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.

Known For

Captain Danzinger

The Pistol

Tom Demarest

Never Take Sweets from a Stranger

CIA Chief

Condorman

Buddy

Spin a Dark Web

Dave Dillon

The Depraved

Général Lee W. Simon

Les Loups Entre Eux

GI Playing Snout (uncredited)

A Matter of Life and Death

Liftboy

A King in New York

Network Exec #1

Little Shop of Horrors

Bob Fenton

The Counterfeit Plan

Foreman of the Jury

Ragtime

Guy Van Stratten

Mr. Arkadin

American Sergeant

The Man from Morocco

American Ambassador

The Final Conflict

Dave Kennedy

Two Thousand Women

Joe

The Child and the Killer

Harry Hopkins

Churchill and the Generals

Jim Hunter

Death Drums Along the River

Daniel

The Hills of Donegal

Bill

Bermuda Affair

Ruth's Father

The Story of Ruth

Reunion at Fairborough

1st C.I.A. Man

Call Me Bwana