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Oscar Polk
Oscarpolk2.jpg
Portrait of Oscar Polk by Carl Van Vechten,
Jan. 24, 1937
Born (1899-12-25)December 25, 1899
Died January 4, 1949(1949-01-04) (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
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)
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