Biography
Lanky character actor Tom Fadden first trod the boards when he joined an Omaha stock company in 1915. Fadden went on to tour in top vaudeville with his actress wife Genevieve. From 1932 to 1939, he was seen on Broadway in such productions as
Nocturne and
Our Town. He made his first film in 1939. Fadden's better-known screen roles include the tollhouse keeper in
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)--which led to choice appearances in subsequent
Frank Capra productions--and "possessed" townman Ira in
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). In 1958, he was seen on a weekly basis as Silas Perry on TV's Cimarron City. Tom Fadden's cinematic swan song was 1977's
Empire of the Ants. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide