Robert Harron

Robert Emmett "Bobby" Harron (April 12, 1893 – September 5, 1920) was an American motion picture actor of the early silent film era. Although he acted in over 200 films, he is possibly best recalled for his roles in the D.W. Griffith directed films The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916).

Robert Harron
Harron in 1918
Born	April 12, 1893 New York City, U.S.
Died	September 5, 1920 (aged 27) Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Cause of death	Self-inflicted gunshot wound (accident)
Resting place	Calvary Cemetery, Queens
Nationality	American
Other names	Bobby Harron
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1907–1920
Relatives	John Harron (brother)

Early life and family

Born in New York City, Harron was second oldest child of nine siblings in a poor, working-class Irish Catholic family.[1] Harron's younger siblings John (nicknamed "Johnnie"), Mary, and Charles also became actors while one of his younger sisters, Tessie, was an extra in silent films.[1] Charles was killed in a car accident in December 1915.[2] Tessie died of Spanish influenza in 1918 while Harron's brother John died of spinal meningitis in 1939.[3][4][5]

Harron attended the Saint John Parochial School in Greenwich Village.[1] At the age of fourteen, he found work as an errand boy at American Biograph Studios.[6] In addition to cleaning duties, Harron also appeared as an extra in a few shorts for Biograph.[7]

Career

Robert Harron (second from left), director John W. Noble (far left), actress Mae Marsh (second from right) and cameraman George W. Hill (far right) discuss the script for the film Sunshine Alley on location in 1917.

Within a year of working for Biograph, Harron was noticed by newly hired director D.W. Griffith.[6] Harron quickly became a favorite of Griffith and Griffith began to give the 14-year-old increasingly larger film roles. His first film for Griffith was the 1909 short crime drama The Lonely Villa. The teenaged Harron was often cast by Griffith in the role of the "sensitive" and "naïve" boy, who was overwhelmingly sympathetic and appealing to American film-goers in the very early years of American motion pictures and not far removed from Harron's real-life persona; Harron was often described as a quiet and soft-spoken youth. It was these traits that helped garner much public interest in the young actor, especially amongst young female fans. In 1912 alone, Robert Harron appeared in nearly forty films at Biograph.[8]

Harron is probably best recalled for his roles in the three epic Griffith films: 1914's Judith of Bethulia, opposite Blanche Sweet, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, and Dorothy and Lillian Gish; 1915's controversial all-star cast The Birth of a Nation; and 1916's colossal multi-scenario Intolerance opposite such popular stars of the era as Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Miriam Cooper, Wallace Reid, Harold Lockwood, and Mildred Harris. One of Harron's most popular roles of the era came in 1919 when he starred opposite Lillian Gish in the Griffith directed romantic film True Heart Susie.

Robert Harron's film career continued to flourish throughout the 1910s and he was occasionally paired with leading actresses Mae Marsh and Lillian Gish with romantic plots, often in roles that cemented his "sensitive boy" image. Harron had, in fact, a burgeoning off-screen romantic relationship with Dorothy Gish.[9] By 1920, Harron had grown too old to continue playing the juvenile roles that had launched his career. He began losing leading man roles to Richard Barthelmess.[10] Later that year, D.W. Griffith agreed to loan Harron to Metro Pictures for a four-picture deal. His first film for Metro, also the last film of his career, was the comedy Coincidence.[11] The film was released in 1921, after Harron's death.

Death

In late August 1920, Harron traveled by train from Los Angeles to New York City to attend the premiere of the film Way Down East and a preview of what would become his final film, Coincidence. Harron checked into the Hotel Seymour on September 1 with his friend, screenwriter and director Victor Heerman, with whom he was sharing a room. Harron and Heerman attended the preview for Coincidence later that day. Heerman later said that the preview went poorly as the film was not well received by the audience.[9]

After the premiere, Harron returned to his hotel room alone. At some point, Harron sustained a gunshot wound to the chest after a gun in his possession discharged. According to published reports and Harron's own account, he had the gun in a trunk along with his clothes and other possessions. As he was taking some clothes out of the trunk, the gun fell to the floor, discharged, hitting him in the chest and puncturing his lung.[12] [13] Harron called the hotel desk for assistance and was still conscious when the hotel manager came to his room. Not realizing he was seriously wounded, Harron joked with the manager that he was in a "devil of a fix" having shot himself. He initially refused to let the manager call an ambulance, only wanting to be examined by a local physician in his room. After a physician could not be found, Harron relented and agreed to allow the manager to call an ambulance. When medics arrived and attempted to transport Harron using a stretcher, he insisted to be taken down in a chair. As he had lost a considerable amount of blood, medics had to convince Harron that he needed to be transported on a stretcher.[12]

