Rita W. Harlan Explained

Rita W. Harlan
Birth Name:Sarah R. Wolff
Birth Date:about 1873
Birth Place:St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
Death Date:May 31, 1933
Death Place:Los Angeles, California
Occupation:Actress
Children:3, including Kenneth Harlan
Relatives:Otis Harlan (brother-in-law); Marie Prevost (daughter-in-law)

Rita W. Harlan (about 1873 – May 31, 1933), born Sarah R. Wolff, was an American actress on stage and in silent film, head of the Rita Harlan Stock Company.

Career

Harlan was head of the touring Rita Harlan Stock Company in 1906[1] and 1907.[2] [3] [4] Members of the company included Duncan Penwarden, Inda Palmer,[5] and Russian actor Theodore Lorch, who was her co-star in a 1906 production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Her son Kenneth Harlan was also a member of her company, and sometimes acted opposite her, as her husband, brother, or even as her father. "My mother invariably played the little country girl who faced the perils of a big city," he recalled.[6] She appeared in George M. Cohan's Seven Keys to Baldpate in San Francisco, in a 1915 production starring Cyril Scott.[7]

Harlan moved to Southern California in 1915, and preceded her son into screen roles,[8] appearing in two silent films, Angel Child (1919)[9] and The Way of the Strong (1919, with Anna Q. Nilsson).[10] Also in 1919, she acted in a production of George M. Cohan's The Yankee Prince in Burbank.[11]

In 1930, she served as foreman of the jury in the Los Angeles manslaughter trial of Otto Sanhuber, who shot the husband of his lover, Walburga Oesterreich in 1922.[12]

Personal life

Sarah R. Wolff married George W. Harlan in 1891, in New Jersey. They had three children, Dorothy, Gladys, and Kenneth,[13] before they divorced in 1899.[14] She lived in Hollywood in her later years,[15] and died in 1933, aged 60 years,[16] at her younger daughter's home in Los Angeles.[17] [18] [19]

Notes and References

  1. News: January 4, 1906. Thatcher. 4. Box Elder News-Journal. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  2. News: June 1, 1907. The Rita Harlan Stock Company. 5. St. Joseph Daily Press. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  3. News: June 5, 1907. Amusements at the Bell. 5. St. Joseph Daily Press. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  4. News: June 6, 1907. Company Makes a Big Hit. 4. The Weekly Press. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  5. News: May 28, 1907. The Rita Harlan Stock Company. 5. St. Joseph Daily Press. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  6. News: March 31, 1926. He Played His Mother's Father. 14. Battle Creek Enquirer. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  7. News: March 13, 1915. Columbia. 20. San Francisco Call and Post. January 4, 2022. California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  8. News: October 18, 1923. 'Thorns and Orange Blossoms'. 3. Ellsworth Messenger. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  9. September 15, 1918. Pleasing Star in Plotless Potpourri Helped by Cameraman. The Film Daily. 13. Internet Archive.
  10. March–April 1919. Nilsson Release Comes March 17. Motion Picture News. 1828. Internet Archive.
  11. News: August 16, 1919. Snappy Musical Comedy at Pelton's Burbank. 24. Los Angeles Evening Express. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  12. News: July 2, 1930. Attic Lover is Found Guilty. 6. San Pedro News Pilot. January 4, 2022. California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  13. News: June 1, 1933. Mrs. Rita Harlan Rites Tomorrow. 6. Daily News. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  14. News: March 28, 1899. Legal Notices. 11. The Boston Globe. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  15. News: May 20, 1930. Harlan Marries. 7. Evening Star. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  16. News: June 1, 1933. Mrs. Rita Harlan. en-US. The New York Times. January 4, 2022. 0362-4331.
  17. News: June 1, 1933. Kenneth Harlan's Mother Dies. 4. The Kansas City Times. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  18. News: June 1, 1933. Mrs. Rita Harlan Dies. 9. The Long Beach Sun. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.
  19. News: June 1, 1933. Mrs. Rita Harlan Rites Tomorrow. 6. Daily News. January 4, 2022. Newspapers.com.

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