Harry Edwards (October 11, 1887 - May 26, 1952) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

-born American

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He worked in films from the 1910s to the 1950s.Harry Edwards at threestooges.net
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Biography

He was born in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

on 11 October 1887. He once worked for the now largely forgotten

L-KO Kompany The L-KO Kompany, or L-KO Komedies, was an American motion picture company founded by Henry Lehrman that produced silent one-, two- and very occasionally three-reel comedy shorts between 1914 and 1919. The initials L-KO stand for "Lehrman KnockOu ...

during the silent era. In his later years at

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, Edwards established a reputation as the studio's worst director. Both

Vera Vague Barbara Jo Allen (born Marian Barbara Henshall; September 2, 1906 – September 14, 1974) was an American actress. She was also known as Vera Vague, the spinster character she created and portrayed on radio and in films during the 1940s and 19 ...

and

the Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

requested they not work with him. He is best remembered for his long collaboration with comedian

Harry Langdon Harry Philmore Langdon (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films (where he had his greatest fame), and talkies.Obituary ''Variety'', December 27, 1944, page 39. Life and career Bor ...

. He worked with Langdon in the 1920s in some of his best short films, and directed one of Langdon's best known films, the feature ''

Tramp, Tramp, Tramp ''Tramp, Tramp, Tramp'' is a 1926 American silent film, silent comedy film directed by Harry Edwards (director), Harry Edwards and starring Harry Langdon and Joan Crawford. Premise The film tells of Harry (Langdon) a ne'er-do-well who falls in ...

'' (1926). Langdon later became swell-headed with success and later dispensed with Edwards and

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...

, who also directed some of Langdon's most successful films, deciding he could direct himself. Langdon's decision proved to be a costly one as his career declined, though he later reconciled with Edwards and worked with him again in various short comedies in the 1930s and 1940s until Langdon's death in 1944. Of the hundreds of films he directed, just two were feature-length: ''

'' and ''

His First Flame ''His First Flame'' is a 1927 American silent comedy film starring Harry Langdon and directed by Harry Edwards. Additional cast members include Natalie Kingston, Ruth Hiatt, Vernon Dent, and others. Plot The story tells of Harry Howells ( ...

'' (1927) Shortly after directing his first television production, Edwards died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

carbon tetrachloride Carbon tetrachloride, also known by many other names (such as tetrachloromethane, also IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry, recognised by the IUPAC, carbon tet in the cleaning industry, Halon-104 in firefighting, and Refrigerant-10 in HVAC ...

poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

ing on May 26, 1952. From 1918 to 1919 he was married to the actress

Gladys Brockwell Gladys Brockwell (née Lindeman; September 26, 1894 – July 2, 1929) was an American actress whose career began during the silent film era. Early life and career Brockwell was born Gladys Lindeman in Brooklyn, New York, on September 26, 1894. ...

, daughter of actress

Billie Brockwell Lillian "Billie" Brockwell (née Voltaire; February 1, 1875 – January 30, 1949) was an early 20th-century American actress and scriptwriter. Career After performing as a chorus girl in vaudeville, Brockwell entered the film industry in 1913, ...

References

External links

* 1880s births 1952 deaths Canadian male film actors Deaths by poisoning Place of death missing Film directors from Calgary Male actors from Calgary 20th-century Canadian male actors Canadian emigrants to the United States {{US-film-director-1880s-stub