Harry Pilcer (April 29, 1885January 14, 1961) was an American actor, dancer, choreographer, and lyricist.

Biography

Pilcer is mainly remembered for his association with French dancer and singer Gaby Deslys who may have been his wife. According to

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

's autobiography, Pilcer was a fellow student at Claude Alvienne's stage dancing and dramatic school in New York in 1905. Pilcer and Deslys appeared in four Broadway musicals together ''Vera Violetta'' (1911), ''The Honeymoon Express'' (1913), ''The Belle of Bond Street'' (1914) and ''Stop Look! Listen!'' (1916). He composed Deslys's waltz ''The Gaby Glide''. As a dance team Pilcer and Deslys were contemporaries to

Vernon and Irene Castle Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers and dance teachers who appeared on Broadway and in silent films in the early 20th century. They are credited with reviving the popularity of modern dancing. Castle was a st ...

, Florence Walton and "Maurice",

Dorothy Dickson Dorothy Dickson (July 25, 1893 – September 25, 1995) was an American-born, London-based theater actress and singer, and a centenarian. Biography and Career Dickson is known mostly for her rendition of the Jerome Kern song "Look for the S ...

and husband Carl Hyson, and Genevieve Lyon and her husband

John Murray Anderson John Murray Anderson (September 20, 1886 – January 30, 1954) was a Canadian theatre director and producer, songwriter, actor, screenwriter, dancer and lighting designer, who made his career in the United States, primarily in New York City and ...

. Pilcer and Deslys would probably have been the top dance team in both America and Europe had not

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

intervened and Deslys's death during the

influenza pandemic An influenza pandemic is an epidemic of an influenza virus that spreads across a large region (either multiple continents or worldwide) and infects a large proportion of the population. There have been six major influenza epidemics in the last ...

in 1920. Pilcer also danced with

Mistinguett Mistinguett (, born Jeanne Florentine Bourgeois; 5 April 1873 – 5 January 1956) was a French actress and singer. She was at one time the highest-paid female entertainer in the world. Early life The daughter of Antoine Bourgeois, a 31-year- ...

and Teddy Bernard. After 1922 Pilcer ran a school of dancing in Paris. Pilcer co-starred with Deslys in her 1915 silent film '' Her Triumph'' (1915). Pilcer died at Cannes of a heart attack January 14, 1961.Truit, p.582

Filmography

*'' Her Triumph'' (1915) *'' Bouclette'' aka ''Infatuation'' (1918) *''Le Dieu du hasard'' (1921) *'' Distress'' (1929) *'' An Ideal Woman'' (1929) *''Thank Your Lucky Stars'' (1943) *'' The Razor's Edge'' (1946)

References

External links

* *
Pilcer, 1908 portrait
(University of Washington, Sayre)
Harry Pilcer and Gaby Desly, early in their teaming
(probably taken in Europe)
Pilcer in his heydayHarry Pilcer, 1920Photo of Pilcer in later years, appeared in his obituaries newsreel of Pilcer greeting friend Roscoe Arbuckle to London, 1920
*time marks 2:19 and 8:26
portrait Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle in London (1920..)
British Pathe) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pilcer, Harry 1885 births 1961 deaths American lyricists American choreographers Male actors from New York City