Arlene Harris
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| Arlene Harris | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 7, 1896 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Woodland Hills, California |
| Occupation | actress |
Arlene Harris (July 7, 1896 - June 12, 1976) was a Canadian-born American radio, film, and television actress. (Another source gives her date of birth as July 7, 1898.)[1] She was perhaps best known for her role as "the human chatterbox" on Al Pearce's radio program.[1]
Contents
Early years
Harris was born in Toronto, Canada, and was educated primarily in England.[2] During the first three years of Harris's life, she was unable to hear.[3] At age 5, she was entertaining her family with comedy sketches. When she was older, she "branched out into the art of impersonating."[4]
Vaudeville
Harris "toured in vaudeville as Arlene Francis in the 1920s.[1] She had to retire after being injured in an automobile accident, but the Great Depression in the United States caused her to return to entertaining -- this time in radio.[1]
Radio
Before her career in film, Harris was well known as a comic actress on the radio program, The Chatterbox.
She first appeared on radio on KFWB in Hollywood, California.[1] She was a regular on Al Pearce and His Gang,[5] where she was known as "The Human Chatterbox" in monologues that involved telephone conversations with an un-heard friend."[6] A CBS statistician once calculated that she averaged four words per second during one of her rapid-fire monologues.[3] She also co-starred with Pearce in Here Comes Elmer.[7]
Harris played Mummy Higgins on The Baby Snooks Show[1] and was heard on Ina Ray Hutton's program[6] and Fare for Ladies.[8]
Television
Harris played herself in an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1964,[9] as did Bert Gordon, another old-time radio star (the "Mad Russian" from The Eddie Cantor Show).[10] She also appeared on Panorama Pacific and made guest appearances on several TV programs.[11]
Recognition
Harris has a star at 6250 Hollywood Boulevard in the Radio section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated February 8, 1960.[12]
Personal life
Harris was married to Dr. Harry G. Harris.[4]
Death
Harris died June 12. 1976, at the Motion Picture Country Home in Woodland Hills, California.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-2834-2. P. 121.
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- ↑ Sies, Luther F. (2014). Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960, 2nd Edition. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-5149-4. P. 15.
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- ↑ The Return of Edwin Carp - Season 3 : Ep. 27 of the Dick Van Dyke Show
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