John L. Arthur

John Lennox Arthur Long, known professionally as Johnny Arthur, was born on May 20, 1883, in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, to John William Long and Matilda Long, née Hertzog. He pursued a career as a stage and motion picture actor, accumulating roughly 25 years of theatrical experience before transitioning to film. His Broadway appearances spanned from 1907 to 1948 and included productions such as Time for Elizabeth, the musical Elsie, Just a Woman, Some Baby, and What Would You Do, among others.

Arthur made his screen debut in 1923 in The Unknown Purple, and his screen presence proved adaptable enough to earn him the romantic lead opposite Lon Chaney in The Monster in 1925. When sound arrived in Hollywood, he shifted toward comedy, developing a recurring effeminate screen persona that appeared in films including The Desert Song in 1929, She Couldn't Say No in 1930, Penrod and Sam in 1931, and The Ghost Walks in 1934. Following the enforcement of the Production Code on July 1, 1934, the overtly homosexual characterizations Arthur had been playing were curtailed, and he moved toward portraying fussy, nervous character types throughout the remainder of the decade.

That comedic range carried him through both low-budget productions such as The Natzy Nuisance, Ellis Island, and Danger on the Air, as well as larger studio pictures including Crime and Punishment and Road to Singapore. He is also recognized for his recurring appearances as Darla Hood's father in Hal Roach's Our Gang short films. Among his later credits was the 1942 serial The Masked Marvel, one of the few billed roles he received in that period, as most of his subsequent appearances were unbilled.

Arthur died on December 31, 1951, at the Motion Picture Country Home. He was buried at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery at the charitable expense of the Motion Picture Fund, though his grave remained unmarked for approximately 60 years. In November 2012, the Friends of Dearly Departed Tours and Findadeath.com raised funds to place a gravestone at the site.