- Born
- Died
- Birth nameFrank Randolph Cady
- Height5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
- 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. 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). 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. One of his earlier--and more atypical--roles was as a seedy underworld character pulled in for questioning in a cop's murder in the noir classic He Walked by Night (1948), and he played a succession of hotel clerks, bureaucrats, henpecked husbands and the like for the next 40+ years. He did much television work from the mid-'50s onward. Cady resided in Wilsonville, Oregon and at the time of his death had two children; daughter, Catherine Turk; son, Steven; three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
- IMDb mini biography by: K.P. Manning
- SpouseShirley Katherine Jones(June 15, 1940 - August 22, 2008) (her death, 2 children)
- ChildrenCatherine Turk
- ParentsLeon CadyClara Cady
- Hayseed Drawl
- Bald Head
- 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 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".
- He played the same character (Sam Drucker) in three different television series: Petticoat Junction (1963), Green Acres (1965) and The Beverly Hillbillies (1962).
- 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).
- 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.
- What's the secret to playing Sam Drucker? I just play myself. Sam Drucker and I are old friends. I played him on Petticoat Junction (1963), Green Acres (1965) and The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) and we were going strong until 1971, when Fred Silverman canceled every show with a tree in it.
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