Arthur Aylesworth

The son of Georgia Aylesworth (née Howard),^[1] Arthur Preston Aylesworth was born in Apponaug, Rhode Island August 12, 1883.^[2] He came from a military family with his father and his grandfather graduates of the United States Military Academy. Aylesworth himself attended the academy for two years.^[3] He married Sadie Harris on June 19, 1912.^[4]

In his early career Aylesworth portrayed the role of Grampis in a 1907 revival of George Ade's musical Peggy from Paris in a theatre troupe led by Helen Byron for performances in Pennsylvania.^[5] He then joined the cast of Henry W. Savage's 1907 revival of The Prince of Pilsen by Gustav Luders.^[6] This show began its tour in Long Branch, New Jersey and then made its way west to Chicago^[7] where it played at the Studebaker Theater.^[8] It then toured to Missouri,^[9] and onwards west to California.^[10] After this tour he became a member of Henry Woodruff's theatre company with whom he toured the Western United States;^[11] appearing as Sylvester Temple in William M. Hough and Frank R. Adams's musical The Prince of Tonight (1909).^[12]

Aylesworth made his Broadway debut at the hotel clerk in Over Night (1911).^[13] His other Broadway appearances included the musical Follow Thru (1929),^[14] and his last show there was Yankee Point (1942).^[15] He was on the stage for over a quarter of a century and acted in many productions. In the 1930s, he became a contract player at Warner Brothers working in character actors, often uncredited. Aylesworth played in over 130 films almost exclusively from the early 1930s onwards.^[16]

Aylesworth died on June 26, 1946 in Los Angeles, California.^[2] His grave is located at Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.^[16]