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Sam Flint

American actor (1882-1980)

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
11 min read
Source updated September 12, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Sam Flint (born Samuel A. Ethridge; October 19, 1882 , October 17, 1980) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 200 films, and is perhaps most familiar to today's audiences from Charlie Chan mysteries, adventure serials (notably The Phantom as the Phantom's father), It's a Wonderful Life (as the relieved bank manager mopping his brow in Mr. Potter's office), and the Three Stooges short Micro-Phonies (as singer Christine McIntyre's wealthy father).

Flint was born in Gwinnett County, Georgia. As a young man, he became interested in the theater and appeared in many dramatic plays.

By 1933, he was a member of the Los Angeles company appearing in the hit play The Drunkard, under his real name of Sam Ethridge, and broke into movies with the small, independent Monogram Pictures. Comedian W. C. Fields wanted to include The Drunkard in one of his films, and arranged for Paramount Pictures to sign members of the company -- including Ethridge -- to movie contracts. While most of the actors returned to the live theater, Ethridge continued to work in pictures. Under the screen name Sam Flint, he became familiar for his weathered face, distinguished mustache, and dignified bearing, typecasting him profitably as authority figures: doctors, lawyers, judges, ship's captains, military officers, bankers, racetrack stewards, and senior officials. His last film was the satirical feature Head (1968), starring The Monkees.

01Personal life

Flint was married to actress Ella Ethridge, whom he met after she watched him in a play in Galveston, Texas. Later they had an agreement: "Neither will accept a part with any company unless the contract includes the other."

02Selected filmography

Watch videos about Sam FlintExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Sam Flint”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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