EDMUND GWENN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
 
Edmund Gwenn was born on September 26th, 1877 in Wandsworth, London in the United Kingdom with the birth name Edmund Kellaway.  He was the oldest child born into his family and his father was a British Civil Servant who hoped Edmond would take power in the Empire.  However, Gwenn had different goal in his life he wanted to pursue.
 
After studying at Olaf's College he went on to study at King's College in London.  He soon developed an interest in acting which his father expressed his complete disappointment.  He chose to hide his pursuit of a career in acting from his father but continued on with his dream.  At the age of eighteen he was appearing on stage in a production of, "Rogue and Vagabond".  Soon he was seen on the West End London stage in, "Jealous Mistake" and then toured with a number of stock companies.  He even traveled to Australia and worked on the stage there as well.
 
When World War I occurred he took a brief break from acting and served in the British Army.  Upon completing his military service he returned to working as a stage actor and relocated to the United States appearing in such productions as, "A Voice from the Minaret" and "Fedora".
 
Soon he was appearing in small roles on a number of films and shorts such as, "The Real Thing at Last" (1916), "The Skin Game" (1921), "Hindle Wakes" (1931), "Money for Nothing" (1932) and "Love on Wheels" (1932).  He also reprised his role on, "The Skin Game" (1931) when a talking version was released.
 
He had now established himself as a well known stage and film actor.  He remained working in the industry appearing in such films as, "Laburnum Grove" (1936), "Sylvia Scarlett" (1935), "Anthony Adverse" (1936), "All American Chump" (1936), "Parnell" (1937), "A Yank at Oxford" (1938), "Pride and Prejudice" 91940), "Foreign Correspondent" (1940), "Cheers for Miss Bishop" (1941), "One Night in Lisbon" (1941), "Scotland Yard" (1941), "Charley's Aunt" (1941) and "The Keys of the Kingdom" (1944) among many others.
 
Edmund was a highly desirable actor and had proved to the film industry that he could not be type cast to one particular role.  His highly successful career continued with roles on, "Bewitched" (1945), "She Went to the Races" (1945), "Undercurrent" (1946), "Green Dolphin Street" (1947), "Apartment for Peggy" (1948) and "Thunder in the Valley" (1947).  
 
His most popular role was soon offered to him in, "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) which earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.  He put on almost 30 pounds for the role of Santa Claus (Kris Kringle) and from this point on his appearance made no difference in roles that were offered to him.
 
Gween had reached a level of stardom that many dreamed of and he was grateful for everything he did in the past to get him to that point in his career.
 
Some of his later film roles were in, "Louisa" (1950) and "Mister 880" (1950) for which he received an Academy Award nomination and won the Golden Globe.  He continued taking on more challenging roles such as in, "Sally and Saint Anne" 91952), "Bonzo Goes to College" (1952), "Them!" (1954), "It's a God's Life" (1955), "The Trouble with Harry" (1955) and his final feature film role was in, "The Rocket from Calabuch" (1956).
 
He married only one time to actress, Minnie Terry but this was a very short lasting union and after the marriage came to an end, he never married again nor did he ever have any of his own children.  He spent his remaining years living at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills, California and on September 6th, 1959, he passed away there after suffering from pneumonia and complications from a stroke.  His remains were cremated and buried in a vault at the Chapel of the Pines in Los Angeles.    
 
 
Filmography

1957 Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1957 Playhouse 90 
1956 The Rocket from Calabuch 
1955 Matinee Theatre 
1955 It's a Dog's Life 
1955 Science Fiction Theatre 
1955 The Trouble with Harry
1955 The Millionaire 
1955 The Star and the Story 
1954 Them! 
1954 The Student Prince 
1952-1954 The Ford Television Theatre
1953 The Bigamist 
1953 Mister Scoutmaster 
1952 Something for the Birds 
1952 Bonzo Goes to College 
1952 Les Miserables
1952 Sally and Saint Anne
1951 Peking Express 
1950 For Heaven's Sake 
1950 Mister 880 
1950 Pretty Baby 
1950 Louisa
1950 A Woman of Distinction
1949 Challenge to Lassie
1948 Hills of Home
1948 Apartment for Peggy
1947 Green Dolphin Street 
1947 Thunder in the Valley 
1947 Life with Father 
1947 Miracle on 34th Street 
1946 Undercurrent 
1946 Of Human Bondage
1945 She Went to the Races
1945 Bewitched
1945 Dangerous Partners 
1944 The Keys of the Kingdom 
1944 Between Two Worlds 
1943 Lassie Come Home 
1943 The Meanest Man in the World 
1943 Forever and a Day
1942 A Yank at Eton
1942 The Greatest Gift
1941 Charley's Aunt
1941 One Night in Lisbon
1941 The Devil and Miss Jones
1941 Scotland Yard 
1941 Cheers for Miss Bishop
1940 Foreign Correspondent
1940 Pride and Prejudice 
1940 The Doctor Takes a Wife 
1940 Mad Men of Europe 
1940 The Earl of Chicago 
1939 Cheer Boys Cheer 
1938 Penny Paradise 
1938 A Yank at Oxford 
1938 Thank You, Mr. Pepys 
1938 South Riding 
1937 Parnell
1936 Mad Holiday 
1936 All American Chump 
1936 Anthony Adverse 
1936 Laburnum Grove 
1936 The Walking Dead
1935 Sylvia Scarlett 
1935 The Bishop Misbehaves 
1934 Spring in the Air 
1934 Father and Son 
1934 Java Head 
1934 Passing Shadows 
1934 Warn London
1934 Strauss' Great Waltz 
1934 The Admiral's Secret
1933 Friday the Thirteenth 
1933 Marooned 
1933 Early to Bed 
1933 Smithy 
1933 Channel Crossing 
1933 I Was a Spy 
1933 For Love or Money 
1933 The Good Companions
1932 Be Mine Tonight 
1932 Love on Wheels
1932 Money for Nothing
1932 Condemned to Death 
1932 Frail Women
1931 Hindle Wakes 
1931 The Skin Game 
1931 How He Lied to Her Husband 
1921 The Skin Game
1920 Unmarried
1916 The Real Thing at Last