Frank Sully

Character actor Frank Sully proved wildly prolific; in a screen career that lasted nearly 35 years, he appeared in more than 270 film and television productions. Sully made his screen debut in 1934, when he scored extra work in the musical murder mystery "Murder at the Vanities." Never one to turn down a small role, Sully appeared in slews of Hollywood productions in minor roles, for many of which he did not receive screen credit. Happily, due to the rise in interest in Hollywood's Golden Age, scholars and historians have searched archives, awarding credits retroactively where they are due. While the 1930s were full of these long-lost bit parts, the 1940s brought Sully noteworthy roles and screen time. In 1940 alone, he appeared in 15 different films. Of these, the Missouri native may be best remembered as Noah, one of the long-suffering Joads in John Ford's Oscar-winning adaptation of John Steinbeck's dustbowl drama "The Grapes of Wrath," which starred Henry Fonda. Sully would go on to work with a number of big stars, including Lucille Ball in the romantic-comedy "A Girl, A Guy, and a Gob," Rosalind Russell in the screwball comedy "My Sister Eileen," Gary Cooper in the romance-fueled Western "Along Came Jones," and Janet Leigh in the musical comedy "Bye Bye Birdie." Sully retired after scoring one last (formerly) uncredited role in the Oscar-winning musical biopic "Funny Girl." He died in 1975, leaving behind a long history of supporting turns.