Robert Arden
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Arden (11 December 1922 – 25 March 2004) was an American film, television and radio actor born in London who worked and lived mostly in the United Kingdom.
Arden was born from an American father and an English mother. His father had a successful career as a professional boxer after World War I. He attended "a combination of English and American schools."
Arden's most famous film appearance was as lead character Guy Van Stratten in Mr. Arkadin (1955), written and directed by Orson Welles. Welles had worked with Arden on the Harry Lime radio series, produced in London, and later cast the little-known actor in Mr. Arkadin, in the central role of the investigator who uncovers Arkadin's past. Reportedly, Arden was shocked that Welles might consider him for the part and initially thought that the director's phone inquiry was a crank call.
Arden's performance in Mr. Arkadin was panned by some critics : The New York Times called it "hopelessly inadequate". Film historian Jonathan Rosenbaum has defended Arden's performance, locating the problem not in the actor's work but in "the unsavoriness and obnoxiousness of the character", who was intended by Welles to be unattractive even though he occupied in the film "the space normally reserved for charismatic heroes".
The credits of one the film's Spanish versions misspelled Arden's name as "Bob Harden". Another Spanish print actually credited him as "Mark Sharpe".
Mr. Arkadin did poorly at the box-office. Afterwards, Arden played a few other lead roles, in films such as The Depraved (1957) or The Child and the Killer (1959), but he worked mostly as a character actor, appearing in film, television and stage productions. he worked mostly as a character actor, appearing in film, television and stage productions.
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Full filmography
- Silent Witness (1996) as Alex Wein
- The Saint (1962) as Detective Williams
- Tales of the Unexpected (1979) as Berners
- Inspector Morse (1987) as Eddie Poindexter
- No Hiding Place (1959) as James Sandford
- The Wednesday Play (1964) as Maj. Max Baker
- Mark Saber (1954) as Victor Crane
- Mark Saber (1954) as Bob Page
- Interpol Calling (1959) as Marston
- The Paradise Club (1989) as Marzocca
- The Bourne Identity (1988) as Stevens
- Drama 61-67 (1961) as Detective Froelich
- International Detective (1959) as McNaughton
- Man of the World (1962) as Carter
- Little Shop of Horrors (1986) as Network Exec #1
- Studio 4 (1962) as George Spencer
- Overseas Press Club - Exclusive! (1957) as Hal Lehrman
- The Final Conflict (1981) as American Ambassador
- A Matter of Life and Death (1946) as GI Playing Snout (uncredited)
- Nancy Astor (1982) as Quincy Shaw
- Ragtime (1981) as Foreman of the Jury
- The Old Men at the Zoo (1983) as Albert Hancock
- Strong Medicine (1986) as Dr. Potter
- Mr. Arkadin (1955) as Guy Van Stratten