Arthur T. Hoyt

Arthur T. Hoyt (March 19, 1874 – January 4, 1953) was an American actor born in Georgetown, Colorado, whose career spanned both the Broadway stage and more than three decades of film work. He appeared in upwards of 275 films between 1914 and 1945, roughly a third of which were silent productions.

Hoyt's stage career extended from 1902 to 1911. His Broadway credits included Once Upon a Time and The Hunchback, and he made his Broadway debut in 1905 in The Prince Consort. He subsequently appeared in Ferenc Molnár's The Devil in 1908, and made his final stage appearance in The Great Name in 1911.

His transition to film began with the silent comedy short The Scrub Lady in 1914, though sustained screen work commenced in 1916 with The Heart of a Show Girl. From 1916 through 1944, at least one film featuring Hoyt was released every year, with the annual total frequently reaching a dozen or more productions. During the silent era he took on substantial roles in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), Souls for Sale (1923), and The Lost World (1925). In 1918 he also worked behind the camera, directing two silent features — Station Content, starring Gloria Swanson, and High Stakes — and serving as casting director on Her American Husband. His 80th and final silent film was The Rush Hour (1928), starring Marie Prevost.

Hoyt carried his career successfully into the sound era. His first talkie was My Man (1928), a musical starring Fanny Brice. He continued working at a steady pace in sound films, though he typically portrayed supporting figures such as henpecked husbands or downtrodden office workers, and frequently went without screen credit. Among his most recognized performances is his role as the motor-court manager who clashes with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in Frank Capra's It Happened One Night (1934). In the 1940s, Hoyt became a regular presence in the films of writer-director Preston Sturges, appearing in every film Sturges wrote and directed from 1940 to 1947 as part of Sturges's informal company of character players. He was sometimes billed as "Mr. Arthur Hoyt."

Hoyt retired from acting at the age of 70. His final film, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock, was shot in late 1944 and early 1945 but not released until 1947. He died on January 4, 1953, at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, California, and is entombed at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.