Edward Coxen
Encyclopedia
Albert Edward Coxen was an English
-born American
actor
. He appeared in over 200 films during his career.
, London
, England
, the first child of Joseph Coxen of Wandsworth
, London
and Sarah Jane Coxen (née Parfitt). At the time of Coxen's birth, his parents ran the Carpenter Arms public house, at St. Marylebone, London
. In 1880, Joseph Coxen's brother John and wife Ellen left England and settled in San Francisco. Joseph and Sarah Coxen with young Bertie, as Coxen was called, on the ship's manifest, followed them in 1882. The Coxen brothers soon established Coxen Bros., a Wood & Photo Engravers business, in the city and the families lived together at 1612 Jones Street. By 1890, Coxen, aged 10, and his parent were living in independent accommodation at 1925, Filbert Street in San Francisco.
However, despite the fact that they had settled well in the States, the Coxen family returned to London in 1896 so that Sarah could look after her dying sister Catherine Strawson. Coxen was intent on completing his education and returned to the United States third class on the America line vessel SS St. Louis from Southampton
arriving in New York
the day before his seventeenth birthday. Coxen had $125 dollars to get him back to his uncle John's home in California
. In 1900, aged 20, he became a naturalized
U.S. citizen.
campus and after graduating in the early 1900s he embarked upon a commercial career working for his father and uncle John at Coxen Bros. However, this did not appeal to him and set about attempting to make his fortune firstly by prospecting for gold
and then by moving into work in civil engineering
. Finally, he entered the profession he yearned for most, acting, and spoke his first lines as a professional actor on the stage of the Majestic Theatre, San Francisco at the age of 26 early in 1906. The San Francisco earthquake
and fires of 18 April 1906 followed soon after his debut, so he moved to a theater across the bay in Oakland where he appeared in Ye Liberty, Balasco's Alcazar, and many other popular plays. The earthquake of 1906 and San Francisco's big fire had a serious and detrimental impact on the business of Coxen Bros. and they moved south permanently to Los Angeles
.
When he started his acting career, Coxen dropped "Albert" as his first name and was often billed as Edward, Eddie or Ed Coxen. In 1909, he returned to New York
, this time as an established 29-year-old actor performing at Wallack's Theatre, Broadway
. On 27 December 1909, he appeared in A Little Brother of the Rich, a play that ran for 27 performances.
Hollywood was the centre of the new and rapidly growing motion picture industry; it was a magnet to aspiring young actors. The demand for one-reeler Westerns
was insatiable and some studios released these on a one-a-week basis. Early in 1911, the Santa Monica Studio was formed by the Kalem Company to satisfy the increasing demand and young talent such as Ed Coxen, Ruth Roland
, Marin Sais
, and Marshall Neilan
were recruited.
Coxen was soon to move north up the coast to Santa Barbara
where in 1912 he joined the American Film Manufacturing Company's Studios and began his motion picture career as one of a group of actors known as the 'Flying A' stars. He remained a star of those studios until 1917. This was a period when he was very popular with the cinema public and in 1912 alone he made 34 films. Popular films included The Ghost of the Hacienda, Crooks and Credulous, In Three Hours, The Drummer's Honeymoon, and he took the lead part in The Trail of the Lost Chord. In several of his films, including Saints and Sinners, he often appeared with leading co-star Winifred Greenwood
particularly in many melodramas filmed in Santa Barbara. On Saturday 7 August 1915 his popularity was such that his photograph
was featured on the front page of Pictures and The Picturegoer. His agents were Central Casting Corporation of Hollywood Boulevard & Western Avenue.
By the time Coxen entered entered his 40s in the 1920s, he became largely a supporting actor usually portraying villains, but working with stars such as Buster Keaton
. Although he worked on well into the 1940s, he landed only bit parts. In 1941, after appearing in two films uncredited, Coxen retired from acting.
, a 24-year-old film actress born in California
of Swiss parents. Borella had played minor parts alongside Coxen in films such as Restitution, where Winifred Greenwood played his love interest.
in Glendale, California
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He appeared in over 200 films during his career.
Early life
Coxen was born at SouthwarkSouthwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the first child of Joseph Coxen of Wandsworth
Wandsworth
Wandsworth is a district of south London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-Toponymy:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Sarah Jane Coxen (née Parfitt). At the time of Coxen's birth, his parents ran the Carpenter Arms public house, at St. Marylebone, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1880, Joseph Coxen's brother John and wife Ellen left England and settled in San Francisco. Joseph and Sarah Coxen with young Bertie, as Coxen was called, on the ship's manifest, followed them in 1882. The Coxen brothers soon established Coxen Bros., a Wood & Photo Engravers business, in the city and the families lived together at 1612 Jones Street. By 1890, Coxen, aged 10, and his parent were living in independent accommodation at 1925, Filbert Street in San Francisco.
