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Originally Posted by odinthor
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It seems in keeping with Noirishness to look a moment into the demise of Mr. John T. Harris, "Successor to Schepps & Harris" (but not for very long . . . ):
both images from L.A. Times (dates as given in the images) via ProQuest via CSULB Library. Layout of articles rearranged for your viewing pleasure.
Does it strike me as interesting that "a young man, who works as an accountant at the club, was at work in Harris' room from 8 o'clock until 11 yesterday morning. He says he heard Harris snore. Manager Witt says that he does not know the name of this young man"? Nope, nothing odd at all about any of that. Company accountants in social clubs frequently do their best work in the rooms of guests of the establishment; and how can managers be expected to know the names of office employees? And I'm certain that the fact that this was the night before Valentine's Day is a mere happenstance. Fie on anyone who would see anything out of the ordinary in any of this!
Kidding aside, sorry, Mr. Harris, you had to live a life of personal and social challenges, with such an end. |
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A little more on the interesting Mr. Harris. Mention of his having been an actor in the troupe of Frederick Warde led me to do a little digging. Mr. Warde was a quite well-known actor, with a traveling company; there's an early film (extant) with him as Richard III in Shakespeare's drama of the same name.
I find Harris with Warde's company in October, 1901:
LA Herald 10/20/1901
and in Hawaii with Warde in May 1902:
Hawaiian Star 5/15/1902
Interestingly enough, a very young and inexperienced Douglas Fairbanks (Sr.) was with the Warde troupe about this time; quoting from Wikipedia's entry on Fairbanks: "[
Fairbanks was] beginning a cross country tour [
with Warde] in September 1899. He toured with Warde for two seasons, functioning in dual roles, both as actor and as the assistant stage manager in his second year with the group." Harris's and Fairbanks' time in the Warde company thus could have overlapped at the end of F.'s tenure (or, if not, very nearly).