Herk Harvey
Encyclopedia
Harold Arnold "Herk" Harvey (June 3, 1924 – April 3, 1996) was an American
film director
, actor
, and film producer
.
, the son of Everett and Minnie R. Prewitt Harvey. He grew up in Fort Collins
and was a graduate of Fort Collins High School before serving in the U.S. Navy
as a Quartermaster
, 3rd Class, during World War II
, during which time he was studying chemical engineering
. "But when I got out," Harvey has said, "I decided that wasn't for me and so I went into the theater."
Harvey came to Lawrence, Kansas
in 1945 to study at the University of Kansas
, where he majored in theater, directing and acting in stage productions, such as Harvey
, Beggar on Horseback, and Hamlet
. During his college years, he was vice-president of the Dramatics Workshop, appeared with the University Players, and was a member of the Owl Society. He earned a bachelor of science degree in education from the KU speech and drama department in 1948 and received a master of arts degree in speech and drama from KU in 1950. Besides student appearances, he appeared in summer stock, with the Topeka
Civic Theater and with Kansas City
's Resident Playhouse.
On June 3, 1950, Harvey's 26th birthday, he married Bernice "Bea" Brady, a girl from Wichita some five years his junior. The wedding ceremonies were held in the Plymouth Congregational Church of Lawrence. The two had met at KU in the drama department and had performed in Hamlet together in 1948. After the marriage, Harvey did a graduate study in drama during the 1950 summer session at the University of Denver
, and then studied at the University of Colorado
for a doctorate in theater. "I made it through summer school and then I decided to go back to Kansas," Harvey has said. He and his wife then returned to Lawrence, rented an apartment on campus, and Harvey began working as an instructor, teaching and directing for the KU speech and drama department.
of Lawrence, an independent industrial and educational film production company. Founded in 1947 in Lawrence by Arthur H. Wolf and Russell A. Mosser, Centron would come to the forefront of the industrial and educational film companies in the United States
. Harvey joined the staff in 1952 and went on to work for Centron as a film director, writer, and producer for 33 years, making a variety of short industrial, educational, documentary, and government films. Centron competed with large companies on both coasts to become one of the top producers of industrial and educational films. Harvey was known for his high quality films, coming in on time and under budget. Harvey and his film crews were dispatched to locations around the globe to bring back images for geography and travel films. Harvey also worked with many well-known professional actors and entertainers in Centron films, such as Walter Pidgeon
, Rowan and Martin, Dennis Day
, Louis Nye
, George Gobel
, Anita Bryant
, Eddie Albert
, Ed Ames
, Jesse White
, and Ricardo Montalban
. The director won many national and international awards for his work, including the highest honors from the American Film Festival, C.I.N.E., and the Columbus Film Festival, and claimed an Oscar nomination for the documentary Leo Beuerman. In 1981, Wolf and Mosser sold Centron to the Coronet
division of Esquire, Inc. Harvey retired from Centron four years later, in 1985.
Harvey and his first wife Bea were divorced around 1960, and shortly afterward Harvey met Pauline G. Pappas, who was one of the investors for Carnival of Souls. The two were married by the end of the 1960s.
When a crew from ABC
came to Lawrence in 1982 to shoot the controversial television movie on nuclear war, The Day After
, they cast Harvey as a Midwestern farmer struggling to rejuvenate his crops after the nuclear attack. The film was broadcast to much international publicity and controversy in 1983.
After his retirement in 1985, Harvey continued in various activities, teaching film production at the University of Kansas
, adjudicating films for the American Film Festival and the Kansas Film and Video Festival, and directing and acting in plays for the Lawrence Community Theater. He also had small speaking roles in the made-for-TV movies Murderer Ordained and Where Pigeons Go to Die, both of which were filmed on location in Kansas
.
, a low budget 1962 horror film
starring Candace Hilligoss
. It was produced and directed by Harvey for an estimated $33,000. While vacationing in Salt Lake City, he developed the idea for the movie after driving past the abandoned Saltair
Pavilion. Hiring an unknown actress, Lee Strasberg
-trained Hilligoss, and otherwise employing mostly local talent, Harvey shot Carnival of Souls in three weeks, on location in Lawrence and Salt Lake City. The movie never gained widespread public attention when it was originally released as it was intended as a B film, but today has become somewhat of a cult classic
. Set to an organ
score by Gene Moore, Carnival of Souls relies more on atmosphere than on special effects to create its mood of horror. The film has a large cult following
and occasionally has screenings at local film and Halloween
festivals.