However, despite the fact that they had settled well in the States, the Coxen family returned to London in 1896 so that Sarah could look after her dying sister Catherine Strawson. Coxen was intent on completing his education and returned to the United States third class on the America line vessel SS St. Louis from Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
arriving in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
the day before his seventeenth birthday. Coxen had $125 dollars to get him back to his uncle John's home in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In 1900, aged 20, he became a naturalized
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
U.S. citizen.
Career
After returning to San Francisco, Coxen continued his education at the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
campus and after graduating in the early 1900s he embarked upon a commercial career working for his father and uncle John at Coxen Bros. However, this did not appeal to him and set about attempting to make his fortune firstly by prospecting for gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and then by moving into work in civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
. Finally, he entered the profession he yearned for most, acting, and spoke his first lines as a professional actor on the stage of the Majestic Theatre, San Francisco at the age of 26 early in 1906. The San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
and fires of 18 April 1906 followed soon after his debut, so he moved to a theater across the bay in Oakland where he appeared in Ye Liberty, Balasco's Alcazar, and many other popular plays. The earthquake of 1906 and San Francisco's big fire had a serious and detrimental impact on the business of Coxen Bros. and they moved south permanently to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
When he started his acting career, Coxen dropped "Albert" as his first name and was often billed as Edward, Eddie or Ed Coxen. In 1909, he returned to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, this time as an established 29-year-old actor performing at Wallack's Theatre, Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. On 27 December 1909, he appeared in A Little Brother of the Rich, a play that ran for 27 performances.
Hollywood was the centre of the new and rapidly growing motion picture industry; it was a magnet to aspiring young actors. The demand for one-reeler Westerns
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
was insatiable and some studios released these on a one-a-week basis. Early in 1911, the Santa Monica Studio was formed by the Kalem Company to satisfy the increasing demand and young talent such as Ed Coxen, Ruth Roland
Ruth Roland
Ruth Roland was an American stage and film actress and film producer.-Early life and career:Born in San Francisco, California, her father managed a theatre and she became a child actress who went on to work in vaudeville...
, Marin Sais
Marin Sais
Marin Sais was an American motion picture actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s...
, and Marshall Neilan
Marshall Neilan
Marshall Ambrose Neilan was an American motion picture actor, screenwriter, film director, and producer.-Early life:...
were recruited.
Coxen was soon to move north up the coast to Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
where in 1912 he joined the American Film Manufacturing Company's Studios and began his motion picture career as one of a group of actors known as the 'Flying A' stars. He remained a star of those studios until 1917. This was a period when he was very popular with the cinema public and in 1912 alone he made 34 films. Popular films included The Ghost of the Hacienda, Crooks and Credulous, In Three Hours, The Drummer's Honeymoon, and he took the lead part in The Trail of the Lost Chord. In several of his films, including Saints and Sinners, he often appeared with leading co-star Winifred Greenwood
Winifred Greenwood
Winifred Greenwood was an American silent film actress.She was signed in 1910 and starred in over 200 films before her retirement in 1927...
particularly in many melodramas filmed in Santa Barbara. On Saturday 7 August 1915 his popularity was such that his photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
was featured on the front page of Pictures and The Picturegoer. His agents were Central Casting Corporation of Hollywood Boulevard & Western Avenue.
By the time Coxen entered entered his 40s in the 1920s, he became largely a supporting actor usually portraying villains, but working with stars such as Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
. Although he worked on well into the 1940s, he landed only bit parts. In 1941, after appearing in two films uncredited, Coxen retired from acting.
Personal life
In 1914 at the age of 33, he married Edith BorellaEdith Borella
Edith Borella was an American silent film actress of Swiss descent. She starred in films such as the 1913 film Through the Neighbor's Window with Charlotte Burton which was her debut. Her career only lasted two years between 1913 and 1915 but in that space of time she starred in 46 films...
, a 24-year-old film actress born in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
of Swiss parents. Borella had played minor parts alongside Coxen in films such as Restitution, where Winifred Greenwood played his love interest.
Death
On 21 November 1954, Coxen died in Los Angeles. He was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial ParkForest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately owned cemetery in Glendale, California. It is the original location of Forest Lawn, a chain of cemeteries in Southern California. The land was formerly part of Providencia Ranch.-History:...
in Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
.
Selected filmography
- Mesquite's Gratitude (1911)
- He Who Laughs Last (1911)
- A Hospital Hoax (1912)
- The Pony Express Girl (1912)
- A Rose of Old Mexico (1913)
- The Shriner's DaughterThe Shriner's DaughterThe Shriner's Daughter is a 1913 American silent short film starring Charlotte Burton, Violet Neitz, Helen Armstrong, William Bertram, Edith Borella, Ed Coxen, Reaves Eason, George Field, Winifred Greenwood, Ida Lewis, Nina Richdale and William Tedmarsh....
