
Acting
Edward Ellis
Born — Died
1870-11-11 — 1952-07-26
Place of birth
Coldwater, Michigan, USA
Known for
Acting
Credits
37 titles
Character actor in films, often portraying strident types, he is best remembered cast as "The Thin Man" (actually, "Wynant") of the hit 1934 MGM film. He Ellis was active on Broadway as an actor, producer and playwright from 1905-32 (see "Other Works"). He died in Beverly Hills, CA at age 81 in 1952.
Known for
7.5Former detective Nick Charles has retired from police work, preferring a life of cocktails, parties, and relaxation with his wealthy wife, Nora. Their holiday is interrupted when the daughter of Nick’s former client asks for help finding her missing father, eccentric inventor Clyde Wynant. When Wynant’s body is discovered, Nick is drawn back into the investigation, with Nora eagerly joining him. As the couple questions Wynant’s family, friends, and business associates, a tangled web of greed, deception, and murder begins to unravel.
The Thin Man
1934
7.8A World War I veteran’s dreams of becoming a master architect evaporate in the cold light of economic realities. Things get even worse when he’s falsely convicted of a crime and sent to work on a chain gang.
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
1932
7.5Joe, who owns a gas station along with his brothers and is about to marry Katherine, travels to the small town where she lives to visit her, but is wrongly mistaken for a wanted kidnapper and arrested.
Fury
1936
6.6Two down-on-their-luck former outlaws volunteer to be Texas Rangers and find themselves assigned to bring in an old friend, now a notorious outlaw.
The Texas Rangers
1936
6.4Civilized wife doesn't protest when husband runs off with uncivilized professional golfer pretending to be civilized.
The Lady Consents
1936
6.7Managing Editor Brad Bradshaw refuses to run a story linking the disappearance of Frank Canfield with embezzlement of the bank. He considers Frank a straight shooter and he goes easy on the story. Every other paper goes with the story that Frank took the money and Brad is demoted, by the publisher, to the Heartthrob column - writing advice to the lovelorn. After feeling sorry for himself for two months, he takes the column seriously and makes it the talk of the town. But Brad still wants his old job back so he will have to find Canfield and the missing money.
Hi, Nellie!
1934
Film credits
1940s · 3 titles
5.5A bucolic lawyer takes on big-city corruption, setting out to prove that an above-suspicion politician is actually a crook - all while falling in love with the politician's daughter.
A Man Betrayed
1941
5.4Steel-worker brothers compete for the same woman.
Steel Against the Sky
1941
7.0The coming of the railroad to the West triggers an Indian war.
The Omaha Trail
1942
1930s · 30 titles
7.5Former detective Nick Charles has retired from police work, preferring a life of cocktails, parties, and relaxation with his wealthy wife, Nora. Their holiday is interrupted when the daughter of Nick’s former client asks for help finding her missing father, eccentric inventor Clyde Wynant. When Wynant’s body is discovered, Nick is drawn back into the investigation, with Nora eagerly joining him. As the couple questions Wynant’s family, friends, and business associates, a tangled web of greed, deception, and murder begins to unravel.
The Thin Man
1934
7.8A World War I veteran’s dreams of becoming a master architect evaporate in the cold light of economic realities. Things get even worse when he’s falsely convicted of a crime and sent to work on a chain gang.
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang
1932
7.5Joe, who owns a gas station along with his brothers and is about to marry Katherine, travels to the small town where she lives to visit her, but is wrongly mistaken for a wanted kidnapper and arrested.
Fury
1936
6.6Two down-on-their-luck former outlaws volunteer to be Texas Rangers and find themselves assigned to bring in an old friend, now a notorious outlaw.
The Texas Rangers
1936
6.4Civilized wife doesn't protest when husband runs off with uncivilized professional golfer pretending to be civilized.
The Lady Consents
1936
6.7Managing Editor Brad Bradshaw refuses to run a story linking the disappearance of Frank Canfield with embezzlement of the bank. He considers Frank a straight shooter and he goes easy on the story. Every other paper goes with the story that Frank took the money and Brad is demoted, by the publisher, to the Heartthrob column - writing advice to the lovelorn. After feeling sorry for himself for two months, he takes the column seriously and makes it the talk of the town. But Brad still wants his old job back so he will have to find Canfield and the missing money.
Hi, Nellie!
1934
6.5An orphan is provisionally adopted by the manager of a hotel populated by show business people. The hotel's owner doesn't like the entertainers and wants the girl returned to the orphanage.
Little Miss Broadway
1938
6.0A man is determined to find the real culprit behind the crime for which his father was wrongly executed.
Winterset
1936
6.3A senator's brother turns up murdered, and the senator tries to pin the blame on a man he knows is innocent.
Transient Lady
1935
6.0Adam Larey becomes a fugitive from justice when he escapes after being blamed for a crime he did not commit. He wanders into the desert wastelands and joins an outlaw gang who prey on gold prospectors. Years later, he meets his wife and her gold-prospecting father as they have come there seeking their fortune, and not knowing the danger of the treacherous desert wastes, the poisoned-water holes and the outlaw bands of marauders who roam the desert in search of the gold found by others. He comes to their aid and, eventually, manges to clear his name of the false charge against him.
Wanderer of the Wasteland
1935
6.7On the day of his funeral, a dedicated smalltown doctor is remembered by his neighbors and patients.
A Man to Remember
1938
6.1A wealthy Broadway playboy is found dead, and it comes to light that he was a vicious blackmailer. It's up to police lieutenant Jim Stevens to pick the murderer out of several likely candidates. Meanwhile, Stevens embarks on a torrid affair with Lou Ann Winton, who may or may not be involved.
