Burt Mustin

Burt Mustin
Mustin in The Funny Side (1971)
Born	Burton Hill Mustin (1884-02-08)February 8, 1884 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	January 28, 1977(1977-01-28) (aged 92) Glendale, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, California
Other names	Bert Mustin
Alma mater	Pennsylvania Military College
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1921–1977
Spouse	Frances Robina Woods ​ ​ (m. 1915; died 1969)​

Burton Hill "Burt" Mustin (February 8, 1884 – January 28, 1977) was an American character actor. Over the course of his career, he appeared in over 150 film and television productions. He also worked in radio and appeared in stage productions.

Mustin began his professional acting career at the age of 67 after director William Wyler cast him in the 1951 film noir Detective Story. Known for his dependability and versatility, Mustin went on to establish a career as a well-known character actor and worked extensively in film and television from the 1950s to the 1970s. His last major role was as Arthur Lanson on the CBS sitcom Phyllis, appearing on the show into early 1977, shortly before his death at almost 93 years old.

Early life

Mustin was born in Pittsburgh, to William I. and Sadie (Dorrington) Mustin. His father worked as a stockbroker. Mustin graduated from Pennsylvania Military College (renamed Widener University in 1972) with a degree in civil engineering, in 1903. He was first trombone in the band and also played goaltender for their ice hockey team in 1902. He was the last surviving member of his 1903 class. He worked as an engineer but later decided to go into sales. In 1916, Mustin began working as an automobile salesman selling Oakland Sensible Sixes. He later began selling the luxury Franklins. After the Franklin company went out of business, he sold Mercurys and Lincolns until civilian car production was halted during World War II. He then worked as a fiscal agent for the Better Business Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce.

Before he began a professional career in show business, Mustin did amateur acting and performing. In 1921, he became the first announcer for a variety show broadcast on Pittsburgh's then newly established KDKA radio station. He appeared in productions in the Pittsburgh Savoyards (a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe) and the Pittsburgh Opera. He was also a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society, making his first trip to California in 1925 to compete in a quartet competition being held in San Francisco. During this trip the group with their wives made a visit to Hollywood as tourists, but Mustin was not interested in a film career at that point because of his cozy life with his wife in Pittsburgh. They used their Lions Club contacts to secure lodging during the trip.

After retiring, Mustin moved to Tucson, Arizona. Director William Wyler saw him there in a stage production of Detective Story. Wyler told Mustin to look him up if he decided to pursue a screen career. Mustin did contact Wyler, who cast him in the 1951 film version of Detective Story. Mustin's acting career then took off, and he began landing roles in films and television series. He later moved to Los Angeles.

Career

Television

1950s and 1960s

Mustin made his television debut in 1951 with a role in the Western series The Adventures of Kit Carson. In 1953, he played a cotton farmer in A Lion in the Streets starring James Cagney. Almost from the start to the end of his career, Mustin specialized in playing older men, and with his tall scarecrow frame, bald head and beaked nose, he became one of the most familiar and busiest elderly character actors. Throughout the 1950s, he made guest appearances on Leave It to Beaver, The Abbott and Costello Show, The Loretta Young Show, Cavalcade of America, The Public Defender, Treasury Men in Action, The Lone Ranger, Fireside Theater, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Mackenzie's Raiders, Lux Video Theatre, Studio 57, Dragnet, Our Miss Brooks, It's a Great Life, The Gale Storm Show, General Electric Theater, Peter Gunn, and The Texan, among many others. Mustin also starred in the TV series pilot episode of The Lone Wolf starring Louis Hayward in 1954.

In 1960, Mustin guest starred on The Twilight Zone in the episode "The Night of the Meek" alongside Art Carney. He also appeared in a second episode of the series Kick the Can in 1962. In 1964, he had an uncredited role in The Outer Limits episode "The Guests".

During the 1960s, Mustin made one or more appearances on Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Ichabod and Me, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Dragnet, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Get Smart, The New Phil Silvers Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Dr. Kildare, The Jack Benny Program, Ben Casey, The Monkees, The Virginian, Cimarron Strip, My Three Sons, Batman (episode 48), and Bewitched. In 1969, he co-starred in the television film The Over-the-Hill Gang. He also appeared in the sequel film The Over-the-Hill Gang Rides Again the following year.

