Edward Everett Horton
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
1961
Series
The Bullwinkle Show
Fractured Fairy Tales Narrator (voice)
1959
Series
Love, American Style
Elmo
1969
Series
Batman
Chief Screaming Chicken
1966
Series
Matinee Theater
1955
Series
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Series
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
1962
Series
I Love Lucy
Mr. Ritter
1951
Series
Burke's Law
Grover Leander Smith
1963
Series
Burke's Law
Wilbur Starlington
1963
Series
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
Series
The Name of the Game
Philip Armistead
1968
Series
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
1950
Series
Dennis the Menace
Uncle Ned Matthews
1959
Series
The Steve Allen Show
Self - Guest
1956
Series
December Bride
1954
Series
F Troop
1965
The George Gobel Show
Self
1954
Series
Nanny and the Professor
1970
Film
Sex and the Single Girl
The Chief
1964
Series
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
Fractured Fairy Tales Narrator (voice)
1959
Series
Saints and Sinners
Mr. Hollister
1962
Film
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Mr. Dinckler
1963
Series
General Electric Theater
Mr. Parkinson
1953
Series
The Cara Williams Show
1964
The Lux Show
Self
1957
Film
Bluebeard's 8th Wife
Marquis De Loiselle
1938
Film
Lost Horizon
Alexander P. " Lovey " Lovett
1937
Film
Top Hat
Horace Hardwick
1935
Max Liebman Presents
1954
Film
Arsenic and Old Lace
Mr. Witherspoon
1944
Series
The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show
Storyteller (voice)
1956
Film
Pocketful of Miracles
Hudgins
1961
Film
La Bohème
Benoit - Janitor
1926
Film
Summer Storm
Count "Piggy" Volsky
1944
Series
Fractured Fairy Tales
Narrator (voice)
1959
Film
Hitting a New High
Lucius B. Blynn
1937
Film
Cold Turkey
Hiram C. Grayson
1971
Film
Holiday
Nick Potter
1938
Film
Brazil
Everett St. John Everett
1944
Film
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Messenger 7013
1941
Film
Paris Honeymoon
Ernest Figg
1939
Film
Oh, Doctor
Edward J. Billop
1937
Film
Angel
Graham
1937
Film
The Terror
Ferdinand Fane
1928
Film
Ziegfeld Girl
Noble Sage
1941
Film
Smarty
Vernon
1934
Film
Trouble in Paradise
François Filiba
1932
Film
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Self (archive footage)
1997
Film
The Gay Divorcee
Egbert Fitzgerald
1934
Film
Shall We Dance
Jeffrey Baird
1937
Film
Alice in Wonderland
Mad Hatter
1933
Film
Down to Earth
Messenger 7013
1947
Film
Too Much Business
John Henry Jackson
1922
Film
Her Husband's Affairs
J.B. Cruikshank
1947
Film
The Perfect Specimen
Mr. Grattan
1937
Film
The Hottentot
Sam Harrington
1929
Film
Design for Living
Max Plunkett
1933
Film
Nobody's Fool
Will Wright
1936
Film
The Merry Widow
Ambassador Popoff
1934
Film
Bachelor Daddy
Joseph Smith
1941
Film
The Great Garrick
Tubby
1937
Film
The Front Page
Bensinger
1931
Film
The Gang's All Here
Peyton Potter
1943
Film
Holiday
Nick Potter
1930
Film
Vacation Waves
Eddie Davis
1928
Film
Ask Dad
Dad
1929
Film
I Married an Angel
Peter
1942
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
Self - Tribute Montage (archive footage)
1976
Film
Kiss Me Again
Rene
1931
Film
The Aviator
Robert Street
1929
Film
Going Highbrow
Augie Winterspoon
1935
Film
San Diego I Love You
Philip McCooley
1944
Film
Sunny
Henry Bates
1941
Film
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Farnsworth
1943
Film
Little Big Shot
Mortimer Thompson
1935
Film
In Caliente
Harold Brandon
1935
Film
The Magnificent Dope
Horace Hunter
1942
Saturday Spectacular: Manhattan Tower
Noah
1956
Film
Try and Get It
Glenn Collins
1924
Film
His Night Out
Homer B. Bitts
1935
Film
The Devil Is a Woman
Gov. Don Paquito 'Paquitito'
1935
Film
Reaching for the Moon
Roger, the Valet
1930
Film
Springtime in the Rockies
McTavish
1942
Film
The Man Who Fights Alone
Bob Alten
1924
Film
The Story of Mankind
Sir Walter Raleigh
1957
Film
Wild Money
P.E. Dodd
1937
Film
Danger – Love at Work
Howard Rogers
1937
Film
Little Tough Guys in Society
Oliver
1938
Film
Forever and a Day
Anthony Trimble-Pomfret
1943
Film
All the King's Horses
Count Josef 'Peppi' von Schlapstaat
1935
Film
College Swing
Hubert Dash
1938
Film
Easy to Love
Eric
1934
Film
Faithful in My Fashion
Hiram Dilworthy
1946
Film
Ladies Should Listen
Paul Vernet
1934
Film
Things You Never See on the Screen
Self
1935
Film
That's Right – You're Wrong
Tom Village
1939
Film
Lonely Wives
Richard 'Dickie' Smith / Felix, the Great Zero
1931
Film
The King and the Chorus Girl
Count Humbert Evel Bruger
1937
Film
$10 Raise
Hubert T. Wilkins
1935
Film
Flapper Wives
Vincent Platt
1924
Film
Lady on a Train
Mr. Haskell
1945
Film
Taxi! Taxi!
