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You are here: Home / Movie Star Biographies / Edward Everett Horton – Biography of the Beloved Character Actor

Edward Everett Horton – Biography of the Beloved Character Actor

December 7, 2011 By Cliff Aliperti 12 Comments

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Edward Everett Horton 1960s Promotional PortraitOne of the most beloved character actors in movie history, Edward Everett Horton, like many a contemporary, stated that he was, “happiest when I’m on the stage in a good play with a nice audience.” All I can say, having been born a year after Mr. Horton’s death, is thank goodness for the immortality of film!

This page contains a brief biography of Edward Everett Horton cobbled together from the lengthy obituaries remembering him in both The New York Times and Variety as well as more recent biographical entries about him from film historians Anthony Slide and Eve Golden. But beyond the words the highlight of this page are the images.

You’ll find a full gallery towards the bottom of this page along with the images interspersed throughout this article. In short over the Summer I acquired a small but varied collection of vintage Edward Everett Horton still photos covering his entire career from the 1920’s through the 1960’s. They illustrate this text.

Edward Everett Horton 1920s Promotional PortraitEdward Everett Horton, Jr. was born in Brooklyn, NY, March 18, 1886. Raised in Brooklyn he attended the Boys’ High School there before going on to various colleges. He wouldn’t graduate any of those, but it was at Columbia that he would make his acting debut and by 1907 he joined the Dempsey Light Opera Company and performed Gilbert & Sullivan on Staten Island.

In 1908 he would join Broadway actor Louis Mann’s acting troupe where he would remain for between 3 and 5 years according to the various sources. Stock companies were thriving at this time and Horton loved the work. He kept busy in the 1910’s for a number of companies including, as noted by Golden, “The Orpheum Players and Beaulah Jay’s company in Philadelphia; The Baker Stock Company in Oregon; Harry Davis’ in Pittsburgh; the Crescent Theater in Brooklyn; Thomas Wilke’s in Los Angeles” (179).

Louis Mann 1902 Playing CardLos Angeles is where Horton would settle. He leased the Majestic Theater with his brother and business manager, George, in the 1920’s. He both managed and acted at the Majestic appearing in comedies over several seasons there. According to Variety, Horton would later take over the Hollywood Playhouse on Vine for another season.

Local to the movies as he now was, Edward Everett Horton would make his film debut in 1922 at age 36 and score success a year later in the silent version of Ruggles of Red Gap (1923). He played the butler, a part better remembered now for Charles Laughton’s portrayal in the later talkie version.

Though Horton appeared in 19 silent films it is probably no surprise that he craved the opportunity for his distinctive voice to be heard and so his film career became busier when talking pictures came along.

Edward Everett Horton and Muriel Hutchinson in Springtime for HenryThis is the Horton we best remember today beginning with his part as a reporter in The Front Page (1931); then in a run of Lubitsch films beginning as co-suitor of Kay Francis along with Charles Ruggles in Trouble in Paradise (1932); unsuccessfully courting Miriam Hopkins in Design for Living (1933); the Ambassador in The Merry Widow (1934); after which he appears as Fred Astaire’s pal in The Gay Divorcee (1934), the first of three Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals he’d appear in during his very active 1930’s; he found himself in Frank Capra’s vision of Shangri-La in Lost Horizon (1937); reprising his role from 1930’s Holiday in the better remembered George Cukor version from 1938 starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn.

It was an especially strong decade.

Horton remained a freelancer throughout his long career, never tying himself down with a long-term contract to any single studio.

As busy as his screen career was Horton never stayed off the stage for long either. He first appeared in Springtime for Henry in 1932 at the Hollywood Playhouse and repeated his role of Henry Dewlip around 3,000 times in revivals over the next few decades. The longevity of this role for Horton is shown by virtue of the still image of him with Henry co-star Muriel Hutchison on this page. It is date stamped 1951 from a performance on Broadway at that time.

