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For the ice hockey player, see Harry Oliver (ice hockey). Harold Oliver ( October 26, 1898 – June 16, 1985) was a Canadian professional Ice hockey defenceman who
Harry Oliver

Born April 4, 1888
Hastings, Minnesota
Died July 4, 1973
Woodland Hills, California
Occupation Art director, artist, humorist
Nationality United States
Writing period 1914-1965
Genres early naturalistic
cinema; Western humor
Influenced
Official website

Harry Oliver (April 4, 1888 — July 4, 1973) was an American humorist, artist, and Academy Award nominated art director of films from the 1920s and 1930s. Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. Year 1888 ( MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 836 - Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Nationality is a relationship between a Person and their State of Origin, Culture, association Affiliation and/or Loyalty A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. Year 1888 ( MDCCCLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Events 836 - Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A humorist is a person who writes or performs humorous material The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of Activities to do with creating Art, practicing the Arts and/or demonstrating "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. The term art director is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in Advertising, Publishing, film and Television, the Internet The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. Besides his outstanding work in Hollywood, he is now best remembered for his humorous writings about the American Southwest, and his publication (1946-1964) of the Desert Rat Scrap Book, an irregular broadsheet devoted to the Southwest. The Southwestern area of the United States could be defined as the states west of the Mississippi River, with the qualification of a certain northern limit such as the 37 The Desert Rat Scrap Book (or DRSB) was a (roughly quarterly southwestern humor publication based in Thousand Palms California Broadsheet is the largest of the various Newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages (typically 22 inches or more He was born in Hastings, Minnesota and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California. Hastings is a city in Dakota and Washington counties in the U Woodland Hills is a district in the City of Los Angeles, California, United States.

He is known for his Hollywood work as art director on the films Seventh Heaven (1927) and Street Angel (1928), for which he was nominated for the earliest Academy Awards, as well as set design or art direction on the films Ben Hur (1925), Sparrows (1926), Scarface (1932), Viva Villa! (1934), Mark of the Vampire (1935), and The Good Earth (1937). For other uses see Seventh Heaven (disambiguation. Seventh Heaven ( 1927) is a Silent film and one "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Ben-Hur was a 1925 Silent film directed by Fred Niblo. It was a blockbuster hit for newly merged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Sparrows is a 1926 Silent film about a young woman who rescues a baby from kidnappers This article is about the 1932 film For the 1983 remake see Scarface. Viva Villa! is a 1934 Film starring Wallace Beery as Pancho Villa that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture Mark of the Vampire (also known as Vampires of Prague) is a 1935 Horror film, starring Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth The Good Earth ( 1937) is a film about Chinese farmers who struggle to survive

Contents

His Life and Works

Early years

Harold Griffith Oliver was born in Hastings, Minnesota, April 4, 1888, to Mary Simmons (born in Minnesota) and Frederick William Oliver (born in England). Raised in a Tom Sawyer environment, he associated with trappers, timbermen and steamboat men, and became an expert canoesman, guide, and muskrat hunter while a very young man. Tom Sawyer (fictional character 'born' circa 1833 is the protagonist and title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876 His father, Frederick Oliver, ran a general store in pioneer conditions. A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established permanent residence there often to colonize the area

Harry Oliver's formal education was scanty. He said, "I attended public school in Eau Claire, Wisconsin until the fourth grade, that's when dad put me to work in a small town print shop in hopes that I would learn to spell. Eau Claire is a city located in the west-central part of the U "

After working as a bill-poster for the Ringling Brothers circus, Harry moved with his family to Puget Sound, Washington in 1909. The Ringling Brothers Circus was a Circus founded in the United States in 1884 Puget Sound (ˈpjuːʤᵻt is an arm of the Pacific Ocean, connected to the rest of the Pacific by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in the Pacific Northwest Washington ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. He worked as a scenic painter for the first Seattle World's Fair (Panama-Alaska-Yukon Exposition) where he met famous hat-maker John B. Stetson, who gave Harry his trademark black Stetson hat. Expo (short for "exposition" and also known as World Fair and World's Fair) is the name given to various large public exhibitions held since the John Batterson Stetson ( May 5, 1830 - February 18, 1906) was a U Stetson hats or Stetsons are a brand of hat manufactered by the John B

Harry's parents soon settled down on a chicken ranch in Santa Cruz, California where Harry worked as a burro-driver for the U. Santa Cruz is the County seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California, United States. S. Forest Service. In 1910 Harry returned to Minnesota to wed Alice Elizabeth Fernlund, "a pretty little Minnesota bear trapper" who later bore him two daughters, Amy Fern and Mary Alice. Harry and Alice returned to the chicken ranch in Santa Cruz. Harry worked odd jobs, including scenic artist with small theatres. "One day a movie company came to town with an opening, and I got the job. "

Hollywood Years

Harry Oliver. . . was noted for his atmospheric settings and controlled environments. In fact the German expressionists learned a bit from Harry Oliver (and not the other way around). German Expressionism is the term used to refer to a number of related creative movements which emerged in Germany before the first world war which reached a peak in Berlin One of Oliver's specialties was recreating really believeable exterior locations on the back lot. . .

– Robert Birchard, 1999, [1]

Harry Oliver worked on various Hollywood productions from around 1911 to 1941, rising from set painter to set dresser to art director. Set dressers arrange objects on a Film set before shooting They work under the direction of a Leadman, a Set decorator and a Production designer The term art director is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in Advertising, Publishing, film and Television, the Internet A complete record of all his films is probably not available, but here is a partial list:

Leo Carillo told me that M. The Grim Game is a 1919 Silent film starring Harry Houdini. The film's basic plotline serves as a showcase for Houdini's talent as an escapologist Down Home is an album by The Nashville String Band. The band consisted of Chet Atkins and Homer and Jethro. Little Annie Rooney was a Comic strip about a young orphaned girl who traveled about with her dog Zero Ben-Hur was a 1925 Silent film directed by Fred Niblo. It was a blockbuster hit for newly merged Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The Black Pirate is a 1926 adventure Silent film shot entirely in two-strip Technicolor about an adventurer and a "company" Sparrows is a 1926 Silent film about a young woman who rescues a baby from kidnappers For other uses see Seventh Heaven (disambiguation. Seventh Heaven ( 1927) is a Silent film and one Sunny Side Up ( 1929) is a musical film set in New York City and starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. The River is a 1929 film starring Charles Farrell and directed by Frank Borzage. Lucky Star ( 1929) is a romantic drama film starring Janet Gaynor and directed by Frank Borzage. Liliom is a 1909 play by Ferenc Molnár. it was very famous in its own right during the early to mid-twentieth century but is best known today as the basis for the Lightnin is a 1925 Comedy film directed by John Ford. Cast Jay Hunt City Girl is an American 1930 Silent film directed by FW Murnau. Movie Crazy is a 1932 comedy Film starring Harold Lloyd, a popular comedian of the 1920s and early 1930s This article is about the 1932 film For the 1983 remake see Scarface. Tillie and Gus is a 1933 American Comedy film directed by Francis Martin Dancing Lady is a 1933 musical Motion picture starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone. The Cat’s-Paw is a 1934 film starring Harold Lloyd and directed by Sam Taylor. Viva Villa! is a 1934 Film starring Wallace Beery as Pancho Villa that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture Mark of the Vampire (also known as Vampires of Prague) is a 1935 Horror film, starring Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth The Good Earth ( 1937) is a film about Chinese farmers who struggle to survive Of Human Hearts is a 1938 film starring Walter Huston and James Stewart, and directed by Clarence Brown. Little Orphan Annie is a Full page (later half page or tab) American Comic strip, created by Harold Gray (1894-1968 The Outlaw is a 1943 American Western film, directed by Howard Hughes and starring Jane Russell. Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo ( August 6 1880 &ndash September 10 1961) was an Actor, Vaudevillian, Political cartoonist G. M. 's European offices rent their copies of Viva Villa to all the countries of the world. They rent the film when the people of a country get "REVOLUTION HUNGRY. "

– Harry Oliver, 1962, [2]

His Architecture

Designing and building structures occupied portions of both the professional and personal life of Harry Oliver. For illustrations of some of these, see the Harry Oliver architecture page.

Harry Oliver built a number of adobe houses for himself and his family, both because he liked the esthetic effect, and because the building materials were extremely inexpensive. Adobe bricks are a Natural building material made from Sand, Clay, water and some kind of fibrous or Organic material ( Sticks, The first of these was La Ballona Rancho (named after nearby Ballona Creek), built beginning in 1917 near the old Palms film studios. Ballona Creek MDRjpg|thumb|right|300px|Near its end Ballona Creek (left runs adjacent to Marina del Rey before both empty into the Santa Monica Bay. Palms is a Neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles California, just north of Culver City. In 1980 it was still standing at the corner of National and Exposition Blvd. in Los Angeles.

Homesteading at Borrego Springs (see below), Harry Oliver built his Rancho Borego house from 1930 - "a real first class, old time Spanish residence" and "surely a credit to the valley" according to the local newspaper. Borrego Springs is an Unincorporated community in San Diego County, California, United States. It was still standing in 2002, "not far from the Pegleg Monument. But I will warn you right now, the current owner does not take to trespassers, and does not want anybody poking around the old place. Seriously. " [3]

Moving to San Juan Capistrano in the late 1930s, where he managed a general store-trading post after retiring from Hollywood, he may have built another adobe house for himself, but documentation on this is sparse. San Juan Capistrano (pronounced wɑn kæpɪˈstɹɑnoʊ in English and xwan kapisˈtɾano in Spanish is a city in southern Orange County California, USA, located "Corner shop" redirects here For the British band see Cornershop. A trading post is a place where the trading of goods takes place And when he finally moved to Thousand Palms, California he built his famous Old Fort Oliver, "as old as the hills, 'cause that's where I got the adobe. Thousand Palms is a Census-designated place (CDP in Riverside County, California, United States. "

A 'dobe house is fireproof, if built right, and one story high; earthquake proof, dust proof, sound proof, heat and cold proof, rat and termite proof, oh, and yes, bullet proof and almost proof against bad design, due to the thickness of its walls and damned if they don't take on more character with age.

– Harry Oliver, 1946, [4]

Besides his work on film sets, Harry Oliver's known professional designs date from the 1920s onward. The elaborate gingerbread Willat-Spadena Witch House (1921), "perhaps the ultimate example of Storybook Style" [5], with no two windows or angles alike, was originally built on the set of the Irvin Willat Film Studio in Culver City, then moved to Beverly Hills in 1934 and converted to a private residence. A Storybook House refers to an architectural style popularized in the 1920s in England and America. Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County California.

Another of Harry Oliver's designs was the original Van de Kamp Bakery windmill, the corporate symbol of that firm. A windmill is a machine that is powered by the energy of the wind It was built at the Willat Studio film lot around 1921, then moved about 200 feet south of Beverly Drive on Western Blvd. The design was reproduced in the widely-spread bakery cottages around Southern California. Southern California, or So Cal, is defined as the southern portion of the U Very few of these now survive.

Members of the Lawry's Foods and Van de Kamp Bakery families decided to build a restaurant at the corner of Boyce and Las Feliz in Hollywood. They commissioned a design from Harry Oliver, who constructed the Storybook Style building aided by movie studio carpenters. This Tam O'Shanter Inn opened in June 1922 and was a great success. The owner said, "Every piece of wood which was used in this structure was thrown into fire first with the result that we never had to paint it and it got more beautiful as the years went by. " (L. L. Frank to B. Stohler)   It was since remodeled and renamed the Great Scot.

In 1935, Harry Oliver was engaged to design, direct and produce Gold Gulch, the largest concession at the San Diego World's Fair (California Pacific International Exposition). Gold Gulch was the largest concession at the 1935 - 1936 San Diego World's Fair ( California Pacific International Exposition Expo (short for "exposition" and also known as World Fair and World's Fair) is the name given to various large public exhibitions held since the The California Pacific International Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego California during May 29, 1935 &ndash November Gold Gulch was a 21-acre old west mining camp and ghost town replica which undoubtedly inspired the Knotts Berry Farm Ghost Town, which Oliver was consulted upon but was not formally involved with. A ghost town is a Town or City that has been abandoned usually because the economic activity that supported it has failed or due to natural or human-caused Knott's Berry Farm is a brand name of two separate entities in the United States: a Theme park in Buena Park California, and a manufacturer of food

In 1946-1947, Harry Oliver designed and supervised the construction of the Arabian Nights Stage at the National Date Festival fairgrounds in Indio, California. The National Date Festival takes place in Indio California. Since 1947 the annual festival has been held to celebrate the Date Palm harvest in the Coachella Indio California, is a US city located in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Desert region [6]   Gaudy productions have been staged in this faux-Baghdad fantasyland from 1948 to the present. Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous Saddam Hussein is not known to have attended. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( Arabic: ar صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي --> April 28 1937 &ndash December 30

Basic Family Life

Of his family, Harry Oliver said, "My sister Amy Silver died giving birth to twins. My other sister Francis was a bright little brown-eyed newspaper wonman in the good old days {circa World War I}. My {older} brother Fred was a Western Auto sales buyer for years. Western Auto Supply Company was a chain of automobile parts stores "

In 1910 Harry traveled from California to Minnesota to wed Alice Elizabeth Fernlund (1896?-1935) who bore him two daughters, Amy Fern and Mary Alice. When Harry homesteaded in the desert in 1929 (see below) he spent much time there, as well as at remote locations for his movie work. This removal from his Los Angeles home put great strains on the marriage, which seems to have ended around 1929.

Harry moved back to the Palms house after the death of Alice Oliver from tuberculosis (age 39) on 9 January, 1935, and raised his two daughters with a succession of housekeepers. Palms is a Neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles California, just north of Culver City. He soon met Ruth Dayton whilst engaged in his San Diego World's Fair project (see below). "She amused Harry from the start -- riding backward on a burro down the narrow winding road into 'Gold Gulch'. Gold Gulch was the largest concession at the 1935 - 1936 San Diego World's Fair ( California Pacific International Exposition " Ruth and Harry were married in San Diego on 27 July 1935; she was 29, he was 47. "However Harry soon learned Ruth was a bit too fond of booze. . . resulting in a short stormy marriage. "

In 1936-1937 Harry decided he needed to spend more time with his daughters. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He pulled them out of school and together they travelled all over California, visiting all the missions, the construction site of the Golden Gate Bridge, numerous Gold Rush locales, "and Harry kept his daughters busy writing history theses on everything they saw. The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of Religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension Bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean The California Gold Rush (1848&ndash1855 began on January 24 1848 when Gold was discovered by James Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California "

By 1941 the daughters were grown and married with children of their own, and Harry left Tinseltown for good, relocating to Thousand Palms, California where he built Old Fort Oliver (see below). Thousand Palms is a Census-designated place (CDP in Riverside County, California, United States. His daughters' families spent a great deal of time at the Fort; some descendents, like granddaughter Betty Jo, told of happily "growing up" there.

Desert Rat Years I

Harry Oliver seems to have started adopting his Desert Rat persona in 1916, when he was introduced to life in California's Borrego Valley (which he insisted on spelling Borego), and with the informal formation of the Pegleg Smith Liar's Club, comprised of Los Angeles desert enthusiasts and Anza-Borrego area homesteaders. Thomas L "Pegleg" Smith ( October 10, 1801 &ndash1866 was a Mountain man who serving as a guide for many early expeditions into the American In the following decades, Hollywood and Los Angeles artists and literati established a small vacation colony at Borrego Springs, more remote and modest than the Hollywood colony just north in Palm Springs. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West Borrego Springs is an Unincorporated community in San Diego County, California, United States. Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, approximately 111 miles (177 km east of Los Angeles and 136 miles (225 km northeast of

Harry Oliver homesteaded in Borrego from 1929. He gained media attention by carving and weathering dozens of wooden peglegs which he scattered around area hillsides and gullies, so that rockhounds and tourists might think themselves on the track of the fabulous Lost Pegleg Mine. A " pegleg " is a type of Artificial limb ( Prosthesis) The Riverside Enterprise newspaper wrote, "Defending himself, Oliver says the Government stocks trout streams for fisherman, why shouldn't I stock the desert with peglegs?"

Inspired by the characters and liars of Borrego, Harry Oliver wrote a series of local color stories for Life Magazine (the 1883-1936 humor journal, not the Henry Luce photojournalism magazine). Henry Robinson Luce ( April 3, 1898 &ndash February 28, 1967) was an influential American publisher Photojournalism is a particular form of Journalism (the collecting editing and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast that creates images in order to tell He later collected and expanded on these stories for his own publications (Desert Rough Cuts, 99 Days In The Desert,, The Old Mirage Salesman, and Desert Rat Scrap Book. ) His desert stories also appeared in magazines such as The Gold Miner, Todo, The Grizzly Bear, New Mexico, Desert Magazine, Stage, and others. Desert Magazine (1937-1985 was a monthly regional publication based in Palm Desert California near Palm Springs. He later wrote columns for Desert Magazine, Arizona Highways, and daily for a group of California and Arizona newspapers. Desert Magazine (1937-1985 was a monthly regional publication based in Palm Desert California near Palm Springs. For a list of highways in Arizona see List of Arizona State Routes Arizona Highways ( is a magazine that contains "But my writing wasn't in demand until I became my own publisher," he said.

Harry Oliver moved to Thousand Palms, California (just north of Palm Springs) three weeks after Pearl Harbor Day, 1941. Thousand Palms is a Census-designated place (CDP in Riverside County, California, United States. The attack on Pearl Harbor (or Hawaii Operation, as it was called by the Imperial General Headquarters) was a surprise Military strike conducted by He passed the duration of World War II growing rubber at Bell Ranch and working with the US Army at Palm Springs Airport. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Palm Springs International Airport is a public Airport located two miles (3 km) east of the Central business district (CBD of Palm Springs And immediately after the war, he started producing the Desert Rat Scrap Book. The Desert Rat Scrap Book (or DRSB) was a (roughly quarterly southwestern humor publication based in Thousand Palms California

Desert Rat Years II

When you've been here in the Desert a few years you find yourself talking to yourself. . . After a few more years you find yourself talking to the lizards. . . Then in another couple of years you find the lizards talking to you. . . When you find yourself stealing their amazing tales you are about ready to start a Desert paper.

– Harry Oliver, 1948, [7]

Harry Oliver produced 44 'quarterly' issues of his Desert Rat Scrap Book or DRSB newspaper, often at irregular intervals, between 1946-1965, until his health and optimism failed. The Desert Rat Scrap Book (or DRSB) was a (roughly quarterly southwestern humor publication based in Thousand Palms California In 1967 he gave his operation to ex-merchant seaman Bill Powers, who produced two more issues and reprinted a few old issues, then abandoned the DRSB forever and disappeared, possibly returning to sea. While it lasted, the DRSB had a devoted worldwide audience.

(more to be added soon)

Some Quotes From Harry Oliver

See also

References

Source

Bibliography

External links

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