[1] Born in New York City in 1886, Anderson made his Broadway debut on August 5, 1907, as the star of an original musical called The Time, the Place and the Girl.
For the next ten years he continued to perform on the Great White Way in both musicals and plays – including Victor Herbert's The Duchess[2] – until the end of November 1917.
[1] During about this same period, he also appeared in six movies, from 1915 to 1918, at a time when the nascent film industry was largely located in the New York City area.
[citation needed] From 1922 to 1924 and from 1927 to 1936, Anderson again appeared on Broadway in musicals, comedies and melodramas, including The Strawberry Blonde, which he also directed,[3] frequently with about a year between each production, time during which it would be the normal procedure of the period for the production to tour the country.
[1] After 1937, until 1948, Anderson worked consistently in films, playing small parts such as policemen, prison wardens, government officials, doctors and businessmen, as well as the occasional worker or bartender.