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
and 1907. Members of the company included
Duncan Penwarden
Duncan Penwarden (born William Duncan Penwarden; February 9, 1880 – September 13, 1930) was a Canadian-American film and stage actor.
Penwarden was born in Mabou, British Nova Scotia, the eldest of seven siblings raised by English immigrants, R ...
, Inda Palmer, and Russian actor
Theodore Lorch
Theodore Lorch (September 29, 1873 – November 12, 1947) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 140 films between 1908 and 1947.
Biography
Born in Springfield, Illinois, in 1873, Lorch appeared in several Three Stooges comed ...
, who was her co-star in a 1906 production of
''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''.
Her son
Kenneth Harlan
Kenneth Daniel Harlan (July 26, 1895 – March 6, 1967) was a popular American actor during the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer roles. His career extended into the sound film era, but during that span he rarely c ...
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.
She appeared in
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer.
Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...
's ''
Seven Keys to Baldpate Seven Keys to Baldpate may refer to:
* '' Seven Keys to Baldpate'', a novel by Earl Derr Biggers
* ''Seven Keys to Baldpate'' (play), a 1913 play by George M. Cohan based on the novel
* ''Seven Keys to Baldpate'' (1916 film), a 1916 Australian si ...
'' in San Francisco, in a 1915 production starring
Cyril Scott
Cyril Meir Scott (27 September 1879 – 31 December 1970) was an English composer, writer, poet, and occultist. He created around four hundred musical compositions including piano, violin, cello concertos, symphonies, and operas. He also wrot ...
.
Harlan moved to Southern California in 1915, and preceded her son into screen roles, appearing in two silent films, ''Angel Child'' (1919) and ''
The Way of the Strong'' (1919, with
Anna Q. Nilsson
Anna Quirentia Nilsson (March 30, 1888 – February 11, 1974) was a Swedish-American actress who achieved success in American silent movies.
Early life
Nilsson was born in Ystad, Sweden in 1888. Her middle name Quirentia is derived from her date ...
). Also in 1919, she acted in a production of George M. Cohan's ''The Yankee Prince'' in
Burbank
Burbank may refer to:
Places Australia
* Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane
United States
* Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County
* Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place
* Burbank, Illinois, ...
.
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.
Personal life
Sarah R. Wolff married George W. Harlan in 1891, in New Jersey. They had three children, Dorothy, Gladys, and Kenneth,
before they divorced in 1899. She lived in Hollywood in her later years, and died in 1933, aged 60 years, at her younger daughter's home in Los Angeles.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlan, Rita W.
1875 births
1933 deaths
American silent film actresses
American stage actresses
People from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
20th-century American actresses