Trivia

Appeared in seven Oscar Best Picture nominees Lady for a Day (1933), Little Women (1933), Stage Door (1937), Test Pilot (1938), You Can't Take It with You (1938), Blossoms in the Dust (1941) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946), with You Can't Take It with You winning Best Picture of 1938.

He was a lawyer in Pasadena, CA, and used to act in plays at the Pasadena Playhouse as a hobby. Several producers were impressed enough with his stage work to offer him parts in their films, and after a few years he quit law and became a full-time actor.

Hinds' father, Joseph Edwin Hinds, was president of the United States Playing Card Company, and his great-grandfather was the respected British poet Robert Southey.

While standing with a group of extras at the studio, Hinds was recognized by Robert Young, who remembered him from the Pasadena Playhouse and introduced him to director Gregory La Cava, who cast him in his first featured role in Gabriel Over the White House (1933).

His Tudor Revival mansion, built in the San Rafael Heights area of Pasadena in 1916, was the Pasadena Showcase House of Design for 2017.

Was noted for his continuing role as Lew Ayres' father in the "Dr. Kildare" series at MGM, where he made many films.