Theodore Roberts the actor is not to be confused with author Theodore Goodridge Roberts, 1877-1953, who wrote the "The Harbor Master". Please see discussion page.
Theodore Roberts (October 8, 1861, San Francisco, California - December 14, 1928, Hollywood, California) was a movie and stage actor. He was a stage actor decades before becoming lovable old man in silents. On stage in the 1890s he acted with Fanny Davenport in her play called Gismonda (1894) and later in The Bird of Paradise (1912) with actress Laurette Taylor.
He started his film career in the 1910s in Hollywood, and was often was associated in the productions of Cecil B. DeMille.
Son of a sea captain, Roberts was a veteran stage actor, making his first appearance in 1880. Often referred to as the "Grand Duke of Hollywood," Roberts was a regular of the Cecil B. DeMille team and appeared in 23 of DeMille's films, and is best remembered in his role as Moses in the 1923 version of "The Ten Commandments." A well-known and well-loved actor, his funeral in Westlake Park was attended by nearly 2,000 people. However, Roberts felt so much bitterness in his heart for his near relatives that he bequeathed his estate to a nephew (a commercial illustrator) in New York. The estate was valued at nearly $20,000, including a yacht, valued at $10,000. Several of Roberts' personal items were left to brothers and friends William and Cecil B. DeMille. Roberts claimed that during the worst times of his life, no one in his family offered a word of sympathy of any help at all. His only request was that he be laid to rest next to his beloved wife Florence Smythe, who passed away in 1925. Roberts died from uremic poisoning.
