Singin' and Dancing Back in Time.: Happy Birthday: Edward Everett Horton!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Happy Birthday: Edward Everett Horton!

Edward Everett Horton (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970), was a character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television and voice work for animated cartoons. He is best known for his work in the films of, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. His voice was one of his trademarks.

His first starring role was in the comedy film, Too Much Business(1922). Next, he went on to perform in the film, Beggar on Horseback(1925). Horton, performed in some of Warner Bros.' early talkies, The Hottentot and Sonny Boy.

He is best known, for his work as a character actor in the films: The Front Page (1931), Trouble in Paradise (1932), Alice in Wonderland (1933), The Gay Divorcee (1934), Flying Down to Rio (1933). Which included the popular dance team of Fred Astaire and a 23-year-old Ginger Rogers. It is the first of the series to feature Ginger and Fred as the main attraction. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

He also performed in the film, Top Hat (1935), Danger Love at Work (1937), Lost Horizon (1937), Holiday (1938), Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), Pocketful of Miracles (1961), and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). He last performed in a non-speaking role in the film, Cold Turkey (1971).

Fun Facts:

Author F. Scott Fitzgerald lived in a cottage on Horton's estate for a time in the late 1930s.

In a scene in Friz Freleng's cartoon Hare Trigger, Yosemite Sam (in his debut) calls himself "the meanest, toughest, rip-roarin'-est, Edward Everett Horton-est hombre what ever packed a six-shooter!"

1 comment:

aajerJuly 1, 2012 at 3:29 PM
E.E.H. was in a class by himself. Such a bemused and transcendent witness to tumultous times. A gifted intellect and comedian, he was (and still is) Brilliant!

He was also the droll narrator for Fractured Fairy Tales on the Rocky & Bulwinkle carton series
that ran on various telivision channels in the
very early sixties.
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