Arthur Pierson (June 16, 1901 – January 1, 1975) was a Norwegian-born American actor and director. Born in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, he was brought to the United States and raised in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. He made his Broadway acting debut in 1929 in ''Remote Control''. He continued to appear on stage throughout the 1930s, appearing in plays such as '' Night of January 16th'' (1935) and a Broadway production of ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'' (1937). His last Broadway appearance was in '' The Unconquered'' in 1940. In 1932 he took up film acting as well, appearing in

Lloyd Corrigan Lloyd Corrigan (October 16, 1900 – November 5, 1969) was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually ...

's '' No One Man''. He subsequently appeared in over a dozen movies, usually in minor roles. Among his best-known film roles was Capitano Lorenzo in the

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

comedy '' The Devil's Brother'' (1933). In 1947 he went behind the camera to direct '' Dangerous Years''. He directed two other features, ''

The Fighting O'Flynn ''The Fighting O'Flynn'' is a 1949 American adventure film directed by Arthur Pierson. The film's screenplay by Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is based on the novel of the same name by Justin Huntly McCarthy. Fairbanks stars, along with Helena Carter. ...

'' (1949) and '' Home Town Story'' (1951), before turning to television as a director and producer. In his later years he was an executive at animation studio

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

. He died of a heart attack on January 1, 1975, in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierson, Arthur 1901 births 1975 deaths Norwegian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male stage actors Film directors from Washington (state) Male actors from Oslo Male actors from Seattle