Robert Edeson (June 3, 1868 – March 24, 1931) was an American film and stage actor of the silent era and a vaudeville performer.
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Life and career
Edeson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of manager and actor George R. Edeson. After working as treasurer of the Park Theatre in Brooklyn, he initially acted in New York in 1887 in a production of Fascination. He debuted on Broadway in Marriage (1896). In 1901 he created the role Edward Warden in the original production of Clyde Fitch's The Climbers. His last Broadway appearance was in The World We Live In (1922). He also performed in vaudeville.
Edeson received his first boost in films in 1914 when he starred in the Cecil B. DeMille directed film, The Call of the North (1914).
Edeson replaced actor Rudolph Christians in Erich von Stroheim's production of Foolish Wives (1922), after Christians died of pneumonia. Edeson famously only showed his back to the camera so as not to clash with shot footage of Christians that was still to be used in the completed film.
Edeson's final film was Aloha (1931).
His third wife was the former Aida Banker.
Death
On March 24, 1931, Edeson died at his home in Hollywood. He was 62 years old.
Selected filmography
The Paymaster's Son (1913) as The Paymaster's Son
The Call of the North (1914) as Ned Stewart
Where the Trail Divides (1914)
The Absentee (1915) as Nathaniel Crosby
The Light That Failed (1916) as Dick Hedlar
Big Jim Garrity (1916) as Jim Garrity
On the Night Stage (1915) as Austin
The Caveman (1915) as Hanlick Smagg
Public Defender (1917) as Arthur Nelson
Extravagance (1921) as Richard Vane
Foolish Wives (1922) as Andrew J. Hughes
The Prisoner of Zenda (1922) as Colonel Zapta
Sure Fire Flint (1922) as Anthony De Lanni
Any Night (1922) as Jim Barton
You Are Guilty (1923) as Theodore Tennent
The Tie That Binds (1923) as Charles Dodge
The Silent Partner (1923) as Ralph Coombes
To the Last Man (1923) as Gaston Isbel
The Ten Commandments (1923) as Inspector Redding
Feet of Clay (1924) as Dr. Fergus Lansell