Volume III: Biographies

ACKER, Edward .

Scenario writer (date?)

Thanhouser Career Synopsis: Edward Acker was a freelance scenario writer who at one time sold one or more scripts to Thanhouser, according to the October 1916 edition of the Motion Picture News Studio Directory.

Biographical Notes: Edward Acker was born in New York City and educated in New York City, London, and Paris. For a time he was on the stage and appeared with Sir Henry Irving in Robespierre. He became a writer and worked for the Brooklyn Times, Black Cat, Theatre Magazine, and other periodicals.

As a freelance writer, he wrote scenarios for Biograph, Edison, Pathé, Thanhouser, Kalem, Reliance, Universal, Essanay, and others. At one time he was on the Biograph staff for three years, and by 1916 he had written 43 scenarios for this pioneer producer. His film scenario credits include The Unseen Enemy, The Telephone Girl and the Lady, A Cry for Help, What Drink Did, The Cricket on the Hearth, and the adaptation of Lorna Doone. Directories published in 1916 and 1918 noted that he lived at 906 East 176th Street, New York City. He considered himself to be an all-around athlete.

Note: An Edward Acker died in the New York area on June 22, 1931, but whether he was the Edward Acker who worked for Thanhouser has not been determined.

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