William Lawson Harris (June 30, 1897 – March 31, 1948) was an American director, actor, producer, and writer who made a number of films in
Australia. He came to Australia originally at the behest of
Arthur Shirley to work as production manager on ''
The Throwback'' (1920) and stayed out there for a number of years. Harris was the father of actor and director
John Derek.
Biography
Harris was born on June 30, 1897, in
Evansville
Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...
,
Vanderburgh County, Indiana
Vanderburgh County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 179,703. The county seat is in Evansville. While Vanderburgh County was the seventh-largest county in 2010 population with 179,703 people, it is also th ...
, the son of William James Harris (1874–1908) and Elizabeth Bettie Hawley (1877–?).
He moved to Australia in 1920 with Arthur Shirley and set up an acting school.
In 1921, he announced he would make a film about the return of the Jews to Jerusalem. Instead he made ''
Circumstance'' (1922) for Austral Super Films, a company he had established with Cecil Hargraves. They launched a second film almost immediately.
In August 1922, Lawson was sued by Arthur Shirley who claimed Harris used threatening language against him. The case was dismissed.
In January 1923, he announced his next film would be ''Yellow''. It was not made. Instead Lawson returned to the U.S.
In 1924, he married actress
Yvonne Pavis. They divorced in 1925, and in the same year, he married actress Dolores Johnson (1903–1957), with whom he had a son, Derek Delevan Harris, who became an actor and director under the name
John Derek.
In 1931, he and Johnson divorced and he abandoned his son, but eventually reentered his life.
Death
Harris died on March 31, 1948, in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
,
Los Angeles County, California at the age of 51. He was buried at
Los Angeles National Cemetery
The Los Angeles National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the Sawtelle unincorporated community of the West Los Angeles neighborhood in Los Angeles County, California.
Geography
The entrance to the cemetery is located at 950 Sou ...
.
Filmography
*''
The Throwback'' (1920) (abandoned) - production manager
*''
Circumstance'' (1922) - director, actor, producer, and writer
*''
A Daughter of Australia'' (1922) - director, actor, and producer
*''
Sunshine Sally'' (1922) - director
*''
Law or Loyalty
''Law or Loyalty'' is a 1926 silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, vari ...
'' (1926) - director and actor
*''My Neighbour's Wife'' (1924)
[
]
References
External links
*
Lawson Harrisat
National Film and Sound Archive
American film directors
1897 births
1948 deaths
Burials at Los Angeles National Cemetery
American male film actors
20th-century American male actors
{{US-film-director-1890s-stub