Edmund Lowe
Encyclopedia
Edmund Dantes Lowe was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville
and silent film
. He was born in San Jose, California
.
. He is best remembered for his role as Sergeant Quirt in the 1926 movie, What Price Glory. Making a smooth transition to talking pictures he remained popular but by the mid '30s he was no longer a major star although he occasionally played leading man to the likes of Jean Harlow
, Mae West
, and Claudette Colbert
. He remained a valuable supporting actor at the major studios while continuing in leads for such "Poverty Row
" studios as Columbia Pictures
where his skills could bolster low budget productions. He also starred in the 1950s television show, Front Page Detective
and appeared as the elderly lead villain in the first episode of Maverick
in 1957.
Lowe met Lilyan Tashman
while filming Ports of Call. Lowe and Tashman were wed on September 21, 1925. The wedding occurred before the release of the film. The two made their home in Hollywood, in a house thought to have been designed by Tashman.
Both maintained their acting careers. As a couple, Tashman and Lowe became more prominent in Hollywood than they had as single people. They entertained lavishly in their Art Deco
Beverly Hills home, and Tashman began appearing on "Best Dressed" lists. Their respective film careers began to improve as a result of the publicity they began to generate. During Tashman's battle with cancer
towards the end of her life, Lowe remained near her bedside.
Lowe's third wife was costume designer Rita Kaufman. They were married from 1936 to 1950.
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
and silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
. He was born in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
.
Film career
Edmund Lowe's career included over 100 films in which he starred as the leading manLeading man
Leading man or leading gentleman is an informal term for the actor who plays a love interest to the leading actress in a film or play. A leading man is usually an all rounder; capable of singing, dancing, and acting at a professional level, but never outshining his female co-star...
. He is best remembered for his role as Sergeant Quirt in the 1926 movie, What Price Glory. Making a smooth transition to talking pictures he remained popular but by the mid '30s he was no longer a major star although he occasionally played leading man to the likes of Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde" , Harlow was ranked as one of the greatest movie stars of all time by the American Film Institute...
, Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
, and Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert was a French-born American-based actress of stage and film.Born in Paris, France and raised in New York City, Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the 1920s, progressing to film with the advent of talking pictures...
. He remained a valuable supporting actor at the major studios while continuing in leads for such "Poverty Row
Poverty Row
Poverty Row is a slang term used in Hollywood from the late silent period through the mid-fifties to refer to a variety of small and mostly short-lived B movie studios...
" studios as Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
where his skills could bolster low budget productions. He also starred in the 1950s television show, Front Page Detective
Front Page Detective
Front Page Detective was a TV series which aired on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network from July 6, 1951 to September 19, 1952, with a few more episodes broadcast during 1953...
and appeared as the elderly lead villain in the first episode of Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
in 1957.
Marriages
Lowe was married to Esther Miller until early 1925.Lowe met Lilyan Tashman
Lilyan Tashman
Lilyan Tashman was a Brooklyn-born Jewish American vaudeville, Broadway, and film actress. Tashman was best known for her supporting roles as tongue-in-cheek villainesses and the bitchy 'other woman'...
while filming Ports of Call. Lowe and Tashman were wed on September 21, 1925. The wedding occurred before the release of the film. The two made their home in Hollywood, in a house thought to have been designed by Tashman.
Both maintained their acting careers. As a couple, Tashman and Lowe became more prominent in Hollywood than they had as single people. They entertained lavishly in their Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
Beverly Hills home, and Tashman began appearing on "Best Dressed" lists. Their respective film careers began to improve as a result of the publicity they began to generate. During Tashman's battle with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
towards the end of her life, Lowe remained near her bedside.
Lowe's third wife was costume designer Rita Kaufman. They were married from 1936 to 1950.
Partial filmography
- Good Night, PaulGood Night, PaulGood Night, Paul was a 1918 silent film in five reels directed by Walter Edwards. It was based on a successful stage play with book and lyrics by Roland Oliver and Charles Dickson, and music by Harry B. Olsen. Produced by Lewis J...
(1918) - The Silent CommandThe Silent CommandThe Silent Command is a 1923 drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards, and featuring Béla Lugosi as a foreign saboteur.The Silent Command is a story of the United States Navy, revolving around experiences of a naval captain, warships, merchantmen, sea storms, a spectacular wreck, and an enemy...
(1923) - The White FlowerThe White FlowerThe White Flower is a 1923 silent film romantic drama produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was the last film directed by early female director Julia Crawford Ivers whose son James Van Trees was the film's cinematographer. Betty Compson and Edmund Lowe star in...
(1923) - What Price Glory? (1926)
- In Old ArizonaIn Old ArizonaIn Old Arizona is a 1929 American Western film directed by Irving Cummings and Raoul Walsh, nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film, which was based on the character of the Cisco Kid in the story The Caballero's Way by O...
(1928) - This Thing Called LoveThis Thing Called LoveThis Thing Called Love is a US romantic comedy film starring Edmund Lowe, Constance Bennett, Ruth Taylor, Roscoe Karns, Zazu Pitts, and Jean Harlow. Harlow appears in a cameo role, as she was not yet famous....
(1929) - The Cock-Eyed WorldThe Cock-Eyed WorldThe Cock-Eyed World is a musical film made by Fox Film Corporation, directed and written Raoul Walsh, based on the Flagg and Quirt story by Maxwell Anderson, Tom Barry, Wilson Mizner and Laurence Stallings...
(1929) - The Bad OneThe Bad OneThe Bad One is an American black-and-white musical film directed by George Fitzmaurice, starring Dolores del Río and featuring Boris Karloff and is a romantic prison drama film...
