Edward Everett Horton 2013 Birthday Celebration on TCM

Turner Classic Movies plays Edward Everett Horton movies all day Monday, March 18, in honor of the popular character actor born that date in 1886.

I cobbled together a pretty strong Edward Edward Horton biography about a year and a half ago, which still read pretty good when I checked it out again Sunday evening. You'll find that post by clicking HERE.

Seemed like a good day to recycle it, especially for newer subscribers!

But the fun for me is to keep digging, so I couldn't resist scanning the online archives to add something fresh about Mr. Horton. You'll find a handful of old newspaper quotes from Edward Edward Horton below the complete TCM schedule, which follows for your convenience:

Edward Everett Horton on TCM, March 18, 2013

Note: TCM US Schedule; All times EST.

• 6:30 am - Wide Open (1930) starring Edward Everett Horton, Patsy Ruth Miller, Louise Fazenda, D: Archie Mayo
• 7:45 am - The Front Page (1931) starring Pat O'Brien, Adolphe Menjou, Mary Brian, D: Lewis Milestone
• 9:30 am - Lonely Wives (1932) starring Edward Everett Horton, Esther Ralston, Laura La Plante, D: Russell Mack
• 11:00 am - Smarty (1934) starring Warren William, Joan Blondell, Edward Everett Horton, D: Robert Florey
• 12:15 pm - Success at Any Price (1934) starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Genevieve Tobin, Frank Morgan, D: J. Walter Ruben
• 1:45 pm - That's Right, You're Wrong (1940) starring Kay Kyser, Adolphe Menjou, Lucille Ball, D: David Butler
• 3:30 pm - Cinderella Jones (1946) starring Joan Leslie, Robert Alda, Edward Everett Horton, D: Busby Berkeley
• 5:00 pm - Faithful in My Fashion (1946) starring Tom Drake, Donna Reed, Edward Everett Horton, D: Sidney Salkow
• 6:30 pm - Her Husband's Affairs (1947) starring Lucille Ball, Franchot Tone, Edward Everett Horton, D: S. Sylvan Simon

After that marathon comes TCM's third Monday night in March to feature the movies of Star of the Month Greer Garson.

While I like Julia Misbehaves (1948) the best of the bunch (weak ending though) I do want to point to the rarely aired sequel to Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Miniver Story (1950), airing at 1:30 am EST. It's bit of a bummer and doesn't hold a candle to the original, but fans of the first movie probably should check it out.

Edward Everett Horton Quotes, 1960-62

On young actors in 1960 -- "Gee, they start out with so much. I had nothing--no looks, no voice, no clothes. All I had was this burning desire to be an actor" (Thomas).

"I never started out as a comedian. In fact, when I did stock in the early days I avoided comedy at every turn. It can be so deadly if it doesn't go over" (Heffernan).

"I was lighting up a cigarette in one of my early pictures. Meantime, someone just off the set was telling a story. I became so engrossed in it that the match burned my finger. I jumped and did what was to become my famous double-take. Everyone howled. The director asked me to repeat it for the scene. After that everything they wanted me for was basically comedy" (Heffernan).

"The first butler I ever played was in "Ruggles of Red Gap" in 1923. And everybody remembers me for that part. I guess you might say I was typed" (Finnigin).

"I'm still using the same three facial expressions I've used for forty years" (Finnigin).

"I don't know of people come to see theater, or me as a museum. 'Look, it walks,' they must say" (Finnigin).

On adding rooms to his Encino mansion over the years in 1962 -- "We called them the Lubitsch room, the RKO room, according to where the money came from" (Thomas).

Sources

• Finnigan, Joseph. "Edward Everett Horton 'Buttles' Back to Hollywood." Schednectady Gazette 11 Jul 1961: 13. Google New. Web. 17 Mar 2013.
• Heffernan, Harold. "Edward Everett Horton Tells How Mishap Made Him Comedian Against His Will." Toledo Blade 8 May 1960: 2. Google New. Web. 17 Mar 2013.
• Thomas, Bob. "Edward Everett Horton: 50 Years Of Sly Tricks." The Evening Independent 13 Jun 1960: 7-B. Google New. Web. 17 Mar 2013.
• Thomas, Bob. "Edward Everett Horton Likes His Home--'Last of Monstrosities." Daytona Beach Morning Journal 10 Oct 1962: 5. Google New. Web. 17 Mar 2013.