# Drucker's General Store closes for good (Frank Cady, 1915 - 2012) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764 "2012-06-10T23:09:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/1 "2012-06-10T23:09:08Z")
Character actor Frank Cady–in zillions of movies, most notably _Ace in the Hole_ and _The Bad Seed_–but best known as Sam Drucker on the “hick trifecta” \*Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies \*and _Petticoat Junction-_-died at 96 on Friday. Even as we speak, Mr. Haney is emptying the stock out the back of the store onto his truck . . . ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/2 "2012-06-10T23:20:54Z")
He and Eli Wallach remind me of what my aunt said when she passed 90: “I guess they’ll just have to shoot me on Judgement Day.” IIRC, both Cady and Janet Leigh were native Californians, as was my dad; and although there’s no traditional regional dialect, there was something distinctive in their speech. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/3 "2012-06-10T23:48:42Z")
I used to work in the small coastal town where Cady lived and spoke to him a time or two. Couldn’t have been more different from Sam Drucker; a sweet, modest gentleman with an easy laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/4 "2012-06-10T23:49:42Z")
I’m sure his general store was put out of business by a Wal-Mart years ago! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/5 "2012-06-11T02:59:53Z")
I loved the fact that Drucker was two different characters in each show (as befitting the differences in the shows). In **Green Acres** , he was part of the general absurdity, but in **Petticoat Junction** , he was far more realistic. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/6 "2012-06-11T06:52:09Z")
He was still alive? Wow! I thought he had to be dead when I watched those shows. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/7 "2012-06-11T07:43:03Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > He was still alive? Wow! I thought he had to be dead when I watched those shows. And the weird part is that when you learned you were wrong you were in fact right. It’s Schrodinger’s Drucker. Amazing that somebody who played a love interest of Irene Ryan lived until 1912. Of course he was only in his 50s, a bit younger than his character (at least I assume Sam Drucker was supposed to be a bit older). I guess that leaves only Eb. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/8 "2012-06-11T07:49:22Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > And the weird part is that when you learned you were wrong you were in fact right. It’s Schrodinger’s Drucker. > > Amazing that somebody who played a love interest of Irene Ryan lived until 1912. Of course he was only in his 50s, a bit younger than his character (at least I assume Sam Drucker was supposed to be a bit older). > > I guess that leaves only Eb. Okay, this post was confusing on several different levels. So I’ll just point out that Mary Grace Canfield, aka [Ralph Monroe](http://www.maggiore.net/greenacres/images/Cast_ralph.jpg), is still alive at age 87. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/9 "2012-06-11T08:01:21Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Amazing that somebody who played a love interest of Irene Ryan lived until _1912_. Apologies, that should read _2012_. (When you [time travel](http://www.peterberthoud.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Jacob-von-Hogflume.jpg) as much as I do you sometimes get your centuries confused.) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/10 "2012-06-11T08:26:47Z")
Sorry to learn about this. I loved both those shows as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/11 "2012-06-11T08:43:31Z")
Aw, damn. ☹ RIP, Frank. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/12 "2012-06-11T09:06:52Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > \*Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies \*and _Petticoat Junction_. Betty Jo, Billie Jo, or Bobbie Jo? Ellie Mae Clampett or Lisa Douglas? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/13 "2012-06-11T12:37:34Z")
> [@HelenGawn](#): > > Couldn’t have been more different from Sam Drucker; a sweet, modest gentleman with an easy laugh. I don’t know, that sounds like ol’ Sam. _Green Acres_–I will go to my grave proclaiming–was one of the most brilliant, absurdist, po-mo shows of all time. “Vould you like a ‘directed by’ egg zis morning, dahling?” ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/14 "2012-06-11T13:22:09Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I don’t know, that sounds like ol’ Sam. > > _Green Acres_–I will go to my grave proclaiming–was one of the most brilliant, absurdist, po-mo shows of all time. “Vould you like a ‘directed by’ egg zis morning, dahling?” Agreed. I always assumed the writers must have had access to some really good drugs back in the 60’s. Too bad about Frank. Count me in with the “didn’t know he was still alive” folks. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/15 "2012-06-11T13:30:42Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Agreed. I always assumed the writers must have had access to some really good drugs back in the 60’s. A lot of the writing reminded me of the early absurdist Marx Brothers films at Paramount, before they were bought and gelded by MGM. I mean, Alfred Lord and Ralph Waldo Monroe? Drobny the Hungarian Resistance Duck? Arnold and Cynthia’s inter-species romance? References to everyone from Anna Held to Gilda Gray to Anna May Wong? \*Love \*that show. Plus, Oliver and Lisa were the hottest TV couple outside of Gomez and Morticia. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/16 "2012-06-11T13:53:29Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I don’t know, that sounds like ol’ Sam. > > _Green Acres_–I will go to my grave proclaiming–was one of the most brilliant, absurdist, po-mo shows of all time. “Vould you like a ‘directed by’ egg zis morning, dahling?” His character, while part of the weirdness, was actually a nice guy who was slightly more normal than the rest. I wonder if **don’t mind me** was confusing him with Mr. Haney. The show was absolutely surreal. I love watching the reruns and also wonder what kind of drugs the writers were using. Sorry, but the hottest couple on the show was Fred & Doris Ziffel, with their love-child Arnold 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/17 "2012-06-11T14:03:35Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > A lot of the writing reminded me of the early absurdist Marx Brothers films at Paramount, before they were bought and gelded by MGM. > > I mean, Alfred Lord and Ralph Waldo Monroe? Drobny the Hungarian Resistance Duck? Arnold and Cynthia’s inter-species romance? References to everyone from Anna Held to Gilda Gray to Anna May Wong? \*Love \*that show. > > Plus, Oliver and Lisa were the hottest TV couple outside of Gomez and Morticia. I remember one episode with Oliver and Lisa in bed as the opening credits ran, and Lisa says, “Oh look! It’s the writing!” Oliver: “Writing? What writing?” Lisa: “The writing in the air!” Oliver: “Writing in the air??” Lisa: “Yes - the writing in the air. But the letters are always backwards!” Brilliant! When Nick at Night first started showing “Green Acres” reruns, they used the tagline: “It’s not dumb. It’s surreal!” ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/18 "2012-06-11T14:24:02Z")
ZaSu Pitts! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/19 "2012-06-11T14:46:15Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > When Nick at Night first started showing “Green Acres” reruns, they used the tagline: “It’s not dumb. It’s surreal!” S’trewth! I always have to tell people who are only vaguely familiar with it that it is not _Beverly Hillbillies_ or _Petticoat Junction_, it is a brilliantly insane \*parody \*of them. (Remember every time Oliver started on one of his How Great Is the American Farmer speeches, a fife started playing some patriotic theme, which everyone could hear but him?) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764/20 "2012-06-11T14:55:01Z")
I loved all these shows as a kid. Green Acres may have been the best absurdist comedy of it’s time, followed closely by the Hillbillies. I know Cady wasn’t as old as he played at the time, but I’m still surprised that he was still around until recently. RIP Frank, and all the other departed residents of the Bugtussle greater metropolitan area. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/druckers-general-store-closes-for-good-frank-cady-1915-2012/624764.md?page=2)