Robert Edeson

American actor (1868–1931)

Robert Edeson
Edeson in 1913
Born	(1868-06-03)June 3, 1868 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	March 24, 1931(1931-03-24) (aged 62) Hollywood, California, U.S.^[1]
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1912–1931

Robert Edeson (June 3, 1868 – March 24, 1931) was an American film and stage actor of the silent era and a vaudeville performer.^[2]

Life and career

Edeson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of manager and actor George R. Edeson.^[3] After working as treasurer of the Park Theatre in Brooklyn,^[4] he initially acted in New York in 1887^[5] in a production of Fascination.^[4] He debuted on Broadway in Marriage (1896). In 1901 he created the role Edward Warden in the original production of Clyde Fitch's The Climbers.^[6] His last Broadway appearance was in The World We Live In (1922). He also performed in vaudeville.^[7]

Edeson received his first boost in films in 1914 when he starred in the Cecil B. DeMille directed film, The Call of the North (1914).

Edeson replaced actor Rudolph Christians in Erich von Stroheim's production of Foolish Wives (1922), after Christians died of pneumonia. Edeson famously only showed his back to the camera so as not to clash with shot footage of Christians that was still to be used in the completed film.

Edeson's final film was Aloha (1931).^[5]

His third wife was the former Aida Banker.^[8]

Death

On March 24, 1931, Edeson died at his home in Hollywood. He was 62 years old.^[8]

Selected filmography

The Paymaster's Son (1913) as The Paymaster's Son
The Call of the North (1914) as Ned Stewart
Where the Trail Divides (1914)
The Absentee (1915) as Nathaniel Crosby
The Light That Failed (1916) as Dick Hedlar
Big Jim Garrity (1916) as Jim Garrity
On the Night Stage (1915) as Austin
The Caveman (1915) as Hanlick Smagg
Public Defender (1917) as Arthur Nelson
Extravagance (1921) as Richard Vane
Foolish Wives (1922) as Andrew J. Hughes
The Prisoner of Zenda (1922) as Colonel Zapta
Sure Fire Flint (1922) as Anthony De Lanni
Any Night (1922) as Jim Barton
You Are Guilty (1923) as Theodore Tennent
The Tie That Binds (1923) as Charles Dodge
The Silent Partner (1923) as Ralph Coombes
To the Last Man (1923) as Gaston Isbel
The Ten Commandments (1923) as Inspector Redding
Feet of Clay (1924) as Dr. Fergus Lansell
Welcome Stranger (1924) as Eb Hooker
Men (1924) as Henri Duval
Triumph (1924) as Samuel Overton
Thy Name Is Woman (1924) as The Commandante
Missing Daughters (1924) as Secret Service Chief
The Prairie Pirate (1925) as Don Esteban
Men and Women (1925) as Israel Cohen
The Golden Bed (1925) as Amos Thompson
Go Straight (1925) as The Hawk
Locked Doors (1925) as Norman Carter
Blood and Steel (1925) as W.L. Grimshaw
The Volga Boatman (1926) as Prince Nikita
The Clinging Vine (1926) as T. M. Bancroft
The Blue Eagle (1926) as Chaplain Regan
The King of Kings (1927) as Matthew the Apostle
Chicago (1927) as William Flynn
Altars of Desire (1927) as John Sutherland
The Night Bride (1927)
George Washington Cohen (1928) as Mr. Gorman
A Ship Comes In (1928) as Judge Gresham
Beware of Blondes (1928) as Costigan
Walking Back (1928) as Edgar Thatcher
Dynamite (1929) as Wise Fool
Romance of the Rio Grande (1929) as Don Fernando
Pardon My Gun (1930) as Pa Martin
A Devil with Women (1930) as General Garcia
Danger Lights (1930) as Tom Johnson
The Lash (1930) as Don Mariana Delfine
The Way of All Men (1930) Swift
Swing High (1930)

References

^ "Gettysburg Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
^ "Edeson in New York". Dramatic Mirror. LXXVIII (2037): 4. January 5, 1918. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
^ Leslie, Frank (1902). "Robert Edeson". Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. Frank Leslie Publishing House: 590. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Briscoe, Johnson (1908). The actors' birthday book: First -third series. An authoritative insight into the lives of the men and women of the stage born between January first and December thirty-first. Moffat, Yard and Company. p. 133. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Liebman, Roy (2017). Broadway Actors in Films, 1894–2015. McFarland. p. 81. ISBN 9781476626154. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
^ Dearinger, Kevin Lane (2016). "The Climbers". Clyde Fitch and the American Theatre: An Olive in the Cocktail. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 540. ISBN 9781611479485.
^ "Robert Edeson". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Hennessy, Duane (March 25, 1931). "Death Rings Down Curtain Upon Hero of Stage and Film After Futile Battle Against Illness". The San Bernardino County Sun. California, San Bernardino. United Press. p. 3. Retrieved April 16, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.