From Headquarters
1933
7.0Teenage orphan Jenny Yates becomes starstruck when a revival of an old Victorian melodrama passes through her small New England town, to the disapproval of her stern grandfather, Uriah. Stowing away in the car of Philip Greene, a wealthy young man working with the theater troupe, Jenny talks her way into the play's lead role. But director Archie Fisher doesn't tell her that the new version of the play is meant as a spoof.
Chatterbox
1936
6.2When a young woman named Barbara Clarke has an affair with adventurer Roger Coverman, it causes a scandal in the Puritanical town of Salem, Massachusetts. After a meddling girl arouses their suspicions, the town's elders accuse Barbara of being a witch. She is tried, convicted of sorcery and sentenced to death. As the townspeople prepare to burn Barbara at the stake, Roger tries desperately to save the woman he loves.
Maid of Salem
1937
8.0A young man goes up against a crooked town boss.
Let Them Live
1937
10.0A police officer who kills a thief during the commission of a robbery takes on the responsibility of raising the man's son.
The Man in Blue
1937
5.6The story of Sam Houston, hero of the Texas revolution, statesman, and first president of the Republic of Texas.
Man of Conquest
1939
6.0The President Vanishes, released in the United Kingdom as Strange Conspiracy, is a 1934 American political drama film directed by William A. Wellman and produced by Walter Wanger. Starring Edward Arnold and Arthur Byron, the film is an adaptation of Rex Stout's political novel of the same name.
The President Vanishes
1934
6.0Eight people are invited by an unsigned telegram to a penthouse apartment, where they find themselves locked in and greeted by their unknown host's voice via the radio, who explains that before the night is over each one will be die unless they manage to outwit the ninth guest, Death.
The 9th Guest
1934
7.2The insidious typical talk of a small town makes a young man and the married woman he is in love very unhappy.
Village Tale
1935
7.5Soapy Gibson (Edward Ellis) and his wife Annie (Marjorie Rambeau) run a lonely hearts club in a small town. Even during the Depression years these were often "clip joints" - places where people with money but no mate got taken by someone offering the promise of companionship. However, Soapy and Annie are strictly on the level - and they have more than one reason to want to stay on the level. You see Soapy escaped from the law years ago, had some plastic surgery and changed his name, and has been living on the lam with his wife ever since.
Strictly Personal
1933
5.0In New England circa 1933, a niece is reported missing and presumed dead and Cabot Barr (George Arliss) summons his relatives to the family estate for a memorial service. Once there, Barr taunts each one, claiming their only interest in him is his money, and sends them away when the report about the niece proves to be false. Only niece Marjorie, who has ridiculed one of his pet eccentricities, seems to be the object of any sentimental affection.
The Last Gentleman
1934
6.0The ghost of a recently deceased family patriarch tries to help his surviving relatives, in part by preventing a marriage that he knows will go wrong.
The Return Of Peter Grimm
1935
8.0A habitual gambler comes to the aid of a desperate woman after her daughter inherits a fortune and is underhandedly taken by her estranged father.
Midnight Madonna
1937
5.2Showgirls Kay and June are stranded on Palm Beach when they become involved in the case of a fellow chorine who has gone missing on her wedding night.
Girl Missing
1933
6.6When war is declared in 1914, glamorous Russian Carla Vanirska manages to get to Vienna from Luxembourg, with the help of Captain Rudolph Ritter of the Austrian army. Meanwhile, Ritter is assigned to detect the identity of a spy.
After Tonight
1933
8.0Set in a tiny midwestern town, this sentimental drama centers on the rivalry between two life-long acquaintances whose early friendship falls apart when they woo the same woman.
Career
1939
4.5A shop owner tries to interest his heirs in the family business.
Three Sons
1939
5.0A prosecutor's career and his adopted daughter's happiness hang in the balance when he is blackmailed by a gangster.
Main Street Lawyer
1939
6.0In Mexico, a former bandit settles down and picks out a beautiful young dancer to be his wife. His younger brother also comes home after having spent years in the U.S., and falls in love with his brother's intended fiancé. Rather than cause problems, the younger brother goes to Mexico City to become a matador. While there, he gets word that the police, who have been hunting his brother, have finally captured him.
The Trumpet Blows
1934
1910s · 3 titles
7.0A prospector named Rodin is blackmailed for years by Estrella, who tricks him into believing he murdered her missing husband. After meeting Alice, Rodin traps Estrella in a secret room and disposes of her trunk, leading to charges of her murder. He's acquitted on a technicality when her body isn't found. Alice admits she believes he's guilty, and Rodin, releasing her, commits suicide in his library.
The Law That Failed
1917
8.0Business partners Bradley and Collier both love Mary. Bradley leads Collier to believe he is engaged to her so Collier prepares to head West when Lola, the young girl Bradley had seduced and abandoned, appears at the office and begs Bradley for help. He spurns her slipping out of the office and making it appear that Collier is the lout. Mary with that perception marries Bradley only to discover by Lola’s deathbed confession that she has been deceived. Tony, Lola's father, crazed by his daughter's death, comes to Bradley's office and the next day Bradley is found dead. When Tony is arrested Collier steps forward to say he confronted Bradley and as they struggled the revolver Bradley drew went off, killing him. Tony is freed and Collier and Mary marry.
The Great Bradley Mystery
1917
6.8Flotsam (Thomas) is the daughter and helper of crusty old lighthouse keeper Joe Clark (Edward Ellis, in fine form). The reason why Clark lives 'out yonder' is because he's a fugitive from justice: years ago, he killed a man under complicated circumstances. Clark's official assistant is Amos Bart, but Flotsam does much of the work of maintaining the lighthouse.
Out Yonder
1919

