[1] In America, Edmund Elton first drew attention as an actor portraying Percy Vere in the United States national tour of Charles H. Hoyt's A Black Sheep in 1899-1900.
He created roles in several more original plays on Broadway, including Henry P. Schofield in Edward Everett Rose's Penrod (1918), Bill Avery in Paul Armstrong's Alias Jimmy Valentine (1921), Hendricks in John Willard's The Cat and the Canary (1922), Frederic J. Norton in Pierre Gendron's Kept (1926), J. Cheever West in Willis Maxwell Goodhue's Betty, Be Careful (1931), Barker in Ernst Toller's Bloody Laughter (1931), and Mr. Bullock in Herbert Polesie and John McGowan's Heigh-Ho, Everybody (1932).
[1] He also portrayed Rufio in the 1925 Broadway revival of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra; a production which marked the grand opening of the Guild Theatre.
Original Broadway musicals he starred in included the roles of Jim Hayward in Albert Von Tilzer's Honey Girl (1920), General Birabeau in Sigmund Romberg's The Desert Song (1926) and "Pop" O'Keefe in Ray Henderson's Hold Everything!.
His other film roles included The Mayor in How've You Bean (1933), Mr. "Pop" Martin in Stella Dallas (1937), Mr. Rutledge in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1939), Dr. Turner in Should a Girl Marry?