sarah · 1935
Off the Record
as Mrs. Fallon (uncredited) · 1939
The Missourians
as Mother Kovacs · 1950
Identity Unknown
as Mrs. Anderson · 1945
Youth on Parole
as Mrs. Blair · 1937
Doctor Bull
as Mary the Canning Cook · 1933
Wild West
as Carrie Bannister · 1946
In Old Colorado
as Ma Harriet Woods · 1941
Murder by Invitation
as Cassandra Hildegard Denham · 1941
Idea Girl
as Old Lady · 1946
The Master Key
as Aggie · 1945
The Midnight Lady
as Nita St. George · 1932
Family Troubles
as Mrs. Jones · 1943
Today
as Emma Warner · 1930
Marshal of Laredo
as Mrs. Randall · 1945
Lone Star Raiders
as Lydia 'Granny' Phelps · 1940
Exiled to Shanghai
as Aunt Jane · 1937
Range Justice
as Ma Curtis · 1949
Utah Wagon Train
as Sarah Wendover · 1951
Gunslingers
as Rawhide Rosie Rawlins · 1950
Frontier Revenge
as Widow Owens · 1948
Again Pioneers
as Ma Ashby · 1950
Private Snuffy Smith
as Lowizie Smith · 1942
The Sophomore
as Mrs. Collins · 1929
Hide-Out
as Mrs. Dorgan · 1930
Wildfire
as Aunt Agatha · 1945
Obey the Law
as The Mother · 1926
Trifles
as Mrs. Wright · 1930
The Important Witness
as Deaf Woman · 1933
Companionate Marriage
as Mrs. Williams · 1928