Porter Hall

Porter Hall
Born	Clifford Porter Hall (1888-09-19)September 19, 1888 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died	October 6, 1953(1953-10-06) (aged 65) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1926–1953
Spouse	Geraldine Hall (1927-1953) 2 children

Porter Hall (September 19, 1888 – October 6, 1953) was an American character actor known for appearing in a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s. Possessing a weak chin and shifty eyes, Hall played movie villains or comedic incompetent characters.

Career

Born Clifford Porter Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, he began his career touring as a stage actor with roles in productions of The Great Gatsby and Naked in 1926. Hall made his film debut in the 1931 drama Secrets of a Secretary. He later appeared in The Petrified Forest (1936), The Plainsman (1936), Henry Goes Arizona (1939), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), They Shall Have Music (1939), His Girl Friday (1940), Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944), Going My Way (1944), Double Indemnity (1944), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), and Ace in the Hole (1951). He made his last onscreen appearance in the 1954 film Return to Treasure Island, which was released after his death.

Hall was probably best remembered for two roles: a senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and an atheist in Going My Way.

Death

On October 6, 1953, Hall died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California at the age of 65. He is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood. He had two children, David and Sarah Jane.

In popular culture

Director Russ Meyer named the scheming lawyer in the 1970 cult film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls after Hall.

Selected filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1931	The Cheat	Leslie	Uncredited
1934	The Thin Man	MacCaulay
	Murder in the Private Car	Alden Murray	Alternative title: Murder on the Runaway Train
1935	The Story of Louis Pasteur	Dr. Rossignol
	The Case of the Lucky Legs	Colonel Bradbury
1936	Satan Met a Lady	Ames
	The General Died at Dawn	Peter Perrie/Peter Martin
1937	Make Way for Tomorrow	Harvey Chase
	Souls at Sea	Court Prosecutor
1938	Dangerous to Know	Mayor Bradley
	King of Alcatraz	Matthew Talbot
1939	Grand Jury Secrets	Anthony Pelton
	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington	Senator Monroe
1940	Arizona	Lazarus Ward
	Dark Command	Angus McCloud
	His Girl Friday	Reporter Murphy
1941	The Parson of Panamint	Jonathan Randall
	Sullivan's Travels	Mr. Hadrian
1942	The Remarkable Andrew	Chief Clerk Art Slocumb
	Butch Minds the Baby	Brandy Smith
1943	A Stranger in Town	Judge Austin Harkley
	The Woman of the Town	Mayor Dog Killey
1944	Going My Way	Mr. Belknap
	The Great Moment	President Franklin Pierce
1945	Blood on the Sun	Arthur Bickett
	Murder, He Says	Mr. Johnson
	Week-End at the Waldorf	Stevens
1947	Singapore	Mr. Gerald Bellows
	Unconquered	Leach - slave auctioneer
1948	You Gotta Stay Happy	Mr. Caslon
	That Wonderful Urge	Attorney Ketchell
1949	The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend	Judge Alfalfa J. O'Toole
	Intruder in the Dust	Nub Gowrie
1952	Carbine Williams	Sam Markley
	Holiday for Sinners	Louie
1953	Pony Express	Jim Bridger
	Vice Squad	Jack Hartrampf	Alternative title: The Girl in Room 17
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	The Bigelow Theatre		1 episode
1952	Four Star Playhouse		1 episode
1954	Fireside Theatre	Mr. Aiken	1 episode

External links

• Porter Hall at the Internet Broadway Database
• Porter Hall at IMDb
• Porter Hall at the TCM Movie Database
• Porter Hall at Find a Grave