(1913) - The Power of LightThe Power of LightThe Power of Light is a 1914 American silent drama short drama film directed by Lorimer Johnston. The film features Charlotte Burton, Sydney Ayres, Jacques Jaccard, Violet Neitz, Mrs. Ed Coxen, Caroline Cooke, Louise Lester, Jack Richardson, Ed Coxen, Vivian Rich, and Harry Van Meter....
(1914) - A Soul AstrayA Soul AstrayA Soul Astray is a 1914 American silent short drama film directed by William Desmond Taylor. The film stars Charlotte Burton, William Bertram, Edith Borella, Ed Coxen, Reaves Eason, George Field and Winifred Greenwood....
(1914) - The Lure of the SawdustThe Lure of the SawdustThe Lure of the Sawdust is a 1914 American silent drama short directed by Tom Ricketts starring Charlotte Burton, George Field, Ed Coxen, Edith Borella, Ida Lewis and John Steppling....
(1914) - The ButterflyThe Butterfly (1914 film)The Butterfly is a 1914 American silent short film directed by Tom Ricketts starring Charlotte Burton, George Field, Edward Coxen, Edith Borella, Jean Durrell, Ida Lewis and John Steppling....
(1914) - This Is th' LifeThis Is th' LifeThis Is th' Life is a 1914 American silent short film directed by Henry Otto starring Charlotte Burton, George Field, Ed Coxen, Edith Borella, and John Steppling....
(1914) - The Song of the Sea ShellThe Song of the Sea ShellThe Song of the Sea Shell is a 1914 American silent drama short directed by William Desmond Taylor starring Edith Borella, Charlotte Burton, George Field, and Ed Coxen....
(1914) - The Wrong BirdsThe Wrong BirdsThe Wrong Birds is a 1914 American silent short drama film starring Edith Borella, Charlotte Burton, George Field, and Ed Coxen....
(1914) - The Redemption of a PalThe Redemption of a PalThe Redemption of a Pal is a 1914 American silent drama short directed by Henry Otto starring Edith Borella, Charlotte Burton, George Field, Winifred Greenwood and Edward Coxen....
(1914) - A Slice of Life (1914)
- Spider Barlow Cuts In (1915)
- The Water Carrier of San Juan (1915)
- Spider Barlow Meets Competition (1916)
- A Modern Sphinx (1916)
- The Bearded Fisherman (1917)
- The Curse of Eve (1917)
- The Bells (1918)
- Quicksands (1918)
- Desert Gold (1919)
- In Old Kentucky (1919)
- Witch's Gold (1920)
- Honor Bound (1920)
- No Man's Woman (1921)
- Desperate TrailsDesperate TrailsDesperate Trails is a 1921 Western film directed by John Ford and featuring Harry Carey. The film is considered to be lost.-Cast:* Harry Carey - Bart Carson* Irene Rich - Mrs. Walker* George Stone - Dannie Boy* Helen Field - Carrie...
(1921) - The Veiled Woman (1922)
- The Stranger of the Hills (1922)
- The Flying Dutchman (1923)
- A Man's Man (1923)
- One Glorious Night (1924)
- Flashing Spurs (1924)
- The Man Without a Country (1925)
- Cold Nerve (1925)
- The Test of Donald Norton (1926)
- The Man in the Shadow (1926)
- Galloping Glory (1927)
- Galloping Fury (1927)
- The SpoilersThe Spoilers (1930 film)The Spoilers is a 1930 film directed by Edward Carewe and set in Nome, Alaska during the 1898 Gold Rush. The film features Gary Cooper as Roy Glennister, Kay Johnson as Helen Chester, Betty Compson as Cherry Malotte, and William "Stage" Boyd as Alec MacNamara, and culminates in a spectacular...
(1930) - Young Blood (Uncredited, 1932)
- The Fighting Champ (Uncredited, 1932)
- The Trail Drive (Uncredited, 1933)
- Gun Justice (Uncredited, 1933)
- Wheels of Destiny (1934)
- Smoking Guns (1934)
- Five Bad Men (1935)
- Westward Ho (Uncredited, 1935)
- Code of the Range (1936)
- The Sunday Round-Up (Uncredited, 1936)
- Riders of the Dawn (Uncredited, 1937)
- Thunder Trail (Uncredited, 1937)
- West of Rainbow's End (1938)
- South of Arizona (1938)
- Texas Stampede (1939)
- Down the Wyoming Trail (1939)
- Pioneers of the Frontier (1940)
- One Million B.C.One Million B.C.One Million B.C. is a 1940 American fantasy film produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles Cave Man, Man and His Mate, and Tumak....
(1940) - Across the Sierras (Uncredited, 1941)
- King of Dodge City (Uncredited, 1941)