Known for movies

Short Info

DiedSeptember 29, 1970, Encino, Los Angeles, California, United States
MarkThe 'Triple Take'.... an extended double take
FactPlayed the role of Professor Nick Potter in Holiday (1930) and again in the 1938 remake directed by George Cukor.
PaymentsEarned $150 /week from Too Much Business (1922)


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 NameEdward Everett Horton
DiedSeptember 29, 1970, Encino, Los Angeles, California, United States
ProfessionSinger, Voice Actor
EducationBaltimore City College, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Columbia University, Oberlin College
NationalityAmerican

Family

ParentsIsabella S. Diack, Edward Everett Horton Sr.
SiblingsGeorge Horton, Winter Davis Horton, Hannahbelle Horton
PartnerGavin Gordon

Accomplishments

MoviesTop 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 ...
TV ShowsThe Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Holiday Hotel

Social profile links

Marks

#Marks / Signs
1The 'Triple Take'.... an extended double take
2Quavering voice

Salary

TitleSalary
Too Much Business (1922)$150 /week

Quotes

#Quote
1I 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
1He owned an estate in Encino on Amestoy Avenue that he named "Belly Acres".
2Beginning 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.
3His 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.
4Studied 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.
5Joined 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.
6Like 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.
7In the 1920s he acted in and managed the Majestic Theater in Los Angeles with his brother and business manager, George.
8Appeared 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.
9According 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).
10Diagnosed 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.
11Tommy Bond was a regular on Horton's radio show in the 1930's.
12Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 281-283. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
13Played the role of Professor Nick Potter in Holiday (1930) and again in the 1938 remake directed by George Cukor.
14Contrary to some reports, he was not the grandson of namesake Edward Everett Hale, author of "The Man Without a Country.".
15Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA., in the Whispering Pines section at the top of the hill.

