Edward Van Sloan (1 November 1882, Minnesota – 6 March 1964, California)1885 Minnesota Census, County of Carver, p. 182, line 40.1910 U.S. Census, State of California, County of San Francisco, enumeration district 163, p. 12-A, line 2.1920 U.S. Census, State of New York, County of New York, enumeration district 955, p. 14-B, line 74.Edward P. Vansloun, in: California Death Index, 1940-1997.Edward Vansloun, in: Social Security Death Index. was an American film character actor best remembered for his roles in Universal Studios horror films.

Those roles date from the 1930s, including Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931) and The Mummy (1932). In the first of these, he played Abraham Van Helsing, the famous vampire-hunter, a role he had first taken in the successful touring production of Dracula by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston. He played essentially the same role as Professor Muller in the The Mummy. He again played Van Helsing (inexplicably renamed 'Von Helsing') in the 1936 film Dracula's Daughter. In Frankenstein he stepped out in front of a curtain before the film's opening credits to warn the audience that they now had a chance to escape the theatre if they were too squeamish.