Edgar Norton

Edgar Norton, born Harry Edgar Mills on August 11, 1868, in Islington, London, was an English-born American character actor whose career encompassed the London and Broadway stages as well as both the silent and sound eras of Hollywood film. He was one of eight children born to Jane Anne née Fleming and Frederic Mills, a clerk in the Home Office department of the Civil Service. Norton relocated permanently to the United States in 1889 and was naturalized as an American citizen in 1927.

His stage career began early. At the age of 18, he appeared as the Hare in the original London production of Alice in Wonderland in 1886, a production that Lewis Carroll himself attended five times. Norton's Broadway career extended from 1898 to 1923, during which he appeared in a range of productions including the musical Nearly a Hero, The Boys and Betty, As You Like It, The World We Live In, and The Letter. One of his most enduring stage roles was that of Poole, the butler to Dr. Jekyll, which he first performed on Broadway in 1898 opposite Richard Mansfield in the title role.

Beyond the stage, Norton built a substantial film career spanning three decades, appearing in at least ninety films. He is perhaps best remembered on screen for reprising the role of Poole in the 1931 film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In his personal life, Norton married Lillian Mable née Hubbard, who was born in Detroit, in Ontario, Canada, in 1890. The couple had one son, Edgar Norton Mills. Norton died on February 6, 1953, in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles.