Edward Arnold
(1890 - 1956)Amazingly this sophisticated and dapper gentleman started his career in films as a cowboy actor in silents. He was primarily a stage actor and straddled his acting career between the theatre and motion pictures throughout his career. Short, stocky, with a round face and handsome features, I often confused him with Eugene Pallette who was of similar stature. He was born Gunther Edward Arnold Schneider in New York City on February 18, 1890 and grew up there living in a tenement on New York's Lower East Side. He was educated as a boy at the East Side Settlement House where he developed a love for acting and the theatre. He had a lucrative Broadway career and was offered a job in films at the Essanay Studio in Chicago where he worked as a leading man in Westerns for years. He returned to the stage and later back to films in 1932. From that time he was featured as a character actor in authoritarian type roles such as judges, lawyers, business executives and senators and also occasionally as a high class crook or scoundrel. Among his film credits were: "The Misleading Lady" (1916) a silent, as Sidney Parker and his film debut; "A Broadway Saint" (1919) as Mr. Frewen; "The Cost" (1920) as Hampden Scarborough; "Okay, America!" (1932) as Duke Morgan; "Rasputin and the Empress" (1932) with the Barrymores, as Dr. Remezov; "Three on a Match" (1932) as Ace; "I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang" (1932) with Paul Muni, in an uncredited role as a Lawyer; "Whistling in the Dark" (1933) as Jake Dillon; "The White Sister" (1933) as Father Saracinesca; "The Barbarian" (1933) as Achmed Pasha; "Secret of the Blue Room" (1933) as Commissioner Forster; "Roman Scandals" (1933) as Emperor Valerius; "I'm No Angel" (1933) as Big Bill Barton; "Madame Spy" (1934) as Schultz; "Unknown Blonde" (1934) as Frank Rodie; "Sadie McKee" (1934) as Jack Brennan; "Hide-Out" (1934) as Det. Lt. 'Mac' MacCarthy; "Million Dollar Ransom" (1934) as Vincent Shelton; "The President Vanishes" (1934) as Sec. of War Wardell; "Cardinal Richelieu" (1935) as Louis XIII; "The Glass Key" (1935) as Paul Madvig; "Diamond Jim" (1935) as Diamond Jim Brady; "Remember Last Night?" (1935) as Danny Harrison; "Crime and Punishment" (1935) as Inspector Porfiry; "Sutter's Gold" (1936) as John Sutter; "The Great Ziegfeld" (1936) uncredited, again as Diamond Jim Brady; "Come and Get It" (1936) as Bernard 'Barney' Glasgow; "Meet Nero Wolfe" (1936) as Nero Wolfe; "John Meade's Woman" (1937) as John Meade; "The Toast of New York" (1937) as Jim Fisk; "Easy Living" (1937) as J.B. Ball; "The Crowd Roars" (1937) as Jim Cain; "You Can't Take It with You" (1938) as Anthony P. Kirby; "Idiot's Delight" (1939) as Achille Weber; "Let Freedom Ring" (1939) as Jim Knox; "Man About Town" (1939) as Sir John Arlington; "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) as Jim Taylor, probably his best known role and my personal favorite; "The Earl of Chicago" (1940) as Quentin 'Doc' Ramsey; "Slightly Honorable" (1940) as Vincent Cushing; "Johnny Apollo" (1940) as Robert Cain Sr.; "Lillian Russell" (1940) yet again as Diamond Jim Brady; "The Penalty" (1941) as Martin 'Stuff' Nelson; "Johnny Eager" (1941) as John Benson Farrell; "The Lady from Cheyenne" (1941) as Jim Cork; "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1941) as Daniel Webster; "Meet John Doe" (1941) as D.B. Norton; "The War Against Mrs. Hadley" (1942) as Elliott Fulton; "Inflation" (1942) as The Devil; The Youngest Profession" (1943) as Burton V. Lyons; "Janie" (1944) as Charles Conway; "Kismet" (1944) as Mansur, the Grand Vizier; "Mrs. Parkington" (1944) as Amory Stilham; "Main Street After Dark" (1945) as Lt. Lorrigan; "The Hidden Eye" (1945) as Capt. Duncan Maclain; "Janie Gets Married" (1946) again as Charles Conway; "Ziegfeld Follies" (1946) as Lawyer; "Three Wise Fools" (1946) as Theodore Findley; "The Mighty McGurk" (1946) as Mike Glenson; "My Brother Talks to Horses" (1947) as Mr. Bledsoe; "Dear Ruth" (1947) as Judge Wilkins; "The Hucksters" (1947) as Dave Lash; "Three Darling Daughters" (1948) as Robert Nelson; "Big City" (1948) as Judge Martin O. Abercrombie; "Wallflower" (1948) as Mr. Andrew J. Linnett; "Command Decision" (1948) as Congressman Arthur Malcolm; "John Loves Mary" (1949) as Senator McKinley; "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (1949) as Joe Lorgan; "Big Jack" (1949) as Mayor Mahoney; "Dear Wife" (1949) as Judge Wilkins; "The Yellow Cab Man" (1950) as Martin Creavy; "Annie Get Your Gun" (1950) as Pawnee Bill; "Dear Brat" (1951) as Sen. Wilkins; "Belles on Their Toes" (1952) as Sam Harper; "City That Never Sleeps" (1953) as Penrod Biddle; "Man of Conflict" (1953) as J.R. Compton; "Living It Up" (1954) as The Mayor; "The Houston Story" (1956) as Paul Atlas; "Miami Expose" (1956) as Oliver Tubbs and his final film "The Ambassador's Daughter" (1956) as Ambassador William Fisk. He hosted "The Edward Arnold Theatre" (1954) and "Strange Stories" (1956) on television. Even though he made over 100 films, he always found time to return to the theatre. He was married three times. His first wife was Harriet Marshall whom he married in 1917 and divorced in 1927, they had three children: Elizabeth, Jane and William. His second wife was Olive Emerson and they were married in 1929 and divorced in 1948. His last wife was Cleo McClain and they were married from 1951 until his death. He died on April 26, 1956 in Encino, California of a cerebral hemorrhage.
From Great Character Actors, Page 4.
|
