Frank Cady

Usually cast as a gregarious small-town businessman, druggist, store clerk or other type of all-around Midwestern-type 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.

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).

He is one of only three co-stars of Petticoat Junction (1963) who stayed with the series for its entire seven-year run (the other two being Edgar Buchanan and Linda Henning).

Although Frank Cady's most famous role would be that of general-store 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.

Receiving his BA in speech and drama, Frank eventually returned to Stanford for graduate work. He met his future wife, actress Shirley Jones (not The Partridge Family (1970) star), while teaching acting at the university.

In 1984, Frank received a call from Orson Welles asking him to appear in an upcoming film, The Cradle Will Rock. Sadly, the picture was pushed back and Welles died before it could be shot.

Retiring to Oregon in 1991, Cady and his wife kept active playing golf and hiking. Until recently, they took annual month-long hiking trips to Switzerland.

In 2005 he attended Eddie Albert's funeral along with his Green Acres (1965) co-stars Sid Melton and Mary Grace Canfield, who played Alf and Ralph, the "Monroe Brothers".

His cremains are interred at Los Osos Valley Memorial Park, Los Osos, CA, in the same plot as his wife, Shirley, who predeceased him in 2008.