Harvey did live to see the belated recognition of his single big-screen directorial effort.
He died of pancreatic cancer
in 1996, at his home in Lawrence. Other than his wife of about twenty-seven years, Pauline, Harvey's other survivors included two nieces and one nephew.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, and film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
.
Early life
Harvey was born in Windsor, ColoradoWindsor, Colorado
The Town of Windsor is a Home Rule Municipality in Larimer and Weld counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the town was 18,644. Windsor is located in the region known as Northern Colorado. Windsor is situated north of the Colorado State Capitol in...
, the son of Everett and Minnie R. Prewitt Harvey. He grew up in Fort Collins
Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins is a Home Rule Municipality situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, and is the county seat and most populous city of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Fort Collins is located north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. With a 2010 census...
and was a graduate of Fort Collins High School before serving in the U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
as a Quartermaster
Quartermaster
Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...
, 3rd Class, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, during which time he was studying chemical engineering
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
. "But when I got out," Harvey has said, "I decided that wasn't for me and so I went into the theater."
Harvey came to Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
in 1945 to study at the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
, where he majored in theater, directing and acting in stage productions, such as Harvey
Harvey (play)
Harvey is a 1944 play by American playwright Mary Chase. Produced by Brock Pemberton and directed by Antoinette Perry, the play premiered on 1 November 1944 at the 48th Street Theatre on Broadway where it was staged for 1,775 performances before closing on January 15, 1949. The original production...
, Beggar on Horseback, and Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
. During his college years, he was vice-president of the Dramatics Workshop, appeared with the University Players, and was a member of the Owl Society. He earned a bachelor of science degree in education from the KU speech and drama department in 1948 and received a master of arts degree in speech and drama from KU in 1950. Besides student appearances, he appeared in summer stock, with the Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
Civic Theater and with Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
's Resident Playhouse.
On June 3, 1950, Harvey's 26th birthday, he married Bernice "Bea" Brady, a girl from Wichita some five years his junior. The wedding ceremonies were held in the Plymouth Congregational Church of Lawrence. The two had met at KU in the drama department and had performed in Hamlet together in 1948. After the marriage, Harvey did a graduate study in drama during the 1950 summer session at the University of Denver
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
, and then studied at the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
for a doctorate in theater. "I made it through summer school and then I decided to go back to Kansas," Harvey has said. He and his wife then returned to Lawrence, rented an apartment on campus, and Harvey began working as an instructor, teaching and directing for the KU speech and drama department.
Centron Films
Harvey broke into the film business as an actor in some of the movies being made by Centron CorporationCentron Corporation
Centron Corporation was an industrial and educational film production company. Founded in 1947 in Lawrence, Kansas by Arthur H. Wolf and Russell A. Mosser, Centron would come to the forefront of the industrial and educational film companies in the United States. Centron competed with large...
of Lawrence, an independent industrial and educational film production company. Founded in 1947 in Lawrence by Arthur H. Wolf and Russell A. Mosser, Centron would come to the forefront of the industrial and educational film companies in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Harvey joined the staff in 1952 and went on to work for Centron as a film director, writer, and producer for 33 years, making a variety of short industrial, educational, documentary, and government films. Centron competed with large companies on both coasts to become one of the top producers of industrial and educational films. Harvey was known for his high quality films, coming in on time and under budget. Harvey and his film crews were dispatched to locations around the globe to bring back images for geography and travel films. Harvey also worked with many well-known professional actors and entertainers in Centron films, such as Walter Pidgeon
Walter Pidgeon
Walter Davis Pidgeon was a Canadian actor, who starred in many motion pictures, including Mrs...
, Rowan and Martin, Dennis Day
Dennis Day
Dennis Day born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty, was an Irish-American singer and radio, television and film personality.-Early life:...
, Louis Nye
Louis Nye
Louis Nye was an American comedy actor.-Early years:He was born Louis Neistat in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Joseph Neistat and Jennie Sherman . His sister was Rose Neistat...
