Edgar Stehli (July 12, 1884 – July 25, 1973) was a French-born American actor of the stage, the screen and television.
Early years
The son of an English mother and a German-Swiss father, Stehli was born in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, France. The family moved to New York in 1886 and later moved to
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...
. He graduated from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
with a bachelor's degree in 1907 and a master's degree in 1908. While at Cornell, he acted in university theatrical productions.
[
]
Career
Stehli's professional acting debut came with a stock theater company in Bayonne as he had understudy and bit-part responsibilities and worked with props. He worked there and with other stock companies until 1919, when he was invited to join the Theatre Guild
The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the W ...
.Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
'', ''Executive Suite
An executive suite in its most general definition is a collection of offices or rooms—or suite—used by top managers of a business—or executives. Over the years, this general term has taken on a variety of specific meanings.
Corporate off ...
'', ''Drum Beat
A drum beat or drum pattern is a rhythmic pattern, or repeated rhythm establishing the meter and groove through the pulse and subdivision, played on drum kits and other percussion instruments. As such a "beat" consists of multiple drum strokes o ...
'', '' The Cobweb'', ''The Brothers Karamazov
''The Brothers Karamazov'' (russian: Братья Карамазовы, ''Brat'ya Karamazovy'', ), also translated as ''The Karamazov Brothers'', is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly two years writing '' ...
'', ''No Name on the Bullet
''No Name on the Bullet'' is a 1959 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Audie Murphy, Charles Drake, and Joan Evans. It is one of a handful of pictures in that genre directed by Arnold, better known for hi ...
'', ''4D Man
''4D Man'' (also known as ''The Evil Force'' in the UK; reissued as ''Master of Terror'' in the US) is a 1959 independent American science fiction film in color by De Luxe, produced by Jack H. Harris (from his original screenplay), directed by ...
'', ''Cash McCall
''Cash McCall'' is a 1960 American romantic drama film in Technicolor from Warner Bros., produced by Henry Blanke, directed by Joseph Pevney, and starring James Garner and Natalie Wood. The film's screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Marion Ha ...
'', ''Atlantis, the Lost Continent
''Atlantis, the Lost Continent'' is a 1961 American science fiction film in Metrocolor produced and directed by George Pal and starring Sal Ponti (under the screen name of Anthony Hall), Joyce Taylor, and John Dall. The film was distributed b ...
'', '' Parrish'', ''Pocketful of Miracles
''Pocketful of Miracles'' is a 1961 American comedy film starring Glenn Ford and Bette Davis, produced and directed by Frank Capra, filmed in Panavision. The screenplay by Hal Kanter and Harry Tugend was based on Robert Riskin's screenplay for t ...
'', ''The Spiral Road
''The Spiral Road'' is a 1962 American adventure-drama film directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Rock Hudson, Burl Ives, Gena Rowlands, and Geoffrey Keen. The film was released by Universal-International in the United States in 1962, the same ...
'', ''Twilight of Honor
''Twilight of Honor'', released in the UK as ''The Charge is Murder'', is a 1963 film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Richard Chamberlain, Nick Adams (actor, born 1931), Nick Adams, Claude Rains, and featuring Joey Heatherton and Linda Evans ...
'', ''Seconds
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
'', ''The Tiger Makes Out
''The Tiger Makes Out'' is a 1967 American black comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson. The plot concerns a kidnapper and his unintended victim. It marked Dustin Hoffman's film debut.
Plot
Loser Ben Ha ...
'' and '' Loving'', among others.
His television appearances include: a 1956 role as title character “Ira Pucket” (an old cowboy trying to stay relevant) in S2E15’s “Pucket’s New Year” on the TV Western ''Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...
'' plus
''Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...
'' Season 1, Episode 39 (1958) as Daniel Reed in, “The Case of the Rolling Bones”. He also appeared in an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''.
On old-time radio
The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...
, Stehli portrayed Dr. Huer in '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'',Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...
.
Personal life
Stehli was married to Emilie Greenough.
Death
Stehli died on July 25, 1973 at his home in Upper Montclair, New Jersey
Upper Montclair is a census-designated place (CDP), unincorporated community and neighborhood within Montclair in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population for the CDP was 11,565. at age 89.
Filmography
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stehli, Edgar
1884 births
1973 deaths
20th-century American male actors
American male film actors
People from Montclair, New Jersey
American male radio actors
American male stage actors
Male actors from New Jersey
Cornell University alumni
French emigrants to the United States