Edgar Norton

Edgar Norton (born Harry Edgar Mills; August 11, 1868 – February 6, 1953) was an English-born American character actor.

Early years Norton was born in Islington in London, England, on August 11, 1868, as Harry Edgar Mills, one of eight children of Jane Anne née Fleming and Frederic Mills, a clerk in the Home Office department of the Civil Service.

Career Norton was active on both stage and screen, his theater performances were on both the London and Broadway stages, and his film career spanned both the silent and "talkie" eras in Hollywood. Aged 18, he appeared as the Hare in the original production of Alice in Wonderland in London in 1886, with the production being under the guidance of Lewis Carroll, who saw the musical five times.

During his thirty-year film career, he appeared in at least ninety films. Many consider his most memorable role to be that of Poole, the butler to Dr. Jekyll in the 1931 classic, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde— a role he had been playing on-stage since 1898, opposite Richard Mansfield as Jekyll.

Personal life and death Norton moved permanently to the United States in 1889, and was naturalised as an American citizen in 1927. He married his Detroit-born wife Lillian Mable née Hubbard in Ontario in Canada in 1890, and with her had a son, Edgar Norton Mills.

He died in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles in February 1953.

Filmography

(Per AFI database)

The Ocean Waif (1916) - Valentine Borroyer The Beautiful Adventure (1917) - Valentine Borroyer The Amazons (1917) - Lord Tweenways A Pair of Cupids (1918) - Martin The New York Idea (1920) - Thomas The Light in the Dark (1922) - Peters Woman-Proof (1923) - Cecil Updyke Broadway After Dark (1924) - The Old Actor The Fast Set (1924) - Archie Wells The Female (1924) - Clyde Wiel Men (1924) - The baron Tiger Love (1924) - Don Victoriano Fuentes The Wolf Man (1924) - Sir Reginald Stackpoole Enticement (1925) - William Blake The King on Main Street (1925) - Jensen Learning To Love (1925) - Butler Lost: A Wife (1925) - Baron Deliguières The Marriage Whirl (1925) - Dick Mayne A Regular Fellow (1925) - Valet The Boy Friend (1926) - (uncredited) Diplomacy (1926) - British embassy servant The Lady from Hell (1926) - Hon. Charles Darnely Marriage License? (1927) - Beadon Fast and Furious (1927) - Englishman Singed (1927) - Ernie Whitehead My Friend from India (1927) - Jennings, a butler The Man Who Laughs (1928) - Lord High Chancellor Oh, Kay! (1928) - Lord Braggot The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1928) - Lutz The Love Parade (1929) - Master of ceremonies The Girl Said No (1930) - Butler The Man From Blankley's (1930) - Dawes One Romantic Night (1930) - Colonel Wunderlich The Runaway Bride (1930) - Williams The Lady of Scandal (1930) - Morton Monte Carlo (1930) - Minor Role (uncredited) A Lady Surrenders (1930) - Butler Charley's Aunt (1930) - Spettigue's Lawyer Du Barry, Woman of Passion (1930) - Renal East Is West (1930) - Thomas The Bachelor Father (1931) - Bolton The Lady Refuses (1931) - Dobbs Meet the Wife (1931) - Williams Compromised (1931) - Tipton Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) - Poole The Man Called Back (1932) - Secretary Love Me Tonight (1932) - Valet A Lady's Profession (1933) - Crotchett Sing, Sinner, Sing (1933) - Roberts the butler The Big Brain (1933) - Butler The Worst Woman in Paris? (1933) - Valet Only Yesterday (1933) - George, the butler Imitation of Life (1934) - Butler We Live Again (1934) - Judge The Richest Girl in the World (1934) - The butler, Binkley Sons of Steel (1934) - Higgins Thirty Day Princess (1934) - Baron Passeria Million Dollar Ransom (1934) - Meigs Stingaree (1934) - Governor's first aide The Girl from 10th Avenue (1935) - Butler When a Man's a Man (1935) - Gibbs Vagabond Lady (1935) - Chauffeur East of Java (1935) - Resident Give Me Your Heart (1936) - Servant August Weekend (1936) - Grimsby Dracula's Daughter (1936) - Hobbs The Bohemian Girl (1936) 45 Fathers (1937) - Van Brunt You Can't Buy Luck (1937) - Rivers Maytime (1937) - Secretary Stage Door (1937) - Minor Role (uncredited) Bill Cracks Down (1937) - Jarvis The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938) - Secretary to T. F. Bellows Son of Frankenstein (1939) - Thomas Benson Captain Fury (1939) - Governor's aide Rulers of the Sea (1939) - Mr. McKinnon The Mad Empress (1939) - (uncredited) A Chump at Oxford (1940) - Professor Witherspoon Brother Orchid (1940) - Meadows The House of the Seven Gables (1940) - Phineas Weed Rings on Her Fingers (1942) - Paul Happy Go Lucky (1943) - Captain of waiters Practically Yours (1944) - Harvey, butler Are These Our Parents (1944) - Butler The Suspect (1944) - Frazer Captain Kidd (1945) - Nobleman Doll Face (1945) - Soho, the butler Kitty (1946) - Earl of Campton Devotion (1946) - Club member Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946) - Butler Bob, Son of Battle (1947) - Parson Leggy Hornbut The Woman in White (1948) - Night clerk