Thomas A. Edison
Production
1847-02-11 · Milan, Ohio, USA
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
TheatersEQUITY 6928
2026 · Movie
History 101
2020 · Series
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
2019 · Movie
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
2019 · Movie
Edison
2015 · Movie
The Extraordinary Voyage
2011 · Movie
Epic Rap Battles of History
2010 · Series
Murnau, Borzage and Fox
2008 · Movie
Edison: The Invention of the Movies
2005 · Movie
Naqoyqatsi
2002 · Movie
Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists
1998 · Movie
The Shadow of Hate: A History of Intolerance in America
1995 · Movie
The Crash of 1929
1990 · Movie
Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter
1982 · Movie
Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma
1978 · Series
The Wizard Who Spat on the Floor
1972 · Movie
Horizon
1964 · Series
MGM Parade
1955 · Series
The Golden Twenties
1950 · Movie
Okay for Sound
1946 · Movie
The Film That Was Lost
1942 · Movie
Guests at the Presentation of Kodacolor at the Home of Mr. George Eastman, Rochester, N.Y.
1928 · Movie
A Day with Thomas A. Edison
1922 · Movie
Censorship and Its Absurdities
1915 · Movie
The Patchwork Girl of Oz
1914 · Movie
Andrew Carnegie
1914 · Movie
The Old Violin
1914 · Movie
The Birth of the Telephone
1914 · Movie
Nursery Favorites
1913 · Movie
The Politician
1913 · Movie
Julius Caesar
1913 · Movie
The Deaf Mute
1913 · Movie
A Minstrel Show
1913 · Movie
The Old Guard
1913 · Movie
Jack's Joke
1913 · Movie
The Musical Blacksmiths
1913 · Movie
The Edison Kinetophone
1913 · Movie
The Five Bachelors
1913 · Movie
Votes for Women
1913 · Movie
The Irish Policeman
1913 · Movie
Her Redemption
1913 · Movie
The Spanish Cavalier
1912 · Movie
Lucia di Lammermoor
1911 · Movie
Frankenstein
1910 · Movie
A Trip to Mars
1910 · Movie
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
1909 · Movie
Meeting of the Motion Pictures Patents Company
1909 · Movie
Parsifal
1904 · Movie
Canoeing on the Charles River, Boston, Mass.
1904 · Movie
Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association Championships
1904 · Movie
Chicago-Michigan Football Game
1903 · Movie
A Jewish Dance at Jerusalem
1903 · Movie
Skyscrapers of New York City, from the North River
1903 · Movie
Electrocuting an Elephant
1903 · Movie
Skiing Scene in Quebec
1902 · Movie
Cutting and Canaling Ice
1902 · Movie
Arrival of the Governor General, Lord Minto, at Quebec
1902 · Movie
Pan-American Exposition by Night
1901 · Movie
The Trick Cyclist
1901 · Movie
President McKinley Taking the Oath
1901 · Movie
2nd Special Service Battalion, Canadian Infantry, Parade and Embarkation
1899 · Movie
New York Police Parade, June 1st, 1899
1899 · Movie
Bicycle Trick Riding, No. 2
1899 · Movie
General Lee's Procession, Havana
1899 · Movie
Parade of Marines, U.S. Cruiser, 'Brooklyn'
1898 · Movie
Little Mischief
1898 · Movie
The Passion Play of Oberammergau
1898 · Movie
Alciede Capitane
1898 · Movie
Rescue - Resuscitation
1897 · Movie
Launch of Surf Boat
1897 · Movie
Launch of Life Boat
1897 · Movie
Capsize of Lifeboat
1897 · Movie
Admiral Cigarette
1897 · Movie
Mr. Edison at Work in His Chemical Laboratory
1897 · Movie
Pillow Fight
1897 · Movie
Serpentine Dance - Annabelle
1897 · Movie
American Falls, from Incline R.R.
1896 · Movie
American Falls from Above, American Side
1896 · Movie
Cock Fight
1896 · Movie
Starting for the Fire
1896 · Movie
East Side Drive, No. 1
1896 · Movie
Fatima's Coochee-Coochee Dance
1896 · Movie
The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots
1895 · Movie
Indian War Council
1894 · Movie
Corbett and Courtney Before the Kinetograph
1894 · Movie
Imperial Japanese Dance
1894 · Movie
Annie Oakley
1894 · Movie
Sioux Ghost Dance
1894 · Movie
Dickson Experimental Sound Film
1894 · Movie
Blacksmithing Scene
1893 · Movie
Early Edison Camera Tests
1891 · Movie