Clinton Sundberg

A former teacher, American actor Clinton Sundberg realized from the moment he set foot on stage that he'd never be a romantic lead, but settled -- profitably, as it turned out -- for character work. Sundberg's prim demeanor and light, throaty voice enabled him to carve a significant Hollywood niche as desk clerks and minor bureaucrats, though he was capable of coarse villainy, as proven in Undercover Maisie (1949). The actor worked most often at MGM throughout his career, from 1946's Undercurrent to 1963's How the West Was Won. Probably the closest he got to a full lead was as corpulent private eye J. Scott Smart's "Man Friday" in the enjoyable Universal low-budget mystery The Fat Man (1951). Clinton Sundberg contributed numerous voice-overs to commercials of the '70s, and was seen to good advantage in one advertisement as an unflappable tailor outfitting a large, talking Seven-Up bottle! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide