Edward Everett Horton was born on September 18, 1886, in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Isabella S. (née Diack) and Edward Everett Horton Sr., an insurance broker. He had two older sisters, Frances and Grace. His early education was at Erasmus Hall High School and Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He began his career as a stage actor in New York City.
Horton’s first film role was in the 1919 film, The Miracle Man. He went on to appear in over 100 films. He is perhaps best known for his role as the narrator in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz.
Horton’s other notable film roles include: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), and Sabrina (1954).
Horton was married three times. His first wife was actress and singer, Alice Joyce. They were married from 1910-1919 and had no children. His second wife was actress, Edna May Oliver. They were married from 1923-1942 and had no children. His third wife was actress, Isabel Jewell. They were married from 1943-1959 and had no children.
Horton died on September 29, 1970, in Encino, California, at the age of 84.
His net worth at the time of his death was $2 million.
General Info
Full Name
Edward Everett Horton
Died
September 29, 1970, Encino, Los Angeles, California, United States
Profession
Singer, Voice Actor
Education
Baltimore City College, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Columbia University, Oberlin College
Nationality
American
Family
Parents
Isabella S. Diack, Edward Everett Horton Sr.
Siblings
George Horton, Winter Davis Horton, Hannahbelle Horton
Partner
Gavin Gordon
Accomplishments
Movies
Top Hat, The Gay Divorcee, Arsenic and Old Lace, Lost Horizon, Shall We Dance, Trouble in Paradise, Design for Living, Pocketful of Miracles, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Merry Widow, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, The Front Page, Lonely Wives, Ziegfeld Girl, The Devil Is a ...
I have my own little kingdom. I do the scavenger parts no one else wants and I get well paid for it.
2
[on Douglas Sirk] He was delightful and ambitious and so well-informed.
3
[on Rita Hayworth] She was so sweet and hard-working. She asked me to watch her work out her dance routines and go over her lines with her. I'd tell her little things and she'd whisper, "Don't tell the director, please." She was so modest and affectionate.
4
[at the suggestion of retirement, c. 1966, aged 80] Dear Lord! I would go right out of my mind.
Facts
#
Fact
1
He owned an estate in Encino on Amestoy Avenue that he named "Belly Acres".
2
Beginning in 1959 through 1964, he narrated the "Fractured Fairy Tales" segment, as well as playing multiple characters in various supporting features of the The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
3
His father, Edward Everett Horton, Sr., had English and German ancestry, and his mother, Isabella S. (Diack), was born in Matanzas, Cuba, to Scottish parents. He was the eldest of four children - George, Winter Davis, and Hannahbelle were his other siblings. The family remained close throughout their lives. Edward's mother lived with him until she died at the age of 101. His brothers and sister also spent their later years residing at his Encino estate.
4
Studied business at both Polytechnic Institute and at Columbia. At Columbia, however, he began acting in collegiate plays and that changed the direction of his life.
5
Joined a Gilbert and Sullivan stock company in 1907 on Staten Island and performed in several shows, including "The Mikado". He went on to join several theatre companies in the 1910s, including the Orpheum Players in Philadelphia, The Baker Stock Company in Oregon, and the Crescent Theatre in Brooklyn.
6
Like Zasu Pitts, Horton excelled in comedy and specialized in the fretful, woebegone "Nervous Nellie" types. The duo were the only actors who could utter the simple words "Oh, dear!" and make it sound like it was the end of the world.
7
In the 1920s he acted in and managed the Majestic Theater in Los Angeles with his brother and business manager, George.
8
Appeared in a number of revivals of the comedy play "Springtime for Henry" beginning in the 1930s and extending into the 1960s. He played the part of the effete Henry Dewlip more than 3,000 times.
9
According to an in-depth article by Eve Golden in "Classic Images" magazine, Edward's longtime companion was actor Gavin Gordon, who was 15 years his junior. Not much was ever documented on the couple. They appeared in one movie together - Pocketful of Miracles (1961).
10
Diagnosed with cancer, he was hospitalized at Glens Falls, New York for several weeks before returning home to his San Fernando, California home, where he died at the age of 83.
11
Tommy Bond was a regular on Horton's radio show in the 1930's.
12
Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 281-283. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
13
Played the role of Professor Nick Potter in Holiday (1930) and again in the 1938 remake directed by George Cukor.
14
Contrary to some reports, he was not the grandson of namesake Edward Everett Hale, author of "The Man Without a Country.".
15
Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA., in the Whispering Pines section at the top of the hill.
Pictures
Movies
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Weekend for Three
1941
Stonebraker
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1941
Messenger 7013
Bachelor Daddy
1941
Joseph Smith
Sunny
1941
Henry Bates
Ziegfeld Girl
1941
Noble Sage
You're the One
1941
Death Valley Joe Frink
That's Right - You're Wrong
1939
Tom Village - a Screenwriter
The Amazing Mr. Forrest
1939
Treadwell
Paris Honeymoon
1939
Ernest Figg
Little Tough Guys in Society
1938
Oliver
Holiday
1938
Professor Nick Potter
College Swing
1938
Hubert Dash
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
1938
The Marquis De Loiselle
Hitting a New High
1937
Lucius B. Blynn
The Great Garrick
1937
Tubby
The Perfect Specimen
1937
Mr. Grattan
Angel
1937
Graham
Danger - Love at Work
1937
Howard Rogers
Wild Money
1937
P.E. Dodd
Shall We Dance
1937
Jeffrey Baird
Oh, Doctor
1937
Edward J. Billop
The King and the Chorus Girl
1937
Count Humbert Evel Bruger
Lost Horizon
1937
Lovett
Let's Make a Million
1936
Harrison Gentry
The Man in the Mirror
1936
Jeremy Dilke
Hearts Divided
1936
John
Nobody's Fool
1936
Will Wright
The Singing Kid
1936
Davenport Rogers
Her Master's Voice
1936
Ned Farrar
Your Uncle Dudley
1935
Dudley Dixon
His Night Out
1935
Homer B. Bitts
Little Big Shot
1935
Mortimer
The Private Secretary
1935
Rev. Robert Spalding
Top Hat
1935
Horace Hardwick
Going Highbrow
1935
Augie
In Caliente
1935
Harold Brandon
$10 Raise
1935
Hubert T. Wilkins
The Devil Is a Woman
1935
Gov. Don Paquito 'Paquitito'
All the King's Horses
1935
Count Josef 'Peppi' von Schlapstaat
The Night Is Young
1935
Baron Szereny
Biography of a Bachelor Girl
1935
Leander 'Bunny' Nolan
The Gay Divorcee
1934
Egbert 'Pinky' Fitzgerald
The Merry Widow
1934
Ambassador
Ladies Should Listen
1934
Paul Vernet
Kiss and Make-Up
1934
Marcel Caron
Smarty
1934
Vernon
Sing and Like It
1934
Adam Frink - Producer
Uncertain Lady
1934
Elliot Crane
Success at Any Price
1934
Fisher
The Poor Rich
1934
Albert Stuyvesant Spottiswood
Easy to Love
1934
Eric
Alice in Wonderland
1933
Mad Hatter
Design for Living
1933
Max Plunkett
The Way to Love
1933
Prof. Gaston Bibi
It's a Boy
1933
Dudley Leake
A Bedtime Story
1933
Victor Dubois
The Woman in Command
1933
Sebastian Marvello
Trouble in Paradise
1932
François Filiba
Roar of the Dragon
1932
Busby
-But the Flesh Is Weak
1932
Sir George Kelvin
The Great Junction Hotel
1931
Short
The Groom
The Age for Love
1931
Horace Keats
Smart Woman
1931
Billy Ross
Six Cylinder Love
1931
Monty Winston
The Front Page
1931
Bensinger
Lonely Wives
1931
Richard 'Dickie' Smith / Felix, the Great Zero
Kiss Me Again
1931
Rene
Reaching for the Moon
1930
Roger - the Valet
Once a Gentleman
1930
Oliver
Holiday
1930
Nick Potter
Wide Open
1930
Simon Haldane
Take the Heir
1930
Smithers
The Aviator
1929
Robert Street
Good Medicine
1929
Short
The Sap
1929
The Sap
Prince Gabby
1929
Short
The Hottentot
1929
Sam Harrington
Trusting Wives
1929
Short
The Right Bed
1929
Short
Sonny Boy
1929/I
Crandall Thorpe
Ask Dad
1929
Short
Dad
The Eligible Mr. Bangs
1929
Short
Mr. Bangs
Call Again
1928
Short
Vacation Waves
1928
Short
Eddie Davis
The Terror
1928
Ferdinand Fane
Scrambled Weddings
1928
Short
Horse Shy
1928
Short
Eddie Hamilton
Miss Information
1928
Short
The Firm's Representative
Behind the Counter
1928
Short
Dad's Choice
1928
Short
Eddie
Find the King
1927
Short
No Publicity
1927
Short
Taxi! Taxi!
1927
Peter Whitby
The Whole Town's Talking
1926
Chester Binney
Poker Faces
1926
Jimmy Whitmore
The Nutcracker
1926
Short
Horatio Slipaway
La Bohème
1926
Colline
The Business of Love
1925
Edward Burgess
Marry Me
1925
John Smith #2
Beggar on Horseback
1925
Neil McRae
Helen's Babies
1924
Uncle Harry
The Man Who Fights Alone
1924
Bob Alten
Try and Get It
1924
Glenn Collins (as Edward Horton)
Flapper Wives
1924
Vincent Platt (as Edward Horton)
To the Ladies
1923
Leonard Beebe (as Edward Horton)
The Vow of Vengeance
1923
Ruggles of Red Gap
1923
Ruggles (as Edward Horton)
A Front Page Story
1922
Rodney Marvin (as Edward Horton)
The Ladder Jinx
1922
Arthur Barnes (as Edward Horton)
Too Much Business
1922
John Henry Jackson (as Edward Horton)
Cold Turkey
1971
Hiram C. Grayson
The Governor & J.J.
1970
TV Series
Doc Simon
Nanny and the Professor
1970
TV Series
Professor Clarendon
Love, American Style
1970
TV Series
Elmo (segment "Love and Las Vegas")
The Name of the Game
1970
TV Series
Philip Armistead
2000 Years Later
1969
Evermore
It Takes a Thief
1969
TV Series
Lord Pelham-Gifford
The Perils of Pauline
1967
Caspar Coleman
Batman
1966
TV Series
Chief Screaming Chicken
Camp Runamuck
1965
TV Series
Henry Saunders
F Troop
1965
TV Series
Roaring Chicken
Burke's Law
1963-1965
TV Series
Wilbur Starlington / Grover Leander Smith
Valentine's Day
1965
TV Series
Charles Marks
The Cara Williams Show
1965
TV Series
Fenwick
Sex and the Single Girl
1964
The Chief
Hoppity Hooper
1964
TV Series
Narrator for 'Fractured Fairy Tales' (voice)
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
1963
Mr. Dinckler
Our Man Higgins
1963
TV Series
Rawley
Dennis the Menace
1962-1963
TV Series
Uncle Ned Matthews
Saints and Sinners
1962
TV Series
Mr. Hollister
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1962
TV Series
Senator Crabtree
The Red Skelton Hour
1957-1962
TV Series
Muggsy / Sir Alfred Hangeron / Alfred
Pocketful of Miracles
1961
Hudgins
Rocky and His Friends
1959-1961
TV Series
Fractured Fairy Tales narrator
The Real McCoys
1960
TV Series
Mr. Medwick
The Best of Mr. Peabody & Sherman
1959
TV Series
Matinee Theatre
1956-1958
TV Series
Mr. Pim
December Bride
1957
TV Series
The Story of Mankind
1957
Sir Walter Raleigh
Playhouse 90
1957
TV Series
Mr. Carver
Saturday Spectacular: Manhattan Tower
1956
TV Movie
Noah
General Electric Theater
1956
TV Series
Mr. Parkinson
Shower of Stars
1955
TV Series
Ed Hoffman
Damon Runyon Theater
1955
TV Series
Thaddeus
Max Liebman Presents: The Merry Widow
1955
TV Movie
Baron Zelta
The Best of Broadway
1955
TV Series
Mr. Witherspoon
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1954
TV Series
Broadway Television Theatre
1952-1953
TV Series
Uncle Dudley / Walter Burns
All Star Revue
1953
TV Series
Guest Actor
Medallion Theatre
1953
TV Series
The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse
1953
TV Series
I Love Lucy
1952
TV Series
Mr. Ritter
The Magnavox Theatre
1950
TV Series
Don Ameche's Musical Playhouse
1950
TV Series
Hotel Manager (I950))
The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
1948-1949
TV Series
The Ford Theatre Hour
1949
TV Series
Sheridan Whiteside
Her Husband's Affairs
1947
J.B. Cruikshank
Down to Earth
1947
Messenger 7013
The Ghost Goes Wild
1947
Eric
Earl Carroll Sketchbook
1946
Dr. Milo Edwards
Faithful in My Fashion
1946
Hiram Dilworthy
Cinderella Jones
1946
Keating
Lady on a Train
1945
Mr. Haskell
Steppin' in Society
1945
Judge Avery Webster
The Town Went Wild
1944
Everett Conway
Brazil
1944
Everett St. John Everett
San Diego I Love You
1944
Philip McCooley
Arsenic and Old Lace
1944
Mr. Witherspoon
