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Born in New Haven, Connecticut on November 5, 1893, Theodore Von Eltz was the son of a Yale professor and attended Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Initially preparing for a career in medicine, he ultimately chose to pursue acting. At 19, he made his New York debut and soon appeared on Broadway in productions such as "Children of Earth" (1915), "Rio Grande" (1916), and "The Old Lady Shows Her Medals" (1917). Von Eltz became known as a dark, strikingly handsome silent film actor. Sporting a well-groomed mustache and impeccable attire, he starred opposite several of silent cinema’s leading ladies in both comedies and dramas, including Bebe Daniels in The Speed Girl (1921) and Viola Dana in Fourteenth Lover (1922). Later, he transitioned to playing less reputable second leads and supporting roles in films like Tiger Rose (1923), The Sporting Chance (1925), The Red Kimono (1926), and The Sea Wolf (1926). In White Fang (1925) and No Man's Law (1927), he even received billing beneath animal protagonists.
With the arrival of sound films, Von Eltz settled into character roles, often portraying sinister figures such as the deceitful culprit in The Arizona Kid (1930), a gangster in Red-Haired Alibi (1932), and the irritating father of Jane Withers' character in the Shirley Temple movie Bright Eyes (1934). He also appeared as a henchman in The Sun Never Sets (1939) and played a small but pivotal role as a blackmailing pornographer in the classic film noir The Big Sleep (1946). However, he was equally adept at portraying kindly doctors, lawyers, and servants throughout a prolific career that encompassed nearly 200 films. By the late 1930s, his billing diminished significantly, with many roles going uncredited. On radio, he voiced Papa Barbour on the popular program "One Man's Family" from 1948 to 1949 before being replaced. He also appeared on television in the 1950s.
Von Eltz married twice. His first wife, Peggy Prior, was a screenwriter at Pathe Studios. They had two children, Teddy and Lori, the latter becoming the soap opera actress Lori March. After their divorce and a bitter custody battle which he lost, he married Elizabeth Lorimar in 1932. They stayed together until his death. Von Eltz died at the Motion Picture Country Home following a prolonged illness and was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
