Arthur Donaldson (actor)

Arthur Donaldson (5 April 1869 – 28 September 1955),[1] was a Swedish-American actor. He appeared in 71 films between 1910 and 1934.

Arthur Donaldson
Donaldson c.1911
Born5 April 1869
Norsholm, Sweden
Died28 September 1955 (aged 86)
Long Island, New York, U.S.
OccupationActor

Biography

Donaldson was born in Norsholm, Sweden but moved to the United States at the age of fourteen and quickly became a prolific actor on stage. He made his film debut in 1910.

He worked for Kalem Company under the direction of Sidney Olcott. During the summer of 1911, he went to Ireland with the O'Kalems, a stage company, to shoot films. They settled in Beaufort, Co Kerry, where they made 13 films, directed by Olcott. Among them: Rory O'More, The Colleen Bawn in which he played a priest, The Fishermaid of Ballydavid, and Arrah-na-Pogue.

After Ireland, he returned briefly to Sweden, appearing in operettas at Oscarsteatern and making two Swedish films (one as director) before going back to America. He also directed Domen (1924), a Swedish-language short film, a version of Retribution, in the DeForest Phonofilm process.

Upon his return to the U.S., he worked again with Sidney Olcott in films such as A Mother of Men (1914), The Irish in America (1915), shot in 1914 in Ireland, The Moth and the Flame (1915), and The Ghost of Twisted Oaks (1915).

In the 1920s, Robert G. Vignola, became director for Cosmopolitan Productions. Donaldson played in When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922) and Yolanda, both with Marion Davies. He also acted in America, directed by D.W. Griffith.

He died in Long Island, New York on 28 September 1955. He is buried at Kensico Cemetery.[2]

Partial filmography
Arthur Donaldson, Wizard of Make-Up

References
  1. Hans J. Wollstein (1994). Strangers in Hollywood: the history of Scandinavian actors in American films from 1910 to World War II. Scarecrow Press. pp. 67–73. ISBN 978-0-8108-2938-1. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12163102/arthur-donaldson

Sources
  • Hvar 8 dag (Swedish illustrated weekly magazine) no. 52 1911
  • Svensk filmdatabas (Swedish film database) at the website of the Swedish Film Institute
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