Edward Coxen

Albert Edward Coxen was born at 18 Darwin Street, Southwark, London, England on 8th August 1880, the first child of Joseph Coxen of Wandsworth, London and Sarah Jane Coxen nee Parfitt of Bedminster, Bristol. At the time of Albert Edward's birth Joseph and Sarah ran the Carpenter Arms public house, St. Marylebone, London. In 1880 Joseph Coxen's brother John and wife Ellen left England and settled in San Francisco. Joseph and Sarah Coxen with young Bertie, as Albert was called on the ship's manifest, followed them in 1882. The Coxen brothers soon established Coxen Bros., a Wood & Photo Engravers business, in the city and the families lived together at 1612 Jones Street. By 1890 Albert Edward, aged 10, and his parent were living in independent accommodation at 1925, Filbert Street. Although they were well settled in the U.S.A. the Coxen family returned to London in 1896 so that Sarah could look after her dying sister Catherine Strawson nee Parfitt. Young Albert Edward was intent on completing his education and returned to the U.S.A on the America line vessel SS St. Louis from Southampton arriving in New York the day before his seventeenth birthday, 7th August 1897. His third class passage was in the company of a shipload of Scandinavian and Jewish immigrants seeking a new life. In his pocket young Albert had $125 dollars to get him back to his uncle John's home in California. In 1900, aged 20, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen. On his return to San Francisco Coxen continued his education at the University of California, Berkeley College campus and after graduating in the early 1900s he embarked upon a commercial career probably working for his father and uncle John at Coxen Bros. Clearly he did not find this to his liking and set about attempting to make his fortune firstly by prospecting for gold and then by moving to a job in civil engineering. Finally, he entered the profession he yearned for most, acting, and spoke his first lines as a professional actor on the stage of the Majestic Theatre, San Francisco at the age of 26 early in 1906. The devastating San Francisco earthquake and fires of April 18th 1906 followed soon after his debut, so he moved to a theater across the bay in Oakland where he appeared in Ye Liberty, Balasco's Alcazar and many other popular plays. The earthquake and San Francisco's big fire must have been a terrifying experience for the Coxen families and would have had a serious and detrimental impact on the business of Coxen Bros. So it was probably at this time that the families decided to move along the coast to the safer location of Los Angeles. When he started his acting career Coxen dropped 'Albert' and became, Edward, Eddie or Ed Coxen and in 1909 he returned to New York, this time as an established 29-year-old actor performing at Wallack's Theatre, Broadway. On the 27th December 1909 he appeared, billed as Edward Coxen, in A Little Brother of the Rich, a play that ran for 27 performances. Los Angeles and the suburb of Hollywood in particular, was the center of the new and rapidly growing motion picture industry; it was a magnet to aspiring young actors. The demand for one-reel westerns was insatiable and some studios released these on a one-a-week basis. Early in 1911 the Santa Monica Studio was formed by the Kalem Company to satisfy the increasing demand and young talent such as Ed Coxen, Ruth Roland, Marin Sais and Marshall Neiland were recruited. Coxen was soon to move further up the coast to Santa Barbara where in 1912 he joined the American Film Manufacturing Company's Studios and began his motion picture career as one of a group of actors known as the 'Flying A' stars. He remained a star of those studios until 1917. This was a period when he was very popular with the cinema public and in 1912 alone he made an incredible 34 films. The following flattering description of young Edward was published in 'The Moving Picture World' of December 1913: 'A good looking virile young man, a manly lover, and thoroughly at home on horseback.' Some of his film successes were: The Ghost of the Hacienda (1913), Crooks and Credulous (1913), In Three Hours (1913), The Drummer's Honeymoon (1913), and he took the lead part in The Trail of the Lost Chord (1913). In several of his films, including Saints and Sinners (1915), his leading lady was the popular and talented actress Winifred Greenwood. With Winifred Greenwood he appeared in many melodramas filmed in Santa Barbara. On Saturday August 7th 1915, his popularity was such that his photograph was featured on the front page of 'Pictures and The Picturegoer'. His agents were Central Casting Corporation of Hollywood Boulevard & Western Avenue. In 1914 at the age of 33 he married Edith Borella, a 24-year-old film actress born in California of Swiss parents. Edith had played minor parts alongside Edward in films such as Restitution (1915), where Winifred Greenwood played Ed's female romantic lead. Edith was also known as Eda or by her professional name of Aida. In 1920 Ed and Eda were living somewhere in Precinct 228, Los Angeles City; the couple had no children. Later they moved into Ed's family home at 646 N. Manhattan Place, Los Angeles. ECoxen's acting career reached its peak in the second decade of the 20th century; he never quite attained the real stardom that his early success promised. As he entered his 40s in the 1920s he ceased to star and became largely a supporting actor usually portraying villains, but working with stars such as Buster Keaton. In the 1930s he was often a supporting actor in B-westerns where Ken Maynard played the lead. Although he worked on well into the 1940s he could then only get either walk-on parts or appearances as a dress extra. During the final decade of his life he lived, perhaps with his wife Edith, in his parents' former home at 646, N. Manhattan Place, Los Angeles He died aged 74 on 21st November 1954 in Los Angeles and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California. His monument reads 'Beloved Husband and Brother', but his birth date is incorrect. He made more than 150 films, and in his early career appeared in countless stage plays, giving pleasure to millions of people.