Sarah Padden
Sarah Ann Padden was an English-born American theatre and film character actress. She performed on stage in the early 20th century. Her best-known 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.
Early life
Born in England to an Irish immigrant father, Michael Padden, and an English mother, the family emigrated to the United States on the S/S Ohio from England passing through the Port of Philadelphia in 1889.
The future actress took part in recitations in the Catholic school she attended in Chicago, where her fellow students enjoyed her talent as a mimic. Her parents wanted her to enter a convent, but a liberal-minded priest, Father Dorney, encouraged her ambition to become an actress. He assisted her in obtaining her first stage role, a theatrical featuring Otis Skinner.
For many years, Padden lived in the vicinity of the Broad River, Gaston, South Carolina. On one occasion she ventured onto a dam, reaching its center just as the noon whistle blew near the power station. Frightened, she lost her balance and fell over, but she managed to cling to a steel eye bolt. She was rescued by an African American manservant of the power company superintendent. Afterwards Padden's parents hired the man and took him to New York City, where he died at age 108.
Theatrical career
Padden was a featured player on the Orpheum Circuit. She had a role in His Grace de Grammont, a romantic comedy by Clyde Fitch which came to the Park Theatre in Boston 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 Émile 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, 845 South Broadway (Los Angeles),
in November 1925.
Film
Padden 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 Schünzel and starring Robert Young, Ruth Hussey, and Lana Turner. Bill Harrison a wealthy young businessman moves in with secretary girlfriend Joan Thayer's eccentric family to convince her they can make their marriage work.
In 1941, she played wealthy spinster Aunt Cassandra 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.
Avid golfer
She was athletic, taking part in skating, tennis, and swimming. She played 18 to 36 holes of golf daily. In 1919. she was considered one of the best female golfers in the United States. In Los Angeles, she was fond of playing the municipal links at Griffith Park.
Death
She died 4 December 1967 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 86. She was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.
Selected filmography
Obey the Law - The MotherHeroes of the Night - Mrs. RileyColleen - Police Lieutenant's WifeThe Woman Who Did Not Care - Mrs. CarrollThe Bugle Call - Luke's WifeSarah Padden in The Eternal Barrier Sarah Padden in Souvenirs Companionate Marriage - Mrs. WilliamsWonder of Women - AnnaThe Sophomore - Mrs. CollinsTrifles - Mrs. WrightHide-Out - Mrs. DorganOur Blushing Brides - Mrs. Hinkle - the Landlady Billy the Kid - Homesteader Mrs. Foster Today - Emma WarnerThe Great Meadow - Mistress Molly HallBad Girl - Mrs. Gardner Sob Sister - Ma StevensThe Yellow Ticket - Mother Kalish Mata Hari - Nursing Sister Teresa Cross-Examination - Mary StevensGrand Hotel - Chambermaid in Room 174 Young America - Mrs. Mary TaylorThe Midnight Lady - Nita St. GeorgeRed-Headed Woman - Mary - Legendre Maid Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm - Mrs. CobbThe Washington Masquerade - Pardoned Boy's Mother Blondie of the Follies - Ma McCluneTwo Against the World - Mrs. Polansky Kongo - Nun in Convent School Wild Girl - LizeWomen Won't Tell - Aggie SpecksTess of the Storm Country - Old MarthaRasputin and the Empress - Duna - Landlady Face in the Sky - Ma BrownPilgrimage - Mother of Soldier Missing in Action The Important Witness - Deaf WomanThe Power and the Glory - Henry's WifeDoctor Bull - Mary the Canning Cook Ann Vickers - Lil-Black WomanThe Wolf Dog - Mrs. StevensThe Sin of Nora Moran - Mrs. WattsMan of Two Worlds - OlagoAs the Earth Turns - Mrs. JanowskiDavid