Thomas A. Edison
Born: 1847-02-11 in Milan, Ohio, USA
Died: 1931-10-18
Known For: Production
Biography
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.
Filmography
2020
- History 101 as Self (archive footage)
2019
- Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound as Self (voice) (archive footage)
- The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley as Self (archive footage)
2015
- Edison as Himself (archive footage)
2011
- The Extraordinary Voyage as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
2008
- Murnau, Borzage and Fox as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2005
- Edison: The Invention of the Movies as Himself (archive footage)
2002
- Naqoyqatsi as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1998
- Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists as Self (archive footage)
1995
- The Shadow of Hate: A History of Intolerance in America as Self (archive footage)
1990
- The Crash of 1929 as Self (archive footage)
1982
- Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter as Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
1978
- Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma as Self (archive footage)
1964
- Horizon as Self
1950
- The Golden Twenties as Self (archive footage)
1946
1942
- The Film That Was Lost as Self (archive footage)
1922
- A Day with Thomas A. Edison as Self
1915
- Censorship and Its Absurdities ... (Producer)
1914
- The Patchwork Girl of Oz ... (Producer)
- Andrew Carnegie ... (Producer)
- The Birth of the Telephone ... (Producer)
- The Old Violin ... (Producer)
1913
- The Politician ... (Producer)
- Jack's Joke ... (Producer)
- Nursery Favorites ... (Producer)
- Julius Caesar ... (Producer)
- Her Redemption ... (Producer)
- The Edison Kinetophone ... (Producer)
- The Musical Blacksmiths ... (Producer)
- The Irish Policeman ... (Producer)
- A Minstrel Show ... (Producer)
- The Five Bachelors ... (Producer)
- Votes for Women ... (Producer)
- The Deaf Mute ... (Producer)
- The Old Guard ... (Producer)
1911
- Lucia di Lammermoor ... (Producer)
1910
- Frankenstein ... (Producer)
- The Comet ... (Director)
1909
- Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) ... (Producer)
- Meeting of the Motion Pictures Patents Company as Himself
1904
- Parsifal ... (Producer)
- Canoeing on the Charles River, Boston, Mass. ... (Producer)
- Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association Championships ... (Producer)
1903
- Chicago-Michigan Football Game ... (Producer)
- Skyscrapers of New York City, from the North River ... (Producer)
- Electrocuting an Elephant ... (Producer)
- A Jewish Dance at Jerusalem ... (Producer)
1902
- Arrival of the Governor General, Lord Minto, at Quebec ... (Producer)
- Skiing Scene in Quebec ... (Producer)
- Cutting and Canaling Ice ... (Executive Producer)
1901
- The Trick Cyclist ... (Producer)
- President McKinley Taking the Oath ... (Producer)
- Pan-American Exposition by Night ... (Producer)
1899
- Bicycle Trick Riding, No. 2 ... (Producer)
- 2nd Special Service Battalion, Canadian Infantry, Parade and Embarkation ... (Producer)
- New York Police Parade, June 1st, 1899 ... (Producer)
- General Lee's Procession, Havana ... (Producer)
1898
- Alciede Capitane ... (Producer)
- Parade of Marines, U.S. Cruiser, 'Brooklyn' ... (Producer)
- The Passion Play of Oberammergau ... (Producer)
1897
- Rescue - Resuscitation ... (Producer)
- Admiral Cigarette ... (Producer)
- Serpentine Dance - Annabelle ... (Producer)
- Mr. Edison at Work in His Chemical Laboratory
- Capsize of Lifeboat ... (Producer)
- Launch of Surf Boat ... (Producer)
- Launch of Life Boat ... (Producer)
1896
- Fatima's Coochee-Coochee Dance ... (Producer)
- East Side Drive, No. 1 ... (Executive Producer)
- American Falls, from Incline R.R. ... (Producer)
- Starting for the Fire ... (Producer)
- American Falls from Above, American Side ... (Executive Producer)
- Cock Fight ... (Producer)
1895
- The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots ... (Producer)
1894
- Annie Oakley ... (Producer)
- Sioux Ghost Dance ... (Producer)
- Imperial Japanese Dance ... (Producer)
- Corbett and Courtney Before the Kinetograph ... (Producer)
- Indian War Council ... (Producer)
1893
- Blacksmithing Scene ... (Producer)
1891
- Early Edison Camera Tests ... (Producer)