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

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

, he was brought to the United States and raised in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. He made his

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

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 ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...

'' (1937). His last Broadway appearance was in '' The Unconquered'' in 1940. In 1932 he took up film acting as well, appearing in Lloyd Corrigan'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 comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo ...

comedy ''

The Devil's Brother ''The Devil's Brother'' (or ''Bogus Bandits'' as an Astor Pictures reissue title) or ''Fra Diavolo'' outside the U.S. is a 1933 American Pre-Code comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy. It is based on Daniel Auber's operetta ''Fra Diavolo'' abou ...

'' (1933). In 1947 he went behind the camera to direct '' Dangerous Years''. He directed two other features, '' The Fighting O'Flynn'' (1949) and ''

Home Town Story ''Home Town Story'' is a 1951 American drama film written and directed by Arthur Pierson, starring Jeffrey Lynn, Donald Crisp, and Marjorie Reynolds, with Marilyn Monroe and Alan Hale Jr. Plot A defeated politician, Blake Washburn, takes ...

'' (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. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer t ...

. 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