Edda Gunnar Marshall

Marshall, E[dda] G[unnar] (1910–98), actor. A commanding dramatic actor who often played the voice of conscience or the man who understands the just way, Marshall was born in Owatonna, Minnesota, and educated at Carleton College and the University of Minnesota. After touring with the Oxford Players, Marshall made his New York debut in 1938 with the Federal Theatre Project and first caught the public's attention in 1942 as the sour stagehand Humphrey in Jason. He went on to play supporting roles in some of the finest plays of the 1940s and 1950s and in 1956 was the first American to play Vladimir in Waiting for Godot. Marshall later shone as John Gabriel Borkman (1980) and Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer (1984).