Edwin Maxwell

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Edwin Maxwell (born February 9, 1886 in Dublin , † August 13, 1948 in Falmouth , Massachusetts ) was an Irish actor.

life and career

Edwin Maxwell immigrated to the United States from Ireland at a young age. He made his debut on Broadway in August 1918, where he played in 14 plays until 1928. Like many other theater actors, he moved to Hollywood when the talkies began in the late 1920s. Maxwell made his first film appearance in 1914 in the short film The Adventures of a Girl Reporter , but this was his only film for 15 years. His second film was The Taming of the Shrew (1929), in which he played the role of Baptista alongside the famous actor couple Douglas Fairbanks senior and Mary Pickford .

Up to his death Maxwell had over 150 film appearances, mostly in small to medium supporting roles. Above all, he embodied figures of authority such as lawyers, businessmen, doctors and superiors; both good-natured and malicious in nature. He had supporting roles in four films that won the Oscar for Best Film of the Year: In Nothing New in the West (1930) as the father of the title character Paul Bäumer, in People in the Hotel (1932) as doctor Waizt, in Der große Ziegfeld (1936) as Charles Frohman and in Lebenskünstler (1938) as a lawyer. In particular, the directors Frank Capra , Howard Hawks and Ernst Lubitsch regularly use Maxwell in their films. For Lubitsch he played a jeweler in the love comedy Ninotschka from 1939 and a year later a doctor in Rendezvous after the store had closed . He had one of his most striking appearances as the incompetent but renowned psychologist Dr. Eggelhoffer in the comedy His girl for special cases .

In addition to acting, Edwin Maxwell also worked as a dialogue supervisor for six films. He worked as an actor until his death and died of an intracerebral hemorrhage in 1948 at the age of 62 . At Maxwell's own request, his ashes were scattered on Broadway.

Filmography (selection)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edwin Maxwell at the Internet Broadway Database.
  2. ↑ Edwin Maxwell at Find A Grave.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Maxwell, Edwin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish actor
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Dublin
DATE OF DEATH August 13, 1948
Place of death Falmouth , Massachusetts