Arnold Daly

Arnold Daly, born Peter Christopher Arnold Daly on October 4, 1875, in Brooklyn, New York, was an American actor, playwright, and producer whose Broadway career spanned from 1899 to 1926. The son of Irish immigrants Joseph J. Daly and Mary Arnold, he grew up in Brooklyn, where his father worked as an importer of wood used in cabinet construction. After being expelled from four public schools, Daly departed parochial school following his father's death in 1886. He made his first appearance as an actor in The Jolly Squire in 1892.

Daly became a significant figure in American theater through his role in introducing early George Bernard Shaw plays to domestic audiences, among them Candida, Mrs. Warren's Profession, and You Can Never Tell. The production of Mrs. Warren's Profession was shut down by authorities after a single performance due to its portrayal of a prostitute. Shaw's famously detailed stage directions presented a particular challenge for Daly, who acknowledged following them as closely as his physical condition allowed, noting that his weight prevented him from executing the trotting movement Shaw prescribed for the character Marchbanks in every performance. Over the course of his career, Daly claimed authorship of approximately one hundred plays, though many were adapted from foreign works or written by his brother Joseph.

His Broadway credits included starring roles in The Tavern and Steve, as well as appearances in Democracy's King, Juarez and Maximilian, and The Masque of Venice. With the rise of silent film, Daly also established himself as a matinee idol on screen. Between 1914 and 1915, he portrayed detective Craig Kennedy in three Pearl White serials, and he produced and co-directed three Ashton-Kirk films while also playing the lead role in each. Additional film appearances included The Port of Missing Men in 1914, Idols in 1916, My Own United States in 1918, For Another Woman in 1924, and In Borrowed Plumes in 1926. He also produced The King's Game in 1916.

Daly died on January 13, 1927, at the age of 51, after a fire broke out in his New York City apartment building. His body was discovered only feet from an open window that overlooked a rooftop within easy reach. At the time of his death, he had been recovering from a serious head injury sustained two months earlier, and speculation arose that this injury may have contributed to his inability to escape. He was survived by his daughter, actress and Algonquin Round Table personality Blyth Daly, and his former wife, actress Mary Blyth, known professionally as Mrs. Frank Craven.