Biography
Francis Thomas Sullivan, aka Frank Sully, was an American character actor. Beefy and square-jawed, he was usually cast as rustic types or dumb heavies. He was a regular feature in Three Stooges shorts. Sully started his career as a comedian in vaudeville and appeared on Broadway from the late 1920s. He is known for the films The Grapes of Wrath (1940), The More the Merrier (1943) and Bye Bye Birdie (1963).
Known For
Complete Filmography
Bye Bye Birdie
1963
as Bartender
A singer goes to a small town for a performance before he is drafted.
Gypsy
1962
as Wichita Burlesque Audience Member (uncredited)
Rose Hovick lives to see her daughter June succeed on Broadway by way of vaudeville. When June marries and leaves, Rose turns her hope and attention t...
Let No Man Write My Epitaph
1960
as Drunk at Bar (uncredited)
Nick Romano lives in a poor tenement building on the south side of Chicago with his well-meaning but drug-addicted mother, Nellie. She encourages him ...
The Last Hurrah
1958
as Fire Lieutenant (uncredited)
In a changing world where television has become the main source of information, Adam Caulfield, a young sports journalist, witnesses how his uncle, Fr...
Man from God's Country
1958
as Trail Cook (uncredited)
Dan Beattie gives up his lawman job to move further west and rejoin his old war buddy Curt Warren in the town of Sundown. At first mistaken for a rail...
The Female Animal
1958
as Taxicab Driver (uncredited)
Jaded movie star Vanessa Windsor, saved from a studio accident by handsome extra Chris Farley, pursues him, and soon he's the 'caretaker' of her beach...
Rockabilly Baby
1957
as Bum
The mysterious Mrs. Eleanor Carter moves to Springville with her two teenage children Jimmy and Cathy. Eleanor makes friends with the town's social le...
Domino Kid
1957
A rancher vows revenge on the five men responsible for his father's death.
The Buckskin Lady
1957
as Jed
Patricia Medina plays the title character in The Buckskin Lady. Medina is cast as female gambler Angela Medley, who is forced by circumstances to alig...
A Merry Mix-Up
1957
as (uncredited)
The stooges appear in triplicate as three sets of triplets who were separated a long time ago. Their reunion causes confusion and troubles for various...
The Desperados Are in Town
1956
as Carl Branch
In this western, a young man tries to walk the straight and narrow, but he is impeded by his past. The trouble begins when the young fellow flees his ...
Friendly Persuasion
1956
as Rebel Looter (uncredited)
The story of a family of Quakers in Indiana in 1862. Their religious sect is strongly opposed to violence and war. It's not easy for them to meet the ...
You Can't Run Away from It
1956
as Red
A reporter stumbles on a runaway heiress whose story could salvage his career.
Frontier Gambler
1956
as Bartender
A deputy marshal arrives in the small western town of Fairweather to investigate the death of a beautiful gambler known as "The Princess".
So You Want to Be Pretty
1956
as Harry (uncredited)
In this comedic short, Joe and Alice McDoakes each wish their looks were better.
Blunder Boys
1955
as Dean Watts D. Matter (uncredited)
The stooges go to criminology school and graduate with the lowest possible honors. The boys join the police force and are assigned to track down a cro...
Last of the Desperados
1955
as Murder Victim Tim (bit)
After killing Billy the Kid, Sheriff Pat Garrett is relentlessly dogged by members of the Kid's gang.
Apache Ambush
1955
Two former enemies find themselves together on a cattle drive and fighting marauding Apaches and Mexican bandits.
The Naked Street
1955
To make an honest woman of his pregnant sister, Rosalie, callous New York mobster Phil Regal intimidates witnesses and bribes a store clerk to get Ros...
Seminole Uprising
1955
An angry Seminole chief wages war after his tribe is relocated from Florida to the American West.
Jungle Moon Men
1955
as Max
Priestess Oma is forever young in this Jungle Jim knockoff of "She" or the La of Opar stories from "Tarzan". The Jungle Jim-type character is played b...
Women's Prison
1955
A crusading psychiatrist battles a sadistic female warden to improve conditions at a women's prison.
