Thomas A. Edison
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.
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (47)
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
as Self (voice) (archive footage)
2019
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley
as Self (archive footage)
2019
Edison
as Himself (archive footage)
2015
The Extraordinary Voyage
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
2011
Murnau, Borzage and Fox
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2008
Edison: The Invention of the Movies
as Himself (archive footage)
2005
Naqoyqatsi
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2002
Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists
as Self (archive footage)
1998
The Shadow of Hate: A History of Intolerance in America
as Self (archive footage)
1995
The Crash of 1929
as Self (archive footage)
1990
Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter
as Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
1982
The Golden Twenties
as Self (archive footage)
1950
Okay for Sound
1946
The Film That Was Lost
as Self (archive footage)
1942
Guests at the Presentation of Kodacolor at the Home of Mr. George Eastman, Rochester, N.Y.
1928
A Day with Thomas A. Edison
as Self
1922
Censorship and Its Absurdities
Producer (Production)
1915
The Patchwork Girl of Oz
Producer (Production)
1914
Andrew Carnegie
Producer (Production)
1914
The Birth of the Telephone
Producer (Production)
1914
The Old Violin
Producer (Production)
1914
Nursery Favorites
Producer (Production)
1913
The Politician
Producer (Production)
1913
Julius Caesar
Producer (Production)
1913
A Minstrel Show
Producer (Production)
1913
The Old Guard
Producer (Production)
1913
The Deaf Mute
Producer (Production)
1913
The Musical Blacksmiths
Producer (Production)
1913
The Edison Kinetophone
Producer (Production)
1913
Jack's Joke
Producer (Production)
1913
The Five Bachelors
Producer (Production)
1913
Her Redemption
Producer (Production)
1913
The Irish Policeman
Producer (Production)
1913
Votes for Women
Producer (Production)
1913
Lucia di Lammermoor
Producer (Production)
1911
Frankenstein
Producer (Production)
1910
The Comet
Director (Directing)
1910
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Producer (Production)
1909
Meeting of the Motion Pictures Patents Company
as Himself
1909
Parsifal
Producer (Production)
1904
Canoeing on the Charles River, Boston, Mass.
Producer (Production)
1904
Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association Championships
Producer (Production)
1904
Chicago-Michigan Football Game
Producer (Production)
1903
A Jewish Dance at Jerusalem
Producer (Production)
1903
Skyscrapers of New York City, from the North River
Producer (Production)
1903
Electrocuting an Elephant
Producer (Production)
1903
Skiing Scene in Quebec
Producer (Production)
1902
