Place of Birth: London, England, UK
Robert Arden
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.
Movie | Cast | Year |
---|---|---|
The Pistol | Captain Danzinger | 1965 |
Never Take Sweets from a Stranger | Tom Demarest | 1960 |
Condorman | CIA Chief | 1981 |
Spin a Dark Web | Buddy | 1956 |
The Depraved | Dave Dillon | 1957 |
Among Wolves | Général Lee W. Simon | 1985 |
A Matter of Life and Death | GI Playing Snout (uncredited) | 1946 |
A King in New York | Liftboy | 1957 |
Little Shop of Horrors | Network Exec #1 | 1986 |
The Counterfeit Plan | Bob Fenton | 1957 |
Ragtime | Foreman of the Jury | 1981 |
The Man from Morocco | American Sergeant | 1945 |
Mr. Arkadin | Guy Van Stratten | 1955 |
The Final Conflict | American Ambassador | 1981 |
Two Thousand Women | Dave Kennedy | 1944 |
The Child and the Killer | Joe | 1959 |
Churchill and the Generals | Harry Hopkins | 1979 |
Death Drums Along the River | Jim Hunter | 1963 |
The Hills of Donegal | Daniel | 1947 |
Bermuda Affair | Bill | 1956 |
The Story of Ruth | Ruth's Father | 1982 | Series | Cast | Year |
Interpol Calling | Marston | 1959 |
Silent Witness | Alex Wein | 1996 |
Inspector Morse | Eddie Poindexter | 1987 |
Tales of the Unexpected | Berners | 1979 |
Studio Four | George Spencer | 1962 |
Man of the World | Carter | 1962 |
The Wednesday Play | Captain Danziger | 1964 |
International Detective | McNaughton | 1959 |
No Hiding Place | James Sandford | 1959 |
The Saint | Detective Williams | 1962 |
The Bourne Identity | Stevens | 1988 |
The Paradise Club | Marzocca | 1989 |
Strong Medicine | Dr. Potter | 1986 |