Edward Everett Horton

Edward Everett Horton, Jr. (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970) was an American character actor and comedian. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television, and voice work for animated cartoons.

Early life

Horton was born March 18, 1886, on Long Island to Edward Everett Horton, a typesetter / compositor in the press room for ''The New York Times'', and his wife, Isabella S. (née Diack) Horton. His father was of English and German ancestry, and his mother was born in Matanzas Province, Cuba, to George and Mary (née Orr) Diack, natives of Scotland. He first attended the old Boys' High School in Brooklyn. The family then moved to Baltimore, Maryland and he went to The Baltimore City College. He attended in 1902-1904 and later was inducted into the school's alumni/faculty Hall of Fame in 1959.

He was a student at Oberlin College where he majored in German. He was asked to leave after he climbed to the top of a building and, after a crowd gathered, threw off a dummy, making them think he had jumped. Returning to New York City, he attended the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn for one year, until the school discontinued its arts courses; he moved to Columbia University, "until I got fouled up with ''The Varsity Show of 1909''. This was the first time I had really ever been on the stage ... After that, to put it gently, Columbia and I came to an amicable parting of the ways. They were just as glad to see me go as I was to get out." That concluded Horton's collegiate period.

Stage and film career

Horton had begun his stage career at age 20 in 1906, singing and dancing and playing small parts in productions during his brief college experiences, then vaudeville and Broadway productions. His father persuaded him to adopt his full name professionally. "Originally, I went under the name of just Edward Horton. My father said, 'I think you're making a mistake, Edward. Anybody could be Edward Horton, but nobody else could be Edward Everett Horton.' I said, 'I think I like that.'"Edward Everett Horton, to Rosenberg and Silverstein.

In 1919, he moved to Los Angeles, where he got his start at the Hollywood Community Theater, founded and managed by Neely Dickson. He began acting in Hollywood films of the growing film community in southern California. His first starring role was in the silent film comedy '' Too Much Business'' (1922), and he portrayed the lead role of an idealistic young classical-music composer in the comedy '' Beggar on Horseback'' (1925). In 1927–29, he starred in eight two-reel silent comedies produced by Harold Lloyd for Paramount Pictures release. He made the transition to sound films with Educational Pictures in 1929, in a series of sound-comedy playlets. As a stage-trained performer, he found more film work easily and appeared in several Warner Bros. movies, including '' The Terror'' (1928) and '' Sonny Boy'' (1929).

Fame as starring actor and character player

As Horton became known for his performances in movies, he continued to work on the legitimate stage, which he preferred. He appeared with Gavin Gordon in a 1931 production of ''Private Lives'' by Noël Coward.

Horton soon cultivated his own special variation of the double take (an actor's reaction to something, followed by a delayed, more extreme reaction). In Horton's version, he smiled ingratiatingly and nodded in agreement with what just happened; then, when realization set in, his facial features collapsed entirely into a sober, troubled mask.

Edward Everett 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 remembered, however, for his work in supporting roles. These credits 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), '' 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 wheelchair-bound character communicated only through facial expressions.

Horton continued to appear in stage productions, often in summer stock. His performance in the play '' Springtime for Henry'' became a perennial in summer theaters.

Horton was so prolific he sometimes found himself committed to two projects at the same time. One project would be in progress while the second project suddenly came up sooner than expected, forcing Horton to make other arrangements. In 1953, Horton announced on the ABC-TV game show '' The Name's the Same'' that his next picture would be one of the '' Ma and Pa Kettle'' comedies. A scheduling conflict compelled Horton to bow out, and his role in '' Ma and Pa Kettle at Home'' was played by Alan Mowbray.

In 1960, Horton was approached by his former director Frank Capra to work in the new film '' Pocketful of Miracles''. Horton wanted to rejoin Capra, but had a commitment to finish a stage run of the play ''Once Upon a Mattress''; the show wouldn't be closing for another two weeks. Horton phoned Buster Keaton, who had played the same role in an earlier production, and asked if Keaton could replace him. Keaton finished the play's run, and Horton made the Capra film.

In late 1963 Edward Everett Horton joined the national touring company of the Broadway hit '' A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'', alongside co-stars Jerry Lester, Arnold Stang