Edwin Hunter Pendleton Arden (February 4, 1864 – October 2, 1918) was an American actor, theatre manager, and playwright.

Edwin Arden
Born
Edwin Hunter Pendleton Arden

(1864-02-04)February 4, 1864
DiedOctober 2, 1918(1918-10-02) (aged 54)
Occupation(s)Stage actor, manager and playwright

Biography

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Arden was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Mary Berkley Hunter and Arden Richard Smith.[1][2] After a common-school education he travelled west and worked in a number of different jobs, including as a mine-helper, cowboy, railroad brakeman, clerk, reporter, and theatre manager. In 1882, he made his debut as an actor with Thomas W. Keene's Shakespeare company. The next year, he married Keene's daughter Agnes Eagleson Keene.[3] Their only child, daughter Mildred Arden, also became an actor.[4][5] Around this time, he wrote several plays, including The Eagle's Nest, Raglan's Way, Barred Out, and Zorah.

He worked with a number of theatrical companies over the next thirty years, performing in such works as Edmond Rostand's L'Aiglon, Victorien Sardou's Fédora, and in an all-star production of Romeo and Juliet at the Knickerbocker Theatre in New York. In his later years, he had his own stock theatre company in Washington, D.C.[6] He starred in silent films such as The Beloved Vagabond (1915).

 
Mamma's love song, Lyrics by Edwin Hunter Arden and dedicated to his daughter Mildred Lorna Arden

Partial filmography

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References

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Notes
  1. ^ "Arden Richard Smith". New York Times. 23 October 1897. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  2. ^ Arden Richard Smith obituary; New York Dramatic Mirror; 20 October 1897
  3. ^ "Mrs Agnes Arden". Brooklyn Life. 6 January 1906. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Mildred Arden, Daughter of the Late Edwin Arden". New York Herald, 05 Sep 1920, Sun, Page 39. 5 September 1920. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  5. ^ "Descendants of Stage Stars much in the Limelight Today". New York Herald. 5 September 1920. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Edwin Arden Drops Dead." New York Times, Oct 3, 1918, p. 13
Bibliography
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