Arthur Donaldson on AllMovie

A light opera baritone from Sweden, Arthur Donaldson originated the role of The Prince of Pilsen in 1903. In films almost from the beginning, 1908 to be exact, Donaldson joined the New Jersey-based Kalem Company on their famous expeditions to Ireland in 1910 and 1911. Known as the O'Kalems, the company produced scores of one- and two-reelers on the Emerald Isle, including two dramas based on local playwright Dion Boucicault, The Colleen Bawn (1911) and Arrah-na-Pogue (1911). Leaving Kalem in 1914, Donaldson went on to become on of the best regarded character actors of the World War I era, appearing as: nefarious German General Von Blahm in Vitagraph's For France (1917); as the equally contemptible Friedrich Von Emden kidnapping Lois Meredith in a submarine in Over the Top; and as Cap'n Abe a mousy storekeeper turned ferocious pirate leader in The Captain's Captain (1919). Donaldson returned to the stage with more frequency in the 1920s, but kept up a steady stream of film appearances as well, if mainly in programmers. His final role of any importance was as George III in D.W. Griffith's epic America (1924). The following year, Donaldson produced and directed Retribution an experimental sound film intended for a Swedish-speaking audience. Ironically, sound ultimately put an end to Donaldson's screen career. He returned to the stage permanently in 1927, making his Broadway directorial debut in 1934 with The Green Stick.