Porter Hall

Acting Sep 18, 1888 Oct 6, 1953 (aged 65) Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clifford 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. Hall played movie villains or comedic incompetent characters. Hall was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and 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 made his last onscreen appearance in the 1954 film Return to Treasure Island, which was released after his death.

He was probably best remembered for four roles: a senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, an atheist in Going My Way, the nervous, ill-tempered Granville Sawyer, who administers a psychological test to Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street, and a train passenger who encounters a man (Fred MacMurray) who has just committed a murder in Double Indemnity.

On October 6, 1953, Hall died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California at the age of 65. His interment was at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery. Hall had two children, David and Sarah Jane.

76 Acting Credits

Porter Hall

Acting

Double Indemnity

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

His Girl Friday

Miracle on 34th Street

Ace in the Hole

The Thin Man

Sullivan's Travels

Make Way for Tomorrow

The Petrified Forest

Going My Way

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

Unconquered

Dark Command

The Story of Louis Pasteur

Intruder in the Dust

Blood on the Sun

The Plainsman

Murder, He Says

Satan Met a Lady

The Desperadoes

Arizona

Pony Express

Vice Squad

True Confession