Despite his Anglicized name, Edmunds was usually cast as dark or Latin types: Spaniards, Mexicans, Frenchmen, Gypsies, Arabs, Polynesians, and other exotic nationalities and functioned as a sort of poor-man's 'J. Carroll Naish'. Born in Italy in 1891, Edmunds is especially remembered for his Italian roles: A Bell for Adano (1945), The Lost Moment (1947), and, most notably, Mr. Martini in It's a Wonderful Life (1946).