In addition to guest-starring roles, Mustin also had recurring roles on several television shows during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1955, he played the role of "Foley" in The Great Gildersleeve. From 1957 to 1958, he appeared as Mr. Finley on Date with the Angels. In 1957, he made his first appearance as "Gus the Fireman" on Leave It to Beaver. Mustin would continue in the role until 1962, making a total of 15 appearances on the show. In 1960, he made his first guest appearance on The Andy Griffith Show as Judd Fletcher. He appeared in the role until 1966, however in Season 6, Episode 17 (Return of Barney Fife), he is referred to as "ole man Crowley". He also portrayed "Old Uncle Joe" on two episodes of The Lucy Show in 1967. The following year, Mustin guest starred as "Grandpa Jenson" in three episodes of Petticoat Junction.

1970s

During the 1970s, Mustin continued with guest roles on All in the Family , The Brady Bunch, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Love, American Style, Adam-12, Emergency! and Sanford and Son (episode "Home Sweet Home for the Aged".)

Known for his quick wit and song-and-dance abilities, Mustin was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson during the 1970s. From 1971 to 1976, he appeared in five episodes of All in the Family (his first appearance as a night watchman, and an additional four appearances in a recurring role as "Justin Quigley").

In 1971, Mustin co-starred in the sketch comedy show The Funny Side. Hosted by Gene Kelly, the series featured an ensemble cast of five married couples that dealt with various issues through comedy sketches and song-and-dance routines. Mustin was cast opposite Queenie Smith as "the elderly couple". The series debuted on NBC in September 1971 and was canceled in January 1972.

Mustin guest starred as Jethroe Collins, a relative of a Jesse James victim in the "Bobby's Hero" episode of The Brady Bunch during the 1972–73 season.

The next year, Mustin co-starred in the television film version of Miracle on 34th Street, starring Sebastian Cabot, and had an uncredited role in the Disney television film Now You See Him, Now You Don't. Mustin's last continuing role was on the television series Phyllis, in which he played the suitor, and later husband, of Sally "Mother" Dexter, a role he played until shortly before his death.

Films

In addition to his extensive work in television, Mustin also appeared in numerous films. He made his film debut at the age of 67 in Detective Story, in 1951. He followed this with roles in Talk About a Stranger (1952), The Sellout (1952), The Silver Whip (1953), Half a Hero (1953), She Couldn't Say No (1954), The Desperate Hours (1955), Man with the Gun (1955), Storm Center (1956), and The Sheepman (1958).

In the 1960s and 1970s, Mustin appeared in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960), Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962), Twilight of Honor (1963), What a Way to Go! (1964), The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964), Sex and the Single Girl (1964), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), Cat Ballou (1965) (uncredited as a former gunfighter "Old ... Old ... ?" ), The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1965), The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967), Speedway (uncredited) (1968), The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968), The Great Bank Robbery (1969), Hail, Hero! (1969), and Skin Game (1971). In 1974, Mustin portrayed "Uncle Jeff" in the musical film Mame, starring Lucille Ball and Bea Arthur. He also had a small role in Herbie Rides Again, also released in 1974. The next year, he appeared as "Regent Appleby" in The Strongest Man in the World. His final film role came in 1976 in the Western film Baker's Hawk, starring Clint Walker and Burl Ives.

Tribute

In 2000 TVLand created a series of commercials celebrating the often seen but little known by name character actors who regularly appeared in their shows, with Mustin being featured in one.

Personal life

Mustin was one of the 110 original founders of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Lions Club which was established in 1921. He served as one of the presidents and remained active in the club for the remainder of his life.

Mustin married Frances Robina Woods in 1915. The couple remained together for 54 years, until her death in 1969, and had no children.

