Oscar Polk facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Oscar Polk
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Portrait of Oscar Polk by Carl Van Vechten,
Jan. 24, 1937 |
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Born | |
Died | January 4, 1949 |
(aged 49)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1927–1946 |
Oscar Polk (December 25, 1899 – January 4, 1949) was an American actor. He portrayed the servant Pork in the film Gone with the Wind (1939).
Career
His most memorable scene in that film comes when Pork discloses to Scarlett O'Hara, portrayed by Vivien Leigh, that the back property taxes on Tara are $300. He was married to Ivy V. Polk (née Ivy Parsons), who also had an uncredited role in Gone with the Wind. Together they had a son, Oscar Polk Jr.
On January 4, 1949, Oscar Polk was fatally struck by a taxi cab as he stepped off a curb in Times Square in New York City ten days after his 49th birthday. At the time of his death, he was scheduled to have a major role in the play Leading Lady, and he was replaced by Ossie Davis. He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Maspeth, Long Island, New York.
Theatre credits
Broadway
- The Trial of Mary Dugan (1927)
- Once in a Lifetime (1930)
- Both Your Houses (1933)
- The Green Pastures (1935)
- You Can't Take It with You (1936)
- Swingin' The Dream (1939), a swing music adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
- Sunny River (1942)
- The Walking Gentleman (1942)
- Dark Eyes (1943)
Other stage credits
- Horses Are Like That (1943)
- Bigger Than Barnum (1946)
- The Magnificent Heel (1946)
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1935 | It's a Great Life | Lazy Bones | |
1936 | The Green Pastures | Gabriel | |
1937 | Underworld | Sam Brown | |
1939 | Big Town Czar | Arthur, Harlem Numbers Man | Uncredited |
1939 | Gone with the Wind | Pork - House Servant | |
1940 | The Notorious Elinor Lee | Blakely | |
1941 | Birth of the Blues | Man in Jail | Uncredited |
1942 | Reap the Wild Wind | Salt Meat | |
1942 | White Cargo | Umeela | |
1943 | Cabin in the Sky | The Deacon / Fleetfoot | (final film role) |