Theatre Register

Arthur Pierson

Shows · Arthur Pierson

Book Writer 1901–1975 On stage 1929–1940

Arthur Pierson (June 16, 1901 – January 1, 1975) was a Norwegian-born American actor and director. Born in Oslo, he was brought to the United States and raised in Seattle, Washington. He made his Broadway acting debut in 1929 in Remote Control. He continued to appear on stage throughout the 1930s, appearing in plays such as Night of January 16th (1935) and a Broadway production of Othello (1937). His last Broadway appearance was in The Unconquered in 1940. In 1932 he took up film acting as well, appearing in Lloyd Corrigan's No One Man. He subsequently appeared in over a dozen movies, usually in minor roles. Among his best-known film roles was Capitano Lorenzo in the Laurel and Hardy comedy…

On stage 9 productions, 11 years

1929 Remote Control 48th Street Theatre · Original 79 perf.
1934 Broadway Interlude Forrest Theatre · Original 12 perf.
1934 Lost Horizons St James Theatre · Original 56 perf.
1934 Queer People National Theatre · Original · directed by Melville Burke 12 perf.
1935 A Woman of the Soil 49th Street Theatre · Original 24 perf.
1935 If a Body Biltmore Theatre · Original 45 perf.
1935 Night of January 16 Ambassador Theatre · Original · directed by John Hayden 235 perf.
1938 What a Life Biltmore Theatre · Original 538 perf.
1940 The Unconquered Biltmore Theatre · Original 6 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once4 names

J Arthur Young 3 productions
Ruth Lee 2 productions
Lea Penman 2 productions
Ellen Hall 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 3 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

Also credited on1 work

What’s Up?

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature1 passages

  • 35 Actor and director Arthur Pierson (1901–75) was born in Norway but raised in Seattle and worked as both an actor and director on Broadway and in Hollywood. His appearances included playing Lorenzo in Hal Roach’s film The Devil’s Brother (1933) and Demetrius in Max Reinhardt’s famous production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1937) on Bro…ebooks/Unknown/Alan Jay Lerner_ A Lyricist's Letters - Unknown.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — book writer — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

Something wrong here? Correct a field or report the problem. Every change is recorded in public under the contributor licence.