Edward Dillon (1872 or 1873^[1] or 1879^[2] or 1882^[3]– July 11, 1933) was an American actor, director and screenwriter of the silent era.^[4] His brother John T. Dillon was also an actor.^[1] He was a native of New York City.^[1] He married Franc Newman (sometimes known as Franc Tait, her stepfather's surname) in October 1914, and they divorced sometime before 1930.^[5][6] Newman kept her married name, Dillon, and worked as a noted journalist in Hollywood.^[7] She attended his funeral in 1933, and afterward listed herself as a widow rather than divorced.^[8]

Dillon's work on Broadway included acting in Prince Otto (1900), Francesca da Rimini (1901), The Taming of the Shrew (1905), and The Ranger (1907).^[9] He left the stage to begin acting in films in 1908, working under D. W. Griffith at Biograph.^[10] He performed in more than 320 films between 1905 and 1932 and also directed 134 productions between 1913 and 1926. He was Mary Pickford's first leading man, and he was instrumental in Fay Tincher's developing into a star.^[1] He was known as an "ace" director for D. W. Griffith.^[11] In 1915 he was described as a director for Komic Pictures Company when a fire devastated his home.^[12]

Dillon died on July 11, 1933, at the age of 60 in Hollywood, California from a heart attack.^[1]