About Edwin Arden
Lived 1864 – 1918 (aged 54). Edwin Arden was an American playwright, actor and stage actor.
Edwin Hunter Pendleton Arden (February 4, 1864 – October 2, 1918) was an American actor, theatre manager, and playwright.
Biography Arden was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Mary Berkley Hunter and Arden Richard Smith. After a common-school education he travelled west and worked in a number of different jobs, including as a mine-helper, cowboy, railroad brakeman, clerk, reporter, and theatre manager. In 1882, he made his debut as an actor with Thomas W. Keene's Shakespeare company. The next year, he married Keene's daughter Agnes Eagleson Keene. Their only child, daughter Mildred Arden, also became an actor. Around this time, he wrote several plays, including The Eagle's Nest, Raglan's Way, Barred Out, and Zorah.
He worked with a number of theatrical companies over the next thirty years, performing in such works as Edmond Rostand's L'Aiglon, Victorien Sardou's Fédora, and in an all-star production of Romeo and Juliet at the Knickerbocker Theatre in New York. In his later years, he had his own stock theatre company in Washington, D.C. He starred in silent films such as The Beloved Vagabond (1915).
Partial filmography The Exploits of Elaine (1914) The New Exploits of Elaine (1915) The Beloved Vagabond (1915) The Iron Heart (1917) Ruling Passions (1918) Virtuous Wives (1918)
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Important facts
People in Edwin Arden's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Edwin Arden's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Edwin Arden?
American actor, theatre manager and playwright (1864–1918)
When was Edwin Arden born?
Edwin Arden was born on 4 February 1864 in St. Louis.
When did Edwin Arden die?
Edwin Arden died on 2 October 1918 in New York City.
What was Edwin Arden's occupation?
Edwin Arden was a playwright, actor and stage actor.
What nationality was Edwin Arden?
Edwin Arden was American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Edwin Arden. https://biography.guide/edwin-arden/
MLA: "Edwin Arden." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/edwin-arden/.
Chicago: "Edwin Arden." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/edwin-arden/.
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