GREAT CHARACTER ACTORS: ROBERT H. HARRIS

Robert H. Harris

ROBERT H. HARRIS (1911 - 1981). Born: Robert H. Hurwitz.

Character actor Robert H. Harris amassed 116 credits during his lengthy career, and was one of those ever-reliable players that always gave a solid and interesting performance.

Although he appeared in quite a few movies, most of Harris' credits were for television work. He appeared on every television series of note in the fifties and sixties and afterward. and co-starred on The Court of Last Resort for its single season.

Particularly notable television appearances were as a fortune hunter in "Love Me to Death" on Peter Gunn  and "The Case of the Purple Woman" on Perry Mason.. In one episode of that series, he was one of the most sympathetic murderers you ever saw. 

He had notable roles in such films as Valley of the Dolls, The George Raft Story, and The Big Caper, and was especially good in Mirage. The only film he starred in was How to Make a Monster. and he lent a note of class to the proceedings.

Harris also appeared on the stage in everything from Richard III to Eugene O'Neill to the musical Foxy and indeed was in dozens of productions over the years. 

Like many a fine character actor, Harris was sometimes the best thing in a poor production, and his presence added luster to a superior one.

OOPS!

Greg McClure

OOPS!

Years ago I thought it was kind of funny the way some obsessive film buffs would become irate if someone misidentified an obscure actor. "It was Gladys Humble, not Ginny Bumble, who played Maggie in Knock-Off Nellie," they would go. Get a life, I would think. But the fact is that even old character actors or long-dead second leads and so on should be identified properly.

In my review of Sky Liner, I mistook actor Greg McClure with Michael Whalen -- the two look nothing alike. In truth, I was not especially familiar with either of them, despite their both having numerous credits. I'm not certain how I made the mistake, but I assume I attributed one character's name to another character, then matched Whalen's name with the wrong character on the cast list. (Anyway, the mistake has been corrected.)

A handsome hunk, McClure had his biggest role playing John L. Sullivan in The Great John L with Linda Darnell. He was seriously considered as a replacement for Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan, but the part was given to Lex Barker. After appearing in twenty movies, McClure was blacklisted and his career was over. Obviously still in great shape, McClure became a nudist  and why not?

I became aware of my error when "Michael Whalen" -- the actor I thought was McClure -- appeared in a couple of movies after Sky Liner but I just couldn't spot his distinctive rugged (and kind of mean) features. When I did a search for Michael Whalen his photos showed that he was not the actor I thought he was. It happens!

Anyway, feel free to let me know if I ever misidentify a player. Hopefully it won't happen too often.

Happy Viewing!

ROLAND WINTERS AS CHARLIE CHAN

Roland Winters

ROLAND WINTERS (1904 - 1989).

Roland Winters was the third actor to play great detective Charlie Chan in the sound film series which began with Fox studios and ended with Monogram. Winters was younger than Warner Oland and Sidney Toler (both of whom had passed away) when he took on the role, and Chan seems a touch more virile. In any case, his take on the role is effective if different. Keye Luke, who reprised his role as son Lee Chan in the last two Chan Pictures, The Feathered Serpent and Sky Dragon, was actually the same age as Winters.

Winters had a very long career of film and television credits, playing everyone from Mr. Weatherbee in Life with Archie to a murder suspect in Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff. Winters had only three minor film credits [his first film was Citizen Kane] before snaring the role of Charlie Chan in The Chinese Ring.

Winters [born Roland Winternitz] was the son of a famous European violinist and was born in Boston, where Winternitz Sr. worked at the Conservatory.

MARY WICKES: I KNOW I'VE SEEN THAT FACE BEFORE

MARY WICKES: I KNOW I'VE SEEN THAT FACE BEFORE. Steve Taravella. University Press of Mississippi; 2013.

 "Your posture is atrocious!" -- Wickes as the ballet instructor on I Love Lucy.

Now that most of the major figures in Hollywood have had their lives exhaustively catalogued,  it's time for authors to turn their sights to less stellar but often beloved character actors, such as Mary Wickes. You might think there might not be a whole book in Wickes' life and career, but guess again -- this is a scrupulously researched tome bolstered by many interviews with those who knew Mary best -- such as Lucie Arnaz, whose mother was Mary's best friend  [but who paid her much less for her appearances on Here's Lucy than she did other guest stars] -- and with penetrating analysis of Wickes' approach to comedy and her roles, as well as her not always charming personality quirks. Basically this is an admiring, respectful bio but it presents Wickes in all of her aspects, a full-realized human being with admirable traits as well as flaws. Wickes, of course, will always be famous for The Man Who Came to Dinner, where she brilliantly traded barbs with Monty Woolley, but she also did a lot of theater and television work, appearing on Father Dowling Mysteries and in Oklahoma in the last years of her life, when she could hardly see and had numerous ailments. She lived for her work, which sustained her nearly until the very end. While there may be a bit too much of the sad, lonely spinster  -- with so many friends and such a busy schedule you have to wonder how lonely she really was -- and for some people this might be Way Too Much of Mary, but if you're a Wickes fan, this is an absorbing read, extremely well done and highly recommended.

