Clinton Sundberg
Clinton Sundberg | |
---|---|
Sundberg in 1930. | |
Born |
Clinton Charles Sundberg December 7, 1903 Appleton, Minnesota, U.S. |
Died |
December 14, 1987 84) Santa Monica, California, U.S. | (aged
Cause of death | heart failure |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1934-1980 |
Clinton Charles Sundberg (December 7, 1903 – December 14, 1987) was an American character actor in film and stage.
Early years
Clinton Sundberg was born in Appleton, Minnesota on December 7, 1903,[1] the son of Grace A. Coffey Sundberg. His birth year has been disputed with sources differing between 1903 and 1906. The Internet Movie Database and Internet Broadway Database claim 1903, while Allmovie states 1906, which is supported by The New York Times[2] and The Los Angeles Times[3] obituaries, which reported his age as 81. However the Social Security Death Index and the 1910 United States Census both confirm 1903.
Sundberg graduated from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was active in drama, president of his fraternity, and captain of the tennis team.[4]
Career
Sundberg left teaching English literature for acting, appearing in plays in stock theater in New England. He appeared in a number of Broadway plays, debuting in Nine Pine Street (1933).[1] His most notable roles were Mr. Kraler in the original 1957 production of The Diary of Anne Frank and Mortimer Brewster (as a replacement) in the 1944 Arsenic and Old Lace.[2]
He had numerous supporting roles in films of the 1940s and 1950s. He played Mike, the bartender who listens to Judy Garland's character's troubles in Easter Parade. One of Sundberg's most memorable roles was in the 1949 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film In the Good Old Summertime (which also starred Judy Garland and Van Johnson), in which he played the part of Rudy Hansen, a friendly co-worker and confidante of Johnson's character. He also played the hotel owner who hired Annie Oakley to enter the shooting contest against Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun.
Sundberg also made several television appearances, including two episodes of Perry Mason: "The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito" in 1963 and "The Case of the Scarlet Scandal" in 1966. He also appeared in several television commercials.
In 1962, Sundberg was cast in the lead guest-starring role of Luther Boardman, a naive but troublesome newspaper publisher who comes to Laramie, Wyoming, to capture the story of "real West" gunfighters in "The Man Behind the News", one of the last episodes of the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, Lawman, which starred John Russell as Marshal Dan Troop. Hal Baylor appears in the episode as gunfighter Mort Peters, whom Boardman (Sundberg) goads into a shootout with Troop.[5]
Death
Sundberg died of heart failure in Santa Monica, California.
Partial filmography
- Undercurrent (1946) - Mr. Warmsley
- Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946) - Haberdashery Clerk
- The Mighty McGurk (1947) - Flexter
- Undercover Maisie (1947) - Guy Canford
- Living in a Big Way (1947) - Everett Hanover Smythe
- The Hucksters (1947) - Michael Michaelson
- Song of the Thin Man (1947) - Mr. Purdy - Hotel Vesta Desk Clerk (uncredited)
- Song of Love (1947) - Dr. Richarz (uncredited)
- Good News (1947) - Salesman (scenes deleted)
- The Bride Goes Wild (1948) - Dentist (uncredited)
- Easter Parade (1948) - Mike the Bartender
- A Date with Judy (1948) - Jameson
- Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948) - Mike Fitzgerald
- Good Sam (1948) - Nelson
- The Kissing Bandit (1948) - Colonel Gomez
- Words and Music (1948) - Shoe Clerk
- Command Decision (1948) - Major Homer V. Prescott
- Big Jack (1949) - C. Petronius Smith
- The Stratton Story (1949) - Man on Radio Baking Pie (voice, uncredited)
- The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) - Bert Felsher
- In the Good Old Summertime (1949) - Rudy Hansen
- Key to the City (1950) - Clerk
- Father Is a Bachelor (1950) - Plato Cassin
- Annie Get Your Gun (1950) - Foster Wilson
- Duchess of Idaho (1950) - Matson
- The Toast of New Orleans (1950) - Oscar
- Two Weeks with Love (1950) - Mr. Finlay
- Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone (1950) - Donald - Steve's Bookie
- On the Riviera (1951) - Antoine
- The Fat Man (1951) - Bill Norton
- As Young as You Feel (1951) - Frank Erickson
- Take Care of My Little Girl (1951) - Fraternity Dance Guest (uncredited)
- The Belle of New York (1952) - Gilford Spivak
- The Girl Next Door (1953) - Samuels the butler
- Sweethearts on Parade (1953) - Dr. Harold Wayne
- The Caddy (1953) - Charles - the Butler
- Main Street to Broadway (1953) - The Father - Mr. Harry Craig
- The Birds and the Bees (1956) - Purser
- Bachelor in Paradise (1961) - Rodney Jones
- The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) - The Prime Minister ('The Dancing Princess') / Hans ('The Singing Bone') (singing voice)
- How the West Was Won (1962) - Hylan Seabury (uncredited)
- Hotel (1967) - Lawrence Morgan
- A Snow White Christmas (1980) - Thinker (voice)
- The Princess and the Cobbler (1993) - Dying Soldier (voice) (final film role)
References
- 1 2 Monush, Barry (2003). Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 714. ISBN 9781557835512. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
- 1 2 "Clinton Sundberg, Actor, 81". The New York Times. December 25, 1987.
- ↑ "Actor Clinton Sundberg, 81". The Los Angeles Times. December 24, 1987.
- ↑ "Again Takes Writer Part". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. Utah, Ogden. November 21, 1937. p. 24.
- ↑ ""The Man Behind the New" (May 13, 1962)". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved June 14, 2013.
External links
- Clinton Sundberg on IMDb
- Clinton Sundberg at AllMovie
- Clinton Sundberg at the Internet Broadway Database
- Clinton Sundberg at Find a Grave