Cast & creator
Thomas A. Edison
Best known for Horizon, MGM Parade, History 101
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who has been described as America's greatest inventor. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory. Edison was raised in the American Midwest; early in his career he worked as a telegraph operator, which inspired some of his earliest inventions. In 1876, he established his first laboratory facility in Menlo Park, New Jersey, where many of his early inventions were developed. He later established a botanic laboratory in Fort Myers, Florida in collaboration with businessmen Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, and a laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey that featured the world's first film studio, the Black Maria. He was a prolific inventor, holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as patents in other countries. Edison married twice and fathered six children. He died in 1931 of the complications of diabetes.
Also known as: Thomas Alva Edison, Thomas Edison, The Wizard of Menlo Park
87
film credits
4
television credits
24
1891–2026 · acting roles
6.2
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (91)
Showing 91 of 91 credits
Horizon
Self
1964
MGM Parade
Self
1955
History 101
Self (archive footage)
2020Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
Self (archive footage)
1978
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
Self (archive footage)
2019
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
Self (voice) (archive footage)
2019
Frankenstein
Producer
1910
Naqoyqatsi
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2002
Blacksmithing Scene
Producer
1893
The Extraordinary Voyage
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
2011
The Crash of 1929
Self (archive footage)
1990
Murnau, Borzage and Fox
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2008Pillow Fight
Executive Producer
1897Pillow Fight
Producer
1897
Annie Oakley
Producer
1894Julius Caesar
Producer
1913
The Patchwork Girl of Oz
Producer
1914
Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter
Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
1982Andrew Carnegie
Producer
1914
Dickson Experimental Sound Film
Executive Producer
1894Rescue - Resuscitation
Producer
1897
Edison
Himself (archive footage)
2015
Corbett and Courtney Before the Kinetograph
Producer
1894Alciede Capitane
Producer
1898Little Mischief
Executive Producer
1898
Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists
Self (archive footage)
1998
Admiral Cigarette
Producer
1897
Okay for Sound
1946
The Golden Twenties
Self (archive footage)
1950
The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots
Producer
1895Parsifal
Producer
1904
2nd Special Service Battalion, Canadian Infantry, Parade and Embarkation
Producer
1899
The Politician
Producer
1913
The Film That Was Lost
Self (archive footage)
1942
Parade of Marines, U.S. Cruiser, 'Brooklyn'
Producer
1898
The Shadow of Hate: A History of Intolerance in America
Self (archive footage)
1995
The Wizard Who Spat on the Floor
Himself (Archival Footage)
1972
Fatima's Coochee-Coochee Dance
Producer
1896Her Redemption
Producer
1913
Serpentine Dance - Annabelle
Producer
1897
Mr. Edison at Work in His Chemical Laboratory
1897
American Falls from Above, American Side
Executive Producer
1896
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Producer
1909
Jack's Joke
Producer
1913
Nursery Favorites
Producer
1913
Launch of Life Boat
Producer
1897
The Old Guard
Producer
1913
Chicago-Michigan Football Game
Producer
1903
Edison: The Invention of the Movies
Himself (archive footage)
2005
The Musical Blacksmiths
Producer
1913
Bicycle Trick Riding, No. 2
Producer
1899
Electrocuting an Elephant
Producer
1903Starting for the Fire
Producer
1896
President McKinley Taking the Oath
Producer
1901
Cock Fight
Producer
1896East Side Drive, No. 1
Executive Producer
1896
The Passion Play of Oberammergau
Producer
1898
Pan-American Exposition by Night
Producer
1901
Launch of Surf Boat
Producer
1897
EQUITY 6928
Self (Archive)
2026
The Edison Kinetophone
Producer
1913
New York Police Parade, June 1st, 1899
Producer
1899
A Day with Thomas A. Edison
Self
1922
Sioux Ghost Dance
Producer
1894
Guests at the Presentation of Kodacolor at the Home of Mr. George Eastman, Rochester, N.Y.
1928
Imperial Japanese Dance
Producer
1894
Indian War Council
Producer
1894
The Deaf Mute
Producer
1913
Skyscrapers of New York City, from the North River
Producer
1903Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association Championships
Producer
1904The Birth of the Telephone
Producer
1914
Censorship and Its Absurdities
Producer
1915
A Jewish Dance at Jerusalem
Producer
1903
Arrival of the Governor General, Lord Minto, at Quebec
Producer
1902
Skiing Scene in Quebec
Producer
1902
Capsize of Lifeboat
Producer
1897
The Trick Cyclist
Producer
1901The Old Violin
Producer
1914
The Five Bachelors
Producer
1913
General Lee's Procession, Havana
Producer
1899Lucia di Lammermoor
Producer
1911Canoeing on the Charles River, Boston, Mass.
Producer
1904The Spanish Cavalier
Producer
1912Cutting and Canaling Ice
Executive Producer
1902Early Edison Camera Tests
Producer
1891
Meeting of the Motion Pictures Patents Company
Himself
1909Meeting of the Motion Pictures Patents Company
Producer
1909A Minstrel Show
Producer
1913Votes for Women
Producer
1913American Falls, from Incline R.R.
Producer
1896The Irish Policeman
Producer
1913