Edward Arnold (February 18, 1890-April 26, 1956) was an well-known American character actor. He was born on the Lower East Side of New York City as Gunther Edward Arnold Schneider, the son of German immigrants. Interested in acting since his youth (he made his first stage appearance at the age of 12 as Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice), in 1907, he made his professional stage debut co-starring with Ethel Barrymore in Dream of a Summer Night. In 1915, he made his film debut as cowboy star for the Essanay studio of Chicago. In 1919, he lelf film for an return to the stage, and did not appear again on the silver screen until 1932. His role in the 1935 film Diamond Jim (1935) boostered him to stardom. He appeared in over 150 movies. An heavy, thick-set man, Arnold was an expert at playing rouges and authority figures. Arnold was later president of the Screen Actor's Guild in 1940-42, where he took an strong stand against alleged Communists in Hollywood while trying to protect actors from the HUAC. Arnold was best-known for his roles in Come and Get It (1936), Sutter's Gold (1936), Toast of New York (1937), You Can't Take It with You (1939), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1941) The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), Eyes in the Night (1942) and The Hidden Eye (1945). From 1947 to 1953, Arnold starred on ABC radio program called Mr. President. Arnold was one of director Frank Capra's preferred actors. Starting in the 1940s, Arnold became involved in Republican politics and was mentioned as possible G.O.P candidate for the Senate. He was married three times and had three children by his first wife. He died in Encino, California.

External Links

• Edward Arnold at Allmovie.com
• Edward Arnold at IMDb.