Edward Elkas
actor
- Birth name:
- Edward Elkas Hirsch
- Born:
- 1862-02-08, New York City, New York, USA
- Died:
- 1933-12-17, St. Albans, New York, USA
- Professions:
- actor
Biography
A midwinter child of 1862, Edward Elkas first drew breath amid the clang of Manhattan’s horse-drawn streetcars. By the time the flicker of celluloid caught fire in America, he had already carved a niche onstage that translated seamlessly to the new art form. Between 1915 and 1918 he slipped into three now-legendary silents—*For the Honor of the Crew*, *Les Misérables*, and *The Blue Bird*—lending craggy authority to each frame. Off-screen he shared his life with Helene Soltesz, the woman who stood beside him until the final curtain. On a December day in 1933, within the quieter lanes of St. Albans, New York, the last reel of Elkas’s story quietly faded to black.
