Edwin Arden

Edwin Hunter Pendleton Arden (February 4, 1864 – October 2, 1918) was an American actor, playwright, and theatre manager whose Broadway career spanned from 1883 to 1916. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Mary Berkley Hunter and Arden Richard Smith.

Following a common-school education, Arden traveled west and held a variety of occupations before entering the theatre, among them mine-helper, cowboy, railroad brakeman, clerk, reporter, and theatre manager. His acting career began in 1882 with Thomas W. Keene's Shakespeare company. The following year he married Keene's daughter, Agnes Eagleson Keene; the couple had one child, a daughter named Mildred Arden, who also pursued a career as an actor.

During this period Arden also worked as a playwright, authoring several plays including The Eagle's Nest, Raglan's Way, Barred Out, and Zorah, the last of which became one of his Broadway credits. His stage work over the following three decades brought him into contact with numerous theatrical companies and a wide range of productions. His Broadway appearances included The Redskin, L'Aiglon — based on Edmond Rostand's drama — Merely Mary Ann, and Via Wireless, among others. He also performed in Victorien Sardou's Fédora and appeared in an all-star production of Romeo and Juliet at the Knickerbocker Theatre in New York.

In his later years Arden operated his own stock theatre company in Washington, D.C. He additionally pursued a career in silent film, appearing in pictures that included The Exploits of Elaine (1914), The New Exploits of Elaine (1915), The Beloved Vagabond (1915), The Iron Heart (1917), Ruling Passions (1918), and Virtuous Wives (1918).