Harry Crocker
{{short description|American journalist and actor}}
{{for|the Australian rugby league footballer|Harold Crocker}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Harry Crocker
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1893|7|2|df=yes}}
| birth_place = San Francisco, California, US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1958|5|23|1893|7|2|df=yes}}
| death_place = Beverly Hills, California, US
| occupation =
| years_active =
| parents = Henry J. Crocker
Mary Ives Crocker
}}
Henry Joseph Crocker II (July 2, 1893 – May 23, 1958) was an American journalist and occasional film actor.
Life and career
Although Crocker was for most of his career a Los Angeles Examiner newsman, he also appeared as Rex in Charlie Chaplin's The Circus in 1928. He was Chaplin's personal assistant until he was fired during the making of Chaplin's City Lights in 1930. Crocker later reconciled with Chaplin and maintained a friendship until the comedian left America in 1952.{{cite web |title=The Untold Story of Charlie Chaplin and Harry Crocker |url=https://www.oscars.org/news/untold-story-charlie-chaplin-and-harry-crocker |website=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |accessdate=6 January 2019 |language=en |date=3 February 2016}}
Overall, Crocker appeared in 20 films between 1925 and 1952, mostly in small roles or cameo appearances. His other films besides The Circus include The Big Parade (1925), Tillie the Toiler (1927), Sally in Our Alley (1927), A Warm Corner (1930), The Great John L. (1945), A Song for Miss Julie (1945) and Limelight (1952).
His grand uncle was Charles Crocker (1822–1888) who had been a builder of the Central Pacific Railroad and his distant cousins were the philanthropist William Henry Crocker, president of Crocker National Bank, mystic, princess and writer Aimée Crocker and Templeton Crocker past president of the California Historical Society who funded and headed expeditions with the California Academy of Sciences and other academic institutions aboard his personal yacht. Crocker married Elizabeth Jenns{{cite news|title=Film Veteran Holds Spotlight at Elaborate Testimonial Fete|work=Los Angeles Times|author=Marshall Kester|page=D14|date=December 6, 1936}} in late 1936.{{cite news|title=Wedding Plans Told by Cable: Harry Crocker and Actress to Seal Troth|work=Los Angeles Times|date=October 15, 1936|page=A8}} Crocker was also a close friend of Cole Porter. He died on May 23, 1958, after being in ill health for three years.{{cite news |title=Harry Crocker, L.A. Newsman, Dies at 64 |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/441601812.html?dids=441601812:441601812&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=May+24,+1958&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Harry+Crocker,+L.A.+Newsman,+Dies+at+64&pqatl=google |work=Los Angeles Times |date=May 24, 1958 |accessdate=2010-07-21 |archive-date=2012-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103080907/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/441601812.html?dids=441601812:441601812&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=May+24,+1958&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Harry+Crocker,+L.A.+Newsman,+Dies+at+64&pqatl=google |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |title=Harry Crocker, 64, Dies. Retired Columnist Worked for Los Angeles Examiner |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/05/25/archives/harry-crocker-64-dies-retired-columnist-worked-for-los-angeles.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 25, 1958 |accessdate=2010-07-21 }}
Filmography
File:Tillie the Toiler lobby card.jpg (1927) with Crocker second from right]]
| class="sortable wikitable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1925
| | Uncredited unit publicist |
| 1925
| Soldier | Uncredited |
| 1926
| Bit part | Uncredited |
| 1927
| Pennington Fish | |
| 1927
| Chester Drake | |
| 1927
| Becky | John Carroll Estabrook | |
| 1927
| Bob Bernard | |
| 1928
| Rex, A Tight Rope Walker | Also played a disgruntled property man and a clown. He was also an assistant director and uncredited unit publicist |
| 1928
| Himself | Cameo appearance |
| 1930
| Joseph | |
| 1931
| | He was Charlie Chaplin's assistant director during the making of this film but was fired, Also an uncredited writer and unit publicist |
| 1933
| Unklearther | |
| 1936
| Uncredited appearance | |
| 1941
| Bob Ridge | |
| 1942
| Charles Crocker | |
| 1943
| Arthur Brisbane | |
| 1945
| John Firbank | |
| 1945
| Arthur Brisbane | |
| 1946
| John Firbank | |
| 1947
| | Uncredited unit publicist |
| 1949
| Master of Ceremonies | |
| 1950
| Commentator | |
| 1952
| | Publicist Director |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0188357}}
- {{find a Grave|87586972|Henry Joseph Crocker}}
- [https://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/31001/harry-crocker Harry Crocker] at Virtual History
- [https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-actors-merna-kennedy-and-harry-crocker-with-news-photo/607410392#/american-actors-merna-kennedy-and-harry-crocker-with-british-actor-picture-id607410392 Still] from The Circus (1928) at gettyimages.com
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crocker, Harry}}
Category:American male film actors