His father died of tuberculosis when he was seven years old so Edward and his two siblings, Jenny May and Henry, were raised in Terre Haute by his mother, Mary Lucinda.

As a young adult, Roseman worked on a railroad before succumbing to the lure of vaudeville and traveling theater stock companies, including the Margaret Bird Stock Company and those founded by playwrights Lincoln J. Carter and Wright Lorimer.

Between 1913 and 1921, Roseman was a popular actor in silent films, appearing in about 50 motion pictures during that span.

Cast in a part which required him to play multiple personalities, Movie Weekly magazine referred to Roseman as "The Master of Makeup."

As film studios relocated to California, Roseman retired and moved, with his wife Sophia and son David, to Syracuse, New York.