Death

On January 28, 1977, Mustin died at Glendale Memorial Hospital in Glendale, California, at the age of 92. He was buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	The Last Outpost	Marshal	Uncredited
1951	Detective Story	Willie	Uncredited
1952	Talk About a Stranger	Mr. Nicely the Jewler	Uncredited
1952	The Sellout	Elk M. Ludens
1952	Just Across the Street	Ed Simmons
1952	The Lusty Men	Jeremiah Watrus
1952	She Couldn't Say No	Amos	Uncredited
1953	The Silver Whip	Uncle Ben Nunan	Uncredited
1953	One Girl's Confession	Gardener
1953	Half a Hero	Granddad Radwell	Uncredited
1953	Vicki	Hotel Bellboy	Uncredited
1953	The Moonlighter	Turnkey	Uncredited
1953	A Lion Is in the Streets	Swift	Uncredited
1954	Executive Suite	Sam Teal	Uncredited
1954	Gypsy Colt	Charlie	Uncredited
1954	Witness to Murder	Building Night Watchman at End	Uncredited
1954	Silver Lode	Spectator at Oration	Uncredited
1954	Cattle Queen of Montana	Dan
1954	Day of Triumph	Man in the City	Uncredited
1955	Prince of Players	Miner	Uncredited
1955	The Desperate Hours	Carl	Uncredited
1955	The Return of Jack Slade	Gunsmith	Uncredited
1955	Man with the Gun	Hotel Desk Clerk	Uncredited
1956	Great Day in the Morning	Doctor	Uncredited
1956	Storm Center	Carl	Uncredited
1956	Edge of Hell	Mr. Morrison
1956	These Wilder Years	Old Man	Uncredited
1957	Raintree County	Old gent with "Flash"	Uncredited
1958	The Sheepman	Man on Stairs	Uncredited
1958	Rally Round the Flag, Boys!	Milton Evans, Town Meeting Chairman	Uncredited
1959	The FBI Story	Uncle Fudd Schneider	Uncredited
1960	Home from the Hill	Gas station attendant	Uncredited
1961	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn	Old Farmer with Shotgun	Uncredited
1961	Snow White and the Three Stooges	Farmer	Uncredited
1962	All Fall Down	Second Tramp	Uncredited
1962	Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man	Old Soldier	Uncredited
1963	Son of Flubber	Bailiff	Uncredited
1963	The Thrill of It All	The Fraleigh butler
1963	Twilight of Honor	Court Clerk	Uncredited
1964	The Misadventures of Merlin Jones	Bailiff	Uncredited
1964	What a Way to Go!	Crawleyville Lawyer	Uncredited
1964	The Killers	Elderly Man
1964	Sex and the Single Girl	Harvey	Uncredited
1965	Cat Ballou	Accuser
1965	The Cincinnati Kid	Old Man in Pool Hall	Uncredited
1966	The Ghost and Mr. Chicken	Mr. Deligondo	Uncredited
1967	The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin	Townsman	Uncredited
1967	The Reluctant Astronaut	Ned	Uncredited
1968	Speedway	Janitor at Coffee Shop	Uncredited
1968	The Shakiest Gun in the West	Old Artimus	Uncredited
1969	The Witchmaker	Boatman
1969	The Great Bank Robbery	Glazier	Uncredited
1969	Hail, Hero!	Old Man #2
1969	A Time for Dying	Ed
1970	Tiger by the Tail	Tom Dugger
1971	Skin Game	Liveryman in Fair Shake	Uncredited
1972	Now You See Him, Now You Don't	Mr. Reed	Uncredited
1974	Herbie Rides Again	Rich Man in Mansion
1974	Mame	Uncle Jeff
1975	The Strongest Man in the World	Regent Appleby
1975	Train Ride to Hollywood	George
1976	Baker's Hawk	General	(final film role)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	The Adventures of Kit Carson	Dave Lowery	Episode: "Fury at Red Gulch"
1953	The Stu Erwin Show	Uncle Lucious Erwin	Episode: "In the Shade of the Old Family Tree"
1954	Father Knows Best	Old Eddie Gilbert	Episode: "Grandpa Jim's Rejuvenation"
1955	The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin	Jameson Penrose	Episode: "The Legacy of Sean O'Hara"
1956	Science Fiction Theatre	Mr. Stevenson	Episode: "Brain Unlimited"
1957	State Trooper	John Daka	Episode: "Room Service for 321"
1957–1958	Date with the Angels	Mr. Finley	5 episodes
1957–1962	Leave It to Beaver	Gus the Fireman	15 episodes