Fling in the Ring
1955
as Big Mike
The stooges are the trainers of "Chopper", a beefy boxer, and they bet their bankroll on Chopper to win his next fight. When "Big Mike", their boss, t...
Silver Lode
1954
as Paul Herbert, Telegrapher
Dan Ballard, a respected citizen in the western town of Silver Lode, has his wedding interrupted by four men led by Ned McCarty, an old acquaintance w...
Battle of Rogue River
1954
as Pvt. Kohler
In 1850 Oregon is trying to gain statehood, but a truce is needed with the Indians before it can be accomplished. A new Army commander, Major Archer, ...
Ain't It Aggravatin'
1954
as Neighbor (uncredited)
This comedic short looks at human foibles that lead to major aggravations.
Bad for Each Other
1953
as Tippy Kashko, Townsman
A doctor returned from the Korean War must choose between joining a glamorous practice and helping the poor.
Pardon My Backfire
1953
as Escaped Convict
The stooges are auto mechanics who need money so they can marry their girls. When some escaped convicts pull into their garage, the boys manage to cap...
Northern Patrol
1953
as Bartender
Northern Patrol was the last entry in Monogram/Allied Artists' off-and-on "Northwest Mountie" series. Taking time off from his Sky King shooting sched...
Spies and Guys
1953
as Enemy Soldier (uncredited)
Joe Besser is sent on a spying mission with a beautiful female officer. Things, as usual when Joe is involved, don't go well and they are captured and...
No Room for the Groom
1952
as Cousin Luke
A young GI elopes to Las Vegas with his housekeeper’s daughter, but delays to their wedding night arise from illness, her manipulative mother, and a h...
Pat and Mike
1952
as Photographer (uncredited)
Pat Pemberton is a brilliant athlete, except when her domineering fiancé is around. The ladies golf championship is in her reach until she gets fluste...
Young Man with Ideas
1952
as Salesman (uncredited)
A Montana lawyer gets distracted after moving to California with his wife and children.
With a Song in My Heart
1952
as Soldier
Jane Froman (Susan Hayward), an aspiring songstress, lands a job in radio with help from pianist Don Ross (David Wayne), whom she later marries. Jane'...
Night Stage to Galveston
1952
as Policeman Kelly
A former Texas Ranger teams up with some of his old colleagues to rid the state of corruption in their new police force.
Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder
1952
as Harry, the Projectionist
Two singers step in to help an aspiring actress whose grandmother opposes her bid to launch a show-business career
A Fool and His Honey
1952
Wally suspects Eddie of having more than a friendly interest in Wally's wife, and his suspicions, he thinks, are confirmed when he finds Eddie in his ...
Man in the Saddle
1951
as Lee Repp
A small rancher is being harassed by his mighty and powerful neighbor. When the neighbor even hires gunmen to intimidate him he has to defend himself ...
Let's Make It Legal
1951
as Laborer (uncredited)
A woman divorces her husband of 20 years because he gambles too much.
The Red Badge of Courage
1951
as Veteran (uncredited)
Henry Fleming is a young Union soldier in the American Civil War. During his unit's first engagement, Henry flees the battlefield in fear. When he lea...
Rhubarb
1951
as Big Head Charlie - Bookie (uncredited)
Rich, eccentric T.J. Banner adopts a feral cat who becomes an affectionate pet he names Rhubarb. Then T.J. dies, leaving to Rhubarb most of his money ...
The Tall Target
1951
as Telegram Messenger (uncredited)
A detective tries to prevent the assassination of President-elect Abraham Lincoln during a train ride headed for Washington in 1861.
Father's Little Dividend
1951
as Infant Service Diaper Man (uncredited)
Newly married Kay Dunstan announces that she and her husband are having a baby, leaving her father to come to grips with the fact that he will soon be...
Joe Palooka in Humphrey Takes a Chance
1950
as Looie
A crooked boxing promoter tries to shake down Joe's manager by setting up a rigged fight in Humphrey Pennyworth's hometown.
The Reformer and the Redhead
1950
as Joe (uncredited)
A small-town politician falls for an idealistic zookeeper.
