Oswald Yorke ''(née'' Oswald Parkinson Harker; 24 November 1866 – 25 January 1943) was a British
character actor
A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...
who had a near sixty-year career performing on both sides of the Atlantic.
Early life
Oswald Parkinson Harker was born in
Poole, Dorset
Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council ...
,
the youngest of six children raised by Joseph and Sarah ''(née'' Parkinson) Harker. Yorke's father, a
solicitor
A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...
, was born in
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, while his mother was a native of
Richmond, Yorkshire
Richmond is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, and the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is from the county town of Northallerton and situated on t ...
.
As a boy, Yorke attended
Christ's Hospital Boys School, then located in
Newgate
Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...
.
Career
Oswald Yorke first performed on stage in 1884 and later as a member of a company headed by British actor
Sir Francis Robert Benson. Yorke's London's debut on 26 February 1889, at
The Royal Strand Theatre
The Royal Strand Theatre was located in the Strand in the City of Westminster. The theatre was built on the site of a panorama in 1832, and in 1882 was rebuilt by the prolific theatre architect Charles J. Phipps. It was demolished in 1905 to ...
, was followed early the next year by performances at London's
Vaudeville Theatre
The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...
in such plays as ''School for Scandal'', "A Pair of Lunatics" and "Meadow Sweet".
Oswald Yorke would remain a principal player with the Vaudeville Theatre throughout the balance of the 1890s.
In 1896, Yorke toured America with
Edward Smith Willard
Edward Smith Willard (9 January 1853 – 9 November 1915) was an English actor. He was born at Brighton''Who's Who on the Stage: the dramatic reference book and ...'', Volume 1 edited by Walter Browne, Frederick Arnold Austin; 1906 pg. 227 and ...
performing
Henry Jones' play ''The Rogue Comedy''. The following year, he returned with Willard's company with another of Jones' works, ''The Physician''.
In October 1900, he played an attaché with the French Embassy in ''The Eaglett'', an adaptation of
Edmond Rostand
Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (, , ; 1 April 1868 – 2 December 1918) was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism and is known best for his 1897 play ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. Rostand's romantic plays contrasted with t ...
's ''L’Aiglon'' by Louis Napoleon Parker that starred
Maude Adams
Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (November 11, 1872 – July 17, 1953), known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American actress who achieved her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 1905 Broadway production ...
.
By the next year, Yorke became associated with the
Empire Theatre on Broadway, first appearing as Lieutenant Sir Walter Mannering opposite
John Drew and
Guy Standing in Roger Marshall's ''The Second in Command''.
Yorke stayed with Empire Theatre, then under the management of
Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced ''Peter Pan'', both in London and the US, the latter production ...
, for a number of seasons. He went on to play Bill Walker in
George Bernard Shaw's ''
Major Barbara
''Major Barbara'' is a three-act English play by George Bernard Shaw, written and premiered in 1905 and first published in 1907. The story concerns an idealistic young woman, Barbara Undershaft, who is engaged in helping the poor as a Major in ...
'' with his actress wife
Annie Russell
Annie may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress
* Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer
The ...
at the
Court Theatre in London and Broadway's
New Theatre, and later as Malvolio at the
Century Theatre in
Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
''
The Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night (holiday), Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play ...
''.
Over the remainder of his life, the balance of Yorke's career was spent in New York. He played in at least thirty-one Broadway productions between 1900 and 1938. Yorke was Black Dog in a 1915 adaption of
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
's ''
Treasure Island
''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...
''; Mr. Breen in the 1931 comedy "The Social Register" and Carter Hibbarb in
George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman (November 16, 1889June 2, 1961) was an American playwright, theater director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals for the Marx Brothers and others. ...
's 1938 success, ''First Lady''. Yorke's last Broadway performance, Justice Willis, came in the 1938 hit ''Oscar Wilde''.
Oswald Yorke - Internet Broadway Database
/ref>
During 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 ...
, Yorke was put in charge of the entertainment of soldiers attached to the American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...
in France. He was a member of The Lambs
The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a social club in New York City for actors, songwriters, and others involved in the theatre. It is America's oldest theatrical organization. "The Lambs" is a registered trademark of The Lambs, Inc ...
in New York and The Savage Club in London.
Personal life
Yorke was married three times.
Yorke first married – on 2 June 1897, in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
at Grace Church Grace Church may refer to:
Canada
* Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto
China
* Grace Church, Guanghan
Poland
* Grace Church, Teschen or Jesus Church, a Lutheran basilica in Teschen, Poland
United Kingdom
United States
* Grace Cathedral (disam ...
– co-actress Agnes Palmer ''(full stage name'' Maude Agnes Palmer; ''née'' Maud Atkins Palmer; 1872–1962), who grew-up in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Agnes was the daughter of Lowell Mason Palmer (1834–1871) and Sarah Evelyn Palmer ''(née'' Sarah Evelyn Rogers; 1852–1940). Sarah, Agnes' mother, during childhood, changed her maiden name to Sarah Evelyn Atkins, taking on the surname of her uncle and maternal aunt, who became her adoptive parents upon the early deaths of her parents, John Foster Rogers (1825–1852) and Mercy C. Eldridge ''(maiden;'' 1830–1862). Agnes Palmer had joined E. S. Willard around February 1897. Their marriage ended in divorce in Colorado – Agnes filed, claiming non-support. Agnes Palmer, on 5 September 1914, in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, married English actor Henry C. Vincent ''(né'' Henry Rojas; 1877–1962), with whom she remained married until his death in 1962, months before hers.
Yorke married a second time – on 27 March 1904, in Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
– to ''Major Barbara
''Major Barbara'' is a three-act English play by George Bernard Shaw, written and premiered in 1905 and first published in 1907. The story concerns an idealistic young woman, Barbara Undershaft, who is engaged in helping the poor as a Major in ...
'' co-star Annie Russell
Annie may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress
* Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer
The ...
(1864–1936). Around that time, the two were performing in a return engagement of Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced ''Peter Pan'', both in London and the US, the latter production ...
's production ''Mice and Men,'' a comedy by Madeleine Lucette Ryley
Madeleine Lucette Ryley (26 December 1858 – 7 February 1934) was an English actress and playwright known for her plays in London and then America in the late 1800s. She began writing plays under the pseudonym Noel Grant until she gained fame as ...
. The play opened Monday, 29 February 1904, at the Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play ...
in New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and closed 12 March 1904. They divorced in 1929.
Yorke married a third time – on 19 April 1938, in New Jersey – to Ruth Antoinette Guiterman ''(maiden;'' 1907–1980).
Death
Oswald Yorke died on 25 January 1943 at his apartment on West Forty-Fifth Street after a battle with lobar pneumonia
Lobar pneumonia is a form of pneumonia characterized by inflammatory exudate within the intra-alveolar space resulting in consolidation that affects a large and continuous area of the lobe of a lung.
It is one of three anatomic classifications o ...
. He was survived by his third wife, Ruth Guiterman, who had lost her uncle, writer Arthur Guiterman
Arthur Guiterman (; November 20, 1871 Vienna – January 11, 1943 New York) was an American writer best known for his humorous poems.
Life and career
Guiterman was born of American parents in Vienna. His father was Alexander Gütermann, born in t ...
, just two weeks prior.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yorke, Oswald
1866 births
1943 deaths
Male actors from New York City
American male silent film actors
American male stage actors
English emigrants to the United States
English male silent film actors
English male stage actors
Male actors from London
20th-century American male actors
20th-century English male actors