Name
Edward Everett Horton
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1886-03-17
Deathday
1970-09-29 (84 years old)
Place of Birth
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edward Everett Horton Jr. (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970) was an American character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television, and voice work for animated cartoons. Horton began his stage career in 1906, singing and dancing and playing small parts in vaudeville and in Broadway productions. In 1919, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he began acting in Hollywood films. His first starring role was in the comedy Too Much Business (1922), but he portrayed the lead role of an idealistic young classical composer in the drama Beggar on Horseback (1925). In the late 1920s, he starred in two-reel silent comedies for Educational Pictures, and made the transition to talking pictures with Educational in 1929. As a stage-trained performer, he found more film work easily, and appeared in some of Warner Bros.' early talkies, including The Terror (1928) and Sonny Boy (1929).
Horton initially used his given name, Edward Horton, professionally. His father persuaded him to adopt his full name professionally, reasoning that other actors might be named Edward Horton, but only one named Edward Everett Horton. Horton soon cultivated his own special variation of the time-honored double take (an actor's reaction to something, followed by a delayed, more extreme reaction). In Horton's version, he would smile ingratiatingly and nod in agreement with what just happened; then, when realization set in, his facial features collapsed entirely into a sober, troubled mask.
Horton starred in many comedy features in the 1930s, usually playing a mousy fellow who put up with domestic or professional problems to a certain point, and then finally asserted himself for a happy ending. He is best known, however, for his work as a character actor in supporting roles. These include The Front Page (1931), Trouble in Paradise (1932), Alice in Wonderland (1933), The Gay Divorcee (1934, the first of several Astaire/Rogers films in which Horton appeared), Top Hat (1935), Danger - Love at Work (1937), Lost Horizon (1937), Holiday (1938), Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Pocketful of Miracles (1961), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and Sex and the Single Girl (1964). His last role was in the comedy film Cold Turkey (1971), in which his character communicated only through facial expressions.
Known For
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- 1932 Trouble in Paradise as Francois
- 1944 Arsenic and Old Lace as Mr. Witherspoon
- 1961 Pocketful of Miracles as Hudgins
- 1935 Top Hat as Horace Hardwick
- 1937 Lost Horizon as Alexander P. " Lovey " Lovett
- 1930 Take the Heir as Smithers
- 1945 Lady on a Train as Mr. Haskell
- 1963 It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World as Mr. Dinckler
- 1964 The Emperor's Oblong Pancake as Narrator
- 1937 Shall We Dance as Jeffrey Baird
- 1930 Once a Gentleman as Oliver
- 1938 Bluebeard's Eighth Wife as Marquis De Loiselle
- 1930 Reaching for the Moon as Roger, the Valet
- 1933 Alice in Wonderland as Mad Hatter
- 1964 Sex and the Single Girl as The Chief
- 1934 The Gay Divorcee as Egbert Fitzgerald
- 1971 Cold Turkey as Hiram C. Grayson
- 1931 The Front Page as Bensinger
- 1935 The Devil Is a Woman as Gov. Don Paquito 'Paquitito'
- 1957 The Story of Mankind as Sir Walter Raleigh
- 1943 Forever and a Day as Anthony Trimble-Pomfret
- 1942 Springtime in the Rockies as McTavish
- 1934 The Merry Widow as Ambassador Popoff
- 1937 Angel as Graham
- 1924 To the Ladies as Leonard Beebe
- 1938 Holiday as Nick Potter
- 1941 Here Comes Mr. Jordan as Messenger 7013
- 1926 The Whole Town's Talking as Chester Binney
- 1947 Down to Earth as Messenger 7013
- 1943 The Gang's All Here as Peyton Potter
- 1947 The Ghost Goes Wild as Eric
- 1944 Summer Storm as Count "Piggy" Volsky
- 1934 Ladies Should Listen as Paul Vernet
- 1944 San Diego I Love You as Philip McCooley
- 1934 Kiss and Make-Up as Marcel Caron
- 1933 Design for Living as Max Plunkett
- 1937 Hitting a New High as Lucius B. Blynn
- 1930 Holiday as Nick Potter
- 1935 Little Big Shot as Mortimer Thompson
- 1933 A Bedtime Story as Victor Dubois
- 1969 2000 Years Later as Evermore
- 1937 The Perfect Specimen as Mr. Grattan
- 1938 College Swing as Hubert Dash
- 1931 Lonely Wives as Richard 'Dickie' Smith / Felix, the Great Zero
- 1937 Danger – Love at Work as Howard Rogers
- 1941 Sunny as Henry Bates
- 1937 The Great Garrick as Tubby
- 1923 Ruggles of Red Gap as Ruggles
- 1937 The King and the Chorus Girl as Count Humbert Evel Bruger
- 1936 The Singing Kid as Davenport Rogers
- 1929 Ask Dad as Dad
- 1935 Going Highbrow as Augie Winterspoon
- 1935 Biography of a Bachelor Girl as Leander 'Bunny' Nolan
- 1931 Smart Woman as Billy Ross
- 1934 It's a Boy as Dudley Leake
- 1934 Easy to Love as Eric
- 1967 The Perils of Pauline as Caspar Coleman