, George Gobel
George Gobel
George Leslie Gobel was an American comedian and actor. He was best known as the star of his own weekly NBC television show, The George Gobel Show, which ran from 1954 to 1960 .-Early years:He was born George Leslie Goebel in Chicago, Illinois, His father, Hermann Goebel, was a...
, Anita Bryant
Anita Bryant
Anita Jane Bryant is an American singer, former Miss Oklahoma beauty pageant winner, and gay rights opponent. She scored four Top 40 hits in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Paper Roses", which reached #5...
, Eddie Albert
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger , known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing...
, Ed Ames
Ed Ames
Ed Ames is an American popular singer and actor. He is best known for his pop and adult contemporary hits of the 1960s like "When the Snow is on the Roses" and the perennial "My Cup Runneth Over." He was part of a popular 1950s singing group called The Ames Brothers.-Early life:Born in Malden,...
, Jesse White
Jesse White
Jesse White may refer to:*Jesse White , film and television actor*Jesse White , Illinois politician*Jesse J. White, member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives*Jesco White, the West Virginia "Dancing Outlaw"...
, and Ricardo Montalban
Ricardo Montalbán
Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG was a Mexican radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning six decades and many notable roles...
. The director won many national and international awards for his work, including the highest honors from the American Film Festival, C.I.N.E., and the Columbus Film Festival, and claimed an Oscar nomination for the documentary Leo Beuerman. In 1981, Wolf and Mosser sold Centron to the Coronet
Coronet
A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. Unlike a crown, a coronet never has arches.The word stems from the Old French coronete, a diminutive of coronne , itself from the Latin corona .Traditionally, such headgear is – as indicated by the German equivalent...
division of Esquire, Inc. Harvey retired from Centron four years later, in 1985.
Harvey and his first wife Bea were divorced around 1960, and shortly afterward Harvey met Pauline G. Pappas, who was one of the investors for Carnival of Souls. The two were married by the end of the 1960s.
When a crew from ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
came to Lawrence in 1982 to shoot the controversial television movie on nuclear war, The Day After
The Day After
The Day After is a 1983 American television movie which aired on November 20, 1983, on the ABC television network. It was seen by more than 100 million people during its initial broadcast....
, they cast Harvey as a Midwestern farmer struggling to rejuvenate his crops after the nuclear attack. The film was broadcast to much international publicity and controversy in 1983.
After his retirement in 1985, Harvey continued in various activities, teaching film production at the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
, adjudicating films for the American Film Festival and the Kansas Film and Video Festival, and directing and acting in plays for the Lawrence Community Theater. He also had small speaking roles in the made-for-TV movies Murderer Ordained and Where Pigeons Go to Die, both of which were filmed on location in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
.
Carnival of Souls
Harvey is best-known for his sole feature film, Carnival of SoulsCarnival of Souls
Carnival of Souls is a 1962 independent horror film starring Candace Hilligoss. Produced and directed by Herk Harvey for an estimated $33,000, the film did not gain widespread attention when originally released, as a B film; today, however, it is a cult classic...
, a low budget 1962 horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
starring Candace Hilligoss
Candace Hilligoss
Candace Hilligoss is an American actress.After three years at the University of Iowa, she came to New York City to study acting at the American Theatre Wing and made her professional debut in summer stock in Pennsylvania...
. It was produced and directed by Harvey for an estimated $33,000. While vacationing in Salt Lake City, he developed the idea for the movie after driving past the abandoned Saltair
Saltair
Saltair may refer to:* Saltair, British Columbia, Canada* Saltair, Utah, United States...
Pavilion. Hiring an unknown actress, Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
-trained Hilligoss, and otherwise employing mostly local talent, Harvey shot Carnival of Souls in three weeks, on location in Lawrence and Salt Lake City. The movie never gained widespread public attention when it was originally released as it was intended as a B film, but today has become somewhat of a cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
. Set to an organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
score by Gene Moore, Carnival of Souls relies more on atmosphere than on special effects to create its mood of horror. The film has a large cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
and occasionally has screenings at local film and Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
festivals.
Harvey did live to see the belated recognition of his single big-screen directorial effort.
He died of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
in 1996, at his home in Lawrence. Other than his wife of about twenty-seven years, Pauline, Harvey's other survivors included two nieces and one nephew.