Beauty on Parade
1950
as Murph
Marian Medford Woodstock gave up a chance twenty years ago to compete for the Miss USA beauty title in order to marry Jeffrey Woodstock. She hopes to ...
The Good Humor Man
1950
as Cop (uncredited)
Biff Jones is a driver/salesman for the Good Humor ice-cream company. He hopes to marry his girl Margie, who works as a secretary for Stuart Nagel, an...
Blondie's Hero
1950
as Mike McClusky, the Snorer (uncredited)
Dagwood enters the Army Reserve and Blondie visits only to discover that he has caused all sorts of problems which lead to numerous conflicts.
Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey
1950
as Looie
Newlyweds Joe and Anne Palooka are delayed in their honeymoon plans by the helpful Humphrey Pennyworth and by considerably-less-helpful manager, Knob...
Trapped
1949
as Sam the Bartender (uncredited)
Secret Service agents make a deal with a counterfeiting inmate to be released on early parole if he will help them recover some bogus moneymaking plat...
Joe Palooka in the Counterpunch
1949
as Looie
Joe heads for South America to fight the Latin champ. Shipboard, he helps federal agents fight counterfeiters. He also spars with love interest Anne H...
Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture
1949
as Sergeant Matthews
Blackie is seen leaving a Chinese laundry where the proprietor has been murdered, and must track down the real killer in Chinatown.
Gun Smugglers
1948
as Corporal Clancy
A young boy threatens to follow in his outlaw brother's footsteps.
Blondie's Reward
1948
as Officer Carney
After bungling a real-estate transaction, Dagwood Bumstead (Arthur Lake) is demoted to office boy by his flustered boss Radcliffe (Jerome Cowan). Num...
Trapped by Boston Blackie
1948
as Sgt. Matthews
Blackie is the natural suspect when an expensive pearl necklace is stolen while he is supposed to be guarding it.
Wild Harvest
1947
as Nick
Joe is the head of an itinerant combine crew, working the harvests against rival crew boss Alperson. Joe's buddy Jim joins the crew with startup money...
Boston Blackie and the Law
1946
as Sgt. Matthews
Blackie performs in a magic show at a women's prison, which gives an inmate an opportunity to escape.
Crime Doctor's Man Hunt
1946
as Henchman 'Rigger'
A criminal psychologist investigates the murder of a veteran with amnesia.
It's Great to Be Young
1946
as Burkett
Ricky Malone, Spud Winters and some other returning G.I.'s are trying to break into show business by the old summer resort. Terry, a runaway daughter ...
Dangerous Business
1946
as Bert
Two young lawyers open an office together. They are hired to defend a utilities magnate who claims he has been framed. He is kidnapped by a gangster, ...
Renegades
1946
as Link
The daughter of a prominent citizen marries an outlaw's son.
The Phantom Thief
1946
as Detective Sergeant Matthews
Boston Blackie, in the 11th film of the Columbia series, indulges in some wit-trading with a squirmy spiritualist who deals in blackmail, murder and t...
Talk About a Lady
1946
as Rocky Jordan
A country girl, wanting to break into show-business, comes to New York City and, by her actions, manages to restore the optimism of a jaded and disill...
Throw a Saddle on a Star
1946
as Lawyer
The "star" in the title of this low-budget singing Western was Dynamite, a wild stallion captured by cowboy Curt Walker to ride in the Big Rodeo. Unsc...
The Gentleman Misbehaves
1946
as Taxi Driver
After his first attempt to obtain cash fails, a Broadway producer turns to a gambler to raise money for his show.
A Close Call for Boston Blackie
1946
as Sgt. Matthews
Blackie runs into a woman he formally loved who now is married with a kid. When her husband gets out of prison he's killed in Blackie's apartment and ...
One Way to Love
1946
as Hopkins
A Chicago team of radio scriptwriters must split up when he takes a job with his bride-to-be's father, and the other must write commercial jingles.
Out of the Depths
1945
as 'Speed' Brogan
Told in flashback, Out of the Depths strives to explain why its four male protagonists are bobbing around the Pacific in a lifeboat. The story proper ...
I Love a Bandleader
1945
as Dan Benson
A painter suffering from amnesia convinces himself that he's a famous bandleader and finds romance with a pretty singer. Comedy with music.