- 1932 But the Flesh Is Weak as Sir George Kelvin
- 1936 Hearts Divided as John
- 1924 Helen's Babies as Uncle Harry
- 1934 The Poor Rich as Albert Stuyvesant Spottiswood
- 1934 Sing and Like It as Adam Frink - Producer
- 1930 Wide Open as Simon Haldane
- 1935 The Night Is Young as Baron Szereny
- 1944 The Town Went Wild as Everett Conway
- 1931 The Great Junction Hotel as The Groom
- 1934 Smarty as Vernon
- 1944 Brazil as Everett St. John Everett
- 1935 In Caliente as Harold Brandon
- 1935 $10 Raise as Hubert T. Wilkins
- 1934 Success at Any Price as Harry Fisher
- 1941 Weekend for Three as Fred Stonebraker
- 1963 One Got Fat as Narrator (voice)
- 1939 Paris Honeymoon as Ernest Figg
- 1935 All the King's Horses as Count Josef 'Peppi' von Schlapstaat
- 1931 Kiss Me Again as Rene
- 1931 Six Cylinder Love as Monty Winston
- 1932 Roar of the Dragon as Busby
- 1931 The Age for Love as Horace Keats
- 1935 His Night Out as Homer B. Bitts
- 1924 Flapper Wives as Vincent Platt
- 1942 The Magnificent Dope as Horace Hunter
- 1939 The Gang's All Here as Treadwell
- 1941 Ziegfeld Girl as Noble Sage
- 1926 La Bohème as Benoit - Janitor
- 1925 Beggar on Horseback as Neil McRae
- 1946 Faithful in My Fashion as Hiram Dilworthy
- 1929 The Sap as The Sap, Bill Small
- 1944 Her Primitive Man as Orrin
- 1936 Her Master's Voice as Ned Farrar
- 1946 Cinderella Jones as Keating
- 1942 I Married an Angel as Peter
- 1936 The Man in the Mirror as Jeremy Dilke
- 1939 That's Right – You're Wrong as Tom Village
- 1928 Dad's Choice as Eddie
- 1938 Little Tough Guys in Society as Oliver
- 1945 Steppin' in Society as Judge Avery Webster
- 1946 Earl Carroll Sketchbook as Dr. Milo Edwards
- 1929 The Aviator as Robert Street
- 1947 Her Husband's Affairs as J.B. Cruikshank
- 1943 Thank Your Lucky Stars as Farnsworth
- 1937 Wild Money as P.E. Dodd
- 1936 Nobody's Fool as Will Wright
- 1937 Oh, Doctor as Edward J. Billop
- 1929 The Hottentot as Sam Harrington
- 1935 The Private Secretary as Rev. Robert Spalding
- 1924 The Man Who Fights Alone as Bob Alten
- 1941 The Body Disappears as Professor Shotesbury
- Soon The Right Bed as Bobby Kent
- 1933 The Way to Love as Professor Gaston Bibi
- 1928 Behind the Counter as Eddie Baxter
- 1924 Try and Get It as Glenn Collins
- 1928 The Terror as Ferdinand Fane
- 1933 Soldiers of the King as Sebastian Marvello
- 1935 Your Uncle Dudley as Dudley Dixon
- 1935 Things You Never See on the Screen as Self
- 1941 Bachelor Daddy as Joseph Smith
- 1941 You're the One as Death Valley Joe Frink
- 1997 The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender as Self (archive footage)
- 1926 Poker Faces as Jimmy Whitmore
- 1928 Horse Shy as Eddie Hamilton
- 1928 Vacation Waves as Eddie Davis
- 1927 Find the King as Edward Fairchild
- 1927 No Publicity as Eddie Howard
- 1936 Let's Make a Million as Harrison Gentry
- 1929 Sonny Boy as Crandall Thorpe
- 1960 The Wonderful World of Trains as Professor Hotbox
- 1928 Scrambled Weddings as Eddie Howe
- 1928 Call Again as Eddie
- 1956 Saturday Spectacular: Manhattan Tower as Noah
- 1927 Taxi! Taxi! as Peter Whitby
- 1926 The Nut-Cracker as Horatio Slipaway
- 1922 Too Much Business as John Henry Jackson
- 1922 The Ladder Jinx as Arthur Barnes
- 1957 Three Men on a Horse as Mr. Carver
- 1934 Uncertain Lady as Elliot Crane
- 1922 A Front Page Story as Rodney Marvin
- 1925 The Business of Love as Edward Burgess
- 1963 Burke's Law ( 1 episode ) as Grover Leander Smith
- 1954 December Bride ( 1 episode )
- 1950 The Colgate Comedy Hour ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1965 F Troop ( 3 episodes )
- 1966 Batman ( 2 episodes ) as Chief Screaming Chicken
- 1962 The Merv Griffin Show ( 4 episodes ) as Self
- 1951 I Love Lucy ( 1 episode ) as Mr. Ritter
- 1948 The Ed Sullivan Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Mr. Parkinson
- 1962 Saints and Sinners ( 1 episode ) as Mr. Hollister
- 1970 Nanny and the Professor ( 1 episode )
- 1959 Dennis the Menace ( 3 episodes ) as Uncle Ned Matthews
- 1955 Matinee Theater ( 3 episodes )
- 1948 The Philco Television Playhouse ( 1 episode )
- 1964 The Cara Williams Show ( 1 episode )
- 1956 The Steve Allen Show ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
- 1954 Max Liebman Presents ( 1 episode )
- 1959 Fractured Fairy Tales ( 1 episode ) as Narrator (voice)
- 1954 The George Gobel Show ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1963 Burke's Law ( 1 episode ) as Wilbur Starlington
- 1957 The Lux Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1968 The Name of the Game ( 1 episode ) as Philip Armistead
- 1959 The Bullwinkle Show ( 815 episodes ) as Fractured Fairy Tales Narrator (voice)
- 1961 The Mike Douglas Show ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1956 The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show ( 13 episodes ) as Storyteller (voice)
- 1969 Love, American Style ( 1 episode ) as Elmo
- 1959 The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends ( 163 episodes ) as Fractured Fairy Tales Narrator (voice)
