Eddie Fetherston(1896-1965)
- Actor
Why the devil did Eddie Fetherstone appear more than forty times on the
screen as a reporter, a newspaperman, a news or cinema operator, a
photographer? It is a mystery that only the casting directors of the
golden age of Hollywood could solve. For Eddie had nothing to do with
journalism. For an unknown reason, his physical appearance was once
associated with the aforementioned type of trade and on they went! In
fact Eddie Fetherstone had been a vaudevillian from the start and
comedies were more in his line. He did some for Capra, La Cava, McLeod,
John Ford, but his roles were most often so tiny that you had to keep
your eyes wide open not to miss his appearance.He fared better with
Harold Lloyd in two of his feature-length talkies and in shorts for
Columbia alongside Buster Keaton, the Three Stooges and Harry Langdon.
Nevertheless he WAS the quintessential reporter, often wisecracking to
be honest, the latter fact paying tribute to the comic he was at core.
On the other hand, Eddie Fetherstone often found himself at the wheel
of a cab or barking for shows. Another oddity was that directors found
him excellent in roles of henchmen, thugs and other hoods. So much so
that B-directors such as D. Ross Lederman or C.C. Coleman could hardly
make their run-of-the-mill cop and robber adventures without his
presence. Eddie Fetherstone was never a star but remained one of the
movie industry's faithful companions for no less than four decades.
