Edward Everett Horton
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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
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.
Born
Mar 17, 1886
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Died
Sep 29, 1970
Known For
Acting
Movies
138 acting
0 crew
Popularity
1.1
Known For
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
1963
as Mr. Dinckler
Arsenic and Old Lace
1944
as Mr. Witherspoon
Pocketful of Miracles
1961
as Hudgins
Lost Horizon
1937
as Alexander P. " Lovey " Lovett
Top Hat
1935
as Horace Hardwick
Holiday
1938
as Nick Potter
Trouble in Paradise
1932
as Francois
The Gay Divorcee
1934
as Egbert Fitzgerald
Design for Living
1933
as Max Plunkett
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1941
as Messenger 7013
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