Harum - Widow CullonMen in White - Rose Smith All Men Are Enemies - Proprietress He Was Her Man - Mrs. GardellaMarrying Widows Little Man, What Now? - Widow ScharrenhoferThe Defense Rests - Mrs. EvansTomorrow's Children - Mrs. MasonWhen Strangers Meet - Mrs. TarmanA Dog of Flanders - Frau KellerThe Hoosier Schoolmaster - SarahStranded - Workman's Wife Mad Love - Mother of Lame Girl Anna Karenina - GovernessYouth on Parole - Mrs. BlairExiled to Shanghai - Aunt JaneWomen in Prison - Martha WilsonThree Comrades - Frau Schultz Romance of the Limberlost - SarahWoman Against Woman - DoraRich Man, Poor Girl - MaLittle Tough Guys in Society - Victim Little Orphan Annie - Mrs. Nora MoriartyOff the Record - Mrs. Fallon The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Woman Wanting Needle Threaded Let Freedom Ring - 'Ma' LoganMan of Conquest - Houston's Mother The Zero Hour - Sister TheodosiaShould a Girl Marry? - Mrs. WilsonI Stole a Million - Lady in Post Office The Angels Wash Their Faces - Mrs. Smith Forgotten Girls - Miss DonaldsonSon of the Navy - Mrs. Baker - LandladyStreet of Memories - Mother Lone Star Raiders - Lydia 'Granny' PhelpsChad Hanna - Mrs. TriddIn Old Colorado - Ma WoodsThe Man Who Lost Himself - MaidCity of Missing Girls - Mrs. RandolphA Woman's Face - Police MatronTight Shoes - Mrs. RupertMurder by Invitation - Cassandra 'Cassie' DenhamReg'lar Fellers - Hetty CarterOutlaws of Cherokee Trail - The Nun It Started with Eve - Jenny - Coat Check The Corsican Brothers - NursePrivate Snuffy Smith - Lowizie SmithWild Bill Hickok Rides - Mrs. Kimball The Power of God - Esther WorneHeart of the Rio Grande - Skipper ForbesThe Mad Monster - GrandmotherThis Gun for Hire - Mrs. Mason Lady in a Jam - Miner's Wife The Pride of the Yankees - Mrs. Roberts Law and Order - Aunt Mary ToddRiders of the West - Ma TurnerDr. Gillespie's New Assistant - Neighbor Assignment in Brittany - AlbertineHangmen Also Die! - Mrs. Georgia DvorakHostages - Old Woman So This Is Washington - Aunt Charity SpeersThe North Star - Old Lady Jack London - Cannery WomanThe Navy Way - Mrs. Margaret Gimble This Is the Life - Sarah Range Law - Boots AnnieSummer Storm - Beggar Woman Trail to Gunsight - Grandma WagnerCasanova Brown - Mrs. Smith San Diego, I Love You - Mrs. Gulliver Girl Rush - Mrs. Emma MasonGhost Guns - Aunt SallyThree Is a Family - Middle-Aged Woman Identity Unknown - Mrs. AndersonIt's in the Bag! - Woman in Elevator The Master Key - AggieHoneymoon Ahead - Mrs. HalettThe Unseen - Alberta Wildfire - Aunt AgathaRiders of the Dawn - Melinda PringleApology for Murder - Maggie - the JanitressMarshal of Laredo - Mrs. RandallSong of Old Wyoming - Ma ConwayDakota - Mrs. PlummerIdea Girl - Old lady #1Breakfast in Hollywood - Mrs. Marie Edgedaw So Goes My Love - BridgetJoe Palooka, Champ - Mom PalookaEarl Carroll Sketchbook - Mrs. Murphy Angel on My Shoulder - Agatha Gentleman Joe Palooka - Mom PalookaWild West - Carrie BannisterMy Dog Shep - Aunt Carrie HodgkinsThat Brennan Girl - Mrs. Graves, the Nice LandladyTrail Street - Mrs. Ferguson Ramrod - Mrs. ParksLove and Learn - Mrs. Grant The Millerson Case - Emma Millerson Possessed - Mrs. Norris - Caretaker's Wife Joe Palooka in the Knockout - Mom PalookaJoe Palooka in Fighting Mad - Mom PalookaThe Return of the Whistler - Mrs. HulskampThe Dude Goes West - Mrs. HallahanFrontier Revenge - Widow OwensHomicide - Mrs. WebbRange Justice - Ma CurtisThe Doctor and the Girl - Miss Newton House by the River - Mrs. BeachGunslingers - Rawhide Rosie RawlinsA Life of Her Own - Overseer Again Pioneers - Ma AshbyThe Missourians - Mother KovacsOh! Susanna - Mrs. Ledbetter Utah Wagon Train - Sarah WendoverShe's Working Her Way Through College - Wardrobe Woman at Burlesque Theatre Big Jim McLain - Mrs. LexiterPrince of Players - Mary Todd Lincoln The Kettles in the Ozarks - Miz Tinware No Time for Sergeants - Sgt. King's Mother Screaming Mimi - Thelma Girl With an Itch - Cookie