Burt Mustin

Burt Mustin
Mustin with Queenie Smith from The Funny Side, 1971
Born	Burton Hill Mustin (1884-02-08)February 8, 1884 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	January 28, 1977(1977-01-28) (aged 92) Glendale, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery
Nationality	American
Other names	Bert Mustin
Alma mater	Pennsylvania Military College
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1921–1977
Spouse(s)	Frances Robina Woods (m. 1915–69)

Burton Hill "Burt" Mustin (February 8, 1884 – January 28, 1977) was an American character actor. Over the course of his career, Mustin appeared in over 150 film and television productions. He also worked in radio and appeared in stage productions.

Mustin began his professional acting career at the age of 67 after director William Wyler cast him in the 1951 film noir Detective Story. Known for his dependability and versatility, Mustin would go on to establish a career as a well-known character actor and worked extensively in film and television from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Mustin was born in Pittsburgh to William I. and Sadie (Dorrington) Mustin. His father worked as a . Mustin graduated from Pennsylvania Military College (renamed Widener University in 1972) in 1903 with a degree in civil engineering. He also played goaltender for their ice hockey team in 1902. He worked as an engineer but later decided to go into sales. In 1916, Mustin began working as an automobile salesman selling Oakland Sensible Sixes. He later began selling the luxury Franklins. After the Franklin company went out of business, Mustin sold Mercurys and Lincolns until the car industry began to suffer due to World War II. He then worked as a fiscal agent for the Better Business Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce.

Before he began a professional career in show business, Mustin did amateur acting and performing. In 1921, he became the first announcer for a variety show broadcast on Pittsburgh's then newly established KDKA radio station. He appeared in productions in the Pittsburgh Savoyards (a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe) and the Pittsburgh Opera. He was also a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society, making his first trip to California in 1925 to compete in a quartet competition being held in San Francisco. During this trip the group with their wives made a visit to Hollywood as tourists but Mustin was not interested in a film career at that point because of his cozy life with his wife in Pittsburgh. They used their Lions Club contacts to secure lodging during the trip.