Edward Ellis (actor)

Edward Ellis
Born	Edward Mayne Ellis (1870-11-12)November 12, 1870 Coldwater, Michigan, U.S.
Died	July 26, 1952(1952-07-26) (aged 81) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Prostate Cancer
Occupation	Actor, producer, screenwriter
Years active	1879–1934 (stage) 1917–1942 (film)
Spouse(s)	Josephine Stevens (1917–1952)
Children	Robert Ellis
Parent(s)	Edward C. Ellis Ruth M. Ellis

Edward Mayne Ellis (November 12, 1870 – July 26, 1952) was an American film actor. He is best known for playing the title role in The Thin Man, as well as in A Man to Remember.

Early life

Ellis was born in Coldwater, Michigan,^[1] the second child of Edward C. Ellis, a playwright and actor and Ruth McCarthy Ellis, an actress. He was the older brother of stage actress and writer Edith Ellis.

Career

He made his first stage appearance in 1879 in Chicago. He was an actor, playwright and producer on Broadway before going into films. His first adult performance was in Mary and John in 1905. He toured all over America and also played in England. Edward Ellis was a dramatic author and also wrote the playscript for the 1934 play Affair of a Gentleman.

In films, he played mostly supporting roles, his only leading roles being in Main Street Lawyer (1939) and in A Man to Remember (1938) and Three Sons (1939), a remake of Lionel Barrymore's Sweepings (1933). He starred in 37 films, but is probably best remembered for his roles as the resolute sheriff in Fury, as Shirley Temple's uncle in Little Miss Broadway and the leading role in A Man to Remember.

He is also well known as Clyde Wynant, the wealthy industrialist, whose disappearance private eye Nick Charles (played by William Powell) had been hired to investigate in the 1934 hit MGM film The Thin Man. The title does not refer to Powell's character, as is so widely assumed, but to Ellis' character, the murder victim in the film.

In 1939, Frank Capra offered Ellis the role of the President of the Senate in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, however he refused the part which went to Harry Carey.^[2][3]

His last appearance was as Mr. Vane in The Omaha Trail (1942).

Personal life

He was briefly married to silent film actress Josephine Stevens from 1917 to the mid 1920s. Their union produced one daughter, Roberta (Bobbie) Ellis born in 1918.^[2] Ellis died on July 26, 1952 at the age of 81 from heart failure due to prostate cancer.

Filmography

Lobby card for A Man to Remember (1938)

References

External links

• Edward Ellis at the Internet Movie Database
• Edward Ellis at the Internet Broadway Database