Eric Linden (September 15, 1909 - July 14, 1994) was a Swedish-American actor. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Film career

Eric Linden was born in New York City to Phillip and Elvira (née Lundborg) Linden, both of Swedish descent. His father was a professional pianist and an actor on stage with the Theater Royal when he lived in Stockholm, Sweden. When Eric was six, Phillip Linden deserted his family in New York City. To help support his family, he sold newspapers on Tenth Avenue. Linden participated in school plays at DeWitt Clinton High School. After graduation, he worked his way through Columbia University. He appeared in an adaption of Goethe's Faust on Broadway in 1928 and then turned to Hollywood. Linden made his film debut during the Great Depression in RKO Radio Pictures' 1931 crime film, Are These Our Children?, where he played a young murderer who gets executed.

Linden later appeared in 33 films until 1941, mostly playing second leads. He mostly portrayed "sensitive, intellectual, slightly weak-willed juveniles", often with tragic destinies. His notable films include Big City Blues (1932) with Joan Blondell, Old Hutch (1936), opposite Wallace Beery, A Family Affair (1937) with Lionel Barrymore and Mickey Rooney, and The Good Old Soak (1937), again Wallace Beery. In 1939, Linden had a minor role as the "amputation case" soldier in the hospital in Gone with the Wind. Linden's role in Gone with the Wind was originally quite extensive, but his role was later reduced down to less than a minute. His career petered out and he left Hollywood after his final from 33 films, Criminals Within (1941).

Later years

Eric Linden played in a few stage roles and then served in the Second World War. He later retired from acting and worked for the County of Orange in California. He married late in life in 1955, age 46; he and wife Jo Brown, an artist, settled in Laguna Beach, California and had three children: Karen, David and Andrea. They divorced in 1977.

Eric Linden died on July 14, 1994, in South Laguna Beach, California, aged 84.

Filmography

• Are These Our Children? (1931)
• Young Bride (1932)
• The Crowd Roars (1932)
• The Roadhouse Murder (1932)
• The Age of Consent (1932)
• Life Begins (1932)
• Big City Blues (1932)
• Afraid to Talk (1932)
• No Other Woman (1933)
• The Past of Mary Holmes (1933)
• Sweepings (1933)
• The Silver Cord (1933)
• Flying Devils (1933)
• I Give My Love (1934)
• Let 'Em Have It (1935)
• Ladies Crave Excitement (1935)
• Born to Gamble (1935)
• Ah, Wilderness! (1935)
• The Voice of Bugle Ann (1936)
• Robin Hood of El Dorado (1936)
• In His Steps (1936)
• Old Hutch (1936)
• Career Woman (1936)
• A Family Affair (1937)
• Girl Loves Boy (1937)
• The Good Old Soak (1937)
• Sweetheart of the Navy (1937)
• Midnight Intruder (1938)
• Here's Flash Casey (1938)
• Romance of the Limberlost (1938)
• Everything's on Ice (1939)
• Gone with the Wind (1939)
• Criminals Within (1941)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]