Verdict: Exhaustive look at the life and work of Wickes. ***1/2.

PERCY HELTON

PERCY HELTON 1894 - 1971.

You may not recognize the name, but you certainly recognize the face -- for Percy Helton had a grand total of 209 film and television credits. I suppose one could argue that Helton played the same role 209 times, but that may be unfair, as I haven't seen every single appearance of the actor. Generally Helton was cast as the superficially friendly but smarmy undertaker/janitor/clerk and so on, who smiled in your face but had larceny or something worse in his heart and would sell out his own mother for a nickle. The word that first comes to mind when thinking of Helton's portrayals is "weasel." Perhaps his most famous appearance was in the film Kiss Me Deadly, in which he squeals in agony when anti-hero Ralph Meeker sadistically crushes his fingers in a desk drawer. Helton was always very adept in his roles, but he was so unique in his way that he really wasn't the kind of expert character actor who could lose himself in a characterization -- he always seemed to be playing a variation of Percy Helton. In spite of this he was a very busy actor throughout the 50's, 60's and for many years afterward. My mother once said that if Don Knotts made her stomach turn, Percy Helton made her flesh crawl. Helton, who radiated a quietly sinister quality that served him well on such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, was decidedly one of a kind. One of his best roles was in Wicked Woman with Beverly Michaels.

GREAT OLD ACTORS -- J. CARROL NAISH

J. CARROL NAISH (1896 - 1973). NOTE: In his early credits Naish's name was spelled "Carroll" with two "l"s.

The great character actor J. Carrol Naish had over 200 film roles to his credit in his long and distinguished career, and he acquitted himself admirable in virtually every single role.

After many bit parts, one of his more memorable early roles was as Sun Yat Ming in the Loretta Young/Edward G. Robinson starrer The Hatchet Man. Naish played a friend of Robinson's who doesn't realize that the latter has been sent to kill him. He supported Robinson again in Two Seconds, and once again was excellent. When he did Crooner, playing the manager of a nightclub that employers David Manners as a singer, he showed his flair for comedy.

Although Naish was of Irish ancestry, he seemed to play more Italians and other ethnic types, although he had at least one Irish role.

Naish appeared in everything from Charlie Chan, Bulldog Drummond, and Mr. Moto mysteries to more prestigious films such as Anthony Adverse with Fredric March and Charge of the Light Brigade. You could find him in musicals (Down Argentine Way), dramas (Tales of Manhattan), horror films (Dr. Renault's Secret) and serials (Batman as the sinister, cackling Dr. Daka).

He did a lot of television work in the sixties; his last film was Dracula vs. Frankenstein in 1971, about which the less said the better. Better to remember that he was Chief Sitting Bull in Annie Get Your Gun, John Garfield's father in Humoresque with Joan Crawford, worked with everyone from Mario Lanza to Frank Sinatra to Barbara Stanwyck in Clash By Night. In House of Frankenstein Naish stole the picture from all the other actors and monsters with his striking portrayal of the tormented hunchback Daniel.

Naish was one of that rare breed of character actors of whom it can be safely said : They just don't make 'em like that anymore!

GREAT OLD CHARACTER ACTORS: JAY NOVELLO

JAY NOVELLO. 1904 - 1982.

When I was a kid I saw Irwin Allen's production of The Lost World and the classic seance episode of I Love Lucy many times, but I never made the connection between the simpering South American "Costa" of the former and the nerdy but lovable "Mr. Merriweather" of the latter. ("We're all odd, aren't we?" he says to Lucy and Ricky.) Novello, who has 205 credits to his name, also appeared on two other I Love Lucy episodes, playing Mario from Italy and a nervous trial witness who only wants some peace and quiet which, of course, he doesn't get from Lucy. He was in dozens of films, appeared in virtually every famous TV show, had parts in cliffhanger serials, and was always first-rate in everything he did. Why did it take me so long to recognize that Costa and Mr. Merriweather were played by the same actor? Because Novello was one of those rare birds, a very gifted, genuinely versatile performer who could lose himself in every role he played, convincingly portraying any kind of person and affecting whatever accent was required by the role. (In The Mad Magician with Vincent Price you'd have thought he was actually a British actor. And he played an Eskimo chief in The Great Alaskan Mystery!) Jay Novello left behind more than his share of very memorable portrayals and was one of those really great character actors who was a boon to every production he took part in.