Robert Harron

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Robert Harron

Robert Emmett Harron (born April 12, 1893 in New York ; † September 5, 1920 there ; called Bobby ) was an American silent film actor.

life and career

Robert Harron was the second of nine children of a poor Irish-American working-class family. He attended St. Joseph's Catholic Parochial School in New York. In 1907, at the age of 13, he began to support his family and work as a delivery boy for the American Biograph . In the same year he also had his first film appearance, in Dr. Skinum . Since The Valet's Wife (1908) he has been a permanent member of the cast around the director DW Griffith . Harron was given more and more roles. He played in all genres, mostly roles of naive and sensitive boys. With this he gained a large female fan base in the 1910s. He was then specifically cast in roles younger than his actual age and often starred alongside Mae Marsh , Mary Pickford , Blanche Sweet and Lillian Gish , whose youthful looks gave them such roles.

Harron's most famous films today include the great Griffith epics Judith von Bethulien (1914), The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916), in which virtually every star of the Griffith actor troupe and other actors were given leading roles, as well as True Heart Susie (1919).

Robert Harron is said to have a romance with Dorothy Gish . His death, caused by a self-activated pistol shot through his left lung, is considered an accident. The exact circumstances can no longer be reconstructed, which is why the rumor of suicide persists. As a result, Harron is said to have been heartbroken over the casting of Richard Barthelmess in the lead role of Griffith's new drama Far in the East (1920) and, after he had attended the premiere of the film in New York on September 1, 1920, a recently acquired revolver against himself have directed. He died of the injuries four days later. However, colleagues who were close to him, such as Griffith's cameraman GW Bitzer , repeatedly expressed doubts about the suicide thesis. Harron himself - who was considered a strict Catholic - is said to have said on his deathbed that it was an accident.

Robert Harron died unmarried at the age of 27; In his only 13-year film career, he was involved in more than 200 films as an actor. He planned to set up his own production company in collaboration with Metro because of his untimely death.

Filmography (selection)

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personal data
SURNAME Harron, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Harron, Robert Emmett
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American silent film actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 12, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH 5th September 1920
Place of death New York City