Along Came Jones
1945
as Avery de Longpre
An easy-going cowboy is mistaken by the townsfolk for a notorious gunman. The cowboy decides it would be best to leave town, until he meets the gunman...
Boston Blackie's Rendezvous
1945
as Mathews
Blackie helps the police rescue hostage from an escaped maniac on a killing spree.
Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion
1945
as Sgt. Matthews
Blackie is implicated in a murder when he accidently sells a phony Charles Dickens first edition at an auction.
Secret Command
1944
as Shawn
Sam Gallagher returns home to Los Angeles as an undercover spy for the Navy, getting a job at the shipyards where his brother, Jeff, is a foreman. Jef...
Two Girls and a Sailor
1944
as Private Adams
A sailor helps two sisters start up a service canteen. The sailor soon becomes taken with gorgeous sister Jean, unaware that her sibling Patsy is also...
Bachelor Daze
1944
as Ezra's neighbor
Slim and Ezra are roommates and are wondering why they are still single. Ezra tells Slim that the local battle axe played by Minerva Urecal has a cru...
The Ghost That Walks Alone
1944
as Beppo
Honeymooners find a dead radio producer in their suite.
There's Something About a Soldier
1943
as Alex Grybinski
Five officer candidates fight to prove their mettle during training.
Dangerous Blondes
1943
as Detective Joe Henderson
Mystery writer Barry Craig (Allyn Joslyn) and his wife Jane (Evelyn Keyes), prefer solving crimes rather than writing about them. They get a chance wh...
Thousands Cheer
1943
as Alan
Acrobat Eddie Marsh is in the army now. His first act is to become friendly with Kathryn Jones, the colonel's pretty daughter. Their romance hits a fe...
Pitchin' in the Kitchen
1943
as Albert, the Neighbor
While his wife works at a defense plant, Hugh stays home and tries to do the housework.
Good Luck, Mr. Yates
1943
as Joe Briggs
A 4F military school teacher's lie about being accepted for active duty causes problems on the home front.
The More the Merrier
1943
as FBI Agent Pike
It's World War II and there is a severe housing shortage everywhere - especially in Washington, D.C. where Connie Milligan rents an apartment. Believi...
Murder in Times Square
1943
as Benny the Baboon
An actor becomes a suspect in the murders of four New Yorkers injected with rattlesnake venom.
Power of the Press
1943
as Mack Gibbons (uncredited)
During WWII, the publisher of the isolationist New York Gazette is murdered just as he was about to change the paper's policy and support the US war e...
One Dangerous Night
1943
as Hertzog - Henchman
Reformed jewel thief the Lone Wolf investigates the murder of a playboy who was blackmailing three socialites.
Laugh Your Blues Away
1942
as Buck
Hired actors posing as Russian royalty complicate a social-climbing mother's efforts to fix up her son with the daughter of a wealthy Texas rancher.
The Boogie Man Will Get You
1942
as Officer Joe Starrett
A young divorcee tries to convert a historic house into a hotel despite its oddball inhabitants and dead bodies in the cellar.
The Daring Young Man
1942
as Luke
Jonathan Peckinpaw feels he's failed in his patriotic duty when he's rejected by the army, but he sees a chance to redeem himself by exposing a secret...
Lucky Legs
1942
as Mugg
Chorus girl Gloria Carroll inherits one million dollars from Broadway playboy Herbert Dinwiddle. Producer Ned McLane persuades her to advance him the ...
My Sister Eileen
1942
as Jenson
Sisters Ruth and Eileen Sherwood move from Ohio to New York in the hopes of building their careers. Ruth wants to get a job as a writer, while Eileen ...
A Man's World
1942
as Sammy Collins
Somewhere beyond the shores of the United States on a small island, where men ask no questions, women reveal no past and spies neither receive nor exp...
Parachute Nurse
1942
as Sgt. Peters
Nurses parachuting.
Inside the Law
1942
as Jim Burke
A gang of crooks wrestles with the temptation to rob the bank that they now manage.
