Sarah Padden
Acting
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
Acting140
movieScreaming Mimi
1958
Landlady
movieThe Kettles in the Ozarks
1956
Mrs. Tinware
moviePrince of Players
1955
Mary Todd Lincoln (uncredited)
tvPublic Defender
1954
Eula Mae Carter
tvLetter to Loretta
1953
Frau Lang
tvThe Life Of Riley
1953
Martha Riley
tvThe Abbott and Costello Show
1952
Old Lady on Street
tvAdventures of Superman
1952
Mrs. Carmody
movieBig Jim McLain
1952
Mrs. Lexiter
movieUtah Wagon Train
1951
Sarah Wendover
movieThe Missourians
1950
Mother Kovacs
movieAgain Pioneers
1950
Ma Ashby
The Cisco Kid
1950
Mrs. Smiley / Sara
movieA Life of Her Own
1950
Betsy Ross Hotel Overseer (uncredited)
movieGunslingers
1950
Rawhide Rosie Rawlins
movieHouse by the River
1950
Mrs. Beach - Stephen's elderly cook
tvThe Lone Ranger
1949
Grandma Williams
movieRange Justice
1949
Ma Curtis
movieHomicide
1949
Mrs. Webb
movieFrontier Revenge
1948
Widow Owens
movieThe Dude Goes West
1948
Mrs. Hallihan
movieThe Return of the Whistler
1948
Mrs. Hulskamp
movieJoe Palooka in Fighting Mad
1948
Mom Palooka
movieJoe Palooka in the Knockout
1947
Mom Palooka
moviePossessed
1947
Mrs. Norris, the Caretaker’s Wife (uncredited)
movieLove and Learn
1947
Mrs. Grant (uncredited)
movieRamrod
1947
Mrs. Parks
movieTrail Street
1947
Mrs. Ferguson (uncredited)
movieThat Brennan Girl
1946
Mrs. Graves, the Nice Landlady
movieWild West
1946
Carrie Bannister
movieMy Dog Shep
1946
Carrie Hodgkins
movieGentleman Joe Palooka
1946
Mom Palooka
movieAngel on My Shoulder
1946
Agatha (uncredited)
movieJoe Palooka, Champ
1946
Mom Palooka
movieSo Goes My Love
1946
Bridget
Idea Girl
1946
Old Lady
movieDakota
1945
Mrs. Plummer
movieRiders of the Dawn
1945
Melinda Pringle
movieSong of Old Wyoming
1945
Ma Conway
movieMarshal of Laredo
1945
Mrs. Randall
movieWildfire
1945
Aunt Agatha
movieIdentity Unknown
1945
Mrs. Anderson
movieGhost Guns
1944
Aunt Sally
movieGirl Rush
1944
Mrs. Emma Mason
movieSan Diego I Love You
1944
Mrs. Gulliver (uncredited)
movieCasanova Brown
1944
Mrs. Smith
movieTrail to Gunsight
1944
Grandma Wagner
movieSummer Storm
1944
Beggar Woman (uncredited)
movieRange Law
1944
Boots Annie
movieThis Is the Life
1944
Sarah (uncredited)
movieThe Navy Way
1944
Mrs. Margaret Gimble (uncredited) / Mrs. Margaret Gimble
movieSo This Is Washington
1943
Aunt Charity Speers
movieFamily Troubles
1943
Mrs. Jones
movieHangmen Also Die!
1943
Mrs. Georgia Dvorak
movieAssignment in Brittany
1943
Albertine
movieRiders of the West
1942
Ma Turner
movieLaw and Order
1942
Mary Todd
movieThe Pride of the Yankees
1942
Mrs. Roberts (uncredited)
movieLady in a Jam
1942
Miner’s Wife (uncredited)
movieThe Mad Monster
1942
Grandmother
movieThis Gun for Hire
1942
Mrs. Mason (uncredited)
movieHeart of the Rio Grande
1942
'Skipper' Forbes
movieWild Bill Hickok Rides
1942
Mrs. Kimball
moviePrivate Snuffy Smith
1942
Lowizie Smith
movieThe Power of God
1942
Esther Worne
movieReg'lar Fellers
1941
Hetty Carter
movieMurder by Invitation
1941
Cassandra Hildegard Denham
movieA Woman's Face
1941
Police Matron
movieCity of Missing Girls
1941
Mrs. Randolph
movieIn Old Colorado
1941
Ma Harriet Woods
movieChad Hanna
1940
Mrs. Todd
movieLone Star Raiders
1940
Lydia 'Granny' Phelps
movieSon of the Navy
1940
Mrs. Baker - Landlady
movieForgotten Girls
1940
Miss Donaldson
movieI Stole a Million
1939
Lady in Post Office (uncredited)
movieShould a Girl Marry?
1939
Mrs. Wilson
movieThe Zero Hour
1939
Sister Theodosia
movieLet Freedom Ring
1939
'Ma' Logan
movieThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1939
Woman Wanting Needle Threaded (uncredited)
movieOff the Record
1939
Mrs. Fallon (uncredited)
Little Orphan Annie
1938
Mrs. Nora Moriarty
movieWomen in Prison
1938
Martha Wilson
movieExiled to Shanghai
1937
Aunt Jane
movieYouth on Parole
1937
Mrs. Blair
movieAnna Karenina
1935
Governess
movieMad Love
1935
Crippled Girl's Mother (Uncredited)
movieStranded
1935
Workman's Wife (uncredited)
movieA Dog of Flanders
1935
Frau Keller
movieWhen Strangers Meet
1934
Lucy Tarman
movieThe Defense Rests
1934
Mrs. Evans
movieHe Was Her Man
1934
Mrs. Gardella
movieDavid Harum
1934
Widow
movieAs the Earth Turns
1934
Mrs. Janowski
movieThe Sin of Nora Moran
1933
Mrs. Watts
movieThe Power and the Glory
1933
Henry's Wife
movieDoctor Bull
1933
Mary the Canning Cook
movieThe Important Witness
1933
Deaf Woman
movieFace in the Sky
1933
Ma Brown
movieRasputin and the Empress
1932
Duna the Landlady (uncredited)
movieTess of the Storm Country
1932
Old Martha
movieWomen Won't Tell
1932
Aggie Specks
movieKongo
1932
Nun (uncredited)
movieGrand Hotel
1932
Chambermaid in Room 174 (uncredited)
movieBlondie of the Follies
1932
Ma McClune
movieRed-Headed Woman
1932
Mary, Legendre Maid (uncredited)
movieThe Midnight Lady
1932
Nita St. George
movieYoung America
1932
Mrs. Mary Taylor
movieCross-Examination
1932
Mary Stevens
movieMata Hari
1931
Sister Teresa (uncredited)
movieThe Yellow Ticket
1931
Mother Kalish
movieSob Sister
1931
Ma Stevens
movieBad Girl
1931
Mrs. Gardner
movieThe Great Meadow
1931
Mistress Molly Hall
movieToday
1930
Emma Warner
movieBilly the Kid
1930
Homesteader Mrs. Foster (uncredited)
movieHide-Out
1930
Mrs. Dorgan
movieTrifles
1930
Mrs. Wright
movieThe Sophomore
1929
Mrs. Collins
movieCompanionate Marriage
1928
Mrs. Williams
movieThe Bugle Call
1927
Luke's Wife
movieThe Woman Who Did Not Care
1927
Mrs. Carroll
movieObey the Law
1926
The Mother