1958	Maverick	Henry	Episode: "The Day They Hanged Bret Maverick"
1958	The Restless Gun	Man Playing Checkers	Episode: "A Pressing Engagement"
1959	Cimarron City		Episode 1, Season 1
1959	Peter Gunn	Cab driver	Episode: "The Rifle"
1959	Tombstone Territory	Lucky Jack Oliver	Episode: "The Black Diamond"
1960	General Electric Theater	Burt	Episode: "Adam's Apples"
1960	The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis	Jethro R. Wiggins J.P.	Episode: "Here Comes the Groom"
1960	The Dennis O'Keefe Show	Grandpa Clayhipple	Episode: "June Thursday"
1960	Mr. Lucky	Uncle Billy	Episode: "The Leadville Kid Gang"
1960	The Twilight Zone	Bert	Episode: "Night of the Meek"
1961	Thriller	The Redcap	Episode: "A Third for Pinochle"
1961	My Three Sons	Max	1 episode
1961	Peter Gunn	Old Man	Episode: “Down the Drain”
1961–1962	Ichabod and Me	Olaf	4 episodes
1961–1966	Bonanza	Various characters	4 episodes
1961–1966	The Andy Griffith Show	Jud Fletcher	14 episodes
1962	Shannon	Mr. Munday	Episode: "The Medal"
1962	The Twilight Zone	Old Man in Rest Home	Episode: "Kick the Can"
1963	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Mr. Bell Jury foreman (uncredited)	Episode: "Nothing Ever Happens in Linvale"; Episode: "The Star Juror"
1963	The Dick Van Dyke Show	Mr. Donald Lucas Parker	Episode: " Very Old Shoes, Very Old Rice"
1963–1964	The New Phil Silvers Show	Magruder	Episodes: "Who Do Voodoo? Harry Do!" and "Moonlight and Dozes"
1964	The Fugitive	Charley	Episode: "Nicest Fella You'd Ever Want to Meet"
1965	Hank	Pete	Episode: "Candidate"
1965	Get Smart	Agent 8	Episode: "Dear Diary"
1966	Batman	Old MacDonald	Episode 48: "The Yegg Foes in Gotham"
1966	Bewitched	Various characters	3 episodes
1967	Dragnet	Fred Gregory	Episode : "The Bank Examiner Swindle"
1967	Monkees	Kimba	Episode : "Monkees Marooned"
1967	The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.	Jan Streich	Episode: "The Moulin Ruse Affair"
1968	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.	Mr. Ferguson	Episode: "Gomer Goes Home"
1968	Gunsmoke	Uncle Finney	Episode: "Uncle Finney"
1968	Dragnet	Charles Augustus William Smith	Episode: "The Senior Citizen"
1969	The Good Guys	Kiley	Episode: "A Chimp Named Sam"
1969	Dragnet	Calvin Lampe	Episode: "Homicide: DR 22"
1970	The Ghost & Mrs. Muir	Mr. Homer	Episode: "Pardon My Ghost"
1970–1974	Adam-12	Various characters	5 episodes
1971	The Mary Tyler Moore Show	The Old Man	Episode: "Second Story Story"
1971	The New Andy Griffith Show	Mr. Ormstead	Episode: "Glen Campbell Visits"
1971	All in the Family	Harry Feeney	Episode: "Archie Is Worried About His Job"
1971	Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In	Himself + various characters	Season 5, Episode 13
1973	Here's Lucy	Mr. Robertson	Episode: "Lucy and Joan Rivers Do Jury Duty"
1973	The Brady Bunch	Jethroe Collins	Episode: "Bobby's Hero"
1973	Sanford and Son	Mr. Malloy	Episode: "Home Sweet Home for the Aged"
1973–1976	All in the Family	Justin Quigley	4 episodes
1974	Rhoda	Sleeping Man	Episode: "The Honeymoon"
1974-1976	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Himself	13 episodes
1975	Emergency!	Various characters	2 episodes
1975	Switch	Old man	Episode: "The Deadly Missiles Caper"
1976	The Moneychangers	Jack Henderson	Miniseries
1976–1977	Phyllis	Arthur Lanson	4 episodes

Further reading

• Young, Jordan R. (1986) [First published 1975]. "Burt Mustin". Reel Characters : Great Movie Character Actors (softcover) (Sixth ed.). Beverly Hills, CA: Moonstone Press. pp. 167–178. ISBN 978-0-940410-79-4.

External links

• Burt Mustin at IMDb
• Burt Mustin at the TCM Movie Database
• Burt Mustin at Find a Grave
• Burt Mustin discography at Discogs as Burt Mustin Theater, Widener College, Chester, Pa.