All in the Family: Character Actor Grant Mitchell, Civil War General John Grant Mitchell and President Rutherford B. Hayes

Grant Mitchell’s Family: a Quick American History Lesson

Veteran Character Actor Grant Mitchell appeared in over 120 films throughout the 1930s and 1940s playing his share of husbands, dads, businessmen, bank clerks and school principals. Some of his most memorable ‘A-film’ roles include Senator MacPherson in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Stanley in The Man Who Came to Dinner, and Reverend Harper in Arsenic and Old Lace.

Mitchell (born John Grant Mitchell, Jr.) was the only son of Civil War Union Army General John Grant Mitchell. Union Army General John G. Mitchell and his son Character Actor Grant Mitchell

Grant Mitchell (born John Grant Mitchell, Jr.) was the only son of American Civil War Union Army General John Grant Mitchell.  General Mitchell participated in several important Civil War campaigns including the Battle of Chickamauga, the Battle of Nashville and The Carolinas Campaign (the final campaign in the Western Theater).

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President Rutherford B. HayesPresident Rutherford B. Hayes, Grant Mitchell’s Great Uncle

And if that’s not enough of an American History connection, Grant Mitchell’s Great Uncle was President Rutherford B. Hayes (Mitchell’s paternal grandmother Fanny Arabella Hayes was President Hayes’ sister). And Grant Mitchell’s Great Great Great Grandfather was  Ezekiel Hayes, a Connecticut militia captain during the American Revolutionary War (Ezekiel Hayes was President Rutherford B. Hayes and Arabella Hayes’ Great Grandfather).

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–Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub

 

 

This entry was posted in All in the Family (Family Connections), Posts by Annmarie Gatti, Trivia and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to All in the Family: Character Actor Grant Mitchell, Civil War General John Grant Mitchell and President Rutherford B. Hayes

  1. Fascinating background.

    Of the actors who got their stage start with legendary George M. Cohan, he claimed his favourites were Spencer Tracy and Grant Mitchell. One of my favourites of Mitchell’s film roles is as the administrator of the “good” camp in “The Grapes of Wrath”. The scene where he greets Ma Joad with the deference and common courtesy she is truly owed fills my heart.

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