Thomas A. Edison

Known For

Production

Born

Feb 11, 1847

Died

Oct 18, 1931

Place of Birth

Milan, Ohio, USA

Credits

89 titles

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.

Known For

Filmography

2026

EQUITY 6928

Self (Archive)

Movie
2020

History 101

Self (archive footage)

Tv
2019

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound

Self (voice) (archive footage)

Movie
2019

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley

Self (archive footage)

Movie
2015

Edison

Himself (archive footage)

Movie
2011

The Extraordinary Voyage

Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)

Movie
2008

Murnau, Borzage and Fox

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Movie
2005

Edison: The Invention of the Movies

Himself (archive footage)

Movie
2002

Naqoyqatsi

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Movie
1998

Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists

Self (archive footage)

Movie
1995

The Shadow of Hate: A History of Intolerance in America

Self (archive footage)

Movie
1990

The Crash of 1929

Self (archive footage)

Movie
1982

Before the Nickelodeon: The Cinema of Edwin S. Porter

Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Movie
1978

Encyclopédie audiovisuelle du cinéma

Self (archive footage)

Tv
1972

The Wizard Who Spat on the Floor

Himself (Archival Footage)

Movie
1964

Horizon

Self

Tv
1955

MGM Parade

Self

Tv
1950

The Golden Twenties

Self (archive footage)

Movie
1946

Okay for Sound

Movie
1942

The Film That Was Lost

Self (archive footage)

Movie
1928

Guests at the Presentation of Kodacolor at the Home of Mr. George Eastman, Rochester, N.Y.

Movie
1922

A Day with Thomas A. Edison

Self

Movie
1915

Censorship and Its Absurdities

Producer

Movie
1914

The Patchwork Girl of Oz

Producer

Movie
1914

Andrew Carnegie

Producer

Movie
1914

The Old Violin

Producer

Movie
1914

The Birth of the Telephone

Producer

Movie
1913

Nursery Favorites

Producer

Movie
1913

The Politician

Producer

Movie
1913

Julius Caesar

Producer

Movie
1913

A Minstrel Show

Producer

Movie
1913

The Deaf Mute

Producer

Movie
1913

The Old Guard

Producer

Movie
1913

The Musical Blacksmiths

Producer

Movie
1913

Jack's Joke

Producer

Movie
1913

The Edison Kinetophone

Producer

Movie
1913

The Five Bachelors

Producer

Movie
1913

Her Redemption

Producer

Movie
1913

Votes for Women

Producer

Movie
1913

The Irish Policeman

Producer

Movie
1912

The Spanish Cavalier

Producer

Movie
1911

Lucia di Lammermoor

Producer

Movie
1910

Frankenstein

Producer

Movie
1909

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

Producer

Movie
1909

Meeting of the Motion Pictures Patents Company

Himself

Movie
1904

Parsifal

Producer

Movie
1904

Canoeing on the Charles River, Boston, Mass.

Producer

Movie
1904

Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association Championships

Producer

Movie
1903

Chicago-Michigan Football Game

Producer

Movie
1903

A Jewish Dance at Jerusalem

Producer

Movie