Pictures

Movies

Actor

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Weekend for Three1941Stonebraker
Here Comes Mr. Jordan1941Messenger 7013
Bachelor Daddy1941Joseph Smith
Sunny1941Henry Bates
Ziegfeld Girl1941Noble Sage
You're the One1941Death Valley Joe Frink
That's Right - You're Wrong1939Tom Village - a Screenwriter
The Amazing Mr. Forrest1939Treadwell
Paris Honeymoon1939Ernest Figg
Little Tough Guys in Society1938Oliver
Holiday1938Professor Nick Potter
College Swing1938Hubert Dash
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife1938The Marquis De Loiselle
Hitting a New High1937Lucius B. Blynn
The Great Garrick1937Tubby
The Perfect Specimen1937Mr. Grattan
Angel1937Graham
Danger - Love at Work1937Howard Rogers
Wild Money1937P.E. Dodd
Shall We Dance1937Jeffrey Baird
Oh, Doctor1937Edward J. Billop
The King and the Chorus Girl1937Count Humbert Evel Bruger
Lost Horizon1937Lovett
Let's Make a Million1936Harrison Gentry
The Man in the Mirror1936Jeremy Dilke
Hearts Divided1936John
Nobody's Fool1936Will Wright
The Singing Kid1936Davenport Rogers
Her Master's Voice1936Ned Farrar
Your Uncle Dudley1935Dudley Dixon
His Night Out1935Homer B. Bitts
Little Big Shot1935Mortimer
The Private Secretary1935Rev. Robert Spalding
Top Hat1935Horace Hardwick
Going Highbrow1935Augie
In Caliente1935Harold Brandon
$10 Raise1935Hubert T. Wilkins
The Devil Is a Woman1935Gov. Don Paquito 'Paquitito'
All the King's Horses1935Count Josef 'Peppi' von Schlapstaat
The Night Is Young1935Baron Szereny
Biography of a Bachelor Girl1935Leander 'Bunny' Nolan
The Gay Divorcee1934Egbert 'Pinky' Fitzgerald
The Merry Widow1934Ambassador
Ladies Should Listen1934Paul Vernet
Kiss and Make-Up1934Marcel Caron
Smarty1934Vernon
Sing and Like It1934Adam Frink - Producer
Uncertain Lady1934Elliot Crane
Success at Any Price1934Fisher
The Poor Rich1934Albert Stuyvesant Spottiswood
Easy to Love1934Eric
Alice in Wonderland1933Mad Hatter
Design for Living1933Max Plunkett
The Way to Love1933Prof. Gaston Bibi
It's a Boy1933Dudley Leake
A Bedtime Story1933Victor Dubois
The Woman in Command1933Sebastian Marvello
Trouble in Paradise1932François Filiba
Roar of the Dragon1932Busby
-But the Flesh Is Weak1932Sir George Kelvin
The Great Junction Hotel1931ShortThe Groom
The Age for Love1931Horace Keats
Smart Woman1931Billy Ross
Six Cylinder Love1931Monty Winston
The Front Page1931Bensinger
Lonely Wives1931Richard 'Dickie' Smith / Felix, the Great Zero
Kiss Me Again1931Rene
Reaching for the Moon1930Roger - the Valet
Once a Gentleman1930Oliver
Holiday1930Nick Potter
Wide Open1930Simon Haldane
Take the Heir1930Smithers
The Aviator1929Robert Street
Good Medicine1929Short
The Sap1929The Sap
Prince Gabby1929Short
The Hottentot1929Sam Harrington
Trusting Wives1929Short
The Right Bed1929Short
Sonny Boy1929/ICrandall Thorpe
Ask Dad1929ShortDad
The Eligible Mr. Bangs1929ShortMr. Bangs
Call Again1928Short
Vacation Waves1928ShortEddie Davis
The Terror1928Ferdinand Fane
Scrambled Weddings1928Short
Horse Shy1928ShortEddie Hamilton
Miss Information1928ShortThe Firm's Representative
Behind the Counter1928Short
Dad's Choice1928ShortEddie
Find the King1927Short
No Publicity1927Short
Taxi! Taxi!1927Peter Whitby
The Whole Town's Talking1926Chester Binney
Poker Faces1926Jimmy Whitmore
The Nutcracker1926ShortHoratio Slipaway
La Bohème1926Colline
The Business of Love1925Edward Burgess
Marry Me1925John Smith #2
Beggar on Horseback1925Neil McRae
Helen's Babies1924Uncle Harry
The Man Who Fights Alone1924Bob Alten
Try and Get It1924Glenn Collins (as Edward Horton)
Flapper Wives1924Vincent Platt (as Edward Horton)
To the Ladies1923Leonard Beebe (as Edward Horton)
The Vow of Vengeance1923
Ruggles of Red Gap1923Ruggles (as Edward Horton)
A Front Page Story1922Rodney Marvin (as Edward Horton)
The Ladder Jinx1922Arthur Barnes (as Edward Horton)
Too Much Business1922John Henry Jackson (as Edward Horton)
Cold Turkey1971Hiram C. Grayson
The Governor & J.J.1970TV SeriesDoc Simon
Nanny and the Professor1970TV SeriesProfessor Clarendon
Love, American Style1970TV SeriesElmo (segment "Love and Las Vegas")
The Name of the Game1970TV SeriesPhilip Armistead
2000 Years Later1969Evermore
It Takes a Thief1969TV SeriesLord Pelham-Gifford
The Perils of Pauline1967Caspar Coleman
Batman1966TV SeriesChief Screaming Chicken
Camp Runamuck1965TV SeriesHenry Saunders
F Troop1965TV SeriesRoaring Chicken
Burke's Law1963-1965TV SeriesWilbur Starlington / Grover Leander Smith
Valentine's Day1965TV SeriesCharles Marks
The Cara Williams Show1965TV SeriesFenwick
Sex and the Single Girl1964The Chief
Hoppity Hooper1964TV SeriesNarrator for 'Fractured Fairy Tales' (voice)
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World1963Mr. Dinckler
Our Man Higgins1963TV SeriesRawley
Dennis the Menace1962-1963TV SeriesUncle Ned Matthews
Saints and Sinners1962TV SeriesMr. Hollister
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington1962TV SeriesSenator Crabtree
The Red Skelton Hour1957-1962TV SeriesMuggsy / Sir Alfred Hangeron / Alfred
Pocketful of Miracles1961Hudgins
Rocky and His Friends1959-1961TV SeriesFractured Fairy Tales narrator
The Real McCoys1960TV SeriesMr. Medwick
The Best of Mr. Peabody & Sherman1959TV Series
Matinee Theatre1956-1958TV SeriesMr. Pim
December Bride1957TV Series
The Story of Mankind1957Sir Walter Raleigh
Playhouse 901957TV SeriesMr. Carver
Saturday Spectacular: Manhattan Tower1956TV MovieNoah
General Electric Theater1956TV SeriesMr. Parkinson
Shower of Stars1955TV SeriesEd Hoffman
Damon Runyon Theater1955TV SeriesThaddeus
Max Liebman Presents: The Merry Widow1955TV MovieBaron Zelta
The Best of Broadway1955TV SeriesMr. Witherspoon
The Colgate Comedy Hour1954TV Series
Broadway Television Theatre1952-1953TV SeriesUncle Dudley / Walter Burns
All Star Revue1953TV SeriesGuest Actor
Medallion Theatre1953TV Series
The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse1953TV Series
I Love Lucy1952TV SeriesMr. Ritter
The Magnavox Theatre1950TV Series
Don Ameche's Musical Playhouse1950TV SeriesHotel Manager (I950))
The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre1948-1949TV Series
The Ford Theatre Hour1949TV SeriesSheridan Whiteside
Her Husband's Affairs1947J.B. Cruikshank
Down to Earth1947Messenger 7013
The Ghost Goes Wild1947Eric
Earl Carroll Sketchbook1946Dr. Milo Edwards
Faithful in My Fashion1946Hiram Dilworthy
Cinderella Jones1946Keating
Lady on a Train1945Mr. Haskell
Steppin' in Society1945Judge Avery Webster
The Town Went Wild1944Everett Conway
Brazil1944Everett St. John Everett
San Diego I Love You1944Philip McCooley
Arsenic and Old Lace1944Mr. Witherspoon
Summer Storm1944Count 'Piggy' Volsky
Her Primitive Man1944Orrin
The Gang's All Here1943Peyton Potter
Thank Your Lucky Stars1943Farnsworth
Forever and a Day1943Sir Anthony Trimble-Pomfret
Springtime in the Rockies1942McTavish
I Married an Angel1942Peter
The Magnificent Dope1942Horace Hunter
The Body Disappears1941Professor Shotesbury

Soundtrack

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Pocketful of Miracles1961performer: "Jingle Bells" 1857 - uncredited
The Lux Show1957TV Series performer - 1 episode
Cinderella Jones1946performer: "You Never Know Where You're Goin' Till You Get There"
I Married an Angel1942performer: "To Count Palaff There Comes a Time" 1942
That's Right - You're Wrong1939"The Volga Boatman", uncredited
Paris Honeymoon1939performer: "The Funny Old Hills"
Holiday1938performer: "Gwine to Rune All Night De Camptown Races" 1850 Uncredited
Hitting a New High1937performer: "Let's Give Love Another Chance" 1937
Angel1937"The Barber of Seville" 1816, uncredited
Lost Horizon1937performer: "Here We Go Gathering Nuts in May" - uncredited
Going Highbrow1935performer: "One in a Million" 1935, "Sextette" - uncredited
In Caliente1935performer: "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" 1912, "The Lady in Red" 1935 - uncredited
The Gay Divorcee1934performer: "Let's K-nock K-nees" 1931
Alice in Wonderland1933performer: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat" - uncredited

Director

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Dad's Choice1928Short

Self

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Johnny Carson Presents the Sun City Scandals '701970TV MovieHimself / Sketch Actor
The David Frost Show1970TV SeriesHimself
The Ed Nelson Show1969TV SeriesHimself
Cinema1969TV Series documentaryHimself
The Steve Allen Show1968TV SeriesHimself
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson1967TV SeriesHimself - Guest
The Mike Douglas Show1962-1966TV SeriesHimself / Himself - Actor
The Merv Griffin Show1963-1965TV SeriesHimself
One Got Fat1963ShortHimself - Narrator (voice)
Fractured Flickers1963TV SeriesHimself
Here's Hollywood1961TV SeriesHimself
The Jack Paar Tonight Show1959-1960TV SeriesHimself
The George Gobel Show1954-1960TV SeriesHimself
The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show1958TV SeriesHimself - Actor
The Steve Allen Plymouth Show1957TV SeriesHimself - Guest
The Lux Show1957TV SeriesHimself
The Helen O'Connell Show1956TV SeriesHimself
I've Got a Secret1955TV SeriesHimself - Guest
The Name's the Same1953TV SeriesGuest
General Electric Guest House1951TV SeriesHimself
Showtime, U.S.A.1950TV SeriesHimself
Penthouse Party1950TV SeriesHimself
Texaco Star Theatre1949TV SeriesHimself - Actor
The Ed Sullivan Show1949TV SeriesHimself
Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 101937Documentary shortHimself
Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 21936Documentary shortHimself
Things You Never See on the Screen1935ShortHimself
Hollywood on Parade No. B-61934ShortHimself
Screen Snapshots Series 9, No. 111930ShortHimself
Hollywood Snapshots #111929Documentary shortHimself
Screen Snapshots, Series 4, No. 51923Documentary shortHimself

Archive Footage

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Ziegfeld Girl Intro2004Video documentary shortNoble Sage
The Making of 'Lost Horizon'1999Video documentary shortLovett (uncredited)
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults1997TV Movie documentaryHimself
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender1997DocumentaryHimself
The Celluloid Closet1995DocumentaryHorace Hardwick (uncredited)
Red Skelton: Bloopers, Blunders and Ad-Libs1994VideoSir Alfred
Reginald LeBorg - Man nannte mich den Alleskönner1987TV Movie documentaryPhilip McCooley
To See Such Fun1977DocumentaryHimself
Bob Hope's World of Comedy1976TV MovieTribute Montage

Awards

Won Awards

YearAwardCeremonyNominationMovie
1960Star on the Walk of FameWalk of FameMotion PictureOn 8 February 1960. At 6427 Hollywood Blvd.

Source: IMDb, Wikipedia

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