Two Yanks in Trinidad
1942
as Mike Paradise
The Two Yanks in Trinidad are gangsters Tim Reardon (Pat O'Brien) and Vince Barrows (Brian Donlevy), who split up over a disagreement and join the arm...
Rings on Her Fingers
1942
Susan Miller works behind the girdle counter in a department store and dreams about the beautiful clothes and glamour she can never hope to have. Ente...
Sleepytime Gal
1942
as Dimples
Bessie Cobb, cake decorator in the kitchen of one of Miami's swankier hotels, is the central figure in an elaborate scheme by Chick Patterson, bell ca...
All Through the Night
1942
as Spence
Broadway gamblers stumble across a plan by Nazi saboteurs to blow up an American battleship.
Let's Go Collegiate
1941
as Hercules 'Herk' Bevans
Rawley University is about to receive a star athlete who could give it the first championship rowing team it's ever had. Unfortunately, he gets drafte...
Private Nurse
1941
as Eddie
In this brief B programmer, a nurse is hired to care for a widower's daughter who is unaware that her father is a gangster and that her mother is actu...
She Knew All the Answers
1941
as Cop
Chorus girl and rich playboy want to marry but he'll lose his fortune unless his trustee approves of his mate. So she goes to work in the trustee's br...
A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob
1941
as Salty
Steve is a shy quiet man who is an executive for a shipping firm. He meets Dot at the Opera where she had his seats and the next day she shows up as h...
Nice Girl?
1941
Jane is a nice girl and has had her eyes on a young man who seems more interested in his hand-built car than in Jane. She decides to shed her "nice gi...
Golden Hoofs
1941
as Ed Muckle
A teenage horse trainer fears she'll lose her beloved horses when the stables where she works is sold.
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1940
as John Root
Jimmy Kildare's impending nuptials are jeopardized by a diagnosis of possible epilepsy in his fiancee's brother.
Spring Parade
1940
as Bert - Shawl Salesman
In this light and lovely romantic musical, a Hungarian woman attends a Viennese fair and buys a card from a gypsy fortune teller. It says that she wil...
City for Conquest
1940
as Radio Listener (uncredited)
The heartbreaking but hopeful tale of Danny Kenny and Peggy Nash, two sweethearts who meet and struggle through their impoverished lives in New York C...
He Stayed for Breakfast
1940
as Butcher
Set in Paris, this romantic comedy revolves around the beautiful estranged wife of a wealthy banker who hides a handsome and fiery Communist fugitive ...
Young People
1940
as Jeb
Wendy Ballantine's parents decide to retire from show biz so she can have a normal life. They are unwelcome in the small town until a storm lets the f...
The Return of Frank James
1940
as Actor
Farmer Frank and his ward hunt brother Jesse's killers, the back-shooting Fords.
Cross-Country Romance
1940
as Mike
A runaway heiress hides in a doctor's trailer for a rollicking trip to San Francisco.
Lillian Russell
1940
as Hank
Alice Faye plays the title role in this 1940 film biography of the early-20th-century stage star.
Escape to Glory
1940
as Tommy Malone
The Grand Hotel formula that was so overworked in the 1930s made an encore appearance in 1940's Escape to Glory. The story is given timeliness by plac...
The Doctor Takes a Wife
1940
as Slapcovitch
A best-selling author of women's issues and a medical academic find it is to their mutual advantage to falsely claim that they are married.
The Grapes of Wrath
1940
as Noah
Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncl...
Women Without Names
1940
as Friendly Motorist
Joyce and Fred MacNeil's honeymoon comes to an abrupt and unsatisfying halt when Fred is accused of murder. Railroaded into prison through the efforts...
Castle on the Hudson
1940
as Second Prisoner (uncredited)
A hardened crook behind bars comes up against a reform-minded warden.
The Fighting 69th
1940
as Sergeant (uncredited)
Although loudmouthed braggart Jerry Plunkett alienates his comrades and officers, Father Duffy, the regimental chaplain, has faith that he'll prove hi...
The Night of Nights
1939
as Taxi Driver (uncredited)
A playwright has his career ruined when he is drunk on the first night. His wife dies having left him, and when his daughter triumphs in the revival o...
Another Thin Man
1939
as Pete (uncredited)
Not even the joys of parenthood can stop married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles from investigating a murder on a Long Island estate.
Second Fiddle
1939
as Townsman
Studio publicist discovers Minnesota skating teacher and takes her to Hollywood. She goes back to Minnesota but he follows her.
Some Like It Hot
1939
as Sailor Burke / The Living Corpse
Nicky Nelson is a fast-talking sideshow barker with a wax-and-alive concession on Atlantic City's boardwalk. Even with the band of his friend, struggl...
Sorority House
1939
as The Caterer
A young girl begins to wonder if she really fits into the upper-class sorority she's trying to join.
The Great Man Votes
1939
as Policeman at Parade
In 1923, Gregory Vance, a widower with two children, is a former scholar who has turned from book to bottle. He works, slightly, as a night-watchman, ...
Youth Takes a Fling
1938
as Jim
McCrea plays Joe Meadows, whose only ambition as a Kansas farm boy was a life at sea. He moves to New York to try to get a job as a sailor, finds it m...
Hold That Co-ed
1938
as Steve Wurgerski
An egotistical politician believes he can win votes by turning a small college's hapless football squad into a championship team.
Start Cheering
1938
as Jimmy
After retiring from movies to get an education, a man discovers his ex-staff is trying to have him expelled.
Daughter of Shanghai
1937
as Jake Kelly
A Chinese-American woman tries to expose an illegal alien smuggling ring.
Live, Love and Learn
1937
as Marine (uncredited)
A starving, uncompromising artist and an heiress fall in love on first sight and immediately get married. She loves his outrageous behaviour, his stra...
Radio Patrol
1937
as Flynn
About a young radio cop and a beautiful girl try to stop an international criminal gang from getting their hands on the formula for a new bulletproof ...
Life Begins in College
1937
as Football Player
When a wealthy Indian student endows the college so they can keep the football coach rumor has it the Indian has played professionally and can't be on...
White Bondage
1937
as Man in Pool Room
A reporter risks lynching to prove that share croppers are being cheated.
Captains Courageous
1937
as Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Harvey, the arrogant and spoiled son of an indulgent absentee-father, falls overboard from a transatlantic steamship and is rescued by a fishing vesse...
They Gave Him a Gun
1937
as Comedy Soldier (uncredited)
With no other prospects, a World War I veteran puts the skills they taught him in the War to use.
Criminals of the Air
1937
Undercover agent Mark Owens is sent to aid the Border Patrol in the trans-border town of Hernandez in breaking up a well-organized band of smugglers.
The Romance Of Robert Burns
1937
as Jock Wilson (uncredited)
The 'Farmer Poet' Robert Burns, after a bad romance, pens "Auld Lang Syne" to much fanfare and courts high society at the expense of his blossoming re...
Black Legion
1937
as Truck Driver's Helper (uncredited)
When a hard-working machinist loses a promotion to a Polish-born worker, he is seduced into joining the secretive Black Legion, which intimidates fore...
Theodora Goes Wild
1936
as Clarence (uncredited)
The small-town prudes of Lynnfield are up in arms over 'The Sinner,' a sexy best-seller. They little suspect that author 'Caroline Adams' is really Th...
Rhythm on the Range
1936
as Splashed Rodeo Cowboy
Cowboy Jeff Larabee returns from the east and meets Doris Halloway, a young girl, that he regards as a vagabond, till he learns that she's the owner o...
Fury
1936
as Dynamiter (uncredited)
Joe, who owns a gas station along with his brothers and is about to marry Katherine, travels to the small town where she lives to visit her, but is wr...
Gentle Julia
1936
as Mr. Toms
A shy newspaperman nearly gives up when his girlfriend falls for the new guy in town till Withers sets things right.
Mary Burns, Fugitive
1935
as Steve
A young woman who owns a coffee shop falls for a handsome young customer, unaware that he is a gangster.
Caravan
1934
as Hungarian Soldier (Uncredited)
A countess marries a Gypsy fiddler instead of a baron's son at harvest time in Tokay wine country, Hungary.
Murder at the Vanities
1934
as Chorus Boy (uncredited)
Shortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's Vanities, someone is attempting to injure the leading la...