Summer Storm
1944
Count 'Piggy' Volsky
Her Primitive Man
1944
Orrin
The Gang's All Here
1943
Peyton Potter
Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943
Farnsworth
Forever and a Day
1943
Sir Anthony Trimble-Pomfret
Springtime in the Rockies
1942
McTavish
I Married an Angel
1942
Peter
The Magnificent Dope
1942
Horace Hunter
The Body Disappears
1941
Professor Shotesbury
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Pocketful of Miracles
1961
performer: "Jingle Bells" 1857 - uncredited
The Lux Show
1957
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Cinderella Jones
1946
performer: "You Never Know Where You're Goin' Till You Get There"
I Married an Angel
1942
performer: "To Count Palaff There Comes a Time" 1942
That's Right - You're Wrong
1939
"The Volga Boatman", uncredited
Paris Honeymoon
1939
performer: "The Funny Old Hills"
Holiday
1938
performer: "Gwine to Rune All Night De Camptown Races" 1850 Uncredited
Hitting a New High
1937
performer: "Let's Give Love Another Chance" 1937
Angel
1937
"The Barber of Seville" 1816, uncredited
Lost Horizon
1937
performer: "Here We Go Gathering Nuts in May" - uncredited
Going Highbrow
1935
performer: "One in a Million" 1935, "Sextette" - uncredited
In Caliente
1935
performer: "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" 1912, "The Lady in Red" 1935 - uncredited
The Gay Divorcee
1934
performer: "Let's K-nock K-nees" 1931
Alice in Wonderland
1933
performer: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat" - uncredited
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Dad's Choice
1928
Short
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Johnny Carson Presents the Sun City Scandals '70
1970
TV Movie
Himself / Sketch Actor
The David Frost Show
1970
TV Series
Himself
The Ed Nelson Show
1969
TV Series
Himself
Cinema
1969
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Steve Allen Show
1968
TV Series
Himself
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1967
TV Series
Himself - Guest
The Mike Douglas Show
1962-1966
TV Series
Himself / Himself - Actor
The Merv Griffin Show
1963-1965
TV Series
Himself
One Got Fat
1963
Short
Himself - Narrator (voice)
Fractured Flickers
1963
TV Series
Himself
Here's Hollywood
1961
TV Series
Himself
The Jack Paar Tonight Show
1959-1960
TV Series
Himself
The George Gobel Show
1954-1960
TV Series
Himself
The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show
1958
TV Series
Himself - Actor
The Steve Allen Plymouth Show
1957
TV Series
Himself - Guest
The Lux Show
1957
TV Series
Himself
The Helen O'Connell Show
1956
TV Series
Himself
I've Got a Secret
1955
TV Series
Himself - Guest
The Name's the Same
1953
TV Series
Guest
General Electric Guest House
1951
TV Series
Himself
Showtime, U.S.A.
1950
TV Series
Himself
Penthouse Party
1950
TV Series
Himself
Texaco Star Theatre
1949
TV Series
Himself - Actor
The Ed Sullivan Show
1949
TV Series
Himself
Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 10
1937
Documentary short
Himself
Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 2
1936
Documentary short
Himself
Things You Never See on the Screen
1935
Short
Himself
Hollywood on Parade No. B-6
1934
Short
Himself
Screen Snapshots Series 9, No. 11
1930
Short
Himself
Hollywood Snapshots #11
1929
Documentary short
Himself
Screen Snapshots, Series 4, No. 5
1923
Documentary short
Himself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Ziegfeld Girl Intro
2004
Video documentary short
Noble Sage
The Making of 'Lost Horizon'
1999
Video documentary short
Lovett (uncredited)
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults