{{short description|American actor and film director (1874-1958)}}
{{Infobox person | name = Edgar Jones | image = Edgar Jones (ca. 1915).jpg | imagesize = | caption = Edgar Jones, ca. 1915 | birth_date = {{birth_date|1874|06|17}} | birth_place = Steubenville, Ohio, U.S. | death_date = {{death_date and age|1958|02|07|1874|06|17}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Actor · Producer · Director | years_active = | spouse = {{married|Louise Huff|1914|end=div}} |children = 1 }} '''Edgar Jones''' (June 17, 1874 – February 7, 1958) was an American actor, producer, writer, and director of silent films.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://silentroomdotblog.wordpress.com/2018/10/05/among-the-lost-the-rider-of-the-king-log-1921/|title=Among the Lost: The Rider of the King Log (1921)|date=October 5, 2018}}</ref><ref name=ren/> He starred in and directed the film adaptation of ''The Gold in the Crock''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUs_AAAAYAAJ&q=edgar+jones+film+director&pg=PA1161|title=The Moving Picture World|date=April 4, 1915|publisher=Chalmers Publishing Company|via=Google Books}}</ref> He also starred in and directed Siegmund Lubin films including ''Fitzhugh's Ride''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o5UhAQAAMAAJ&q=edgar+jones+film+director&pg=PA1409|title=Popular Electricity and the World's Advance|first=Henry Walter|last=Young|date=April 4, 1913|publisher=Popular Electricity Publishing Company|via=Google Books}}</ref> He established a film production business in Augusta, Maine that produced original stories and adaptations of Holman Day novels.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQs-AQAAIAAJ&q=edgar+jones+actor+director+maine&pg=PA47|title=The Editor|date=November 29, 1920|via=Google Books}}</ref>
==Career== Jones acted in touring stage productions before moving on to films.<ref name=than/> He starred with Clara Williams in ''A Lucky Fall''.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eDAXAQAAMAAJ&q=edgar+jones+film+maine&pg=RA1-PA154|title=Motion Picture|date=November 6, 1913|publisher=Macfadden-Bartell.|via=Google Books}}</ref>
He acted, produced, and directed ''Lonesome Corners''. He produced, directed, and starred in a series of short films with Evelyn Brent.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_ODoCwz2EsC&q=edgar+jones+film+director&pg=PA133|title=Evelyn Brent: The Life and Films of Hollywood's Lady Crook|first1=Lynn|last1=Kear|first2=James|last2=King|date=October 21, 2009|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786454686|via=Google Books}}</ref> According to IMDb, he has more than 100 acting credits and more than 60 directing credits. Late in 1918, he formed his own production company, Edgar Jones Productions, and made films in Maine.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQs-AQAAIAAJ&q=edgar+jones+film+maine&pg=PA47|title=The Editor|date=November 6, 1920|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V3ghAQAAMAAJ&q=%22edgar+jones%22+silent+film|title=Down East|date=November 6, 1977|publisher=Down East Enterprise|via=Google Books}}</ref> His film work includes adaptations of Holman Day stories.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=16250|title=THE RIDER OF THE KING LOG (1921) - NitrateVille.com|website=nitrateville.com}}</ref> The studio operated out of the former Maine Children's Home Society.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYfOBgAAQBAJ&q=%22edgar+jones+productions%22&pg=PA64|title=Augusta|first=Roger A.|last=Madore|date=November 6, 2015|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9781467122719|via=Google Books}}</ref>
Blaine S. Viles, a former mayor of Augusta, served as the film company's president.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_ODoCwz2EsC&q=edgar+jones+actor+director+maine&pg=PA16|title=Evelyn Brent: The Life and Films of Hollywood's Lady Crook|first1=Lynn|last1=Kear|first2=James|last2=King|date=October 21, 2009|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786454686|via=Google Books}}</ref> Viles also served as state forest commissioner. ''The Mentor'' reported Holman Day films being shown to prisoners.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p2RJAAAAYAAJ&q=%22the+two-fisted+judge%22&pg=RA4-PA40|title=The Mentor|date=November 29, 1920|publisher=State Prison|via=Google Books}}</ref>
He married Lubin actress Louise Huff and they had a daughter together. They divorced.<ref name=than>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thanhouser.org/tcocd/Biography_Files/e72gg3.htm|title=JONES, Edgar|website=www.thanhouser.org}}</ref>
Among his surviving Maine films are ''Border River'', ''A Knight of the Pines'', ''Cupid, Registered Guide'', and ''Caught in the Rapids'', all Edgar Jones Productions. Co-stars included Evelyn Brent, Edna May Sperl, Carlton Brickert, and Ben Hendricks, Jr.
Edward Lorusso collected these four films, along with two others, in a Blu-ray collection in 2023. Lorusso screened these four films at the Silent Film Festival at the Colonial Theater in Augusta, Maine on June 17, 2023. The theater is where they had all made their premieres 1919-21.
==New Discovery== In 2025 Edward Lorusso discovered the lost film ''In the River'' in a Library of Congress private collection. The film had been catalogued under the wrong title. It co-stars Evelyn Brent, Carlton Brickert, and Ben Hendricks, Jr. and was filmed in Augusta and West Gardiner, ME. Lorusso "re-premiered" the film in Colonial Theater in Augusta in October 2025 with live music by Jeff Rapsis. The event was filmed by documentary filmmaker Peter Flynn. The film had premiered at the Colonial Theater on August 12, 1920.
==Filmography== ===Actor=== *''A Lucky Fall'' (1912) *''Fitzhugh's Ride'' (1914) *''The Gold in the Crock'' (1915) *''On Bitter Creek'' (1915)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rYcqAAAAYAAJ&q=%22edgar+jones%22+silent+film|title=Motion Picture Guide Silent Film 1910-1936|first1=Jay Robert|last1=Nash|first2=Robert|last2=Connelly|first3=Stanley Ralph|last3=Ross|date=January 6, 1988|publisher=Cinebooks|isbn=9780933997103|via=Google Books}}</ref> *''The Trustee of the Law''<ref name="auto1"/> *''A Woman's Fool'' (1918) *''Wild Honey'' (1918) *''Wild Women'' (1918)<ref name=ren>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnGeCQAAQBAJ&q=%22edgar+jones%22+silent+film&pg=PA184|title=A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses|first=George A.|last=Katchmer|date=May 20, 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476609058|via=Google Books}}</ref> *''Border River'' (1919) with Evelyn Brent *''A Knight of the Pines'' (1920) with Edna May Sperl *''In the River'' (1920) with Evelyn Brent *''Cupid, Registered Guide'' (1921) with Edna May Sperl *''Caught in the Rapids'' (1921) with Edna May Sperl *''The Big Punch'' (1921)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K7tPAAAAYAAJ&q=edgar+jones+film+maine|title=The Silents: Silent Feature Films, 1910-36|first=Robert B.|last=Connelly|date=November 6, 1998|publisher=December Press|isbn=9780913204368|via=Google Books}}</ref> *''Single-Handed Sam'' (1921) *''Lonesome Corners'' (1922)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.7027/default.html|title=Lonesome Corners|first=Edgar|last=Jones|date=November 29, 1922|via=memory.loc.gov}}</ref> *''Lochinvar of the Line'' *''The Two-fisted Judge'' *''A Forest Diplomat'' *''Single Handed (Edgar Jones film)''
===Director=== * ''The Turmoil (1916 film)'' * ''Dimples (1916 film)'' * ''Lovely Mary'' (1916) * ''The Girl Who Wouldn't Quit'' (1918) * ''A Rich Man's Darling'' (1918)
==Producer== *''Border River (1919 film)'' *''The Rider of King Log'' (1921) *''The Timber Wolves'' *''A Forest Samson''
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|nm0428013}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Edgar}} Category:1874 births Category:1958 deaths Category:20th-century American male actors Category:Film producers from Ohio Category:Film directors from Ohio Category:People from Augusta, Maine