Edward Earle

Biography

Canadian native Edward Earle was born in Toronto on July 16, 1882, and was raised and schooled there. His stage career took form in Canada with an early emphasis on musical comedy, and he later toured in vaudeville and stock in association with Belasco, DeWolf Hopper Sr., Marie Cahill and the Schuberts, among other theatrical illuminaries. Making his Broadway debut in the comedy "The Triumph of Love" in 1904, his work on the stage eventually led to film parts in 1914. Earle entered via the Edison film company and emerged a star not long after, distinguishing himself at other studios as well, including Vitagraph, Famous Players, Metro, Warners and Columbia, with a tally of over 400 silent and talking films by the time he retired four decades later. Tawny blond, blue-eyed, well-built and with a clean-cut handsomeness, Earle was a natural for dashing, romantic silent film leads. He gained initial film attention starring in Edison's "Olive's Opportunities" one-reeler series paired opposite Mabel Trunnelle in 1914 and 1915. Adding dash and verve to such silents as Ranson's Folly (1915), a western also showcasing Ms. Trunelle; The Innocence of Ruth (1916); The Light of Happiness (1916) and The Gates of Eden (1916), all opposite a dramatic Viola Dana, he went on to dress up everything from stalwart war dramas (For France (1917)) to mystery comedies (The Blind Adventure (1918)). From 1917 through 1919, he and Agnes Ayres enjoyed great success in a series of two-reeler shorts based on the works of O. Henry. Earle ventured into the 1920s with such stylish movie showcases as East Lynne (1921), False Fronts (1922) and The Dangerous Flirt (1924), but then began to falter into second leads and support roles, which including the George Arliss starrer The Man Who Played God (1922), the Marie Prevost comedy How to Educate a Wife (1924), little Baby Peggy's showcase The Family Secret (1924), Colleen Moore's comedy romance Irene (1926), the John Gilbert/Joan Crawford sea tale Twelve Miles Out (1927), and Conrad Nagel's part talking prohibition tale Kid Gloves (1929). Come the advent of sound Earle was offered character parts and by the end of the pre-Code talkies era was relegated to bit and unbilled extra parts in Shirley Temple, Laurel and Hardy and Marx Bros. flicks. He continued to appear throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and tended to be more visible in oaters and serial cliffhangers. Extremely athletic with a daredevil instinct, he tried his hand as an artist, aviator and automobile racing car driver. Retiring in the early 1960s, Earle eventually retired to the Woodland Hills, California Motion Picture Country Home, where he passed away from complications of old age at age 90 in 1972.