Edward Roseman

Edward Roseman (May 14, 1875 – September 16, 1957), also identified as Edward F. Roseman, was an American actor whose career spanned vaudeville, silent film, and Broadway. Born Ernest Frederick Roseman in Terre Haute, Indiana, he was the son of a pharmacist who died of tuberculosis when Roseman was seven years old. He and his two siblings, Jenny May and Henry, were subsequently raised in Terre Haute by their mother, Mary Lucinda.

Before entering show business, Roseman worked on a railroad as a young adult. He eventually moved into vaudeville and traveling theater stock companies, among them the Margaret Bird Stock Company and companies founded by playwrights Lincoln J. Carter and Wright Lorimer. These early experiences preceded a prolific career in silent films that lasted from approximately 1913 to 1921, during which he appeared in roughly 50 motion pictures. His performance in the title role of the 1920 Fox Studios horror serial Fantômas brought him particular recognition and led to his being regularly cast in villainous roles. Because one such part required him to portray multiple personalities, Movie Weekly magazine dubbed him "The Master of Makeup," and he was described as "The Man of a Thousand Faces" — a designation that would later become associated with Lon Chaney Sr. Over the full course of his career, Roseman appeared in more than 60 silent films. Among his later screen credits was The House of Secrets, released in 1929, one of the few sound films he made.

Roseman's Broadway career took place in the late 1920s. In 1928 he appeared in three productions: The Street Wolf, Pleasure Man, and A Free Soul. Throughout his years in film and on stage, Roseman lived in New York City, where the majority of his film work was produced on the east coast. As the film industry shifted its center of operations to California, he retired from acting and relocated with his wife Sophia and son David to Syracuse, New York.

Roseman died on September 16, 1957, at the age of 82, following a year's illness. He is buried at Morningside Cemetery in Syracuse.