Gordon Harker

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William Gordon Harker (born August 7, 1885 in London , United Kingdom , † March 2, 1967 ibid) was a British actor and comedian in stage and film.

Life

The son of a stage painter began his stage career in 1903 at the Imperial Theater in his hometown London in William Shakespeare's play Much Ado About Nothing . From 1904 to 1913 he worked with the actor couple Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton . When the First World War broke out, Harker was drafted and served with the 8th Hants Regiment until his dismissal due to invalidity in 1919. Harker's most important early stage roles include Barouch in The Garden of Allah (1920), Sergeant in Quality Street (1921), Jefferson Davis in Robert E. Lee (1923), Hackett in The Ringer (1926), the Walker in George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara (1929), the Hilcott in The Calendar (1929), the Trotty in The Case of the Frightened Lady (1931) (after Edgar Wallace ) and the Cheatle in 'Hyde Park Corner' (1934).

Harker's first important film role was still in the silent film era, in Alfred Hitchcock 's early boxer drama Der Weltmeister . Also in the following films Hitchcock ( The Farmer's Wife , Whims of a Dollar Princess , Elstree Calling ), all of which were secondary works by the later "master of suspense", Harker received supporting roles. Known and popular made the man with the distinctive, protruding lips his bizarre to weird Cockney types, which he embodied in a number of comedies but also in Edgar Wallace crime novels. In the 1931 Wallace adaptation The Ringer , he repeated his stage part of Sam Hackett, which he played in 1926, and the main role of the film. He also repeated his stage role, the PC Cheatle, in the screen version of 'Hyde Park Corner' from 1935.

Gordon Harker remained a busy film lead actor until well into the war (including as Inspector Hornleigh in the three-part crime series of the same name and with other roles in other crime films), after which he was only seen sporadically (and mostly with smaller roles) on the screen.

Filmography

  • 1921: General John Regan
  • 1927: The World Champion ( The Ring )
  • 1927: The Farmer's Wife
  • 1928: Whims of a dollar princess ( Champagne )
  • 1929: The Strangler ( The Wrecker )
  • 1929: Return of the Rat
  • 1930: Elstree Calling
  • 1930: The “W” Plan
  • 1930: The Squeaker
  • 1930: Escape
  • 1930: The Stronger Sex
  • 1931: Shadows
  • 1931: The Ringer
  • 1931: The Calendar
  • 1931: Condemned to Death
  • 1932: White Face
  • 1932: Love on Wheels
  • 1932: Rome Express ( Rome Express )
  • 1933: The Lucky Number
  • 1933: Britannia of Billingsgate
  • 1934: My Old Dutch
  • 1934: Dirty Work
  • 1934: Girls Will be Boys
  • 1935: Admirals All
  • 1935: Squibs
  • 1935: Hyde Park Corner
  • 1935: The Amateur Gentleman ( The Amateur Gentleman )
  • 1936: Two's Company
  • 1936: Millions
  • 1936: Beauty and the Barge
  • 1937: The Frog
  • 1937: Blondes for Danger
  • 1938: No Parking
  • 1938: The Return of the Frog
  • 1938: Inspector Hornleigh
  • 1939: Inspector Hornleigh on Holiday
  • 1940: Saloon Bar
  • 1940: Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It
  • 1941: Once a Crook
  • 1943: Warn That Man
  • 1944: 29 Acacia Avenue
  • 1948: Things Happen at Night
  • 1950: Her Favorite Husband
  • 1950: The Second Mate
  • 1951: Derby Day
  • 1953: Bang! You're dead
  • 1954: Out of the Clouds
  • 1956: A Touch of the Sun
  • 1957: Small Hotel
  • 1959: The Wahlk (r) ampf ( Left, Right and Center )

literature

  • Who Was Who 1961-1970, London 1972, p. 493
  • Ephraim Katz : The Film Encyclopedia, 4th Edition. Revised by Fred Klein & Ronald Dean Nolen, p. 592, New York 2001

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Harker, Gordon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Harker, William Gordon (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor and comedian in stage and film
DATE OF BIRTH August 7, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH London , UK
DATE OF DEATH March 2, 1967
Place of death London , UK