Peter Whitby
1927
Film
Weekend for Three
Fred Stonebraker
1941
Film
The Way to Love
Professor Gaston Bibi
1933
Film
The Night Is Young
Baron Szereny
1935
Film
To the Ladies
Leonard Beebe
1924
Film
The Age for Love
Horace Keats
1931
Film
The Body Disappears
Professor Shotesbury
1941
Film
Her Primitive Man
Orrin
1944
Film
The Perils of Pauline
Caspar Coleman
1967
Film
The Poor Rich
Albert Stuyvesant Spottiswood
1934
Film
The Town Went Wild
Everett Conway
1944
Film
The Gang's All Here
Treadwell
1939
Film
The Singing Kid
Davenport Rogers
1936
Film
The Ghost Goes Wild
Eric
1947
Film
Her Master's Voice
Ned Farrar
1936
Film
Your Uncle Dudley
Dudley Dixon
1935
Film
Hearts Divided
John
1936
Film
Roar of the Dragon
Busby
1932
Film
Six Cylinder Love
Monty Winston
1931
Film
A Front Page Story
Rodney Marvin
1922
Film
No Publicity
Eddie Howard
1927
Film
Steppin' in Society
Judge Avery Webster
1945
Film
Biography of a Bachelor Girl
Leander 'Bunny' Nolan
1935
Film
Wide Open
Simon Haldane
1930
Film
Sonny Boy
Crandall Thorpe
1929
Film
Beggar on Horseback
Neil McRae
1925
Film
Earl Carroll Sketchbook
Dr. Milo Edwards
1946
Film
Cinderella Jones
Keating
1946
Take the Heir
Smithers
1930
Film
Success at Any Price
Harry Fisher
1934
Film
Poker Faces
Jimmy Whitmore
1926
Film
The Private Secretary
Rev. Robert Spalding
1935
The Nutcracker
Horatio Slipaway
1926
Film
Smart Woman
Billy Ross
1931
Film
Three Men on a Horse
Mr. Carver
1957
Film
But the Flesh Is Weak
Sir George Kelvin
1932
Film
The Emperor's Oblong Pancake
Narrator
1964
Film
Call Again
Eddie
1928
Film
Sing and Like It
Adam Frink - Producer
1934
Film
Helen's Babies
Uncle Harry
1924
Film
2000 Years Later
Evermore
1969
Film
The Sap
The Sap, Bill Small
1929
Film
A Bedtime Story
Victor Dubois
1933
Film
Uncertain Lady
Elliot Crane
1934
Film
Let's Make a Million
Harrison Gentry
1936
Film
Scrambled Weddings
Eddie Howe
1928
Film
Horse Shy
Eddie Hamilton
1928
Film
You're the One
Death Valley Joe Frink
1941
Film
The Man in the Mirror
Jeremy Dilke
1936
Film
Kiss and Make-Up
Marcel Caron
1934
Film
The Ladder Jinx
Arthur Barnes
1922
Film
The Great Junction Hotel
The Groom
1931
Film
Ruggles of Red Gap
Ruggles
1923
Film
The Whole Town's Talking
Chester Binney
1926
Film
One Got Fat
Narrator (voice)
1963
Film
Soldiers of the King
Sebastian Marvello
1933
Film
Behind the Counter
Eddie Baxter
1928
Film
Dad's Choice
Eddie
1928
It's a Boy
Dudley Leake
1934
Once a Gentleman
Oliver
1930
The Wonderful World of Trains
Professor Hotbox
1960
Film
Find the King
Edward Fairchild
1927
The Right Bed
Bobby Kent