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Harry Rosenthal

 
Actor: Harry Rosenthal
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: May 15, 1900
  • Died: May 10, 1953
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '40s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Drama
  • Career Highlights: The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947)

Biography

Harry Rosenthal was an unlikely actor, mostly because he never set out to be one -- but that didn't stop him from being busy in movies for more than 15 years, or getting mentioned on the Broadway and Hollywood gossip pages with surprising frequency. A composer, pianist, and bandleader, he left his native Ireland for a successful career in music in London in the 1920s, during which he wrote several successful operettas, and then headed for New York. He found success as a performer beginning in 1930 when he appeared in the musical June Moon, written by Ring Lardner and George S. Kaufman, in the role of a wisecracking pianist. A subsequent appearance at a reception for Edward, the Prince of Wales, led to his touring the world with the would-be heir to the British throne. Rosenthal appeared in movies beginning in 1931, and he worked onscreen right up through The Big Clock in 1948, but most of his best work was concentrated in the early/mid-'40s in the films of writer/director Preston Sturges, who used the pianist/actor in various roles in his films from The Great McGinty (1940) through The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947). Even in Hail the Conquering Hero (1944), the only Sturges film at Paramount in which Rosenthal didn't appear, his name can be seen on a poster announcing music attractions, in the background of the shot introducing the Marines led by William Demarest in the movie's opening minutes. Rosenthal often added a wry, comical element to any scene that he was in, and, because of his Broadway stage background, he was a favorite subject of columnists, far beyond the size of the parts he often played. His passing in 1953 was noted by far more journalists than would have been usual for character actors in that era. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Harry Rosenthal
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Harry Rosenthal
Born 15 May c.1893
Belfast, Ireland
Died 10 May 1953 (aged c.70)
Beverly Hills, California U.S.
Occupation actor, composer, pianist, orchestra leader
Years active c.1920–1949

Harry Rosenthal (15 May c. 1893 – 10 May 1953) was an orchestra leader, composer, pianist and actor.

Contents

Biography

Rosenthal was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1893,[1] and by the 1920s he was in London where he had a thriving musical career as a composer, bandleader and pianist, including composing five operettas which met with great success.[2] He came to the United States by 1929, when he wrote songs for Herbert Stothart's musical Polly on Broadway,[3] and in 1930 acted in Ring Lardner and George S. Kaufman's play June Moon, which was revived in 1933.[4] After he met Edward, the Prince of Wales at a reception, he accompanied the heir to the British throne on a world tour.[5]

Rosenthal's film career began in 1931 and ended in 1948, during which time he worked on 19 films, playing pianists, orchestra leaders and also non-musical roles, as well as composing music (for The Sin of Harold Diddlebock) and conducting (on For Me and My Gal).[6] In the early 1940s, Rosenthal was part of writer-director Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in all of Sturges' films from The Great McGinty (1940) through The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947) with the exception of Hail the Conquering Hero.[7]

Both in New York and in Hollywood, Rosenthal was often mentioned in gossip columns, surprisingly so, given the small size of the parts he played.[8] His death in 1953, from a heart attack, was similarly noted.[9]

Filmography

Notes

  1. ^ Harry Rosenthal (actor) at the Internet Broadway Database
  2. ^ Harry Rosenthal at Allmovie
  3. ^ Polly at the Internet Broadway Database
  4. ^ Moon June at the Internet Broadway Database
  5. ^ Harry Rosenthal at Allmovie
  6. ^ Harry Rosenthal at the Internet Movie Database
  7. ^ Rosenthal appeared in The Great McGinty, Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, Hail the Conquering Hero, The Great Moment, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
  8. ^ Harry Rosenthal at Allmovie
  9. ^ IMDB Bio

External links

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