Tom Fadden

Acting

Tom Fadden

Born 1895-01-06 · Bayard, Iowa, USA

Tom Fadden (January 6, 1895 – April 14, 1980) was an American actor. He performed on the legitimate stage, vaudeville, in films and on television during his long career. He would make his film debut with a small role in 1939's I Stole a Million. He would have his first memorable bit in his next film, Destry Rides Again, where in the opening scene he is playing cards, and is cheated when the character portrayed by Marlene Dietrich distracts him by spilling coffee in his lap. His film career would span almost forty years and encompass over 90 films, mostly in small or supporting roles, although with an occasional starring role, as in 1940's Zanzibar. His final acting credit was the 1977 science fiction horror film Empire of the Ants. Fadden died of natural causes on April 14, 1980 in Vero Beach, Florida.

Acting credits

It's a Wonderful Life poster
8.3

George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

It's a Wonderful Life

1946

Invasion of the Body Snatchers poster
7.5

A small-town doctor learns that the population of his community is being replaced by emotionless alien duplicates.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

1956

The Big Sleep poster
7.6

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

The Big Sleep

1946

Devil's Doorway poster
6.9

A Native American Civil War hero returns home to fight for his people.

Devil's Doorway

1950

Empire of the Ants poster
5.0

A Florida real estate developer and her captain lure investors to a property in the Everglades called Dreamland Shores, under false pretenses that the swampland will soon be developed. After the group arrives on a small island, they find it has been overrun by giant mutated ants, brought on by the dumping of toxic waste in the area.

Empire of the Ants

1977

The Glass Key poster
6.6

A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

The Glass Key

1942

Flaming Star poster
6.5

Pacer Burton, a young man of mixed Kiowa and white heritage, is caught between two worlds as conflict erupts between Native Americans and white settlers in Texas.

Flaming Star

1960

Dark Passage poster
7.3

A man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and works with a woman to try and prove his innocence.

Dark Passage

1947

Pocketful of Miracles poster
7.3

A New York gangster and his girlfriend attempt to turn street beggar Apple Annie into a society lady when the peddler learns her daughter is marrying royalty.

Pocketful of Miracles

1961

The Shepherd of the Hills poster
6.6

Young Matt Matthews, an Ozark Mountains moonshiner, hates the father he has never seen, who apparently deserted Matt's mother and left her to die. His obsession contributes to the hatred rampant in the mountains. However, the arrival of a stranger, Daniel Howitt, begins to positively affect the mountain people, who learn to shed their hatred under his gentle influence.

The Shepherd of the Hills

1941

Dragonwyck poster
6.6

A simple Connecticut farm girl is recruited by a distant relative, an aristocratic patroon, to be governess to his young daughter in his Hudson Valley mansion.

Dragonwyck

1946

A Big Hand for the Little Lady poster
7.1

A naive traveler in Laredo gets involved in a poker game between the richest men in the area, jeopardizing all the money he has saved for the purpose of settling with his wife and child in San Antonio.

A Big Hand for the Little Lady

1966

The Naughty Nineties poster
6.7

In the gay '90s, cardsharps take over a Mississippi riverboat from a kindly captain. Their first act is to change the showboat into a floating gambling house. A ham actor and his bumbling sidekick try to devise a way to help the captain regain ownership of the vessel.

The Naughty Nineties

1945

Destry Rides Again poster
7.2

Tom Destry, son of a legendary frontier peacekeeper, doesn’t believe in gunplay. Thus he becomes the object of widespread ridicule when he rides into the wide-open town of Bottleneck, the personal fiefdom of the crooked Kent.

Destry Rides Again

1939

The Tall Men poster
6.5

Two brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from Texas to Montana where they run into raiding Jayhawkers, angry Sioux, rough terrain and bad weather.

The Tall Men

1955

State of the Union poster
6.8

An industrialist is urged to run for President, but this requires uncomfortable compromises on both political and marital levels.

State of the Union

1948

Raw Deal poster
6.7

Joe Sullivan is itching to get out of prison. He's taken the rap for his accomplice Rick, a sadistic mobster who owes him $50,000 from the job they pulled. Rick sets up an escape for Joe, assuming that Joe will be killed while fleeing. But with the help of his love-struck girl Pat and his sympathetic legal caseworker Ann, Joe gets further than Rick intended...

Raw Deal

1948

Baby Face Nelson poster
5.6

Famed Depression-era gangster “Baby Face Nelson” robs and kills while accompanied by his beautiful moll.

Baby Face Nelson

1957

Pursued poster
6.5

A boy haunted by nightmares about the night his entire family was murdered is brought up by a neighboring family in the 1880s. He falls for his lovely adoptive sister but his nasty adoptive brother and mysterious uncle want him dead.

Pursued

1947

That Hagen Girl poster
5.3

Mary Hagen lives in a small town in Ohio and goes to Jordon Junior College. For years, there has been whispers, rumors and gossip about who are her real parents. When Tom Bates returns to town, he takes over the house and practice that Judge Merrivale left him when he died. As Tom has been away a number of years, this leads to more gossip and Mary believes that he is her father. The popular and rich Ken loves Mary, but his family and friends constantly remind him that she is 'not one of us'. Julia, a teacher at school encourages Mary but Mary cannot get a break in anything she does, or is accused of doing. Tom knows the answer to her true identity, and he is silent.

That Hagen Girl

1947

Hard to Get poster
6.3

When spoiled young heiress Maggie Richards tries to charge some gasoline at an auto camp run by Bill Davis, he makes her work out her bill by making beds. Resolving to get even, she pretends to have forgiven him, and sends him to her father to get financing for a plan Bill has. What happens next was not part of her original revenge plan.

Hard to Get

1938

The Thin Man Goes Home poster
7.1

Nick and Nora Charles are going home—but trouble is waiting at the front door! Hoping for a peaceful visit with Nick’s parents in the small town of Sycamore Springs, the sophisticated couple soon finds themselves surrounded by old rivalries, family tensions, and a mysterious murder. Nick’s father, a respected retired doctor, would much rather see his son give up detective work, but a suspicious shooting quickly draws Nick back into action. As Nick and Nora investigate, they uncover jealousy, deception, hidden motives, and a dangerous secret involving the town’s prominent citizens. William Powell and Myrna Loy bring their trademark sparkle, wit, and effortless chemistry to the roles of Nick and Nora Charles, while Asta adds more canine comedy. Directed by Richard Thorpe, The Thin Man Goes Home is a charming 1945 mystery-comedy filled with family friction, small-town intrigue, romance, and the playful banter that has made Nick and Nora one of cinema’s most beloved couples.

The Thin Man Goes Home

1944

Vengeance Valley poster
5.4

A cattle baron takes in an orphaned boy and raises him, causing his own son to resent the boy. As they get older the resentment festers into hatred, and eventually the real son frames his stepbrother for fathering an illegitimate child that is actually his, seeing it as an opportunity to get his half-brother out of the way so he can have his father's empire all to himself.

Vengeance Valley

1951

Flareup poster
5.4

A Las Vegas go-go dancer moves to Los Angeles to escape the psycho who has killed her partners.

Flareup

1969