(1930) - Born RecklessBorn Reckless (1930 film)Born Reckless is a American crime comedy directed by Andrew Bennison and John Ford, from a screenplay written by Donald Henderson Clarke based on his novel Louis Beretti. The film starred Edmund Lowe and Catherine Dale Owen.-Plot:...
(1930) - TransatlanticTransatlantic (film)Transatlantic is a 1931 comedy film directed by William K. Howard. It won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction by Gordon Wiles. -Cast:* Edmund Lowe - Monty Greer* Lois Moran - Judy Kramer* John Halliday - Henry D. Graham...
(1931) - The Devil is DrivingThe Devil is DrivingThe Devil is Driving is a 1932 Pre-Code film directed by Ben Stoloff and starring Edmund Lowe. The film's title was typical of the sensationalistic titles of many Pre-Code films. It runs a mere 63 minutes, and like many Pre-Code movies deals openly with issues like sex and violence. Lowe plays a...
(1932) - Misleading LadyMisleading LadyMisleading Lady is a 1932 film directed by Stuart Walker, and starring Claudette Colbert and Edmund Lowe.Paramount closed its studio in Astoria, Queens upon the completion of this film on 1 March 1932.-Plot:...
(1932) - Chandu the MagicianChandu the Magician (film)Chandu the Magician is a 1932 American mystery film starring Edmund Lowe as a Magician/Yogi secret agent, Frank Chandler and Bela Lugosi as the megalomaniac villain Roxor, that he must stop. Based on the radio play of the same name, written by Harry A. Earnshaw, Vera M. Oldham and R.R. Morgan...
(1932) - Attorney for the DefenseAttorney for the DefenseAttorney for the Defense is a 1932 American drama film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Evelyn Brent.- Cast :* Edmund Lowe as William J. Burton* Evelyn Brent as Val Lorraine* Constance Cummings as Ruth Barry* Don Dillaway as Paul Wallace...
(1932) - Dinner at EightDinner at Eight (film)Dinner at Eight is a Pre-Code 1933 comedy of manners/drama produced by MGM Studios. The film was adapted to the screen by Frances Marion and Herman J. Mankiewicz from the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, with additional dialogue supplied by Donald Ogden Stewart. Produced by David O...
(1933) - Hot PepperHot Pepper (1933 film)Hot Pepper is a comedy film starring Lupe Vélez, Edmund Lowe, and Victor McLaglen, directed by John G. Blystone and released by Fox Film Corporation...
(1933) - Gift of GabGift of Gab (film)Gift of Gab is a 1934 black-and-white film released by Universal Pictures. Edmund Lowe stars as a man with the "Gift of Gab" — he can sell anyone anything. The film costars Ruth Etting, Ethel Waters, Victor Moore, and Gloria Stuart, and features Boris Karloff and Béla Lugosi.Ruth Etting sings...
(1934) - The Garden Murder CaseThe Garden Murder CaseThe Garden Murder Case is the ninth in a series of mystery novels by S. S. Van Dine about fictional detective Philo Vance.-Plot outline:...
(1936) - The SqueakerThe Squeaker (1937 film)The Squeaker is a 1937 British crime film directed by William K. Howard and starring Edmund Lowe, Sebastian Shaw and Ann Todd. It is based on the novel The Squeaker by Edgar Wallace...
(1937) - Every Day's a HolidayEvery Day's a HolidayEvery Day's a Holiday is a comedy film starring and co-written by Mae West, directed by A. Edward Sutherland, and released by Paramount Pictures. The film, released on 18 December 1937, also starred Edmund Lowe, Charles Winninger, and Charles Butterworth...
(1938) - I Love You AgainI Love You AgainI Love You Again is a comedy film released in 1940. It was directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starred William Powell and Myrna Loy; all three were prominently involved in the The Thin Man series...
(1940) - Oh, What a NightOh, What a Night (1944 film)Oh, What A Night is a 1944 crime drama starring Edmund Lowe & Jean Parker and directed by William Beaudine.The films story was written by Marian Orth and the screenplay by Paul Girard Smith.-Cast:* Edmund Lowe as Rand* Jean Parker as Valerie...
(1944) - DillingerDillinger (1945 film)Dillinger is a 1945 gangster film telling the story of John Dillinger. The film was directed by Max Nosseck. Dillinger was the first major film to star Lawrence Tierney. The B-movie was shot in black and white and features a smoke-bomb bank robbery edited into the film from the 1937 Fritz Lang...
(1945) - The Enchanted ForestThe Enchanted ForestThe Enchanted Forest is a 1945 family film starring Harry Davenport as a hermit who finds and raises a young boy in a forest. The film and story served as the inspiration for a 1998 music composition/recording "Enchanted Forest" by Loren Connors and Suzanne Langille.-Plot:The hermit, Uncle John,...
(1945) - Good SamGood SamGood Sam is a 1948 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Gary Cooper as a Good Samaritan who is helpful to others at the expense of his own family. The film was directed by Leo McCarey and produced by McCarey's production company, Rainbow Productions.-Cast:*Gary Cooper as Samuel R....
(1948) - The Last HurrahThe Last Hurrah (1958 film)The Last Hurrah is a 1958 film adaptation of the novel The Last Hurrah by Edwin O'Connor. It was directed by John Ford and starred Spencer Tracy as a veteran mayor preparing for yet another election campaign...
(1958) - Heller in Pink TightsHeller in Pink TightsHeller In Pink Tights is a 1960 Technicolor western film adapted from Louis L'Amour's novel, Heller with a Gun. It stars Sophia Loren and Anthony Quinn and was directed by George Cukor....
(1960)