Edward Everett Horton was born in Brooklyn, New York, and presumably named after orator and presidential candidate Edward Everett. Horton started his stage career in 1906, singing and dancing and playing small parts in Vaudeville and in Broadway productions. In 1919 he moved to Los Angeles, California, and started getting roles in Hollywood films. His first starring role was in the 1922 comedy film Too Much Business. After a few years he began being cast as a character actor in supporting roles. Some of his noteworthy films include The Front Page, Top Hat, Holiday, Lost Horizon, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, and Arsenic and Old Lace.
In the 1950s Horton started doing television work. Many who were young in the 1960s remember him as the narrator for the "Fractured Fairy Tales" segment of the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon show.
Edward Everett Horton died, aged 84, in Encino, California.