Henry B. Harris
| Henry B. Harris | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Henry Birkhardt Harris December 1, 1866 St. Louis, Missouri |
| Died |
April 15, 1912 (aged 45) North Atlantic, RMS Titanic |
| Occupation | theatrical producer |
| Years active | 1901-1912 |
| Spouse(s) | Renee Harris (born Irene Wallach) m.1898-1912 (his death) |
| Parent(s) | William Harris, Sr. |
Henry B. Harris (December 1, 1866 – April 15, 1912); Henry Birkhardt Harris, born in St. Louis, was a Broadway producer and theatre owner who died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. His wife was actress Renee Harris (born Irene Wallach) married 1898, who was injured in a fall on the Grand Staircase of the Titanic, but survived the sinking and lived until 1969. In 1925, Renee Harris co-produced the first play by Moss Hart, The Beloved Bandit, though it was not a success.
Harris was the son of William Harris Sr., a founder of the Theatrical Syndicate in the 1890s. He had a brother William Harris Jr. Harris worked for his father in the theatrical business in Boston for a number of years before starting out on his own producing plays in 1901. He managed such stars as Amelia Bingham and Robert Edeson. He leased and managed the Hudson Theatre in New York and in 1911 built the Folies Bergère Theatre.[1][2][3]
Harris perished along with over 1500 other souls in the Titanic's sinking, April 15, 1912. His body was lost at sea. If it was recovered and brought to Halifax by one of the cable ships sent out to look for bodies, it was never identified as such.
Selected plays produced by Henry B. Harris
- Soldiers of Fortune (1901)
- Strongheart (1905)
- The Lion and the Mouse (1905)
- The Chorus Lady (1906) (*made star of Rose Stahl)
- The Struggle Everlasting (1907)
- The Traveling Salesman (1908)
- Pierre of the Plains (1908)
- The Third Degree (1909) (*made star of Helen Ware)
- Such a Little Queen (1909)(*made star of Elsie Ferguson)
- A Skylark (1910) (with May de Sousa)
- The Arab (1911)
References
- ↑ The Oxford Companion To American Theatre, 2nd edition by Gerald Bordman, c. 1992 page 323; by The Oxford University Press
- ↑ Who Was Who in the Theatre: 1912-1976 c. 1976, volume 2 page 1103 originally published by John Parker annually, 1976 version published by Gale Research
- ↑ Who's who in music and drama: an encyclopedia biography of notable men by Dixie Hines & Harry Prescott Hanaford, page 156, c. 1914
External links
- Henry B. Harris at IBDb.com
- The Estate of Henry B. Harris; Internet Broadway Database(IBDb.com)
- Henry B. Harris; findagrave.com database
- an aged Rene Harris in 1959 with a portrait of Henry B. Harris on the wall
- article on Renee Harris with 1919 photo
- portraits of Henry B. Harris; #1, #2
- portraits of Henry and also Renee Harris(Wisconsin Historical Society)