Percy Alfred Helton (January 31, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was one of the most familiar faces and voices in Hollywood of the 1950s. Career A Manhattan native, Helton began acting at the age of two, appearing in vaudeville acts with his British-born father, Alfred "Alf" Helton. He was a cast member in the Broadway production of Julie BonBon (1906). Helton went on to perform in stock theater and in other Broadway plays. Helton joined the United States Army in World War I. Deployed to Europe with the American Expeditionary Forces, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his duty with the 77th Infantry Division's 305th Field Artillery. A change in his voice altered Helton's career. He remained in acting but chiefly as a character actor in a wide range of films and television programs in the 1950s and 1960s. Among those programs were three guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Asa Cooperman in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Pathetic Patient", as a pawn broker in the 1961 episode "The Case of the Torrid Tapestry" and as a hotel clerk in the 1965 episode "The Case of the Careless Kitten." Films in which he performed include Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Criss Cross (1949), The Set-Up (1949), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), and as "Sweetface" in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). He co-starred in several films noir, including Wicked Woman (1953). Personal life and death Helton died at age 77 at the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center on September 11, 1971, the year of his final film appearance. His ashes are inurned at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary in Los Angeles, California. Partial filmography The Fairy and the Waif (1915) as The Waif The Flower of Faith (1916) as Tom Judson The Master Mind (1920) as Younger brother Silver Wings (1922) as John (play) Insinuation (1922) as Jimmie The Offenders (1922) Frankie and Johnny (1936) as Undetermined role (uncredited) Miracle on 34th Street (1947) as Drunken Santa Claus (uncredited) Call Northside 777 (1948) as William Decker - Mailman (uncredited) Let's Live Again (1948) as Mr. President Hazard (1948) as Beady Robbins Larceny (1948) as Charlie Jordan That Wonderful Urge (1948) as Monroe Township Jail Drunk (uncredited) Chicken Every Sunday (1949) as Mr. Sawyer (uncredited) Criss Cross (1949) as Frank Alias Nick Beal