Edward Everett Horton and Cary GrantHorton continued regularly appearing in films throughout the 1940’s including classics such as Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), and Down to Earth (1947), before busying himself with television appearances throughout the next decade. On TV he’d be best remembered for voicing the “Fractured Fairy Tales” segment of the Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends Prime Time animated series in the late 1950’s.

When Bullwinkle voice (and much more) Bill Scott one day asked Horton how a man of his age remained so active, Horton replied, “Well, Bill, do you know where I’m going after this recording? I’m going to my mother’s birthday party!” And he wasn’t kidding either, Horton’s mother would live to be over 100.

He continued acting across all formats throughout the 1960’s as well, appearing in films such as Pocketful of Miracles (1961), It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) and Sex and the Single Girl (1964); on television most memorably as in a half dozen episodes of F-Troop and on a two-part episode of the Batman TV series which also featured Vincent Price; on Broadway he appeared in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and he was in a 1965 revival of Carousel at the New York State Theater.

Edward Everett Horton and Thomas Mitchell in Lost Horizon“I have my own little kingdom. I do the scavenger parts no one else wants, and I get well paid for it,” Horton had said. “It’s not that I really need the money, it’s simply that I like money–lots of it. I must admit I’m sometimes over-frugal.”

According to his New York Times obituary Horton’s frugality was fondly remembered by friends at the time of his passing. Shortly before his death he was spotted at Sardi’s hunched over his ledger entering expenses for items as small as carfare and postage stamps.

Watching those pennies would add up for Horton who along with brother George owned 22 acres of land in the San Fernando Valley. His estate was a complex of several white buildings that served as homes for family members including brothers George and Winter, sister Hannabelle, and, of course, his elderly mother, Isabella.

Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore in Top HatHorton would also buy an Adirondack home on Lake George in Glens Falls, New York. He’d take ill while on the East Coast and be hospitalized in Glens Falls several weeks prior to his death. Horton recovered enough to return West to his Encino home where he died September 29, 1970 at age 84. Siblings George, Winter and Hannabelle survived him.

Edward Everett Horton never married and both Eve Golden and Anthony Slide wrote that his longtime companion was the actor Gavin Gordon. According to Golden “documentary evidence of their relationship is hard to come by” (182).

Edward Everett Horton in Springtime in the RockiesObituaries spoke of Horton’s antique collection, valued at over a half a million dollars, as well as his coming final television appearance. He’d show up in living rooms one final time that October 14 as a crusty physician on the series The Governor and J.J.

Fussbudget seems to be the most popular single word to sum up the performances of Edward Everett Horton, and it’s a good one. He’s the nervous sidekick or mama’s boy on the scene for us to laugh at, though all the while we know we’re really laughing with him and his portrayal of these fidgety sidekicks and suitors.

Just looking at all of the photos again I’m struck by the fact that Edward Everett Horton looks just as he should look based upon his screen output. Of course, that’s a credit to Horton, whose unique characterizations force us to match his characters to that one of a kind face.

Sources

  • “Edward Everett Horton Is Dead; Comic Character Actor was 83.” The New York Times. 1 October 1970.
  • Golden, Eve. Bride of Golden Images. Albany, GA: BearManor Media, 2009.
  • “Obituaries.” Variety. 7 October 1970.
  • Scott, Keith. The Moose That Roared. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000.
  • Slide, Anthony. Eccentrics of Comedy. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1998.

Edward Everett Horton Gallery

Just click on any image to open to full size and from there you can scroll through them all.

1926-edward-everett-horton
1920s-edward-everett-horton
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1930s-aguila-edward-everett-horton
1933-horton-march
1934-horton-oliver
1935-horton-blore
1936-horton-wynters
1936-gallaher-fe-pitts-horton
1936-gp-ss-edward-everett-horton
1930s-de-beukelaer-edward-everett-horton
1930s-edward-everett-horton
1930s-edward-everett-horton
1937-edward-everett-horton
1937-horton-astaire
1937-horton-boland
1937-horton-mitchell
1938-horton-boland
1938-horton-grant
1938-movie-millions-edward-everett-horton
1938-polol-horton-peggy-conklin
1941-edward-everett-horton
1941-horton-montgomery-rains
1942-edward-everett-horton
1943-horton-szakall
1944-horton-allbritton
1944-horton-grant
1944-horton-hull-adair
1944-horton-larue
1947-still-ball-horton-herhusbandsaffairs
1951-horton-muriel-hutchinson
1960s-edward-everett-horton

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Filed Under: Movie Star Biographies Tagged With: Astaire & Rogers, bullwinkle, character actors, Edward Everett Horton, fractured fairy tales

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About Cliff

I write about old movies and movie stars from the 1920s to the 1950s. I also sell movie cards, still photos and other ephemera. Immortal Ephemera connects the stories with the collectibles. Read More…



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Comments

  1. Page Inciardi says

    December 8, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    Cliff, 
    What a lovely tribute to Mr. Horton…When first seeing his name I said to myself “Oh, I remember him from Arsenic and Old Lace”.. And I misread and thought you wrote, you were born a year after he was…then I thought “Wait a second, Cliff certainly has aged well or found the fountain of youth!”  Ha Ha

    I always enjoy your bios Cliff. Lovely, as always.
    Page

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    • Cliff Aliperti says

      December 9, 2011 at 7:28 am

      Thanks, Page! I’d been wanting to do this one for awhile because along with the collection of stills there was also original newspaper clippings of his obituaries from the Times and Variety and they seemed worth putting to use!

      Yes, I’ll actually be celebrating my 124th birthday over the weekend.

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  2. Patricia (Caftan Woman) says

    December 9, 2011 at 5:38 pm

    When my father told me that Roaring Chicken was the Fractured Fairy Tales guy, and that he was in all kinds of wonderful old movies I hadn’t seen yet, it was like finding out about a buried treasure.  Have you ever met anyone who didn’t love EEH?  Well, maybe some of the folks he stole scenes from, but even in that case I’m sure they gave up willingly.

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  3. Fran Hamilton says

    September 27, 2013 at 12:31 am

    We have just spent a weekend with our mum 88 yrs old and found out that Edward is our great great uncle. how wonderful to find out as for years we cried laughing and rolled around the floor watching F Troop. Now to realise he is our great great uncle, the theatrical bent of the family is continuing into earlier Australian generations with the likes of Minnie Everett in Melbourne Australian theatre in the 30’s & 40’s and Marcia Gardiner (also our cousin) script writer for several well known Australian drama television series today. The physical and behavioural similarities between Edward and my grandmother, Grace Hocking (Everett) are obvious to us after watching him in movies of the 30’s. Great to see him being remembered.

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    • Cliff Aliperti says

      September 29, 2013 at 2:36 am

      Hi Fran, thanks for sharing that family background and for having a look at my page. Always glad to remember him!

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    • Anonymous says

      January 26, 2017 at 11:00 am

      I am a relative of Edward Everett from my grandfather s side . I am from Baltimore. I am so happy to watch his films and share this information with my three sons. They enjoy watching his films .

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  4. John says

    December 28, 2014 at 11:34 am

    Thanks so mch for this wonderful tribute to Edward Everett Horton (what a great name for anyone!) He was an incredibly funny and gifted actor – I well recall reading Ginger Roger’s auto-biography and she spoke glowingly of him (saying that he was as funny off camera as on – and she didn’t like to stray too far from him while on set as she was afraid she’s “miss something.”) I have a fairly small (but good) celebrity autograph collection and I treasure the playbill I have (from the 1965 Carousel revival) signed by Mr. Horton. It’s a very neatly written signature without any hurry (as would be expected, I suppose!) A great trivia question is to ask who Betty Grable’s first on-screen dance partner was – of course, it’s Mr. Horton. Cheers and thanks again!

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    • Cliff Aliperti says

      December 28, 2014 at 2:12 pm

      Thank you, John, glad you enjoyed it! I agree about his name and imagine he must have had a beautiful signature. Great item!

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  5. Mark says

    April 26, 2018 at 6:01 pm

    Wonderful tribute to this wonderful character actor. There weren’t any quite like him before, and haven’t been any like him since…..

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