Arthur William Byron (April 3, 1872 – July 16, 1943) was an American actor who played a mixture of British and American roles in films.

Early years

Born in Brooklyn, Byron was the son of actors Kate Crehan and Oliver Doud Byron. He was a nephew of the stage actress Ada Rehan.

Career

Byron started his theatrical career in February 1889 at the age of 17 with his father's dramatic company. In 1939 he celebrated his 50 years in showbusiness. He appeared in more than 300 plays and played with stars like

Maxine Elliott Maxine Elliott (February 5, 1868 – March 5, 1940) also known as Little Jessie, Dettie or by her birth name Jessie Dermott, was an American actress and businesswoman. She managed her own theater and experimented with silent films in the 1910s. ...

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, Katherine Cornell,

Maude Adams Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (November 11, 1872 – July 17, 1953), known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American actress and stage designer who achieved her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 190 ...

and

Minnie Maddern Fiske Minnie Maddern Fiske (born Marie Augusta Davey; December 19, 1865 – February 15, 1932), but often billed simply as Mrs. Fiske, was one of the leading American actresses of the late 19th and early 20th century. She also spearheaded the fig ...

. He was a founder and one-time president of The

Actors' Equity Association The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly called Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American trade union, labor union representing those who work in Theatre, live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions w ...

and a member of The Lambs and the Actor's fund of America. Byron appeared many times at the Lakewood Playhouse in Maine.

Personal life and death

Byron was married to Kathryn Keyes, and they had two daughters and a son. He died of a heart ailment, from which he suffered for some years, in Hollywood in 1943. He was cremated and his ashes were sent to the Byron summer home in Maine.

Selected filmography

* '' Nervy Nat Kisses the Bride'' (1904, Edison) * '' Fast Life'' (1932) - John D. Jameson * '' The Mummy'' (1932) - Sir Joseph Whemple * ''

20,000 Years in Sing Sing ''20,000 Years in Sing Sing'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film set in Sing Sing Penitentiary, the maximum security prison in Ossining, New York, starring Spencer Tracy as an inmate and Bette Davis as his girlfriend. It was directed by ...

'' (1932) - Warden Paul Long * '' Gabriel Over the White House'' (1933) - Jasper Brooks - Secretary of State * '' The Silk Express'' (1933) - Conductor Clark * '' Private Detective 62'' (1933) - Tracey (uncredited) * ''

The Mayor of Hell ''The Mayor of Hell'' is a 1933 American pre-Code Warner Brothers film starring James Cagney. The film was remade in 1938 as '' Crime School'' with Humphrey Bogart taking over James Cagney's role and ''Hell's Kitchen'' with Ronald Reagan in 1939 ...

'' (1933) - Judge Gilbert * '' College Coach'' (1933) - Dr. Phillip Sargent * '' Two Alone'' (1934) - Slag * ''

The House of Rothschild ''The House of Rothschild'' is a 1934 American pre-Code historical drama film directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring George Arliss, Loretta Young and Boris Karloff. It was adapted by Nunnally Johnson from the play by George Hembert Westley ...

'' (1934) - Baring * ''

Stand Up and Cheer! ''Stand Up and Cheer!'' is a 1934 American Pre-Code musical film directed by Hamilton MacFadden. The screenplay by Lew Brown and Ralph Spence was based upon a story idea by Will Rogers and Philip Klein. The film is about efforts undertaken ...

'' (1934) - John Harly * '' Fog Over Frisco'' (1934) - Everett Bradford * '' The Notorious Sophie Lang'' (1934) - Police Insp. Stone * '' The Man with Two Faces'' (1934) - Dr. Kendall * ''That's Gratitude'' (1934) - Thomas Maxwell * ''

Marie Galante Marie-Galante (, or ) is one of the dependencies of Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France. Marie-Galante has a land area of . It had 11,528 inhabitants at the start of 2013, but by the start of 2018 the total was officially estimated to ...

'' (1934) - Gen. Gerald Phillips * '' The President Vanishes'' (1934) - President Craig Stanley * ''

The Secret Bride ''The Secret Bride'' is a 1934 American drama film directed by William Dieterle and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Warren William. Based on the play ''Concealment'' by Leonard Ide, the film is about the attorney general of an unnamed state and t ...

'' (1934) - Governor W.H. Vincent * '' Shadow of Doubt'' (1935) - Morgan Bellwood * '' The Whole Town's Talking'' (1935) - Spencer * '' The Casino Murder Case'' (1935) - Richard Kinkaid * '' Murder in the Fleet'' (1935) - Capt. John Winslow * '' Oil for the Lamps of China'' (1935) - No. 1 Boss * '' The Prisoner of Shark Island'' (1936) - Mr. Erickson * ''

The Prisoner of Zenda ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in o ...

'' (1937) - (scenes deleted) (final film role)

References

External links

* *
Arthur Byron
portrait gallery at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Broadway Photographs
Univ. of S. Carolina) {{DEFAULTSORT:Byron, Arthur 1872 births 1943 deaths American male film actors Male actors from Brooklyn 20th-century American male actors Presidents of the Actors' Equity Association