Guncle Horton

 Born on this day in 1886 was Edward Everett Horton, one the great character actors of the Hollywood Golden Age. He appeared, invariably playing a fussy, pompous, rather dim character, in all the classic Astaire-Rogers comedies, in which he made full use of his trademark double take (or sometimes triple take), the best in the business.  I've seen Horton described as 'Hollywood's first guncle', which brought me up short – what on earth is a 'guncle'? Apparently it's a contraction of 'gay uncle' – not a gay uncle in the mould of the egregious Uncle Monty in Withnail and I, but a benign and generous figure who is like one of the family, though not related, and is also what used to be called a confirmed bachelor. 
How confirmed a bachelor Horton was is not known, but he never married. He lived on a four-acre estate, Belleigh Acres (pronounced 'belly achers') which included houses for his brother and sister and their families, and a guest house – in which, in 1938, Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Last Tycoon. Much of the estate was compulsorily purchased to make space for the Ventura Freeway, but Horton was still left with a couple of acres and two houses. He carried on working to the end of his long life, dying at the age of 84 in 1970. 
Here is a little taste of Horton in action, with another great character actor and Astaire-Rogers regular, Eric Blore...