Harron was transported to Bellevue Hospital Center where he remained conscious but in critical condition. While he was being treated, Harron was arrested for possessing a firearm without a permit under the Sullivan Act and placed in the hospital's prison ward.[14] Shortly after the shooting, rumors arose that the shooting was not accidental and Harron had attempted suicide. There was speculation that Harron was despondent over being passed over for the leading role in Way Down East (Richard Barthelmess was ultimately cast).[15] Several of Harron's friends rejected the suicide theory. Victor Heerman, with whom he often went on double dates and was staying with Harron in the Hotel Seymour, later said that he visited Harron in the hospital and he denied that he had attempted suicide. Harron admitted the gun belonged to him, but claimed that he had brought it with him because he did not want the gun at the family home in Los Angeles. Harron told Heerman that his younger brother Johnnie had become "hard to handle" and he feared leaving the gun at the family home where Johnnie could find it. Harron told Heerman that he wrapped the gun up in a pair of his trousers and placed them in his suitcase. On the night of the shooting, Harron said he had gone to retrieve the trousers from his suitcase to have them pressed when the gun fell out and discharged.[15] Harron also told a priest who visited him in the hospital that the shooting was an accident.[13]

Despite Harron's denial, rumors of attempted suicide persisted. One such rumor was that Harron attempted suicide over the breakup of his relationship with Dorothy Gish. Victor Heerman rejected this theory because Harron, a teetotaler and virgin, was a devout Catholic. Actresses Miriam Cooper and Lillian Gish, both of whom were friends with Harron, agreed with Heerman's reasoning. Cooper and Gish also believed Harron had not tried to kill himself as he was his family's major source of income and had plans to start shooting a new film with Elmer Clifton.[15]

Friends who visited Harron in the hospital were optimistic about his recovery as he appeared to be on the mend.[15] However, on September 5, four days after he was shot, Harron died of his wound.[16] He is interred at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens, New York City.[2]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1907	Dr. Skinum	Boy at Door	Short
1907	Mr. Gay and Mrs.	Messenger	Short
1908	Bobby's Kodak	Son	Short
1908	The Snowman	A child	Short
1908	Balked at the Altar		Short
1908	Monday Morning in a Coney Island Police Court	Young Man	Short
1908	A Calamitous Elopement	George Wilkinson	Short
1909	Those Awful Hats	Theatre Audience	Short, Uncredited
1909	At the Altar	Boy On Street	Short
1909	A Drunkard's Reformation	Theatre Usher	Short
1909	The Lonely Villa		Short
1909	The Hessian Renegades	Farmer	Short
1909	To Save Her Soul	Stagehand / Usher	Short
1910	Ramona		Short
1910	The Modern Prodigal	At Post Office
1911	The Broken Cross		Short
1911	The White Rose of the Wilds	White Rose's Brother	Short
1911	Enoch Arden	Teenage Arden Son	Part II
1911	Fighting Blood	The Old Soldier's Son	Short
1911	A Country Cupid	Among Students	Short
1911	The Last Drop of Water	In Wagon Train	Short
1911	The Battle	A Union soldier	Short
1911	The Miser's Heart	Bakeshop Assistant	Short
1912	For His Son	At Soda Fountain	Short, Uncredited
1912	The Transformation of Mike	At Dance	Short
1912	Under Burning Skies	On Street / At Farewell Party	Short
1912	A String of Pearls	In Tenement	Short
1912	One Is Business, the Other Crime	Delivery Boy	Uncredited, Short
1912	The Lesser Evil	In Smuggler Band	Short
1912	A Temporary Truce	The Murdered Indian's Son	Short
1912	Man's Lust for Gold	The Prospector's Son	Short
1912	The Inner Circle	In Crowd / Accident Witness	Short
1912	A Change of Spirit	Young Man on Street	Short, Uncredited
1912	Two Daughters of Eve	At Stage Door	Short
1912	Friends	Stableboy	Short, Uncredited
1912	So Near, Yet So Far	The Rival / In Club	Short
1912	A Feud in the Kentucky Hills	A brother	Short
1912	The Painted Lady	Beau at Ice Cream Festival	Short, Uncredited
1912	The Musketeers of Pig Alley	Rival Gang Member / In Alley / At Dance	Short
1912	Heredity	Indian	Short
1912	The Informer	The Southern Boy	Short
1912	A Sailor's Heart	On Porch	Short, Uncredited
1912	Brutality		Short
1912	The New York Hat	Youth outside church	Short
1912	My Hero	The Young Man	Short
1912	The Burglar's Dilemma	Young Burglar	Short
1912	A Cry for Help	Witness to Accident	Short
1913	A Misappropriated Turkey	Union Member	Short
1913	Brothers	The Father's Favorite Son	Short
1913	Oil and Water	Minor Role	Short, Uncredited
1913	Love in an Apartment Hotel	The Desk Clerk	Short
1913	Broken Ways	In Telegraph Office	Short
1913	Near to Earth	Gato's Brother	Short
1913	Fate	The Beloved Son	Short
1913	The Sheriff's Baby	The Deputy	Short
1913	A Misunderstood Boy	The Son	Short
1913	The House of Darkness	Asylum Guard	Short
1913	A Timely Interception	The Farmer's Adopted Son	Short
1913	Death's Marathon	The Messenger	Short
1913	The Sorrowful Shore	One of the Son's Friends	Short
1913	The Battle at Elderbush Gulch	The father	Short
1913	The Tender Hearted Boy	The Tender Hearted Boy
1913	The Little Tease	Jim
1913	The Yaqui Cur	Strongheart
1914	Judith of Bethulia	Nathan
1914	The Battle of the Sexes	John Andrews, the son	Incomplete/lost film
1914	Brute Force	Harry Faulkner	Short, Prologue - Weakhands (The Old Days)
1914	The Great Leap; Until Death Do Us Part	Bobby Dawson
1914	The Life of General Villa	American lover	Lost film
1914	Home, Sweet Home	The Easterner, Robert Winthrop
1914	The Escape	Larry Joyce	Lost film
1914	The Rebellion of Kitty Belle	Joe Belle	Short
1914	The Avenging Conscience	The Grocer's boy
1914	The Idiot	The Idiot	Short
1915	The Birth of a Nation	Tod Stoneman
1915	The Outcast	Bob
1915	The Outlaw's Revenge	American lover
1915	Her Shattered Idol	Robert
1915	The Missing Links	Henry Gaylord	Lost film
1916	Hoodoo Ann	Jimmie Vance
1916	A Child of the Paris Streets	Jimmie Parker
1916	A Wild Girl of the Sierras	Bob Jordan
1916	The Marriage of Molly-O	Larry O'Dea
1916	Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages	The Boy (Modern Story)
1916	The Little Liar	Bobby
1916	The Wharf Rat	Edward Holmes
1917	The Bad Boy	Jimmie Bates
1918	An Old-Fashioned Young Man	Frank Trent
1918	Sunshine Alley	Ned Morris
1918	Hearts of the World	The Boy, Douglas Gordon Hamilton	Uncredited
1918	The Great Love	Jim Young	Lost film
1918	The Greatest Thing in Life	Edward Livingston	Lost film
1918	A Romance of Happy Valley	John L. Logan, Jr.
1919	The Girl Who Stayed at Home	James Grey
1919	True Heart Susie	William Jenkins
1919	The Mother and the Law	The Boy
1919	The Greatest Question	Jimmie Hilton
1921	Coincidence	Billy Jenks
1922	Peacock Alley	Cleo of Paris	Incomplete

References

1. Slide, Anthony (2002). Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses. The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 173, 175. ISBN 0-813-12249-X.
2. Vazzana, Eugene Michael (2001). Silent Film Necrology. McFarland & Company Incorporated Pub. p. 230. ISBN 0-786-41059-0.
3. Soister, John T. (2012). American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913-1929. McFarland. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-786-48790-9.
4. Kear, Lynn; King, James (2009). Evelyn Brent: The Life and Films of Hollywood's Lady Crook. McFarland. p. 212. ISBN 0-786-45468-7.
5. Golden, Eve (2000). Golden Images: 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars. McFarland. p. 49. ISBN 0-786-48354-7.
6. Lowery, Carolyn (1920). The First One Hundred Noted Men and Women of the Screen. Moffat, Yard. p. 66.
7. Golden 2002 p.50
8. Golden 2002 pp.50-51
9. Slide, Anthony (2002). Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses. The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 174, 175. ISBN 0-813-12249-X.
10. Stokes, Melvyn (2007). D.W. Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: A History of the Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time. Oxford University Press. p. cvi. ISBN 0-199-88751-9.
11. Schickel, Richard (1996). D.W. Griffith: An American Life. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 439. ISBN 0-879-10080-X.
12. "MOVIE STAR SHOOTS SELF BY ACCIDENT". The Milwaukee Sentinel. September 2, 1920. p. 1. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
13. Affron, Charles (2001). Lillian Gish: Her Legend, Her Life. University of California Press. p. 148. ISBN 0-520-23434-0.
14. Staff report (September 2, 1920). Rob. Harron shot as his pistol falls. Film star in critical condition as result of accidental wound. Faces Sullivan Act charge. He is moved into prison ward at Bellevue after policeman places him under arrest. New York Times
15. Slide 2002 p.175
16. Staff report (September 6, 1920). Robert Harron dies; actor succumbs to wound received in pistol accident. New York Times

Bibliography

• John Holmstrom, The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, p. 10.

External links

• Robert Harron at IMDb
• Robert Harron at Silents Are Golden
• Robert Harron at Find a Grave