His was the voice of reason during the earliest years of horror talkies. He was the man armed with the knowledge to protect us from the terrors of the bloodthirsty Count Dracula, the living mummy Im-Ho-Tep and the rampaging Frankenstein Monster.
He was born Edward Van Sloun on November 1st, 1881 in San Francisco (or in Minnesota according to at least one source) and of Dutch descent. Young Edward attended art school and became a commercial artist. He made his stage debut in 1908 and by 1910 was working with an acting stock company. By the late 1920s he was established on Broadway where he portrayed Dr. Abraham Van Helsing alongside Bela Lugosi as the immortal Count Dracula.
"How do you do," greets Van Sloan as he emerged on to the screen from behind a stage curtain. "Mr. Carl Laemmle feels it would be a little unkind to present this picture without just a word of friendly warning. We are about to unfold the story of Frankenstein, a man of science, who sought to create a man after his own image without reckoning upon God. It is one of the strangest tales ever told. It deals with the two great mysteries of creation, life and death. I think it will thrill you. It may even shock you. It might even horrify you. So if any of you do not care to subject your nerves to such a strain, now’s your chance to…well, we’ve warned you!"