Edwin August

Biography

Born Edwin August Phillip von der Butz on November 20, 1883, in St. Louis, Missouri, this future screen icon first stepped into the spotlight at age seven in a production of 'Little Lord Fauntleroy.' After honing his craft on stage, he transitioned to the burgeoning film industry in 1908 with New York’s Biograph Company, where he shared the screen with Mary Pickford under the direction of D. W. Griffith. By the late summer of 1912, he had joined the Lubin Company, forming a swift and successful screen partnership with Ormi Hawley before moving on that December. A versatile pioneer of early cinema, August navigated the roles of writer, director, and actor, even establishing his own production house. His striking features did not go unnoticed, as fans across the country voted him the most handsome matinee idol in a national magazine poll. In an audacious 1916 move, he launched a presidential campaign centered on his fierce opposition to film censorship—a bid dismissed as a fantasy in an era when an actor in the White House seemed impossible. August successfully bridged the gap to the sound era, maintaining his career until 1947 and appearing in uncredited roles in cinematic landmarks like 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington' (1939) and 'The Magnificent Ambersons' (1942). Despite his public profile, he led a solitary and unassuming life in a modest Hollywood bungalow. Never married and widely believed to be gay, August passed away on March 4, 1964, and was interred at Valhalla Memorial Park.